That stupid fucking Mirror

Even though I have 2 sites, I am really only paying attention to one just because the other feels like there isn't much I need to look out for, I mean I do drop by to inspect the site every once in a while, but it's definitely not as often as the other, which I visit on a daily basis. 

Today was going to be one of those days that I don't visit the second site, but then I got a bunch of text messages from the tiler about the need to replenish a few tiles and then a few more messages asking me about how to go about rectifying a few other issues they came across, all minor issues that could be settled via a text reply, which I did, but because I am a worrywart when things like that pop up, I also decided to drop by the place in person just to see those issues with my own eyes.

There was no issue, everything was well in place, or so it seemed, so I took a few photos of the done up tiles and proceeded back to my company's Showroom, which was really near, and once I was in the office, I started scrolling through the photos like I always do, to admire what has been done, and spotted a problem with the wiring work for one of the toilets.

My client had told me that they wanted to install a lighted mirror in one of their toilet...

Something like this...

.....so I relayed that information to my electrician and he pulled the wiring for me, but when I saw the photos, I realized that the wires were not centered, in fact, it was so far away from the center that I will need a pretty wide mirror to actually cover that wiring that is sticking out from the wall. I quickly rush back to site, checked the measurements of the wire and then compared it to the mirrors my clients were shortlisting, there were 2 dimensions they could get from what they had shortlisted, either a 50cm version or a 60cm version.  

In order to cover the wiring, they will have to get a 60cm one, it will be a perfect fit and I won't have to reposition the wiring, but if they got the 50cm one, then the wires will be exposed and even I won't be able to accept that as a finish product.

So I message them and told them to get the 60cm one, hoping that they haven't made the purchase yet, and the wife response was...

"Can you explain why we need to get a 60cm one, isn't that a bit too wide?"

... so I shared with her that from a design point of view, having the mirror be as wide as possible would look much better.....

Wider Mirror

Narrow Mirror

.... it is a very valid reasoning, even if it is not the actual reason. The small one makes the space smaller, but the big one stretches out the space and makes it feel wider.

Anyways, the wife then informs me that she has already gotten the mirror last week, and they had gotten the smaller one....

 ....I know they can't do an exchange and upgrade to the bigger one because it was purchased through taobao, so fuck my life. 

I was just sitting there in my showroom when I saw her message, thinking about what to do because the tiles were already up, and to have to shift the wire would mean damaging the existing tiles, which have been laid in a herringbone pattern, it is going to be extremely expensive just to shift that few centimeters, especially with how expensive this tiler I had engaged charges for the labor cost.

I had no choice, so I ask the tiler to change the tiles for me due to the repositioning and he was very unhappy about it, he sighed multiple times over the voice message he send, and I just had a really bad feeling that this meant he was going to charge a crazy expensive amount for the retiling works, I also had a bit of back and forth with the electrician, who also told me to see if I can find an alternate solution because even he was aware that it was not going to be cheap to reposition, that maybe getting them the bigger mirror would be more cost effective, so I thought about it and decided I was going to wait until the mirror arrived and then think about how to proceed, I then told the tiler not to worry about the tile replacement, that that I will think of something else.

The tiler probably felt bad that he made me feel bad about it, so he assured me that as long as the electrician can pop by on Monday to reposition the wiring, it won't be an issue for him, after thinking about it and realizing that I will probably be constantly thinking about this issue if it isn't rectified now, I decided to just bite the bullet, arrange with the electrician to do the reposition, so I can at least have some peace of mind knowing that this won't be a potential issue I will have to deal with down the road.

I honestly don't know how much this repositioning is going to cost me, I am already not making much from this project and to have this be thrown into the works is really the last thing I need happening. Obviously, I should have been more attentive and picked out the wiring position quicker, but with renovation works, there is just way too many details to look out for and I was honestly expecting the electrician who pulled the wiring for me to also know better, that the wiring should have been centered.

Aside from this shit, I am having trouble actually looking for a carpenter to get the carpentry measured for this particular project, the one I thought I had booked a timing with is suddenly not replying to my messages and the one that I really want to engage is still stuck in Malaysia because of the MCO extension, my client has this distorted fantasy that the renovation can somehow be completed before August. but the truth is, it can't, it will likely eat into August, and that is under the assumption that I can look for a carpenter soon to have my shit measured and fabricated! 

I was really hoping this was going to be one of those project that I won't really remember down the road, I have a few projects that are like that, because of how smooth sailing they are, they just don't really leave an impression. Usually the ones that I remember are the really shitty ones, like Lil Bitch, Antoinette and Sly Fox, the ones that gives me massive amount of stress and a lot of sleepless nights, with so blog post dedicated to their project.

Oh well, both my current projects are the projects that I needed to really remind myself about why I do not like this job and why quitting and looking for a stable one is the correct way to go. So much stress, I have been waking up at 6.50am every morning and not being able to go back to sleep because of the issues of both these projects.