The Kindness of Strangers

I went back to California last week to visit our Garberville home and return the security deposit to our renters.  What a wonderful visit!  I stayed with my good friend, Carolyn; got to breakfast each day with my daughter, Lori; and hang with dear friends for lunch and dinner.  A truly great visit!  Oh, and our renters treated the house as if it was theirs, their care for our home was evident.  

After three great days, I was on my way back home to Arizona.  Like the responsible person I am, I stopped at a gas station just a few blocks from the rental return to fill the tank.  I grabbed my credit card and opened the gas door.  Yes, the driver's door was open, yes, my purse was on the passenger seat.  I was standing less than 2 feet away from the door and pumped 2 1/2 gallons ... what is that ... 90 seconds, maybe.

In that time, someone tucked in behind me, reached into the car and took my wallet (laying on the console) and purse.  How is it the hairs on the back of my neck didn't stand up?  Well, as I have had time to reflect, I realized that he (for the lack of an accurate pronoun I'm calling this despicable person a "he") has MAD SKILLS!  I turned around to put my credit card (which I had tucked into my bra) back in my wallet when I realized that my wallet was gone ... and so was my purse.  My phone was still plugged into the car and my carryon bag was sitting on the passenger seat.  No purse (yes, I checked the back seat just to be certain), no wallet.  

Then I realized that I had been robbed.  

Checked in with the person at the gas station, no he didn't have access to the cameras, but he would contact his manager (who eventually arrived and no, they would not release the images to me, but would to the police).  Okay.  

The keys to the car were in my purse.  We weren't going anywhere now.  First phone call was to Alamo to report that I couldn't return the car to the rental place, I was stuck at the gas station, in front of the pump.  I couldn't even get out of the way.  Alamo said they would send a tow truck and a link to order an Uber to get me to the airport; please stay with the car until you have to leave for the airport.  Okay.

Next call was to 911 to file a police report.  She couldn't have been less interested and said that I should get to a PC and file the report online.  Okay.

Then I called my credit union to cancel my cards.  The third-party clerk was a challenge, but I thought she understood that I needed both cards closed and replaced.  Ten days later my replacement Visa arrived, but now, still no debit card.  Okay, calling the CU directly and speak to people I know.  Turns out the moron failed to tell me I had to call the CU directly to have the debit card reissued.  Kelly to the rescue, my new card is on its way!  

I'm between phone calls when I hear a quick ""beep".  I look into the rearview mirror.  An enormous truck is waiting for me to move.  Okay, deep breath.  I approach the truck and the guy rolls his window down.  "I'm so very sorry, my purse was just stolen along with the keys to my rental and I'm stuck, I can't move my car."  

The first words out of his mouth, "Do you need money?  Are you going to be okay?  Do you feel safe?  Is there ANYTHING I can do to help you?"  

Mind you, I'm still in shock and reacting slowly.  "I'm fine," I tell him, "I just can't move my car."  

"Would you like me to push you out of the way?"  

I reply, "No, it's a rental."

He nods and moves to a different pump.  He checked back with me just before leaving to assure himself that I be okay.  

Some version of this scenario is repeated multiple times, whether male or female including the FedEx guy.  Surrounded by sympathetic and generous strangers.  I would revel in the warmth of kindness much later, at the moment I had my head down, one foot in front of the other, dealing with the current situation.

Eventually, I received a text that the tow truck was on its way.  I could wait no longer and touched the link to the Uber.  He was there in two minutes.  On the way to the airport I apologized to him saying I couldn't even give him a tip as my purse and wallet were just stolen.  His English was passable and he understood and wanted me to have this cold bottle of water.  Another kind soul.

Somewhere during that drive I realized what else was in my purse.  My grandmother's diamond ring, my mother's wedding set with a two carrot diamond center stone, all my diamond earrings (six), my father's wedding band, Gary's wedding band, and my onyx and diamond pendant that my board gave me upon my retirement.  This is my grandmother's ring from the appraisal I recently had done.  Deep breath.  Okay, we made it to the airport.

And then I realized what else I didn't have ... my drivers license.  Deep breath.

I approach the kiosk print out my luggage tag & boarding pass and approach the Luggage Lady.  

"I'm very sorry but my purse and wallet were just stolen, and I don't have a driver's license."  I say to her just beginning to choke up.

