Back into the swing

Well, Monday and Tuesday I was pretty much out of it. I did get a few things done, but nowhere near where I usually do (which barely makes a dent around here). C and I are just over the moon about being done with this permit, although the absurdity of it taking 17 months is astounding. You can build an entire house or apartment building in that time.

Wednesday I spent most of the day on Wednesday catching up on mail, filing and small tasks that have gotten backlogged in the last week and a half when I've been focused on closing the permit. I finally got 90% of the filing done from the first 9 months or so we lived here and I couldn't do it because we didn't have our files set up. Everything went into a big duffel bag, and I've been chipping away at it for weeks. The last 10% is stuff that doesn't go into our regular files, so it needs a little extra special treatment. I know this isn't strictly remodeling related, but as the filing backlog arose because of the remodeling, it is important to convey this to accurately describe our living conditions.

Wednesday night I got home and there was a very polite, well-written note from our back neighbors asking if we could dim and/or turn off our backyard lighting at night (it has a photo sensor and goes on at dusk and off at dawn). Seems it shines into their bedroom. C and I were quite upset to hear this, as we LOVE our backyard lights. We love having the photo sensor because we never have to think about the light. We like the added security and being able to walk right out there at night. We also love the way it looks from the inside. Instead of seeing huge "black" panes of glass at night, you see the yard. We are now in a total quandry about how to handle this. We want to be good neighbors, but we want our lights! We have a few ideas - one is to build some sort of box (think kind of Japanese shoji style) to contain some of the light and block the light from traveling up to their window (third floor). The problem with this is that any time you install something attached to the house and screw it in, you pierce the waterproof layer under the stucco. This would need to be dealt with. Another is to add some outdoor spotlights which can light the yard but be directed so that they don't hit the neighbor's window. Ultimately, we may put an awning or pergola up over the back door anyway, so the light may be fine at that point. The first thing I am going to try is a lower-watt bulb. We are hoping to find a low-cost, low-effort remedy that makes everyone happy. Unfortunately, we are still so swamped that I am dreading yet another project, especially one that causes me to drive all over town and has unclear parameters.

I met today with the contractor who did the windows and door and we closed out our contract. He is going to get me a proposal for the stucco and new front and side doors. He said I'd have it by Tuesday. I am really hoping to knock this out quickly. The new doors and stucco will be a huge improvement to the outside of the house, and will be a big step towards making the house not look abandoned and junkyard-ish. People still think nobody lives here. Also, time is ticking for me to start graduate school in the fall, at which time all work will probably stop. It is very distressing to think about living in a mess for so much longer.

PERMIT IS CLOSED!!!!!

Oh my God! I cannot believe it. I am freaking out, don't know what to do with myself. It's been a year and 5 months of having that thing hanging over my head. It still hasn't sunk in. I can't believe it's really over. I think I'll go down to the building office and just check to make sure..... maybe I pinch myself in case this is a good dream. I'll be really bummed if I wake up and that nasty permit is still hanging on my door. I have that song from the Wizard of Oz in my head "Ding, dong the witch is dead, the wicked old witch is dead." (Sorry if you now have it in your head from reading this.)

So, after doing a few last minute things this weekend, all that was left to do was wait. I called a little after 8:00 this morning and found out my inspection time was 1-4 p.m. I was bummed I would have to sit and stress out all day, but nothing you can do. Fortunately the guy that came out was pretty cool. He has never been here for an inspection, but I had met him a few mornings when I went down to see a specific inspector who wasn't in he answered my questions for me. He was very reasonable - there were in fact a few small things like some missing caulk and handrails on the two outside steps, but he let it go. Technically, he could have held me up pending exterior painting, but he called his boss and got the okay to close us out. Even I was shocked by that one! We weren't even going to think about paint or stucco until this permit was closed. What a relief.

So, I am going to take a few days off of blogging while I regroup and get ready for the next step. Over the last few months, as I have told people about being close to closing this permit, people have asked me "So you're almost done?" The answer is no, we're not, but this is a HUGE milestone.

Inspection prep

This weekend we did a few odds and ends in preparation for inspection. I am really nervous because they can find anything here, even stuff that was never on your permit. I put a second set of numbers on the house, and this time they are not hidden by a tree!

