The City called at around noon, following up on Lisa's home improvement rebate application. There needs to be an inspection first. An acquaintance of ours who works for the City does the inspections, and she'll come by Monday. On the back of her approval sheet will be directions on how to collect and annotate the receipts. Then she asked if we were doing the work ourselves or bringing in a contractor. I told her about Coastline and she said that any contractor had to have a business license with the City. I told her I'm sure Coastline did, as they just finished the job down the block; but she checked anyway. Then came back to say that all business licenses expire on June 30 (day after tomorrow) anyway, so they need to get a new one. She was kinda emphatic (read: bitchy) on this point. I said I'd follow up with the contractor and make sure he had all the paperwork needed.
And politely said goodbye. This is why I want Lisa to handle this. I really wanted to give her the Cheney business and tell her to f-off, but I was a good boy (meds must be working overtime now).
Lisa's not thrilled, however, with making the calls. It's a pain in the ass. The California Closet units we have in the kitchen and bedroom (which we hoped to uninstall then re-install in the "new" house [in an attempt to keep costs down, as all closet hangers and shelves are NOT included in our $380K budget]) will cost about $350 to uninstall and another $350 to re-install. Lisa wants to talk this over with Fred, but I don't think she's going to like the conversation; Fred is decidedly anti-pre-fab. So this will be interesting.
As for the other calls... Electricity went OK. Gas was fine. Trying to contact the cable company (Time-Worthless) was impossible... but this has got to happen, as not only do we need the TV, but I need the cable modem for access for work... but she bounced around from phone tree to phone tree, before getting disconnected.
So then she tried the phone company. Ewwwww, the break-up of Ma Bell has made the whole situation FUBAR. If we want to keep our phone number, we need to keep this number in service... as we can't transfer it to the condo less than a mile away because it's not in Verizon's region. We'd have use AT&T for the new place. Of course, we'd like to keep our old number. But even at the cheapest rate, that's $30+ a month (and they can't guarantee it would work, with all the demolition taking place). Verizon: not very helpful, and Lisa not very happy. So she sets up the new phone with AT&T; she'll cancel Verizon when we vacate the house.
I tried to call TimeWarner after dinner, but I'd get two rings THEN a busy signal... I'll try again either late tonight, or early tomorrow morning.
I packed up some of the office today; want to try to do some of the bedroom closet tonight (before picking up Kyle), and then pack for the trip. We leave EARLY tomorrow morning... I'm hoping this trip will be serious stress relief (but I worry that we'll be stressing all the time lost while we're there...).
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Packing
Been packing... moving dvds from cases to a carrying binder... tossing out stuff we won't need or want... the dumpster was delivered yesterday, and it's 2/3 full... took the approved version of the plan to C&R (Ford) graphics for copying... Lisa picked up the 4 copies later in the day (another $122)... we'll drop off the plans at the Mailbu worksite tomorrow on our way to the airport (it's such awful timing, going away for this wedding... if Sara hadn't responded to our RSVP with such joy [and if Lisa's maid of honor Sandy hadn't done the same when we told her we'd be up in Portland for the weekend], I'd have cancelled the trip... but I'm hoping the week away will help alleviate the stress--good luck with that)... we're trying to see if we can pick up the keys to condo on our way back from the airport Sunday...
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Ball Rolling
We've been doing a lot of packing, sorting, dumping in the last few days. So much so that the trash can that was emptied today could have had at least four times its contents. Lisa will be stopping by the City this afternoon to order up a mini-dumpster. Gee, only another hundred bucks.
Fred needs four copies of the drawings; just sent an email off to the David the architect... I need to have him make sure his latest version of the drawings are being archived (he had switched his account from Ford Graphics to another vendor), or I'll need to take the marked up versions down to get them copied. More bucks.
I also left Dana know that we're going to take Fred up on the offer for some muscle to move. We are now set for Friday, July 6. I'll reserve the U-Haul truck for Friday, and make sure the Pod is delivered on Thursday.
Tonight after water polo practice, I want to clean out the office closet of my stuff... see how much I can throw away... also see how much I can do with my closet as well. Maybe I can get to work on my guitar amp as well (if I can't fix it, it goes into the donate pile)...
