Thursday, December 29, 2005
Even though construction's tapering off, the ups and downs keep coming. In the positive column, we have a working sink and toilet! That came in handy when Monkey and I stayed overnight in Mabel (shhh, don't tell the city) on the brand-new wallbed on Christmas! I don't know if it was the champagne or the cozy accommodation, but we slept like rocks.
Also positive: "padre-brown" finish goes on the concrete, the driveway's just 1 pour away from done, and the dishwasher went in (within a day of the one in Construction HQ kicking into high buzz-breakdown mode). If I have to carry dishes over to Mabel for cleaning, well, I'm going to curse Maytag all the way. Actually, I already do.
Big negative: the $367 heat bill! Now I know what happens when the crews hoist up all the garage doors in the middle of winter.
This will be a big month. It is The Month for final everything, plus the mortgage rollover, and getting Construction HQ on the market. I worry least about the latter, and most about the former.
New neighbors have a thank-you party for the crew going this evening. The builder talked them into allowing a few more concrete pours, even though they planned to empty their moving truck today. He said they'd "only" have to walk a few hundred feet and then offered to send some guys their way to help accomplish it. So that explains why the builder was in the driveway this morning, madly calling up any available crew and scanning the street for a load of furniture.
Also positive: "padre-brown" finish goes on the concrete, the driveway's just 1 pour away from done, and the dishwasher went in (within a day of the one in Construction HQ kicking into high buzz-breakdown mode). If I have to carry dishes over to Mabel for cleaning, well, I'm going to curse Maytag all the way. Actually, I already do.
Big negative: the $367 heat bill! Now I know what happens when the crews hoist up all the garage doors in the middle of winter.
This will be a big month. It is The Month for final everything, plus the mortgage rollover, and getting Construction HQ on the market. I worry least about the latter, and most about the former.
New neighbors have a thank-you party for the crew going this evening. The builder talked them into allowing a few more concrete pours, even though they planned to empty their moving truck today. He said they'd "only" have to walk a few hundred feet and then offered to send some guys their way to help accomplish it. So that explains why the builder was in the driveway this morning, madly calling up any available crew and scanning the street for a load of furniture.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
You use a computer for a long time and when it starts feeling mucked up and slow, that's when you "defrag" it. It occurs to me that's what I've got to do with my mind, now that construction is completed on the spec house -- and it's sold to boot.
And Mabel is pretty fit for living, save the odd spit-and-polish tasks. This morning, I let in the wallbed guys, who are installing the bed in the bindery that will go into use as soon as this weekend. It's great to have company for the holidays, even better when you have two houses at your disposal.
But, about the defrag. I still find myself almost panicking about details that I'd thought of for so long, I also forget they're resolved. Perhaps it's just the Virgo in me, but I need to clean up the hard drive in my head so I get a fresh perspective going into 2006.
Then there are these hundreds of notes piled up around Construction HQ and tucked into books and three-ring binders. I can't clean without a few swirling free. Some are lists for the builder, or questions for the Grok God, or merely reminders to myself. All recall dilemmas that popped up, then got addressed or became moot. Thing is, I feel like I have to read them all over again, in case I'm missing something. So this morning, I happened upon a scribble of "ext sconces," and then "can dim halogen?"
It's enough to set the brain whirring again.
Oh! I forgot the most amazing, biggest relief of all! The bank sent me a form letter saying my loan was done Jan. 1, which sent me into a state of panic. Then the loan officer explained it was a computer glitch, so that -- yes -- my due date still is Feb. 1. How often does a bank's computer mess up in favor of a customer?
Must be my early xmas present from WaMu.
And Mabel is pretty fit for living, save the odd spit-and-polish tasks. This morning, I let in the wallbed guys, who are installing the bed in the bindery that will go into use as soon as this weekend. It's great to have company for the holidays, even better when you have two houses at your disposal.
But, about the defrag. I still find myself almost panicking about details that I'd thought of for so long, I also forget they're resolved. Perhaps it's just the Virgo in me, but I need to clean up the hard drive in my head so I get a fresh perspective going into 2006.
Then there are these hundreds of notes piled up around Construction HQ and tucked into books and three-ring binders. I can't clean without a few swirling free. Some are lists for the builder, or questions for the Grok God, or merely reminders to myself. All recall dilemmas that popped up, then got addressed or became moot. Thing is, I feel like I have to read them all over again, in case I'm missing something. So this morning, I happened upon a scribble of "ext sconces," and then "can dim halogen?"
It's enough to set the brain whirring again.
Oh! I forgot the most amazing, biggest relief of all! The bank sent me a form letter saying my loan was done Jan. 1, which sent me into a state of panic. Then the loan officer explained it was a computer glitch, so that -- yes -- my due date still is Feb. 1. How often does a bank's computer mess up in favor of a customer?
Must be my early xmas present from WaMu.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
OK, so what's a few weeks in blogworld when you've sold a house, undertaken payment of the last construction bills, watched the new owners move in, and gotten engaged! (Next blog: love-is-the-answer.blogspot.com -- 'cause I just can't stop it.)
The two-year anniversary of this blog's coming up, and that might be the time to pull the plug on it. After all, Mabel and Galusha have risen and marched into lives of their own. Still, Mabel's not quite done. I marvel each night at what the crew has done (last night it was the bamboo floor in the tango bindery!) and at what still isn't: the dang driveway.
Even so, I can feel my tasks tapering off, at least vis-a-vis construction. The final stress moment came when the buyers' money deposited in my account the same day the city denied us a final permit. That gave me a chance to be amazed about having sold a house that couldn't be lived in. The inspector showed up a few days later, understood the in-progress situation, and signed off on the final anyway. So phew.
The landscape looks beautiful, especially with the artful Columbia basalt wall encircling it (destined, I'm told, for portfolio fodder at www.petewilsonstoneworks.com). Today I talked to the stonemason and reminded him that a chisel was left behind. Apparently it's part of the trade that a chisel is buried in every project. He said that the landscaper kept helpfully fetching it out of the rocks -- and this may be it. Now how to get it back in the wall?
I will post pictures, promise, but suffice to say Mabel is gorgeous.
The two-year anniversary of this blog's coming up, and that might be the time to pull the plug on it. After all, Mabel and Galusha have risen and marched into lives of their own. Still, Mabel's not quite done. I marvel each night at what the crew has done (last night it was the bamboo floor in the tango bindery!) and at what still isn't: the dang driveway.
Even so, I can feel my tasks tapering off, at least vis-a-vis construction. The final stress moment came when the buyers' money deposited in my account the same day the city denied us a final permit. That gave me a chance to be amazed about having sold a house that couldn't be lived in. The inspector showed up a few days later, understood the in-progress situation, and signed off on the final anyway. So phew.
The landscape looks beautiful, especially with the artful Columbia basalt wall encircling it (destined, I'm told, for portfolio fodder at www.petewilsonstoneworks.com). Today I talked to the stonemason and reminded him that a chisel was left behind. Apparently it's part of the trade that a chisel is buried in every project. He said that the landscaper kept helpfully fetching it out of the rocks -- and this may be it. Now how to get it back in the wall?
I will post pictures, promise, but suffice to say Mabel is gorgeous.