Her eyes widen in horror, and she jumps over the luggage scale to give me a hug.  Seriously?  She gave a very good hug.  And she says to me, do NOT worry, technically you don't HAVE to have a drivers license to fly, but TSA is going to put you through additional screening.  Okay,

I make my way to TSA.  Naturally, I got a new guy who went to find a supervisor.  Supervisor looked  at my boarding and told me I had to return to Luggage Lady to change my flight to a later one.  The necessary steps dealing with no license would cause me to miss my flight.  What could I say?  Okay.

I returned to Luggage Lady.  Her eyes widened and she said, "Why are you back here?"  

"TSA man said I had to change my flight, that the process would take too long."  I respond, holding back a tear.

"You come with me," she said, hopping over the luggage scale again.  "You, too!" she says to the trainee who promptly hopped and joined us as we marched back to TSA.  

I point to the guy and she does the finger waggle and mouths "come here".

He reluctantly approached and Luggage Lady said, "What is this about?  She will make her flight with tine to spare if you would just do your job promptly!"  He sure didn't like her attitude, but complied.

A few minutes later a tiny little woman with a clip board approached.  I told her my story, she advised me that she would be contacting Homeland Security; they would ask her a question which she would then ask me.  I was to respond to her, and she would relay the answer to them.  She gave them the info I had written on her form and then the odd questions began.  I couldn't remember my home phone number, but they accepted my cell.  I knew my parents' names but choked when they asked for the name of a public building or landmark near my home.  Then I remembered that I used to pick up my neighbor's child occasionally from a nearby school.  "Mile High Jr High" I responded.

And that was that.  She wanted to know if I had a spare pair of shoes in my carry on bag to which I responded in the affirmative.  "Please take them out" as they will also be tested.  Okay

I was wanded, my bag was wanded, my shoes were checked for who knows what and I was off to my gate.  The B list was boarding so I politely asked a lady if I could jump in front of her as I was in the A list.  She asked me why I was late and I gave her a brief outline.  She followed me down the ramp peppering me with questions and yet more sympathy.  I was grateful to the steward who confirmed that I could use the toilet as the plane was being loaded.  Pfew!  I was desperate to use the facility and to have a moment to myself.  An uneventful flight followed by finding the shuttle to Prescott.  My phone was almost dead, I was exhausted; oh yes, and Gary was home with a pain level of 10 with sciatica so I was looking to order an Uber when I arrived.  

Turns out our good neighbor, Jan, had picked up Gary's Rx and offered to pick me up at the Shuttle.  An enormous hug from a friend awaited me!  The tears were seconds away.  And she said, "Thank heavens you had your Mobile ID!  Otherwise you'd never have gotten on the plane!"

Arizona has this awesome app for your phone.  You just photograph your driver's license (front and back) and upload it.  You got it!  I had forgotten all about it!  Yes, I had it on my phone, of course I did! 

Finally, she dropped me at my home.  Gary had a stiff drink waiting and a big, warm hug.  

What did I learn from this experience?  There are bad people in this world.  More importantly, there are kind people who will do whatever they can to be of assistance, even if it's just the ability to jump over a luggage scale to offer a much appreciated hug.  

What did I lose?  Emotional attachment to things.  Things that I loved and treasured.  Things that I was proud to wear.  Things that I had planned to pass on to a beloved daughter.  What did I not lose?  My life, my health, my hope for the future.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely do wish unimaginable karma on whoever took my things.  But I have to go into my future with a healthy attitude.  

I've had two weeks to process my shock, horror, loss, pain and stress.  I choose to look forward to peace, knowing that someone will rot from their rotten deeds.  I don't want to be that someone.

I hold onto the joys of this trip, hugs from dear friends, meals with my tribe, time with my daughter, knowledge that my California home is in good hands with a great realtor and friends to look into it from time to time.  I hope to see it again, SOON, when the new owners require a walk through!

A reminder to everyone, photograph the contents of your wallet.  You never know when you will need some of that information and it would so much easier if you had photographic evidence!

 

Close Enough, a few small things left but I'm calling it done!

 

November 2020 Before

It really looks nice, but was not functional.  And that wet bar/peninsula made me crazy walking around it during parties.  It was simply in the way.  I knew something had to be done when I was considering getting out a BIG hammer.  Yes, I've done that before.