[UPDATE: 4:20
Lisa got the dumpster... it will be delivered tomorrow.
I reserved the Pod. It will be delivered Thursday, July 5, and will be picked up and transfered to the Ventura warehouse on Saturday, July 7... it's all good.
Haven't heard from David yet...]
Fred needs four copies of the drawings; just sent an email off to the David the architect... I need to have him make sure his latest version of the drawings are being archived (he had switched his account from Ford Graphics to another vendor), or I'll need to take the marked up versions down to get them copied. More bucks.
I also left Dana know that we're going to take Fred up on the offer for some muscle to move. We are now set for Friday, July 6. I'll reserve the U-Haul truck for Friday, and make sure the Pod is delivered on Thursday.
Tonight after water polo practice, I want to clean out the office closet of my stuff... see how much I can throw away... also see how much I can do with my closet as well. Maybe I can get to work on my guitar amp as well (if I can't fix it, it goes into the donate pile)...
[UPDATE: 4:20
Lisa got the dumpster... it will be delivered tomorrow.
I reserved the Pod. It will be delivered Thursday, July 5, and will be picked up and transfered to the Ventura warehouse on Saturday, July 7... it's all good.
Haven't heard from David yet...]
Monday, June 25, 2007
Building Permit!
Yep, we now have a building permit. And it only cost us $2500. Sorry, a total of $2492.60 (146.37 for mechanical, 265.11 for electrical, 153 for plumbing, 16.66 for STRNG [whatever that is], and $1911.46 for BPTMP [which I'm assuming is the permit]).
Holy crap.
But we're set to start and the only fire sprinkler caveat is that we need to have the drawings approved before framing can begin... which I figure won't be until the end of July... we should be fine.
Here's the inspection record and the building permit.
Let the demo begin! (like the demolition of our bank accounts hasn't already started)
Holy crap.
But we're set to start and the only fire sprinkler caveat is that we need to have the drawings approved before framing can begin... which I figure won't be until the end of July... we should be fine.
Here's the inspection record and the building permit.
Let the demo begin! (like the demolition of our bank accounts hasn't already started)
Updates
This morning, Lisa took paperwork and receipts to the City (I guess so they could make copies). The "boss" hadns't spoken to Fire yet... but we were on their "to call" list once that had taken place.
Around 1pm, the City called. The boss had called Fire... seems like the situation was JUST like I said it was. Fancy freakin' that. They want Lisa to drop by and pick up the building permit and pay another fee (for what and what amount, we're not clear on).
Around 1:45, Dana from Coastline called. They got our message from Friday, and apologized for not getting back to us sooner. They have a licensed fire sprinkler contractor who will do the design... it'll take a couple of weeks. I told her that Lisa was on her way to the City to pick up the permit, and we should have more (and more positive) information.
When we get the permit from the City, I need to call architect David to find out where the new plans are being kept... he had become dissatisfied with Ford Graphics... so they are somewhere else now... want to make sure Fred and Coastline have the lastest and greatest (and approved) versions.
Around 1pm, the City called. The boss had called Fire... seems like the situation was JUST like I said it was. Fancy freakin' that. They want Lisa to drop by and pick up the building permit and pay another fee (for what and what amount, we're not clear on).
Around 1:45, Dana from Coastline called. They got our message from Friday, and apologized for not getting back to us sooner. They have a licensed fire sprinkler contractor who will do the design... it'll take a couple of weeks. I told her that Lisa was on her way to the City to pick up the permit, and we should have more (and more positive) information.
When we get the permit from the City, I need to call architect David to find out where the new plans are being kept... he had become dissatisfied with Ford Graphics... so they are somewhere else now... want to make sure Fred and Coastline have the lastest and greatest (and approved) versions.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Aches and Pain in the Ass
Spent much of yesterday cleaning out/organizing the garage.
Not that we can keep any stuff in it, just to get it ready to act as a staging area.
