Boxing Day...

Ok. So, it is the day after Christmas (a.k.a. Boxing Day North of the border) and there is a warming trend and we have 50.4 ˚F at noon time. It is wet and cloudy. Oh well…

Here is a recap of the happenings of the last three days:

·         The plumbers hooked up the pipes and the garbage disposal to the main kitchen sink and the ice-maker in the kitchen bar.

·         The glass and mirror people showed up to install the shower glass enclosures in the master bathroom and, I believe, the mirrors in the kitchen bar.

·         Sears showed up and fixed the fridge.

·         Jimmy and his sons set up the mantle on the fire place and then installed a TV above the mantle.

·         The stone people finished the installation of all the granite counter tops (with big help from Jimmy and his people), the veggie sink in the kitchen, and the sinks in the master bathroom. The only setback was that a big mirror for the back of the bar in the kitchen was cut about ½ inch off center; has to be redone; will be redone by the week of January 8^th…

·         Chris went back home today (he had been staying with Jan for the week). He helped and accompanied and provided a great deal of peace of mind to me. I am indebted to him.

·         Jan and the girls went to Sam’s and the damage was so bad that the manager came out to thank them for their business!

·         We set up some of the living room furniture and had our 1^st fire!

·         I hung up mirrors in two of the five bathrooms. Also put up fixtures (towel bars, TP holders, etc.)

·         Cleaned and set up the kitchen

·         Had a small gathering in Christmas Eve

·         Opened presents on Christmas Day; spoke to close friends, my parents and Kiki & Tini.

·         At 3:00 PM Christmas Day, the main pipe that brings water from the filtration systems into the house busted. There was water gushing out like fire hydrants; after 3 hours the plumbers came and fixed it.

·         At about 5:30 PM, Lola was exploring and fell through the elevator shaft onto the top of the elevator; then she bounced and fell to the bottom of the shaft and got wedged between the back of the elevator and the wall; all together about 22 feet. I had to open a whole in the wall to get her out; did it!

·         Uncle Spence and Auntie Marcia Price, Leah’s godparents, arrived at about 6:30 PM.

·         We had a great turkey breast dinner.

·         Today, the Temperellis (Mike, Nancy and Jesse) arrived at about 5:30 PM; we celebrated Nancy’s 39^th J birthday with a great pork dinner…

All is well that ends well!

2nd Day: we are staying!

As we started to get up and active we discovered there was no water in the house; after some research it was apparent some pipes were frozen over night (it went down to around 6 ˚F last night). The pipes were supposed to be insulated and protected but were not…

Plumbers have been here all day long heating the pipes in many areas and have come to the conclusion that one of the pumps, the one from the cistern to the filtration system, burned out; reason unknown yet! As of now, we are waiting for our builder to assess the situation and (a) see if it is indeed a burnt pump; and (b) how long this would take to fix. If it is more than one day, we are packing and going back tomorrow…

As it turned out, there was no damage to any of the pumps; only a great deal of frozen water in the pipes; it took until 5PM to thaw them out; we are staying… YES!

We finished the day with the installation of the main kitchen sink under the counter; tomorrow the plumbers come back to hook it up. Additionally, Jimmy’s sons helped the plumbers install the water line into the freezer’s ice maker. We now have ice; civilized drinks are possible; making more progress!

Sometimes one either forgets or takes for granted little things: we were able to shower today!

Went to bed around 9:00 PM…

Alex, Leah, Lola, Bo, Pancho and I left for ‘the Bluff’ at about 4:15 AM on Sunday, December 21, 2008. The car (the Escalade) was loaded to the hilt, including the top rack and an extra-grill attached to the rear hitch. After a bit of uncertain start with the cargo on the top rack coming loose and Bo being anxious (bothering her sister Leah), we got into a good driving groove and eventually made it here at about 5:15 PM EST (4:15 PM CST – Local).

Jan was very happy to see us and us her; she’s been here the whole week with Chris and tremendous progress has been made; but it has not come easy. Anxiety, uncertainty, last-minute changes have been the daily ‘agenda’…

When we got here it was cold, about 27 ˚F; we unloaded as much as we could and put it all in the garage. Later, as we were trying to find our air mattresses in the garage, Pancho saw and sought the opportunity to escape, and SO HE DID! It was dark already and we were all in inside clothes; by the time we grabbed jackets and shoes, he had take off and disappeared into the wilderness.
Jan, Chris, Lean and I went out to look for him while Alex stayed behind just in case he returned on his own. Leah stayed on foot while Jan Chris and I jumped on the car to see if we could find him and then entice him to come to the car; no avail! As it turns out, after he roamed for a while and satisfied his curiosity he came back on his own! Dirty, cold and wet, but in one piece!

Sleeping was OK; we all used air mattresses: Jan and I each in one, in our bedroom, Alex and Leah upstairs and Chris took the basement (to avoid the early morning stirring) as I am causing right now... It is about 6:50 AM CST and about 6.9 ˚F!

This is clearly work-in-progress, but the key word is ‘progress’…

Will report again tomorrow…

Leah, Dad, Hawk's Bluff, Unique week-end...

So, Leah and I went this past week-end to Hawk's Bluff. We left our house in Sunrise at around 6:30 PM EST. Stopped briefly twice, for refueling and bathroom breaks an got there at 6:oo AM EST (or 5:00 AM CST).

Melissa and Ralph, from the Way Inn, had room 19 open, with a light, and warmed up waiting for us. Although my co-pilot had slept on and off (more on than off) on the way up; we both hit the hay immediately for a nap...

Got up about 7:30 AM, grabbed a couple of biscuits with bacon and egg at the Way Inn little store and header for the house. There has been progress, but I am afraid that not enough for it to be finished for this coming Saturday.