Electrician and labor

The electrician got here at 8:15 a.m. after no-showing yesterday. He was supposed to be here at 7:30 because the contractor thought we had inspection today. Fortunately, we didn't. This may sound really bad, but if all of our contractors were only this unreliable life would be a lot easier. He put the exterior lights up and powered up the new outlets and switches that came about when we had to re-do the windows and install the back door.

Here is a shot of the new back door with the light fixtures installed:



Here is a shot of the new light fixture. It's certainly not designer-fabulous, but it works well, meets code and didn't cost a lot. I wish it wasn't fluted, but it was the plainest, most contemporary looking light fixture I could find on short notice. Maybe some year we'll upgrade them.



Thursdays are a day I enjoy because I do yard work and labor. Seriously, I actually like doing it. C has begun to enjoy it too - he says there is a certain sense of satisfaction that comes from doing it yourself. I agree. I am still working on the ivy in the backyard, but each week I get more cut. The biggest holdup in the size of my yard waste bin. But, it's no big deal if it takes a few more weeks. Once I've made my first pass cutting as high as I can, it will be time to get a ladder and hedge trimmer and get the high-up stuff. I also cut the weeds on the median strip between the sidewalk and street. There's no real grass there, so it must look funny to see me cutting them, but in the summer if I don't hit the area at least weekly we end up with thigh-high weeds really fast. I use a manual mower, which I really like. I estimate it takes 25% longer than it would with a power mower, but I like the feel of the manual. There is something very satisfying about the mechanical way it cuts, seeing the cut blades of grass (weeds) fly, and the feel of it. The sound (or lack thereof) is also nice. I also like that it's a bit of a workout too (but not as much as you might think, it's really not that hard). I view it as a time saver because I combine exercise with lawn cutting.

I also filled the hole adjacent to the back door landing. It is so nice the be able to walk right out and not jump over a hole or step on a rickety board covering the hole. It was a lot of work (you don't realize how much dirt a hole holds until you have to fill it). After shoveling in all the available nearby dirt, I started hauling shovelfuls from further away and realized it was going to take forever. I finally used the wagon we bought for the dog. He has a health issue and gets tired really easily, so we have been "walking" him in the wagon. Believe it or not, when he is tired enough to be in there he'll go right in and stay in there.

Here is the hole after it is filled in. Look for the dark patch of dirt in front of the front right corner of the landing.




Here is the wagon we bought for the dog, but ended up using for it's intended purposed of yard work. It even has a dumping feature, where the whole thing upends like a dump truck. Needless to say, we don't use this feature for the dog, but it sure came in handy today.


Here is the dog in the wagon. He is really tired here.







I also got up on a ladder and stuck some house numbers on the fascia board just under the roof line. A prior inspector told us to put numbers up before final inspection. Seems like a minor point, but for $3 worth of stickers I wasn't going to get another correction. So I dragged the ladder out and put the stickers up. When I stepped back to look, I realized why he said to put numbers up. Ours were hidden behind a tree. The new ones I put up right on top of the old ones were thus hidden as well. Oh well, I'm glad it was only stickers. It's just another trip to the hardware store. Now I know that no job ever gets done with just one trip to the hardware store, but come on, this was really minor and I really thought this would be the elusive one-trip job. Alas, it was not meant to be.

I got home after dark and was very pleasantly surprised by the new lights by the back door. Those two fluorescent lights really light up the whole yard and driveway. It is so nice to have light finally in the backyard. I'm really pleased with how well the two inexpensive light fixtures work.

What a day!

Today started with a trip to the immunization clinic for grad school. Ouch! I have to get a series of immunizations before I start in the fall. Already, this put my schedule out of whack. I rely heavily on my schedule to keep things on track, so this was not good. When I got home, I started working on the dreaded business license form. I had been in contact with my electrician about his missing license and had to go to the business license office to try to straighten things out. It turns out I can just pay a small fee and call it even. I am not happy about the fee, but there is really no choice. The electrician said he would fill out any forms but wouldn't pay any fees. This was just the easiest way to go. I got the form done and faxed it in right away because they need a 3-day turnaround to complete it. They were able to turn it around in just about an hour (I lucked out on the timing because the guy who reviews the forms is out on vacation starting tomorrow until Monday). I paid the fee and the task was done! I was so happy! This was something that had caused me tremendous stress - I was really worried that I was going to miss something or get audited and not be able to pass (see yesterday's entry - my friend really got snagged up on this!). What a relief to have it done.