We've decided to put stuff into four piles: to store, to move with us to Surfside, to sell (there's a neighborhood yard sale every Labor Day, but we've decided to donate the stuff instead... there's not much cash value we're going to get out of the items [we tend to price to move... get the damn thing over before lunch], and a great tax benefit if we donate), and to shitcan.
At least with the garage, it's working out to my master plan: the piles for donation and dumping are much larger than the move and store piles (though I am beginning to cringe at the size of the move pile... ewww).
I've checked with the City... there's household hazardous waste dumping every month... of course, the next date won't be until after we "move"... so I'm going to need to find a place to store it for a week. Joy.
Today, we work on another room: yet to be decided... we'll figure that one out over breakfast. I'm thinking kitchen/living room, or our bedroom. I definitely want to get the shed emptied temporarily and moved off into the corner of the back yard.
We're going to call the donation place and get our first batch of donations picked up / or find out where to drop off... we need to do that quickly, as we're losing room in the garage.
Over the course of the week, I want to dismantle at least one large piece of furniture per night.
... and I'd like to move the pieces into the garage as we go. (thus the need to open up space quickly).
There's still "technically" two weeks before we have to be out of the house... we can move into the other place next Sunday, but we'll be out of town for the wedding of a former student of mine next weekend.
So, here's what I'd like to do:
Then demo can begin in July 9... that is, of course, if we can get all the building permit stuff taken care of by then (should really make a list of all that needs to be done there)...
Not that we can keep any stuff in it, just to get it ready to act as a staging area.
We've decided to put stuff into four piles: to store, to move with us to Surfside, to sell (there's a neighborhood yard sale every Labor Day, but we've decided to donate the stuff instead... there's not much cash value we're going to get out of the items [we tend to price to move... get the damn thing over before lunch], and a great tax benefit if we donate), and to shitcan.
At least with the garage, it's working out to my master plan: the piles for donation and dumping are much larger than the move and store piles (though I am beginning to cringe at the size of the move pile... ewww).
I've checked with the City... there's household hazardous waste dumping every month... of course, the next date won't be until after we "move"... so I'm going to need to find a place to store it for a week. Joy.
Today, we work on another room: yet to be decided... we'll figure that one out over breakfast. I'm thinking kitchen/living room, or our bedroom. I definitely want to get the shed emptied temporarily and moved off into the corner of the back yard.
We're going to call the donation place and get our first batch of donations picked up / or find out where to drop off... we need to do that quickly, as we're losing room in the garage.
Over the course of the week, I want to dismantle at least one large piece of furniture per night.
... and I'd like to move the pieces into the garage as we go. (thus the need to open up space quickly).
There's still "technically" two weeks before we have to be out of the house... we can move into the other place next Sunday, but we'll be out of town for the wedding of a former student of mine next weekend.
So, here's what I'd like to do:
- this week: get the temporary dumpster for the stuff we're shitcanning
- this week: get the first of the donation batches out of the property
- this week: get much of the hard stuff (deconstruction and packing) out of the way
- next Mon/Tues/Wed (July 2/3/4): move smaller stuff into Surfside
- next Thurs/Fri (July 5/6): get the pod delivered and move stuff into that
- the weekend of July 7: move us into Surfside and have the pod people pick up the storage pod
Then demo can begin in July 9... that is, of course, if we can get all the building permit stuff taken care of by then (should really make a list of all that needs to be done there)...
Friday, June 22, 2007
Showcases and Cases for Anger
Love Fred.
Hate the City.
OK, some explanation. We went down to Mailbu to see Coastline's showcase project. Very cool. Very "price-is-no-object." So it wasn't for us, but it did show us what they're capable of. Very nice (though in my opinion not as nice as Ray and Gloria's work down the street... I found more little detail issues in Malibu than down the street... but they aren't done yet).
On the way back home, Lisa checked voice-mail to find a message from the City, informing us that we were approved and that we could come by to pick up the Fire Dept. 126A form and pay the school fees. OK. I decide to swing by the house to pick up the already filled out paperwork signed by the Fire official.
We get to the city--I say "we" because I want Lisa there to do the talking (I figure it's safer that way)--and things start to fall apart right at the start.
