To address Damon’s comment from the previous post, I’m not really so political. I have political views, and favorites, and reasons why I have my favorites, but really? I get sick of hearing everyone complain about politicians. I gravitate toward other things in conversation.

Having said that, I will say that I think this Rev. Wright thing has gotten completely out of hand, and that I wish he would continue his retirement quietly and without news cameras. There are certain things you don’t say in public . . . even if you feel that way.
It would be ridiculous if his outbursts could irrevocably damage the candidacy of Obama.

Okay, that’s it for me and political discussions.

Let’s discuss granite instead. I’ve been obsessed with replacing my countertops in my kitchen. I’ve hated them from the very beginning, and I’m finally going to do something about them. As I blogged a few weeks ago, choosing the countertop material was stressful. Did I want quartz, granite, or something else?

Well . . . I looked at quartz, which is an engineered stone. Not so much. The pattern was too regular for my tastes. I learned that I liked something with less regularity, which is why I decided on granite. Everyone says “but you have to seal it.” Not really. If you get it from the right place, they will seal it for you, and that seal will last 15 years.

Then, I decided to get quotes — because I don’t feel complete unless I get a deal.

I drove out to a remote suburb (where Jesus lost his sandals), and visited the Great Indoors. Nothing great there - particularly not the quote that I received — nearly $5,000 for 41 square feet of countertop. The funny thing is that they had marked up the granite that I liked by at least $20/square foot, but the salesman proudly announced that they were running a sale, which would reduce the price by $10/square foot. Thanks a lot. The guy looked at me as though he expected me to sign on the dotted line, and I looked at him as though he’d discovered a new incarnation of meth.

I moseyed across the street to Expo Design Center. MUCH better! The quote was nearly $1,200 less. I showed them the quote from Great Indoors and they couldn’t believe how much GI nickles and dimes the customers — hundreds of dollars to cut a sink hole, even more for function holes. And they work on commission at GI, so they have every incentive to try and bend you over the counter (pardon the pun) and screw you on the prices.

I decided to also follow a few leads from friends who are in real estate and restaurant development.

I’ve learned a lot about this very stressful process. First, I learned, importantly, that you have to know a few key things when replacing your countertop: 1) How thick is the granite (if it’s less than 3 cm, don’t do it). 2) How much do they charge for cutting holes — they all charge and it varies. 3) And this is the most important part, as far as I’m concerned — will they reconnect your plumbing? The last thing you want is to get your countertops and sink installed, only to realize that you no longer have running water.

One of the women at a granite shop on the north side actually suggested that I have one of my male friends reconnect my plumbing. That was last week, and I’ve only just now stopped laughing.

So . . . having said all of that, today is the day that I make the executive decision — do I go with Expo? One of the smaller guys? This needs to get done within the next week, so I’m itching to get started.

BTW — still haven’t solved the problem of the backsplash. Baby steps!