I scheduled my second try at passing final inspection for Monday. I couldn't even call to schedule it until the business license form was done (I tried and the automated scheduler blocks you), and as soon as it was done I called. Monday was the earliest I could get - which sucks because they are supposed to offer next day inspections as standard. I am on pins and needles about this - if we pass, we can close the permit and move on! It would be so great to be done - it would be a huge load off my mind and we can move on with the outside work and the inside work as well. It could also go really bad - pretty much the whole house is up for grabs and they can find anything that doesn't meet code even if it wasn't part of your permit. I don't know how I'll sleep between now and then!

Amidst all this, I had not one, but two flat tires. Yesterday I had an afternoon appointment and while I was driving back during rush hour, I drove over some debris in the road containing nails. I had no option - there was heavy traffic on my left and right and bumper to bumper in front and in back. When I saw the debris, I made a split second decision to drive over it rather than slam on my breaks and risk getting rear-ended. A whole line of cars drove over the debris, so I'll bet there are a lot of people with flats today. This made today slightly more stressful because I had to walk to the building office first and then fax my form later rather than handle it in person. It wasn't a huge deal, and I ended up being able to take care of the form in the end, but I was really short on time and it would have been great to have my car. I was rushing in the afternoon because I had to walk to a local fax place to fax the form in and the contractor's electrician was due between 4 and 5 p.m. It turns out he was running late at another job and didn't make it, but I didn't know that until 5:30 p.m. after I had rushed around.

Patching, landing and paperwork

Not a bad week so far... on Monday, the contractor's crew was here patching the drywall inside and the stucco outside. I am amazed at what a good drywaller can do. In two coats, the place looks better than my prior contractor was able to achieve in 5-6 coats. Having only seen it done once, I assumed it took that many coats (and the contractor told me that as well). Now I realize that he used unskilled guys who had never done drywall and did some himself (he's not very good at it).

On Tuesday, the contractor sent a guy to build the door landing, a critical part of this project. The new back door opens out onto a walkway that is down about 2 feet - a major safety hazard and inconvenient too! I am not thrilled with it, but it's not a big deal. It slopes down slightly from the level of the threshold to the level of the top of the retaining wall. It had to be done this way because to make it level with the top of the retaining wall would have meant a step down from the threshold of about 1/2". This would not pass inspection due to being a tripping hazard. I think a step has to be at least 2" or 3" inches in order not to be a tripping hazard. This landing will be torn out soon and replaced with a ground level deck so we have a place to hang out back there. I can't wait!

Here is the door with the landing built. The board on the ground in front of the row of bricks covers a hole we'll need to fill in before inspection. Technically, they shouldn't care about something like that, but pretty much your whole house is fair game at final inspection. My friend was remodeling an upstairs bedroom and bathroom and couldn't pass inspection because her stairs had no railing. Keep in mind she bought the place that way, and intended to put a railing in but it had nothing to do with the bedroom/bathroom project. The railing itself had to meet certain criteria as well - e.g. width between rungs, height, etc.




Here is a side view of the new landing. You can see it slopes sightly down. You can also see the walkway it bridges. It is much nicer having the landing! I feels like another big improvement.




The contractor instructed me to call for final inspection on Thursday. I tried, and found that I am unable to schedule final until I have completed my business license form. Ugh. The reason I was able to have a try at passing final already is that one of the nicer inspectors offered to do it since he was here. I am glad he did because having to do all this work (windows, door and landing) after doing that form would have added complications.

On the form, I have to list everyone who worked on the house, the dates they were here and their city business license number. It is so the city can make sure that anyone earning money here is paying license fees and taxes to the city. What I think sucks is that it is MY responsibility to enforce this. How did I become a revenue officer? By virtue of getting a permit.