The receptionist's not sure about the Fire papers, wants to see a receipt (after all, it's ONLY SIGNED by the guy at Fire). Whatever. Then she calls over the other woman (the one I spoke to on the phone earlier in the week), who tells us that she's got a problem with the Fire Dept. even giving us this paperwork without having approved the fire sprinkler plan. I told her what the guy at Fire told me: later before the sprinklers are installed, they'll need to approve the fire sprinkler plans, as drawn by a certified fire sprinkler contractor (in other words, David the architect's drawings are not good enough). She doesn't like this at all; she needs to have her boss talk to Fire and clarify that... and before that happens, no building permit. God, I hate being the test case for new legislation. But I bite my lip and keep quiet.
Then she hands over the school fee papers. We need to take them to each school district in whose boundaries we reside (Hueneme Elementary and Oxnard Union High School), and pay them there. WTF? I thought we were coming to the city to pay the fees. Nope. Not so much. I look at the paperwork, scanning for numbers. I find something labeled "SF" with the number 1269. I assume this means "School Fees" and think, "Holy Shit... I gotta pay $1269 to each district? This is SF, all right... Super Fucked." At that point, I can't keep quiet any more, so I leave Lisa to handle the City. I am done with the City... Lisa can deal with them... I'll only make matters worse.
When Lisa gets back to the car, she explains that each district will use the Square Footage to determine the fees. So it can't be as bad as $1269, right? Uh, no.
Hueneme School District offices are across the street, so we head there for the hell of it. It turns out that the HSD School Tax Fee isn't 1269... it's $1560.87. Holy FUCK. Great. Love the 87 cents... that's nice. Perfect. And the lady there tells us that the high school district fee will be about the same, if not to the penny. Wonderful.
So we go to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the summer kick-off block party we're missing while we do this (read: tequila). Then I drop Lisa off and head over to the high school district offices. I want this done today, so Lisa can take both papers, both receipts, plus the receipt from Fire to those fuckers at the City on Monday. On the way to the HS district, I text Lisa Fred's number and call her to have her let Fred know about the glitch: that the Building Permit is on hold until after the fire sprinkler plan is submitted and approved (by a specifically certified fire sprinkler contractor... because I just KNOW the City is not going to release a permit without it... so that needs to be created, taken to Fire, approved by Fire, the approval by Fire taken to the City, the City approval granted, then probably the City charging us another thousand dollars for the Building Permit, and finally sending us on our way sans lube, kiss or dinner), and asking Fred if he has a guy that does that, or is that something we take on?
Anyway, I get to the high school district and pay my fee there: $1801.98. Couldn't we just round up to 1802? Fuck this hurts.
Now I'm home. Lisa couldn't get a hold of Fred and has left a voice-mail.
And I'm thinking of Animal House:
Hate the City.
OK, some explanation. We went down to Mailbu to see Coastline's showcase project. Very cool. Very "price-is-no-object." So it wasn't for us, but it did show us what they're capable of. Very nice (though in my opinion not as nice as Ray and Gloria's work down the street... I found more little detail issues in Malibu than down the street... but they aren't done yet).
On the way back home, Lisa checked voice-mail to find a message from the City, informing us that we were approved and that we could come by to pick up the Fire Dept. 126A form and pay the school fees. OK. I decide to swing by the house to pick up the already filled out paperwork signed by the Fire official.
We get to the city--I say "we" because I want Lisa there to do the talking (I figure it's safer that way)--and things start to fall apart right at the start.
The receptionist's not sure about the Fire papers, wants to see a receipt (after all, it's ONLY SIGNED by the guy at Fire). Whatever. Then she calls over the other woman (the one I spoke to on the phone earlier in the week), who tells us that she's got a problem with the Fire Dept. even giving us this paperwork without having approved the fire sprinkler plan. I told her what the guy at Fire told me: later before the sprinklers are installed, they'll need to approve the fire sprinkler plans, as drawn by a certified fire sprinkler contractor (in other words, David the architect's drawings are not good enough). She doesn't like this at all; she needs to have her boss talk to Fire and clarify that... and before that happens, no building permit. God, I hate being the test case for new legislation. But I bite my lip and keep quiet.
