A Request for Help

I am a girl - and proud of it. I have intentionally not developed upper body strength because I like having men do things for me. I am remodeling my kitchen and have hired out many tasks, but took on the role of general contractor, something that requires no physical strength and employs my talent for project management.  My cabinet maker Peter, came out of retirement to build them.  My dad and a few friends have helped with some of the tasks for which I don't have the strength or experience.  After the cabinets were removed and prep work done, Peter let me know that we needed to have all the tile on the floor removed from the kitchen area.  The entire downstairs is about 700 sq ft, the kitchen is 1/3 of that.  The tile contractor wasn't due for another 2 weeks, this meant I'd either need to do it myself, or hire someone else for demo work.

I am an IT geek, I drew my own diagram using Visio.

Let us digress for a moment to tell a backstory.  I have a job that I love, the large part of it is solving problems, attempting to make people happy. Many of the issues I solve are legitimate, but there are a few that make me want to exclaim "What a whiner!"  I often work 12 hour days.  At the end of the day, I have a boss that appreciates me, many colleagues that appreciate me, but there are a few (those whiners), that never will be happy.  All this to say, I need a release.  Usually it's walking or running, but lately, I am leaving after dark, so that hasn't been happening.

Back to the kitchen.  Because I am a girl, I have girl tools - 2 hammers, a few screwdrivers, some wrenches, and thanks to my dad, a power drill (that I employ as a power screwdriver because I am after all, a girl).  I also have 2 crowbars my dad left in my garage after using them to remove boulders from my backyard when we put that in.  When Peter asked to have the tile removed, it was at the end of a 12 hour day, I led a Lean Six-Sigma kaizen session and was mentally and emotionally spent.  So I took one of my hammers and a screwdriver and started pounding and chipping away.  It was very cathartic, I loved it.  The picture below shows about an hours worth of work.  I didn't get too far, but thought, I can do this.  

The next night, I discovered early on that if I hammered the screwdriver under the tile, then hammered a 2 foot crowbar under the same tile, I could remove 2 - 3 tiles all at once mostly all in one piece.  So much easier - and tidier too.  At the end of the second night, after working for 1.5 hours,  I had cleared out all of the kitchen area.  2 days later, I have cleared out as much as I can until the cabinets are installed and stuff is put back in them.  I let the tile contractor know he can take the demo activity off the quote, that'll save me $1000.

 

I am not any less girly, I do wear gloves while doing this; I am sure most men would be appalled to watch me and would shake their head in disbelief because I look so pathetic.  If you are one of those men, live in or near South Orange County and are thinking, "Karen, I would love to help you retain your girliness. I'll help you remove the rest of your downstairs tile, and with something more effective than a screwdriver, hammer and crowbar", let me know.  I'll feed you while you're working, I'll even bake for you once my kitchen is operational.  It is actually pretty fun and a great stress relief.  If you can help the weekend of August 17, message me through Facebook, or if you have my mobile number, you can send me a text.  Thanks