How big a deal is this? Well the form is 10 pages long, and lists every possible type of work you can think of. They even include window coverings! A friend of mine got snagged up on this trying to close her permit..... she had 3 days left on it and was trying to prepare the form. It turns out that the person who delivers your windows must have a city business license. In her case, she purchased her windows from a company located about an hour north of here. That company put the windows on a truck, drove them here and put them inside her front door. Her contractor (who had proper licensing) then installed them. So, with 3 days left, she had to scramble to get the window company to take out a retroactive business license with the city. In addition, while they were cooperative with the paperwork, they refused to pay for it and she had to. Unbelievable, but trust me, I couldn't make this stuff up.

Armed with this information, I was diligent about everyone having a business license. I didn't let anyone begin work without one because I could hear it the conversation: "Oh, I just didn't get around to it..... I'll go ahead and get started today like I planned and I'll do it on my way in tomorrow." Followed by: "Oh, traffic was really bad and I had to get materials. I'll do it tomorrow." Etc, etc.

I was sure I would have no problem with the form. I was a little bummed to not even be able to schedule final inspection until the form was done and approved but there was nothing to do about it at this point. I thought you did the form after final inspection, otherwise I would have had it ready to go. It would make more sense that way - if you end up having to do work on corrections you got at final inspection, it's too late to get that person on the form. As I was filling out the form, I realized I "lost" the license number of my electrician. I "knew" he had once because I remember talking to him about it. Turns out somehow I missed this one! I don't know how it happened, but I suspect he thought I meant his business license in the city where he lives because I did ask him about it. He said he would look into it and get back to me. Yikes! I hope this doesn't delay things too long! I only have until July 20th for this permit. That's it - no more extensions.

Encouraging things

First, my cousin and I were talking about the house she and her husband just bought. It doesn't need much work and she mentioned that she was impressed with the progress on our house. She said it is clear to see that we are doing everything with high quality. I was really pleased to hear that, not only just for it being a nice complement but it also helped to remind me of why things are taking so long. Quality takes time. I want things done right. It takes time to research the right materials. It takes time to make something work just right and maximize the space. It takes time to pick colors that look good together. It takes time to find the right people. It takes time to do things in the right order. That comment really reminded me that it's better to be slow and get it right and at the right price than do it fast and not get the right results.

Second, C's brother and our future sister-in-law (congrats J&J!) came over today. They are in the process of trying to buy a fixer upper. She said our progress was encouraging! That's right, encouraging! It reassured her that it can be done. Wow, that's an amazing comment. I look around and all I see is incomplete tasks, clutter and mess with no end in sight. The fact that someone sees encouragement in all this was encouraging to me.

I do feel a little better about our progress at this point. I am starting to accumulate quite a few small projects that are done. Enough ounces will add up to a ton! These little jobs will cumulate to nice house at some point. Also, the completing my one daily decluttering and organizing task is really helping a lot. Our lifestyle is improving, i.e. the few small things I've accomplished have been nice. It's nice to not have the counter filled with dog stuff. It's nice to have the ingredients for our morning smoothies easy to grab and put away. It's nice watching things gradually disappear into the garage (or better yet Goodwill!). They also help my outlook a lot. They give me an immediate sense of accomplishment, improve the house right away and give me a fun task to look forward to after I've done a little on all my other task lists. I am also feeling a little more comfortable with the long term nature of this project. It won't go from undone to done right away. It will be a gradual transformation over a long time. The fact that the first few things have been done is helping me settle into the long haul.

"You should....."

I am so sick of these words! It's funny too because they usually come from someone who has never remodeled anything, much less remodeled anything in our city. For example, one person recently advised me "You should make the inspectors put things like that in writing." What I said: "I tried. Twice by email with no response and once in person by requesting. This happened with two different inspectors." What I thought: Do you think I'm stupid? I mean really, do you? Do you think I haven't thought of this most basic idea?