Then she hands over the school fee papers. We need to take them to each school district in whose boundaries we reside (Hueneme Elementary and Oxnard Union High School), and pay them there. WTF? I thought we were coming to the city to pay the fees. Nope. Not so much. I look at the paperwork, scanning for numbers. I find something labeled "SF" with the number 1269. I assume this means "School Fees" and think, "Holy Shit... I gotta pay $1269 to each district? This is SF, all right... Super Fucked." At that point, I can't keep quiet any more, so I leave Lisa to handle the City. I am done with the City... Lisa can deal with them... I'll only make matters worse.
When Lisa gets back to the car, she explains that each district will use the Square Footage to determine the fees. So it can't be as bad as $1269, right? Uh, no.
Hueneme School District offices are across the street, so we head there for the hell of it. It turns out that the HSD School Tax Fee isn't 1269... it's $1560.87. Holy FUCK. Great. Love the 87 cents... that's nice. Perfect. And the lady there tells us that the high school district fee will be about the same, if not to the penny. Wonderful.
So we go to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the summer kick-off block party we're missing while we do this (read: tequila). Then I drop Lisa off and head over to the high school district offices. I want this done today, so Lisa can take both papers, both receipts, plus the receipt from Fire to those fuckers at the City on Monday. On the way to the HS district, I text Lisa Fred's number and call her to have her let Fred know about the glitch: that the Building Permit is on hold until after the fire sprinkler plan is submitted and approved (by a specifically certified fire sprinkler contractor... because I just KNOW the City is not going to release a permit without it... so that needs to be created, taken to Fire, approved by Fire, the approval by Fire taken to the City, the City approval granted, then probably the City charging us another thousand dollars for the Building Permit, and finally sending us on our way sans lube, kiss or dinner), and asking Fred if he has a guy that does that, or is that something we take on?
Anyway, I get to the high school district and pay my fee there: $1801.98. Couldn't we just round up to 1802? Fuck this hurts.
Now I'm home. Lisa couldn't get a hold of Fred and has left a voice-mail.
And I'm thinking of Animal House:
"My advice to you is to start drinking heavily."Yep. Sounds like good advice. Maybe then I can feel the love and not the hate.
"Better listen to him Flounder: he's pre-med."
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Let the Countdown Begin
July 9.
That is when Fred and we agreed that demo/construction would begin. I would have shot for July 2, but we'll be out of town for a former student's wedding the weekend before, and there's no sense starting July 5 (which is a Thursday).
So we have two and a half weeks to get our stuff together and out of the house (and all our stuff: I had thought [ok, hoped/wished] that we would be able to keep some stuff in the garage... nope, it's all got to go... I'm just not sure it'll all fit in a pod). Fred says that his crew can help us move (either into the pod or into the truck to take us to Surfside... we just need to let him know).
A couple of loose ends were tied up last night: the upper deck was included, the lower was not (that's ok... as far as I'm concerned the concrete pad is good enough for the back patio), and the full-on HVAC forced air unit wasn't included. This was a drag. We talked about it, and with Lisa's chill issues and my overheating issues, we need it... so Fred and we are going to split it. Another 5K. So the total price is now 380K. What the hell... it's only money.
I'll call the City to get permits throughout the week. Also, I think I'm going to try to spend at least two hours a night, breaking down/packing stuff. Tonight, Lisa and I will have to make some hard decisions as to what stays (and what gets tossed), and what gets stored vs. what moves with us to Surfside.
Friday, Lisa and I will take a little ride down to Malibu to check out Fred's construction site... should be fun.
Not as much fun is the fatigue I'm feeling now... I haven't had a good night's sleep in nearly a week, with all my dreams involving moving, packing, or throwing stuff away.
I'm tired...
That is when Fred and we agreed that demo/construction would begin. I would have shot for July 2, but we'll be out of town for a former student's wedding the weekend before, and there's no sense starting July 5 (which is a Thursday).
So we have two and a half weeks to get our stuff together and out of the house (and all our stuff: I had thought [ok, hoped/wished] that we would be able to keep some stuff in the garage... nope, it's all got to go... I'm just not sure it'll all fit in a pod). Fred says that his crew can help us move (either into the pod or into the truck to take us to Surfside... we just need to let him know).
