A mixed day, mostly good

Today I was really able to get started with the work. C and I have decided to have the electrical done first. Our thinking is that no other workers can get much done without safe electricity to use. The house was built in 1952, and the electrical has had various ugly, non-permitted, unsafe grafts since then. There are live wires running amok in the attic, and almost every outlet in the house is vomiting up it's contents. One of the agents got shocked switching on a light.

I spent an hour or so this afternoon calling electricians. I'm a pretty thorough person, so I felt prepared when talking to them. We were able to get one referral from our agent, and I also use www.angieslist.com to find contractors. It's a site where consumers such as myself can rate contractors. I started there with contractors who have multiple ratings and high averages. Then I looked them up on the state contractor licensing site and on the Better Business Bureau. I called anyone that made it past this point successfully. It was a pretty good day - I called 9 contractors and actually set two appointments. I'd like to set at least two more. I've heard that it is good to get at least 3 bids before deciding on a contractor, so this way we'll still have our 3 even if someone doesn't show. The first appointment is tomorrow.

Since there is still so much debris on the property, I really want to go in and bag trash. But, given the time lag with the contractors, I know my time is better used in setting up appointments. It's a learning process, and I am learning that I have to focus on "critical path" items, not the ones that give me immediate satisfaction.

A small setback - we were waiting for construction dumpster #2 to show up. The seller called on Friday afternoon and the company said it would be out on Monday to take away the full one and replace it with a new one. At 3:15, it still wasn't there so I called the company who said the driver was on his way. As of 9:00 tonight, still no dumpster. I think this is par for the course in home remodeling projects. I just don't understand where the miscommunication could have occurred - I mean, how many different ways are there to interpret "on the way?" So, first thing tomorrow I have to call the dumpster company again.