The interior work is progressing aggressively but there is till lots of work to do...

After being in the house for about one hour, Leah and I went to Dee and Phil's house and visited with them, warm and nice, and the Perez (they all had had an ugly battle with Seagram's the night before and were still trying to understand which way was up...)

Later, we went to Cookeville and had lunch at Sam's club; on our way home stopped by the Sparta Wal-Mart (obligatory stop) and got back to our hotel room in tome to watch, in total, the severe and humbling whooping the Gators gave Satan and his Crimson (now black-and-blue) Tide...

We left our house at precisely 10:00 AM EST Sunday morning and pulled into our Sunrise driveway at 9:00 PM EST. We made the 810 miles in 11 hours, an average of 73.6 MPH (including two stops!)

Jan and I are going back this Saturday; we reserved two rooms (one for us and one for Chris) at the Way Inn for Saturday since the floors may still be fresh; I will be coming back on Sunday (flying) and Jan stays... We are having the phones installed on Monday, the alarm on Tuesday and the Satellite TV on Friday.

24-NOV-08

Jan and I went to Tennessee this past week-end. We left home at 6:35 PM EST and drove straight through; stopped twice for fueling and bio-breaks, once in the Okahumpka Plaza in the FL Turnpike and then right south of Atlanta at about 2 AM. Got the Hawk's Bluff at about 5:15 AM (4:15 AM CST). We were tired and took a nap (about 2 hours) at the Way Inn's paring lot (it was too early to check in).

It was 14 degrees F when we got to the house at around 6:30 AM after getting some coffee at the corner convenience store. It was cold! There was no snow but, instead, there was a frost on the ground that made everything white/gray... Surreal!

There is progress being made, in all fronts, and a couple of snags (what would life be without them!) regarding the gas line - not in yet - and the stone for the fireplace: Jimmy does not like the way the current stone looks on it; so he will order a different one (impact on time & money). But, while we were there on Saturday, there were about 10 people working in the house: Jimmy's sons were building the rails; some other people were inserting the cabinets in Alex's and Leah's rooms and the rest were working on laying the stone work outside...

We will be back on the Dec 6 week-end and then, for good on Dec 13th. On Dec 6th we will have a better idea of the level of readiness the house will have for the Holidays. We may have a 'camping' Christmas Season, but we will keep our hopes high...

Nov 18th Update

Jan and I went to Hawk’s Bluff this past week-end; flew early Friday morning into Nashville; rented a Toyota Tundra pick-up truck (what a car!); stayed at the Way Inn for two nights (we were the only non-hunters in the joint!) and flew back home on Sunday night.

Unfortunately this time we forgot to take a camera (one of the – at least – two dozen we have) and, therefore, we have no pictures to show… Otherwise, we would have shown you the latest on the house and the SNOW!

At any rate, there is progress being done; while we were there we met with the plumbers and paid for all the fixtures they ordered. We also met with Sammy who will be the caretaker, like he does for Scott and Mary Newmann; once we ‘move in’, we will come by weekly and flush the toilets, check the windows and doors, etc. We also spent quite a bit of time with Jimmy Hale and finished the paints schema, some decorative infrastructure (like where to hang the TV set and the elk mount above the fire place!), settled the finances to ensure we were all singing from the same page, and got a high level sequence of tasks that would allow the inside to be finished by December 16^th (move-in date!). There will be some tasks going on in the outside (stones, retaining wall, final front door approach, landscaping, garage, etc.) that will continue to go on to be finished as time allows.

Jan and I, meanwhile, need to:

• Buy the hardware for the doors (locks, levels, knobs) for inside & outside;
• Decide on the granite for the basement bar (depending on price);
• Decide on mirrors for the kitchen bar, also depending on price
• Buy vanity mirrors for Alex's, Leah's and our bathroom.
  

We are going back up (driving) this Friday and driving back on Sunday!

Charz volunteered Tom to accompany Jan in a Tennessee adventure, driving up on Nov 2^nd and down on Nov 5^th or the 6^th, depending on how much could be accomplished; the main issue is the appliances being delivered on Nov 4^th and then ensuring they are secured.

On Thursday, Oct 30^th I sent Jimmy Hale (our builder) a simple message asking him to verify Jan would be able to stay at the house – as he had committed to - after driving 12 hours and getting there at night (electricity, running water, toilet and shower were the basic needs). Early Friday AM, I got an e-mail from Beth – his admin – saying that the house would not be inhabitable for Jan on Nov 2^nd and that the new finish date was Nov 30^th. After consultations, and assessing financial impact (the cost of 4 or 5 hotel nights needed to be considered now), Tom decided to still go. Jan wrote Jimmy a rather frank and candid letter sharing her feelings and unmet expectations…

On Sunday Nov 2^nd, Jan left the house at 5:30 AM to go pick up Tom in Boca and keep on going to Tennessee. They made great time and were there in under 12 hours, safe and sound and still on time to have dinner at the Way Inn. Melissa and Ralph, the Way Inn owners, did not like Tom being in the picture…

On Monday, Nov 3^rd Jan and Tom went to the house and immediately came to the conclusion that the appliances could not be delivered; nothing was ready for them; Jan called Sears and re-scheduled for Dec 16^th. Since we were there in early September, when Jimmy came up with the Nov 1^st date, the only progress has been the painting of the inside (wrong colors at that!) and the finishing of the wood trimming (no beams though!). Jan took some pictures…

Jan will be having a conversation with Jimmy today, Nov 4^th in order to gauge his disposition and his commitment. We will be going back on Nov 14^th and assess progress.