A couple of loose ends were tied up last night: the upper deck was included, the lower was not (that's ok... as far as I'm concerned the concrete pad is good enough for the back patio), and the full-on HVAC forced air unit wasn't included. This was a drag. We talked about it, and with Lisa's chill issues and my overheating issues, we need it... so Fred and we are going to split it. Another 5K. So the total price is now 380K. What the hell... it's only money.
I'll call the City to get permits throughout the week. Also, I think I'm going to try to spend at least two hours a night, breaking down/packing stuff. Tonight, Lisa and I will have to make some hard decisions as to what stays (and what gets tossed), and what gets stored vs. what moves with us to Surfside.
Friday, Lisa and I will take a little ride down to Malibu to check out Fred's construction site... should be fun.
Not as much fun is the fatigue I'm feeling now... I haven't had a good night's sleep in nearly a week, with all my dreams involving moving, packing, or throwing stuff away.
I'm tired...
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Misanthropy
I hate people.
Just got off the phone with the City. According to the (OH SO [sarcasm]) HELPFUL woman on the line, our plans have been approved. Yay!
But they need to be stamped and approved by the City building guy. And when might that happen? Hopefully this week, but she "can't make any guarantees." It's freaking TUESday, and she's not sure that this guy can look at and stamp "APPROVED" on the plans. UNFREAKINGBELIEVABLE.
So I ask if I can tell our contractor we're ready to go. Not until we have a permit. And that can't happen until our City guy stamps the plans. Oh, and after we pay the school fees.
Oh, and when were they going to tell us about our "approval"? The mind reels.
Now some might say I hate bureaucracy... but what was bureaucracy created by? People.
Just want to scream.
Just got off the phone with the City. According to the (OH SO [sarcasm]) HELPFUL woman on the line, our plans have been approved. Yay!
But they need to be stamped and approved by the City building guy. And when might that happen? Hopefully this week, but she "can't make any guarantees." It's freaking TUESday, and she's not sure that this guy can look at and stamp "APPROVED" on the plans. UNFREAKINGBELIEVABLE.
So I ask if I can tell our contractor we're ready to go. Not until we have a permit. And that can't happen until our City guy stamps the plans. Oh, and after we pay the school fees.
Oh, and when were they going to tell us about our "approval"? The mind reels.
Now some might say I hate bureaucracy... but what was bureaucracy created by? People.
Just want to scream.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
A Place to Live
So we finally saw the Surfside place today. Kinda run-down (the last tenent was there for 10 years... so what do you expect?). A little dirty.
And now they want 1550 a month (instead of the 1450 we'd discussed), because we're not going to do a year lease. I said I didn't want to pay more than what we're already paying for our mortgage (which is 1500)... so we got it down to that. He said he needed to talk to his co-investor before agreeing to it... but he felt good about it, and moving forward to a July 1 move.
Later this afternoon, we received a voice-mail that we were on.
Lisa just got off the phone with him. Now they want a 1500 security fee. And a six month lease. (I'm a little leery of this, as I'm hoping Coastline will finish early... but Lisa says this is the best opportunity we'll have)...
Let's hope that the City is done this week... then maybe we can get a pod and load it up this weekend... and move when we get back from Portland (during the last weekend of this month)... let's hope so...
And now they want 1550 a month (instead of the 1450 we'd discussed), because we're not going to do a year lease. I said I didn't want to pay more than what we're already paying for our mortgage (which is 1500)... so we got it down to that. He said he needed to talk to his co-investor before agreeing to it... but he felt good about it, and moving forward to a July 1 move.
Later this afternoon, we received a voice-mail that we were on.
Lisa just got off the phone with him. Now they want a 1500 security fee. And a six month lease. (I'm a little leery of this, as I'm hoping Coastline will finish early... but Lisa says this is the best opportunity we'll have)...
Let's hope that the City is done this week... then maybe we can get a pod and load it up this weekend... and move when we get back from Portland (during the last weekend of this month)... let's hope so...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Rejections
Hate this part. The rejection calls.