It is so frustrating to talk to people who have no idea what they are talking about and insist on giving me unsolicited advice. It would be like me telling a football coach how to improve his game when in fact I've never even played on a team. One person "advised" me that instead of spending my time and effort fixing the problems I should launch a media campaign against the building department of my city. Huh? Yeah, that will get my house livable. He assumed because he didn't know how bad they are that nobody does. In fact it is so well known (among people who have reason to know) that many building professionals will not work in this city or will charge a premium. Even if I could get the media interested, it would take months and even if the building department improved, it wouldn't finish my house or benefit me any time soon. I consider it the responsibility of every person to do something to improve the world and I am content with my contribution. Fixing the building department is not my cause of choice.

People are also very quick to suggest the lawsuit route. At minimum, lawsuits take huge amounts of time, and there is no guarantee that you will win or even advance your cause. Just the process of finding a lawyer takes a long time. They also cost money unless you can find someone to find a way to sue for money and is willing to do it on contingency. Again, I could have the problem fixed in a few weeks for what a lawyer would cost just to open the case.

I love it when someone with no knowledge of remodeling tells me they wouldn't stand for something. Ha, ha... I laugh inside. You have no idea..... the problem is when you oppose the great behemoth of my city's building department, you don't win. Ever. In fact, you spend big dollars and lots of time, lose anyway and still don't have your house fixed. Yes, it is terribly unfair, and I would be perfectly justified in fighting city hall, but what's the point? The other problem with this theory is that there is always a range of answers to even the most simple code question. The answers range from something that costs very little in time, money and effort to something that costs a great deal of all three of these things. If you provoke the behemoth, you get the latter answer. If you roll over and submit, you have a good chance of getting away with one of the lesser options. I'll take my chances and accept the injustice.

Not getting enough done!

I am just not getting enough done fast enough. I am starting a graduate program in the fall that requires me to be at school/internship 40+ hours per week, as well as 500 pages or so of reading a week and papers and projects. So pretty much, no work will happen until the school year is done. Why is this a problem? Well, we can't walk barefoot in the house or take showers. We have newspapers and plastic taped to the windows. I have no table, desk or workspace. I have to be professionally dressed for internship and need to buy clothes for that. Not only is that time consuming, but clean clothes in this house last until you brush up against something (pretty much everything is covered in never-ending drywall dust). We have no handles on any cabinets in the bath or kitchen. You have to pry them open with your fingernails or feet. We are extremely disorganized and chaotic. Most of our stuff is still in the garage. Due to ongoing work and incomplete spaces (e.g. master bedroom closet) we won't be done with moving in any time soon (in spite of the fact that we've lived here a year). This is just a small fraction of the things that will make life really difficult while I'm in school.

It may seem that 3 months is plenty of time to do this, but there are thousands of small and large tasks to be done. Some of this stuff can't be done now due to critical path issues. For example, someone might say "Why don't you just go and buy shades or curtains?" Well first of all, the windows need to be finished (i.e. shellacked) and this is no small task. Each window needs 3 coats with sanding and vacuuming in between followed by buffing. Because of the way the windows are constructed, each window needs to be done in several sections. I had several windows done or almost done, and then lost all that work when the windows didn't pass final inspection. So, I've learned my lesson. All work on the windows has stopped until we pass final inspection. That will be at least a month. Then I can start shellacking the windows again. Once one or more is done, I can put trim on and finish the trim. Then I can start shopping for shades. Some people would probably just go to one store and pick something and buy it. C and I are more thorough than that. One quote we got was for about $200 per windows. Yikes! I just can't see spending that kind of money without shopping around (I'm sure I can do better!). Once we find the shades we have to order them and wait days or weeks for them to come in. Finally, I can install them

So you can see that it is not as simple as just getting shades. The same goes for most other projects in the house. It's quite upsetting to think about how nasty the house looks and that we'll have to live in it like this for a lot longer. I had hoped to have it in good enough shape so that I could invite people here to do projects, etc. but that isn't going to happen. I am getting kind of tired of ducking my neighbors because I am embarrassed about the way the house looks. I feel like telling people "Really, we're normal. We're not slobs or weird. Nor are we running drugs, hiding bodies, growing pot or printing money. Really!"

I did manage to contact my handyman who has to fix a glass-fronted cabinet from Ikea that keeps falling down and he is also going to fix a fascia board that our prior contractor broke when he ran into it with a bobcat while demolishing concrete out back.