February 2021 After

Island is twice as long, lower "L" has been removed, pantry has been moved to the other side of the microwave, next to the window.  Wet bar has been replaced with a movable tea cart.

November 2020 Before

I've never been a fan of dark granite, so hard to see messes.  Also not a fan of having to display "stuff" on top of the cupboards.  The cooktop was ENORMOUS but only had four burners in addition to a grill and a griddle (I never used either).  New cooktop has five burners and is simply wonderful.

February 2021 After

I wanted to replace the window with a garden window but contractor talked me out of it.  Hardwood has been replaced with vinyl planks of different sizes and shades.  See the garage at the end of the counter?  It hides my food sucker, a recipe box, and wine opener.  Cupboards go all the way to the ceiling ... storage!

Best Sink Ever!

Made of crushed quartz this sink is amazing.  Every giant pan or sheet pan sits flat.  The wired shelf extends to 2/3 of the sink on that small edge.  I love this sink!  The small hole on the right is for the InstaHot which will, in the fullness of time, get installed (I'm holding back $10,000 from the final bill until it's in).

10' by 4.5'  Isn't it awesome!

I also had the granite people cut me a piece for a pastry board which sits on the end.  I just love it!

November 2020 Before

The peninsula/wet bar and the world's smallest pantry.  There was a small hutch on the other side.

February 2021 After

New hutch.  It was TRILLING to unpack my crystal, china and sterling that I hadn't seen in three years.  Anxious to hold a party!  

The pantry

Pull out drawers everywhere.  Loving the new pantry, microwave is no longer at knee level, under cabinet lighting throughout.  

Small hutch on living room side

Sorry for the mess, I was packing when I decided I needed to take this picture.

Hutch is gone!

We moved my grandmothers secretary to this spot.  With the peninsula gone it completely opened up the space and we were able to move the sofa back three feet which solved the problems of feeling claustrophobic.

Many thank yous go out to our friends for feeding us, encouraging us, sharing our joys and annoyances.  This journey has been fun and frustrating, rewarding and outrageously expensive and I simply love it.  Hope to be able to entertain you in the very near future!

Kitchen Remodel, Weeks 7 and 8

 

Mikey is exhausted from supervising the workers.

He clearly approves the new sink.  I like it too!

ALL of my large pans and baking sheets fit in this sink.  Only problem: the InstaHot appliance doesn't turn.  Not enough clearance for the faucet handle to go straight back, plumber turned the spigot so that the handle went to the right but the faucet then refused to turn counterclockwise.  It has to be returned and another purchased, the plumbing supply house doesn't want to accept it due to COVID.  Discussions continue.  The lady who writes the checks (that would be me) is refusing to complete payment to the plumber.  Discussions continue.

Mikey verifying that the doors are acceptable.  Several were returned as they were the wrong size.  Discussions continue.

The new spice rack.  All spice bottles had to be labeled on the top.  Only took an hour.  Now I have to alphabetize them.  The blue tape on the island granite are spaces that need to be polished to smooth.

Loving the backsplash, waiting on the electrician and painter.  Trash compactor needs a piece of wood to cover the upper opening.  Handles have now been attached.  

Sent this picture to the contractor.  Different door styles on the pantry ... not acceptable.  Wood guy calls me to explain:  Door people (evidently, different from wood people) will not warrant any door from warping if over 49 inches.  Upper doors are exactly 49 inches, lower doors are 50 1/4 inches!  I said, "I don't care, put three hinges on them but they WILL match and I don't want the support bar in the middle, it's too busy."  Doors have been reordered.

Flooring guy is finished.  Last of the carpeting has been sent to the dump.  We are now carpeting free.  I'll need some rugs to soften the space, but I need to live in it for a bit more.  I sure do like it!

The hutch is almost finished, missing two doors.  Here are the boxes labeled "Future Hutch" with things I haven't seen in over three years!  Such a joy to handle my special plates, stemware and sterling again.  And the best part ... my neighbor is moving (that's NOT special at all) and needed more boxes, so they didn't go to the dump!

First thing I did was make a batch of Stollen.  With a double oven I could proof all of the loaves at once.  Oh, happy me!  

We're in the home stretch.  And my FB memory popped up yesterday with a picture of my California kitchen in its home stretch 10 years ago!  