Talked to chipper Petra from Al Lowe Construction, and let them know that while we appreciated their bid and their effort putting it together, we were rejecting the bid, and asked her to pass this information along to the project manager Gary. She asked, for informational purposes, if the bid was high. I told her about the consultation with Al and Gary back in February and the 250-300K ballpark, as well as the 412K bid. I said that this was quite a bit outside the ballpark, and much higher than the two other bids. She, still cheerfully, thanked me for my honesty and the call; I told her that I just wanted to get back to everyone and let them know where they stand.
Talked then with Stephen from Herman Construction (he's new taking over for Jon, whose card I had). Let him know that we appreciated their time/blahblah, but were going with someone else. He asked who, and I said Coastline. He asked if they were close, and I said yes. He asked if I was going to confirm with an email, and I said yes... then I hung up and sent the email.
It's kinda weird... it's been 24 hours since letting Coastline know... and I haven't heard anything from them... it's like the longest time that's passed since a call from Dana or Fred... I kinda miss 'em... kinda worries me that they haven't called. That's just paranoid.
Talked to chipper Petra from Al Lowe Construction, and let them know that while we appreciated their bid and their effort putting it together, we were rejecting the bid, and asked her to pass this information along to the project manager Gary. She asked, for informational purposes, if the bid was high. I told her about the consultation with Al and Gary back in February and the 250-300K ballpark, as well as the 412K bid. I said that this was quite a bit outside the ballpark, and much higher than the two other bids. She, still cheerfully, thanked me for my honesty and the call; I told her that I just wanted to get back to everyone and let them know where they stand.
Talked then with Stephen from Herman Construction (he's new taking over for Jon, whose card I had). Let him know that we appreciated their time/blahblah, but were going with someone else. He asked who, and I said Coastline. He asked if they were close, and I said yes. He asked if I was going to confirm with an email, and I said yes... then I hung up and sent the email.
It's kinda weird... it's been 24 hours since letting Coastline know... and I haven't heard anything from them... it's like the longest time that's passed since a call from Dana or Fred... I kinda miss 'em... kinda worries me that they haven't called. That's just paranoid.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Commitment
Just called Coastline [Better Business Bureau || Contractors State License Board (813394)] to let them know that they have won the bid. I'll let the others know tomorrow.
Dana from Coastline just called me back to set up a meeting with Fred next Tuesday night at 5pm (he cannot meet tomorrow).
There is a queasiness in my stomach suddenly. I hope we've made the right choice.
Dana from Coastline just called me back to set up a meeting with Fred next Tuesday night at 5pm (he cannot meet tomorrow).
There is a queasiness in my stomach suddenly. I hope we've made the right choice.
Adjustments and Messages
Took a look at the Private Loan stuff from Dad. Looks promising. Want to call our tax guy first, though (and since he didn't return my call from May... who knows how long that'll take... not an urgent priority right about now).
Lisa took a look at my numbers. She thinks some are high, and did some trims... down from 43K to 41K... but as she looked at the numbers, she was concerned that the paperwork Fred brought over said nothing about the HVAC (heater), an item that ranged between 8 and 16 grand on the other two bids.
So we're ready to go with Coastline: I'll call them this afternoon, and get things into motion, but say that we want to clarify numbers/costs.
In the meantime, I've called up the City and left a message about getting a storage pod... hopefully they'll call back soon. I'd love to get the pod this week, and slowly start loading it up before we even leave...
[UPDATE (9:53): The guy from the City just called. We would need a street encroachment permit. That's $25... but oh, yeah, there's an inspection fee of $70, as well. So it's $95 to store our stuff in a pod on the street, NOT counting the pod, of course. Oh, whoops, did I fail to mention that it's $95 PER MONTH, with reapplications EVERY MONTH (they won't even roll over the paperwork... let alone the cash). This is truly fucked. Looks like we'll need to do four full moves (from house to storage, from house to apartment, from apartment to house, from storage to house). Gotta hate this shit...]
