Without a Pot to Piss in

 In the continuing saga of missing plumbing fixtures, the original toilets have vanished. One was last seen perched on the top landing of the industrial staircase. After D complained, the contractors agreed to replace them.  We specified a water and space saving toilet for the powder room (inspired by some we'd seen in Japan; no, this model does not have a built in cleansing and drying system). We never knew there were so many different flushing systems for conventional toilets, each with an educational video? (don't try that at home!).  

D has been mocking up the floor plans to figure out where the furniture will fit, thereby discovering some of it won’t.  How do you move from a condo to a house and have less room for furniture?  It’s those pesky views (and the windows that frame them) built in shelves, big closets, and spaces that are just an inch or two too small. The shoe bench won’t fit in the front hall even though we asked the design team to make sure it did. Our new bedroom is smaller than the old one (but the closet is vast).


We gain much needed space in other areas. I look forward to rehearsals where we don’t have to banish the instrument cases from the room because there’s no space for us and them. Or put away everything because there's no room to deploy the Murphy bed and musical instruments. There’s also the attraction of not having to change bike tires in the front hall, or do electrical tinkering on the kitchen counter, or gardening on the balcony. Best of all, the office will no longer be festooned with antennae (though the house will look like a porcupine) and our reception should improve vastly.

This won't fit in the office

There is a surplus of cedar siding; nearly enough to cover the garage -stored inside the garage.  The car might just fit alongside the siding, a gas fireplace and a gigantic wall clock and assorted leftover light fixtures and shelving parts. Since my last post,  the kitchen has come together, the tiling completed, plumbing fixtures and lighting installed and the interior painting done.  Things are going fairly smoothly, except for the railings.

Elevation by Board and Vellum - with railings

There was endless back and forth between the architect, the contractor and the manufacturer over how they would be attached to the decks. At issue were both safety and durability, and the manufacturer's alarming statement that this was a non standard installation and they wouldn't guarantee it will be to code. Finally the shop drawings were agreed upon, the spacing checked over and the materials ordered. However, the promised delivery date passed, and the installation of the railings will be the thing that holds up inspection.

The house was supposed to be inspected by March 13th.  My joking references to move in dates such as Chinese New Year, St. Patrick’s Day, and April Fool's Day have proven optimistic. Our friends have become wary of asking us how the project is going, or if we have moved in yet. Though they have been generous about helping us find boxes.

Here we go again!

We packed up most of the books, all of the CDs and are about waist deep in boxes around the living room. I'm cooking my way through the stockpiles of food in the cupboards and freezer.  We went out for a celebratory dinner, though it was more of a consolation than a celebration. I haven't gotten around to filing a change of address with the Postal Service, for some strange reason. Hookups for Internet and other services have been scheduled and re-scheduled. I’m not sure how much longer our sanity will survive being constantly on the verge of moving. On the plus side, it will be nothing like an international move. . . that long gap while you wait for your stuff to arrive.  Here it will be about 20 minutes, if the bridge is up.