So much has happened in that time span.  Here's wishing you all a very happy Holiday season,  Please be healthy and stay safe.  I sure miss our daughter and sons and grands and families.   Let's usher 2020 out and open wide for a better 2021!

Kitchen Remodel, Week 6

I feel like we're coming in for the home stretch.  The granite arrived.  Actually, before it even made the turn onto our lane, a neighbor called to tell me it was here and she thought it was beautiful.  I was thrilled!

And here it is.  It's 10 feet by 4.5 feet weighing in at 920 pounds!  

Inch by painful inch they lowered the trailer down our driveway and,  hopefully into the garage.  

Yea, not quite. 

They called in the rest of the crew to, oh so carefully, slide it onto the cart.  I decided I wanted it on the island in the other direction so they spun it around in the garage and carefully moved it into the house.

Onto the island, hmmmm.  Would you boys mind spinning it around again?  Not certain I want it like that.  They did.  Then they all took votes and decided to spin it one more time because they didn't want to cut into that much of the blue.  "Okay," I said, "Do what makes you happy."  (I was in agreement but they were so happy that I let them vote.)

The slab is so beautiful the guys did NOT want to cut out the hole for the cooktop.  "Please, Miss Shon, don't make me do it!"  They moved here from South Carolina.  I thought I was sick of being called Ma'am, I just gritted my teeth every time Zach referred to me as Miss Shon.  Nice boys with excellent southern manners.  "I'd be fine with that, Zach, but where do propose putting the cooktop and be prepared to relocate the exhaust hood."  The tenting took place.  

Then they cut the holes for the faucet and instant hot.  Then window sill was installed.

The next day David arrived to install the glass/slate backsplash.  I'm in love with it!  

In this picture the counter looks blue, it's really a sage green.

Plumber and electrician bailed so no functioning kitchen this weekend.  Really, if that's the largest problem I've encountered this week, we're good.  The sink is large enough for a full size sheet tray to lay down flat.  NICE!  It is a composite sink (made from ground up quartz).  The showroom sales person said that her friend's kitchen burned down.  The only thing that was salvaged was the composite sink.  They are indestructible.  I just didn't want a black one.  The ledge about half way down is for a rubberized shelf, works similar to a colander.  

We we are supposed to be wrapped up by next Friday.  Last of the flooring for the stairs and office, electricians, plumbers, painter, appliances and finally the cleaning crew.  It's been a real "treat" living in dust and boxes, but it will be so worth it in the end.  End of week 6.  So pleased with the progress!

And thanks for all your comments on the island.  It's even more beautiful in person, do stop by when you have a chance!  I'll be cooking up a storm, there is always coffee, tea, wine or whatever available.  

Kitchen Remodel, Week 5

 

The boys are so pleased to have their bedroom back.  They are usually hiding under the bed.  

Where there was carpeting, they had to lay plywood to bring the floor up to meet the hardwood in the hallways and tile in the bathrooms.  

Couldn't be happier with the new flooring.  The thin strips of hardwood were so formal and so not my style.  These planks are various widths, lengths and tones.  AND they are waterproof and cat barf proof, a necessary feature in our house.

On Monday the appliances (double oven and cooktop) arrived.  Oven outer width is 30".  Hole is 30", supposed to be 28 1/2".  Shon gets on the phone with the cabinet people.  My designer is no longer with the company.  Great, "Now I want to speak with Michael (the owner)!"  When Michael is finished with his customer he calls me right back.  "Oh," he says, "Eric must not have installed the spacers.  And Fergal (contractor) doesn't want anything installed until after the granite comes."  Wish Fergal had shared that with me and I would not have scheduled it for Monday this week.  Michael:  "So if the appliance installers want to charge you an additional fee to return, just give me the bill and I'll cover it."  THAT put a stop to my irritation immediately.  So here sits my beautiful new double oven with bread proof top and bottom ... in the garage.  So sad.

I get a call from the granite people.  "Would you like to stop by tomorrow to inspect the layout of your slab?"  ABSOLUTELY!  The next morning finds me at the granite place at 8:30 IN THE MORNING!  I'm even bright and chipper.  Here comes the guy who will actually cut it.  We measure, I assure him I want it cut from the bottom UP, not from the top DOWN.  The slab looks like a map with a very large island in it.  I want all of the island preserved.  It's going to be spectacular.  There is an additional two feet left (it's only 4.5 feet wide, but 10 feet long, there are two inches to spare on each end).  They will cut me a pastry board out of the smaller island in the upper part with some blue in it.  I have felt feet so I can move it without scratching anything.  Granite, quartz and glass backsplash are supposed to be installed on Wednesday, but if not, definitely by Thursday.  I'm hoping for Wednesday!

