Sun

I can't believe it!  I can see sunshine!  It's the first day since last Wednesday that it hasn't rained.  It is good to see the sun.  We have received over 3.5 inches of rain this last week.  The Coast got more rain and lots more wind as well.  Listening to the weather people on the media, we should have gone out and bought batteries, water, blankets, etc. for the upcoming weather.  Well, it came and went without much ado here in the Willamette valley.  Maybe next time.
   The sun is here for a short time, however.  The forecast is for more rain by this evening.  Oh boy!

    While working at the Home Show a  couple of weeks ago, we visited many booths while walking Hunter around the building.   We are toying with the idea of replacing the vinyl counter tops in our kitchen so we invited a couple of vendors to stop by and give us an idea of what was available, costs, etc.  A representative from Sears was here Monday and another from Costco yesterday.  Both reps were well prepared and very professional but had totally different styles.  Both outfits are self-contained meaning you do not have to deal with any outside contractors from start to finish.  The Sears installers do one job at a time, so they will not be called to another job midway through your job.  They get another assignment only when the customer has signed off on the current one.  The Costco vendor, FloForm, has one contact person to answer any questions you may have during the process.  Good ideas from both.
   Sears offers Corian, Quartz, and Granite, but only a limited number of patterns of each that they have tested and approved.    Costco offers only Quartz, (Cambria to be exact)  The sales person said that when they offered unlimited counter materials, wood, granite, quartz, Corian, etc. over 80% of the time, Quartz was chosen.   Costco researched quartz products and picked Cambria as the best.  I have to say that the Cambria patterns had more movement than the Sears quartz products.

   All of that being said, I have a couple of observations.

 Both of the appointments were made as a "We'll stop by and let you know what options are available       to you.  No Pressure".

 Both salespeople expected to get an order at the end of their presentation.
 
 Both bids were substantial amounts:  Sears was close to $11k,  Costco a little under $9k.
 
 I am not going to make a snap decision with an amount like that involved.  (Sears did offer a 10%            discount if we ordered at the time of the sale.)
 
 Neither agent left us with a written estimate.  Was that on purpose?


No decision has been made.  Do we really NEED new counter tops?  Do we want to start making monthly payments?   Hmmmm...........