Towel cubby and clear countertop!

The towel cubby is sort of done today. I used Polycrylic to finish it. The directions call for 3 coats with sanding and wiping in between. After 3 coats, the surface is pretty smooth but not as smooth as I like it. It could probably use another 1-2 coats. Since it is a towel cubby though, the surface will not be seen or touched much. I've decided to go ahead and call it done and see if it bugs me. If it does, I'll do the additional coats.

I finally got all the dog paraphernalia off of the countertop. What a relief. I knew I hated seeing all that clutter in our kitchen, but I really had no idea of the extent of how much it weighed on me. I found the perfect deep basket to used in the pantry at The Container Store in the afternoon. I was so excited to finish this project I had to run back 10 minutes before they closed to get a few more.

Here is the towel cubby after the third coat of Polycrylic.



And, here is the towel cubby loaded with towels. I have to give credit to our prior contractor - he made such a mess of so many things, but this was his idea and it was a really good one. (Eventually I'd like all our towels to match so this is more artistic looking.)

The silver basket above the brooms on the right now hold all the dog stuff. It's actually a drawer from the Elfa closet system. It fits perfectly because it is almost as deep as the pantry (so nothing gets stuck at the back) and is almost as wide as well (very little wasted space). These cabinets have adjustable shelves so I can make the shelf height just high enough for the drawer. I love having all the dog stuff in this pull-out bin. It is so easy to access anything you need and it is easy to pack a travel bag for him as well.

Patching today

Today the contractors were here doing the first pass of patching the stucco (outside) and drywall (inside). They did a good job as far as I can tell. Everything looks good. The inside will probably need 2 coats and the outside 3. I was impressed with how good the drywall looked after just one coat. Our prior contractor did some drywall patching and it took him a minimum of 4-6 coats on each area. Drywalling looks easy, but to do it well is a real skill.

Somebody asked me recently why we're not patching it ourselves. First, we are under time constraints. This permit has to be closed by July 20 or we have to pay to renew it and they may deny our renewal. Second, we are so crunched for time as it is that the last thing I can do is take on a large, new project representing a skill we have minimal experience at. Third, our time is valuable. By the time we went to Home Depot, bought all the supplies and tools, went back to Home Depot for what we forgot on the first trip and got started, it would be a lot of hours invested before the work even starts. Fourth, I want it done well. We could do it, but having seen inexperienced drywallers with our last contractor (and having to pay to have someone fix their inadequate job) I know the difference between having it done well and not. Perhaps when we do the garage we'll do it ourselves, but I don't want to cut corners here where it is so visible. Finally, when a contractor does the work there is a guarantee. If the patches crack, I call him and it is fixed. If we mess it up, it is our problem. If his work doesn't pass inspection, he fixes it.

I also worked on organizing the broom closet a little more. It's a project I have to tackle in phases. Like Sherlock Holmes, I work from the known to the unknown. I have to figure out where to put the first thing, then go from there.

The wet stucco around the window. What a concept - they masked the windows and tarped the ground. Our prior contractor didn't quite grasp the concept of tarping.



Here is the first pass at patching the drywall inside. Again, I was quite impressed they used tarps.

The thing that made me most happy today was this hole and two others like it were finally filled. I've been living in constant fear that some small creature would find it's way in and make a nice home in our walls.

Organizing thwarted by disorganization

Even though it is Sunday, I really wanted to get a little bit of work done. I sanded and wiped the towel cubby first. The second coat feels pretty smooth, so maybe the next coat may be it. I would love to finish it tomorrow and put the towels away on Tuesday (this will free up room on a bookcase for C's dvd's).

The main reason I was antsy to do some work is that I wanted to organize my broom closet because it is a critical path item to clearing the dog stuff off the countertop. I have 3 15" wide tall pantry cabinets side by side. One of them is the broom closet, and is designated as non-food storage. This is the perfect place for the dog stuff. Believe it or not, the dog generates a lot of clutter. There are toys, travel supplies, care supplies, and of course the various varieties of collars and harnesses we tried. I wanted to do the broom closet portion of this tall cabinet first because it takes up the lower portion of the tall cabinet. Once it is organized, I can tell how low the lowest shelf can be, and start working up from there. Because the cabinet is so deep (24"), I need to use pull-out bins of some sort so things don't get lost at the back.

