big checks

I wrote my first Big Check yesterday. Got it right on the third try -- it was difficult to get the "thousand" and the "hundred" in the right places. Now that I see what has been done so far I can understand why it costs so damn much.

I love the rusty window sash apparatus -- I almost asked for it to be saved, but I don't know what I'd do with it. The first huge load of debris was removed from the back yard yesterday afternoon, to make room for the laundry room walls, floor, and ceiling.

I had drinks with Dan B. last night -- thanks to June, who let me know he'd be in SF and made sure I had his number. We sat in the lounge area at the Slanted Door. It was great to see him. He drank quite a bit but it didn't seem to affect him all that much. Then again, he only had to walk a few yards to get back to his hotel.

We had a fun conversation with a woman who was waiting for her brother to meet her for a belated birthday dinner (her birthday is in July). Her brother arrived, and it turned out that he had a pretty good defense -- they had made an earlier date but she went home that night and put on her pajamas, having forgotten all about it.

Anyway, now I am sitting on the couch, thinking about pendant lamps and tankless water heaters. It doesn't seem like this should be taking up so much of my time and energy, since I'm not doing any of the work. But there are so many decisions and considerations! And I am an over thinker. So I'm . . . busy.

The refi should close on Monday or Tuesday. I can tell right now that I'll need that line of credit. I hadn't counted on the $1,350 in additional permits, and the windows and doors will cost more than I had been expecting. Next week I go with Ariel to Golden State Lumber so I can consider my window cladding and hardware options.

I wonder if the subfloor could be rehabbed? Probably not, from the looks of it.

day four

No ceiling! Blew my mind. I did hear Ariel say that everything would be taken down to the studs but I didn't realize that he'd be removing the ceiling.

day two

No more moldy sink. I can see a gap where the wall is supposed to meet the floor, under the window facing west. I'm glad there's mesh over the air vent . . . I thought I heard something scratching this morning, but it could have been the water heater ticking.

Turns out there used to be a door leading into the bathroom -- as I suspected.

Weird to think that this is all there is to the walls -- this is where the cabinet on the window side of the kitchen used to be.

day one

all I want

I just want to go home, drink some wine, and watch another bland episode of Nashville. Is that too pathetic even for this blog that nobody ever reads? I don't care!