Passed Final Electrical today!

YAY! YAY! YAY!

We passed our final electrical inspection today. This is our first final that we passed, and it makes us one step closer to closing our permit. It only took three tries - that's a record I think! I was able to get the same inspector to come back both of the second two times so we didn't get completely new correction lists. Now we have final mechanical (heater, oven vent, dryer vent, etc), plumbing (all fixtures, gas lines, etc) and possibly building. We don't know if we have to do a building inspection since we didn't move or build any walls. Then they check the permit to make sure fees are paid and all contractors have a valid city license. Then with any luck you get to close your permit. Passing one inspection may not be a huge step, but it is a step.

The dog and cat repellant I ordered arrived yesterday. Here is the product here:

http://www.liquidfence.com/dog-repellent-bottle.html

There is a lot to like about this product (assuming it works). It's non-toxic to plants, animals and people. It is biodegradable and made only from plant oils. Dogs and cats don't like the smell, so they won't come onto the lawn or into the backyard. Also and dogs or cats who habitually mess in one spot in the yard will be less likely to go there because the smell will mask the odor of previous messes. (Background here: We LOVE dogs, and hope to have two soon but we were getting dog messes left out front almost once per day. Also some neighborhood cats thought our backyard was a huge litterbox).

The product is mainly garlic oil, and also has citronella, cinnamon, clove, and a few other high-odor plant oils. The only think this product lacks is a STRONG WARNING against opening it in the house, or even bringing it into your house. It needs an even STRONGER WARNING against getting it on your hands or clothes. I opened the carton and put the spray top on the bottle and took it outside to spray. 8 hours later, the living room still smells! It is a horrible, nauseating, headache inducing smell. I'd almost rather smell dog poo! After using it, I washed my hands thouroughly 4 times with citrus soap, lavender soap and pear soap and they still smelled for hours! The carton it came in stunk so bad I had to put it outside right away (the product was in a sealed plastic bottle inside the carton). Hours later I was still smelling it bad enough to have headaches and nausea, and found two small drops on my pants. I tried to wash it out with soap and water and it did no good.

OH MY GOD, this is the smelliest stuff I have ever experienced! It was so bad we couldn't even eat lunch here. (C is on vacation this week). We went out to eat, and someone was smoking outside and I actually thought of smelling the cigarette (which I hate) just to clear this smell from my head. The parking garage elevator of our favorite lunch spot frequently smells like a combination of bug spray and nasty chemical cleaning agents. We never use it, but today we did because even that was preferable to what we were smelling.

So, I think the spray will work, but my lesson is learned! I will only use it with gloves on, it will never come into the house and whatever I am wearing will go immediately into the wash. Yuck! We were trying to spot some of the dogs reactions to it, but there was work being done on the street so there were very few dog walkers out today.

More plumbing drama - I called the plumber today to let him know that we had fixed the two electrical items that were holding up his completing the sink/dishwasher/garbage disposal/etc. His assistant told us last week that they couldn't punch holes in the stainless steel sink and would send someone to do it. Since installing the faucet often requires a hole, and installing the dishwasher air gap (required by code) definitely does, you would think they could cut holes. All plumbers do this! It is routine and shouldn't require them to have tools other than what they carry. But not my plumbers! When they said they would send someone, I assumed (falsely and foolishly) that it would be at their expense since it is something they should do and cannot. The plumber had not even tried to contact his stainless steel guy, and told me I should try to find someone myself! The nerve! I told him I would rather use his guy since the plumber had worked with him a number of times and he was good. At this point it was my belief that punching the holes was very difficult, and I did not want to risk having a non skilled person do it. Turns out I was very wrong about how difficult it is.

We spent the afternoon going to Ikea where we bought the sink. They sell an $8 cutting tool that is used to make 1.25" holes in the sink. We asked the staff about it, and it seemed to fit the bill. Hopefully this will solve the hole problem. If it does, I can tell the plumber that we were able to do what his licensed staff could not.