After removing items that didn't belong, I mounted a few Command Adhesive Hooks to hold the broom. (These are great hooks - they mount with a special adhesive that leaves no mark on the wall when you remove it. No nails and no committment!) I put the vacuum back in, and had only to put the bucket in. (No mop at this time - there is so little flooring that needs mopping I just use a rag and some spray cleaner. I'll probably upgrade to a Swiffer when I need a mop.) I decided to hang the bucket from the top of the broom closet portion of the cabinet with a cup hook. This is where I got thwarted - somewhere is this wonderland of construction mess, I have a box like a fisherman's tackle box filled with all sorts of odd hardware. There are cuphooks in here. The problem is that I cannot find the box! Ugh! This is why I like things organized and decluttered. I hate looking for things and losing things. Why have something if you can't find it? Now I have to go to the hardward store and buy new cuphooks tomorrow and wasn't able to finish the project. Oh well, at least I am on my way. It gives me hope that each day I am getting closer to being organized and "moved in."

A little work, even on a Saturday

Today C and I spent about an hour talking about the design of our deck. There are so many details to work out, and many of them effect other things too. We didn't resolve anything, but it was a really productive discussion. C did some work on the electronics and wiring in the house, and I ordered some stuff online to organize the dog's things and get them off our countertop.

Technorati.com

I've been reading some blogs lately, and have had trouble remembering to check them regularly. I would bookmark them and check them one by one each day or so to see if they had been updated. I found this site:


www.technorati.com

that keeps track of all of them for me and lets me know when they've been updated. I just go to technorati every morning and there is my favorites list in order of how recently they've been updated. I read up on anything from the last day and I'm done. It's really helpful. (BTW - I have no tie to this website other than being a satisified user).

I'm frequently behind on the blog

Just FYI, I am frequently behind on my blog, but I always catch up. I make notes daily and then when time permits I write the entry and upload the pictures. Make sure to go back to the last entry you read if you want to read them all.

Not much today either

I didn't get much done today either. I met C for lunch, which was very fun and had to take the dog to the vet.

Today's organizing project was something that I've wanted to do for a while. Before I even met him, C made really great chili. It is unusual for a bachelor to have a slow cooker, but he did for this purpose. We've adapted to our life together, and now make chili fairly often. I had the ingredients for a batch of chili sitting on the countertop for a few days, and it was bugging me. I hate things out on my counter. I like totally clear counters. So, I created a space in the cabinet to store the ingredients for one batch of chili. We often think on a weekend that we'd like to make chili but don't want to run out and get the stuff for it. Now I'll always be ready and the ingredients won't mistakenly get used for something else. I'm quite happy with it. I also started looking for solutions to store the large amount of stuff for the dog. His stuff has been out on the counter for three months since we've had him, and I about can't stand it another minute.

Contractor flaked, first bad sign

The contractor flaked today, and didn't call until 6 p.m. He was supposed to call when his guys finished the job they were on and were en route. I hope this isn't the beginning of things going bad. Our last contractor got really bad at the end, but it started like this. As C said, his shiny finish is beginning to fade. The contractor said he would commit to be here on Monday with 4 guys (2 working outside, 2 working inside) and that with a larger crew they would finish faster. We have about 3 work days before we can have our next pass at final inspection. The 3 work days won't be contiguous though - they have to several coats of drywall mud and stucco and let the coats dry in between.

Today I didn't get much done - I hate that feeling! I spent a few hours taking care of C's car though, including having it waxed. Wow, it looks brand new and I was really happy to do that for him. I did get a bit of yard work done and filled the yard waste bin for pickup tomorrow.

Not much to report

Today I didn't get much done. I had problems with my crackberry, I mean Blackberry. Of all things, I lost my task list! I back up frequently, so lost data is usually not an issue, but for some reason it just would access the task list unless I did a search. This kept me from being really productive - I use the task list to help me keep on top of the massive tasks on several to-do lists. I spent several hours working on it and ended up buying a used one on eBay. I'll probably upgrade to a newer model next time I have to replace it.