Meanwhile the electricians arrive to complete all the lower plugs.  We are off to Jan and Rogers for dinner (can't thank them enough for their generosity in feeding the kitchen orphans).  So we leave the electricians to continue their work and we go off to deliciousness land.  

Next morning it's still dark when I stumble out of bed.  As I enter the living room to turn on the coffee I notice a particularly dark shadow in the walkway.  Something told me not to nudge it with my toes and I lean over to turn on a light.  It's a mousetrap with a dead mouse in it.  (No I didn't take a picture of it)

Why in the wide world would Gary put a mousetrap in the living room without telling me?  I wait for him to get up.  "Carful of the dead mouse." I tell him as he not looking down when he finally comes in for coffee.  "Why in the heck did you put a mousetrap in the living room without telling me?" I ask in a not so pleasant tone.

"I didn't do it!  The only place I EVER put mousetraps is in the dirt room."  Good grief!  Electrician must have not completely closed the dirt room door when he was working on the panel.  I go downstairs.  Dirt room door is wide open.  Inside I see several tubs of Christmas ornaments overturned.  Mikey!

Mikey must have found the mouse and brought it upstairs for show and tell.  Will have discussion with electricians when they next arrive.

The next day I get home from Mahjong to discover that the boys had finished the baseboards in my sewing room closet.  Yippee, I go downstairs to inspect.  There is a very cold draft downstairs.  I'm not liking this one bit.  In the sewing room my glass AND screen sliders are wide open and two cats are on the deck looking over the edge at the birdies.  I yowl at them and Harvey scampers in, Tommy was unsure so he hunkered down until I approached, then he dashed inside with me scolding the entire time.  Mikey, a good boy for once, sat inside watching (and gloating) the entire time.  I shoot off a text to Fergal, rather tersely worded.  He has assured me that it will NEVER happen again.  Right answer.

Meanwhile John has  been hard at work  Dining room shot toward Enty.

Kitchen between window and island.

Entry toward dining room.  

John determined that there is not enough flooring to complete the office so it will be put off until they can order more.

Mikey is exhausted after supervising the entire week.  I had just turned off the fireplace and it was warm.  He passed out immediately.

Next week should really step things up.  Once granite is installed the cabinet doors and drawers will be installed!  Then appliances.  Flooring should be finished (except for office) by Friday and then the painter will arrive.  Stay tuned for more adventures in a kitchen remodel.

Kitchen Remodel, Week 4 and Thanksgiving with Sharon

Cabinets installed.  Bottom drawer on the left had to be modified to allow for the gas pipe to the cooktop.  They made an ingenious modification.  Great guys!

 
Eric was back to install the crown molding, it's stunning.

Meanwhile John is downstairs installing the flooring.  The bottom five steps are in and I'm loving it!

The sewing room is almost back together and I've been working AND rolling the chair all over the room.  How nice it is to have that horrible plastic pad gone.  Drop a pin, see the pin, pick up the pin.  That's how it's done!

Then we get a call from the granite people.  The backsplash I ordered (months ago) is backordered for three months.  Would I like to come in and look at other options?  Well, let's just see.  The other options were in the same color tones as my first choice but were linear.  The other choice was in different tones  but the same pattern.  When we laid it against the granite along with the surrounding quartz it looks even better than the original.  And it's available immediately.  Sometimes problems turn into great opportunities.

On Wednesday we left for Sharon's in Green Valley.  Arizona has great highway signs!  My all time favorite remains "Be the kind of driver your dog thinks you are" but this one did tickle my funny bone.

Sharon is good medicine for me.  She is a gracious hostess and a good cook.  She greeted us with Cadillac margaritas and Build it Yourself Taco salad with giant mounds of carne asada.  Gary was in meat heaven!

We joined Sharon and Pluto for many walks and had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.  We enjoyed a bottle of Joseph Jewel Zin (thanks Marcia for helping make that happen) and used Sharon's mother's Seder glasses.  Why didn't I take a picture of our table?  Unknown.  Trust me, it was both lovely and delicious.  But here we are toasting.  We made a new tradition based on Lori's insistence that she had a new mantra.  Yes, Lori, we used it often and frequently!

