Warning: this post has formatting issues beyond my control. Typepad's numbering system gets messed up once you insert a picture. I give up trying to fix it. Apologies.
Years ago I managed the positive mental health aspect of a public school system continuing education AKA lifetime learning AKA edutainment program. I'm a firm believer that you never stop learning and should benefit by the acquisition of knowledge, intentional or not. Well, this major renovation has been an educational opportunity par excellence. Granted it's a course in First World Problems.
What I've learned to date:
- It's difficult to keep track of our stuff given that it is in storage in four five locations. A tarped stored vehicle counts as a storage unit.
- A contractor's approach to the buying process is different from mine. Example: you are taken to a plumbing fixture supplier with no visible price tags and told don't worry, you get our discount. Then the estimate arrives. I would much prefer to be told the price of items in advance and shop accordingly.
- The budgeting process in the building world is much different from the non-profit universe, where I spent 39 years of my life. In my professional role I used to write multiple page grant applications worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, so my hackles were up at an estimate that was entitled "proposal." Beware the nine page "proposal" for low voltage electrical items, which were budgeted at $4,000, and came in at $13,000. Really?
- It's bad enough that we don't know where items are in storage, but when Chuck wakes up unsure of his location... We have stayed in eight locations since the end of May. OK I'll give the guy a break. Here are some recent photos of our stay in West Vancouver, apartment/kitty sitting for our Camino Pal, Denise. The first is the Capilano River shrouded in the smoke of BC's forest fires:
Sunset at Park Royal Mall on our way for a Five Guys burger:
Watching the ships go by from Denise's balcony. Who knew that Disney cruise ships, when leaving port, sound horns that play "When You Wish Upon A Star" ?
5. You can teach an old dog new tricks AKA maybe it is possible to outgrow cat allergies. Here is C sharing some kitty lovin'. His words: take a picture because you may never see this again. She was an easy cat to love. Plus that crystal kitty litter makes life with a feline a pleasant, non-stinky experience.
6. "On the fly" costs money. When a builder suggests that it's easy to make adjustment during the building process rather than planning ahead, someone's got to pay for it, one guess who?
7. There are bound to be mistakes. Expensive mistakes. So many decisions concentrated in a short period of time. The house was framed, but we didn't note the window placement. We bit the bullet and agreed to pay for a new larger window so I could see out one side of the house.
8. No house doesn't mean no stash. We creative types still manage to amass supplies despite no place to put them. Yarn, art materials, they fit in a Rubbermaid. But a woodpile? C did a good job of building a shed and sealing away his wood stash in preparation for our move. But during our recent stay in West Vancouver I noticed weatherbeaten boards occupying a place next to our car. So much that it required a special trip to the woodshed, an hour each way, for storage. West Vancouver was paradise for a beachcomber.
9 . Denial doesn't work. How many of you told me that building projects never come in on time? You are correct. I really really believed that we could be in our house for a family Christmas. Magical thinking that was. We're working on January.
I'm not complaining, some life lessons are harder than others, but I know they turn out well in the end.