The contractor called and, gasp, apologized that his guys will be here late tomorrow instead of at 8:00 a.m. What a concept!

Today's organizing project was to put all the teas I have into a plastic basket. Putting things into a container (or "containerizing" as it is known by organizers) is a great way to minimize clutter and keep things from getting out of control. Now I have limits on how much tea I can have. If they don't fit here then something has to go. I did the same with the small tupperware containers. They are all neatly contained and not falling out every time I go to get one, and there is a limit to how many I can have. I love this philosophy, and use it for many things around the house. I believe that how much you can have is dictated by how much space you have. If it doesn't fit comfortably, something has to go.

Another inspection passed

We passed our next inspection today, which was to have the drywall looked at (they want to check the screws and make sure there are enough and that they are properly placed) and to have the outside waterproofing and lath looked at. Both passed with no problem. I am really hopeful we can finish the windows and patch the stucco and have another try at passing final inspection. I have a bad feeling something will come up. Today's inspector mentioned something about putting a number on the house. We already have one, but if he didn't see it the number must not be adequate. I was so flustered and nervous (so much rides on these inspections) that I didn't think to ask for specifics.

I am especially nervous about getting trapped in the corrections loop where they send an inspector, he gives you corrections, you make them and call for another inspection. A different guy comes out and says your corrections are fine but gives you a whole new list of corrections, etc, etc, etc. It's like looking at the never ending reflection of a mirror in a mirror. My electrical panel had to be inspected 4 times before passing and all of the corrections were done each time. With final building, they walk through and pretty much anything is fair game whether it was on your permit or not. If it took 4 tries to pass the panel, which has a small scope and specific code, imagine how many tries it could take when the whole house is target and there are codes for everything, even the number of pins on your deadbolt lock! Ugh, is there any hope? No wonder people do things without permits.

For today's decluttering task, I took 2 bags and one box to goodwill, and created a smoothie/vitamin/dog supplement area near where the blender is stored and used. I moved spices out of the most prime real estate in the kitchen to a spot where they are still reachable and the ones we use daily are in easy reach. I love the new smoothie station. C and I have smoothies every morning, and I use the opportunity to add lots of supplements. We also take vitamins and the dog (who has a health issue) has a rigorous supplement schedule as well. To have all this together in one spot near the blender and grinder has been really great. I got the idea of a beverage station from this blog:


www.orgjunkie.blogspot.com

While I am not as much of an organizing junkie as she is, I do love to organize things and come up with better ways to do them. My mind naturally works that way, and even when I am out socially I always notice ways that a restaurant or store could work better. I did do one job as a paid organizer, and I did a lot of process design and documentation in my prior career as a business consultant and project manager. I find though, that I love doing it for myself and not for work. I hate clutter and chaos, and I hate looking for anything. My thought is that if something is worth owning, it is worth being able to put your hands on immediately.

Tree trim

Today we spent the afternoon trimming the trees. When we had our first pass at final inspection, that was one of the corrections we got - that our tree branches were touching the power lines. Since we don't know how soon we will again be ready for final inspection, we wanted to get this done. C is becoming quite handy with the long-pole trimmer!

Drywall and outside waterproofing

Yesterday and today, the contractor's crew was out putting up the drywall inside and then patching the waterproof paper outside as well as putting up lath outside to hold the stucco. They finished right on schedule. The inspection is Tuesday.

Our house is a mix of plaster and drywall. The parts of the house where no remodeling has happened are plaster and the parts where remodeling has happened (by us or previous owners) is drywall. When the contractors were putting up the drywall, they used firring strips to make up the difference in thickness (plaster is thicker). I thought this was very clever and much better than putting up drywall and using mud to do a low-quality patch.

Here is a shot of the firring strips. You can see a vertical one to the left of the light-colored wood of the window and a horizontal one on top of the window. Another runs at the ceiling.


They even put back the insulation, which I was pleasantly surprised at. I didn't negociate this in my contract, and because I didn't think of it I assumed C and I would have to do it ourselves before they did the drywall.