On Black Friday we decided to have a picnic at Lake Patagonia.  Sharon had been there 30 years previously and she wanted to check it out.  When we arrived we had to use the "facilities" rather urgently.  I was shocked to see how very nice they were.  Flushing toilets, well stocked and the brick walls were nicely decorated.  It was squeaky clean.  Impressed!  Wouldn't find that in California.

The lake is lovely and full of ducks.  Sharon will be back as it's only an hour away.  Unfortunately they do not allow dogs near the beach, so she has nixed the idea of staying there, but another picnic is definitely in her future.

We came hone by way of Nogales.  I had never seen the wall (except on TV) and wanted to see it.

Here it is crossing a hillside.

And here it is in your face complete with Constantine wire.  Not a bit friendly.  We did not cross as Gary didn't bring his passport.  Next time.

We drove home with a short stop in Tubac (one of our favorite places), to check out our favorite shoe store.  And surprise, they were hosting an outdoor vendor market.  I ran across this:  It's supposed to be a holiday center piece, and will become this year's Nativity-pocalypse

What started out as a one time joke many years ago has evolved into a holiday tradition.  I'll go downstairs and find our nativity set and place the Baby Jesus on the "dinner table".  Yes, Lori inherited my bizarre sense of humor.  Don't judge me, Lori started it!

And we also found some cute shirts.  

On Saturday we drove 2 hours (each way) for lunch at the Gadsden Hotel in Douglas.  Sharon is quite the history buff and wanted to visit the five famous old hotels in Arizona.  I've now made it to four of them.  The Gadsden is also a haunted hotel.  It was purchased, several years ago, by a couple who specialize in restorations and it's lovely.  It sits at the border directly across the wall from El Chapo's estate.  And the border patrol has discovered multiple tunnels from Mexico into Douglas complete with ventilation and lighting.  During Prohibition one tunnel led into the basement of the Gadsden Hotel!  They had a full functioning speakeasy and bordello downstairs.  

The lobby is simply beautiful and is beginning to look like Christmas.

Stairs to the mezzanine level.  Back in the day, Pancho Villa was drunk and rode his horse into the hotel and up the stairs.  On the 7th step, the horse missed and chipped the marble.  They didn't fix that :)

Typical of Shon, my first stop is the ladies room.  Isn't it simply lovely?

We enjoyed a very nice (and very inexpensive) luncheon in the newly restored dining room.  

A beautifully restored tile mural from 1929 tucked into a corner.

Then the owner, Anel, took us on a tour.  My boots were suede so not in need of a polish.  

This is the haunted room, Room 333.  Someone had left the door open and the ghost (which often appears in photographs) was not available.  Still it was a fun visit.

Then Anel took us to the basement.  This is the speakeasy.

And the bar.

This cash register belonged to Anel's uncle who owned a car repair shop.  When he learned that she had purchased the hotel, he determined that this would be a perfect gift.  She was thrilled and found someone to oil it up and make some repairs.  It works perfectly!  They had to significantly reinforce the shelf as the register is very heavy.

She has stringent rules for cleanliness and I was more than six feet away when I asked her to remove her mask.  She a cutie and a hard worker.  You can't see the colored lightbulbs above her head.  Six different colors signifying which of the prostitutes were on duty AND available that evening.

This was the Madame's bedroom.  

One of the tunnels to Mexico.

Just a few blocks away from the hotel is the border.  

It was such a fun visit with Sharon.  Haven't seen her since July when she came up to cook my birthday dinner.  I didn't realize how much I missed her.  Can't wait this long again.  I'll be back in January, after the remodel is finished.

Today, Monday, is the start of Week 5.  The oven and cooktop were delivered.  The guy cut the hole for the electrical and pulled out his measuring tape.  Oven outer width is 30", hole is supposed to be 28.5".  It is also 30".  Call cabinet people, owner gets on the phone and tells me there is supposed to be an insert that the installer hasn't put in yet.  Oh, and if there is a fee for the appliance people to return to install, just let me know and I'll reimburse.  THAT'S the right answer!  Eric, the installer, will be here tomorrow to put in the insert.  Oh well, more adventures in kitchen remodel await!