[UPDATE (12:45): Have done some research... we can still use the pod: have them drop it off, we fill it up, they pick it up and store it, then bring it back after six months, and we unload it. This will cost about $1350. Yes, it's more expensive than self-storage (which is between 130 and 170 a month, but we'd also need to either rent a truck, or make multiple trips [hell, we might even have to make multiple trips with a truck]), but I'm thinking a helluvalot more convenient.]
Lisa took a look at my numbers. She thinks some are high, and did some trims... down from 43K to 41K... but as she looked at the numbers, she was concerned that the paperwork Fred brought over said nothing about the HVAC (heater), an item that ranged between 8 and 16 grand on the other two bids.
So we're ready to go with Coastline: I'll call them this afternoon, and get things into motion, but say that we want to clarify numbers/costs.
In the meantime, I've called up the City and left a message about getting a storage pod... hopefully they'll call back soon. I'd love to get the pod this week, and slowly start loading it up before we even leave...
[UPDATE (9:53): The guy from the City just called. We would need a street encroachment permit. That's $25... but oh, yeah, there's an inspection fee of $70, as well. So it's $95 to store our stuff in a pod on the street, NOT counting the pod, of course. Oh, whoops, did I fail to mention that it's $95 PER MONTH, with reapplications EVERY MONTH (they won't even roll over the paperwork... let alone the cash). This is truly fucked. Looks like we'll need to do four full moves (from house to storage, from house to apartment, from apartment to house, from storage to house). Gotta hate this shit...]
[UPDATE (12:45): Have done some research... we can still use the pod: have them drop it off, we fill it up, they pick it up and store it, then bring it back after six months, and we unload it. This will cost about $1350. Yes, it's more expensive than self-storage (which is between 130 and 170 a month, but we'd also need to either rent a truck, or make multiple trips [hell, we might even have to make multiple trips with a truck]), but I'm thinking a helluvalot more convenient.]
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Numbers
Have spent much of the morning going over the bids, and putting them into a spreadsheet to compare them. This is not easy, as Coastline didn't provide line-by-line item amounts. But seeing where Coastline is providing items and where Herman/Lowe aren't, and seeing how even Herman and Lowe didn't provide apples to apples comparisons, it's looking more and more like Coastline's the one. When I take into account what Herman's bid allows for us vs. what's provided by Coastline, Herman's total "cost" drops from 384K to 376K (still above Coastline); on the other hand, Lowe's total "cost" drops from 412K to around 380K (way above).
I also tallied up what I think our costs are going to be... damn. I figure around 43K for our outside-the-contractor costs (rent, storage, appliances, fixtures)... I hope I'm high (I'm going to have Lisa look over the numbers tonight)... but that would put us at 418K total cost. Like I said: damn.
I also put together a quick spreadsheet of what our assets are... double-damn. Home Eq has 227K available. We have 15K in joint savings, and my privately owned corporation has an additional 8K. I figure after taxes, the current work project will bring in an additional 35K... so we've about 285 to deal with. That's 133K short. Double-freaking-damn.
Dad called earlier and said that the numbers he had crunched earlier in the year for the inheritance... well, it's going to be the inheritance anyway, so we could use it now. If we needed to liquify his stuff this moment, we could get 126K... if we wait to the end of the year, it'll be 142K. So we need to get to the end of the year.
Fred said last night that by the end of the third month, about 65% will be due (followed by another 20% over the course of the next two months, and a final 15% coming in that sixth [final?] month)... If my math is correct, that means we'll need around 243K by the end of September. Our liquidity right now is 250 (and I figure that would NOT grow, as we'll be soon paying two housing payments [the mortgage and the rent] as well as a storage pod [or a self-store facility elsewhere])... so we'd make it... barely. By the end of October, I figure the project money will be in. So between October and November, we'll be short about 35K (and that's NOT EVEN counting purchasing all appliances and fixtures: looks like our plastic will get a workout, and we should be earning hotel and airline points). We don't know for certain on dates and amounts, since Fred didn't provide a date-by-date payment schedule, but I'm thinking/hoping we won't need Dad's stuff until near the end.
Just after I reached that conclusion, Dad called again with new ideas. He said he could give both Lisa and me the IRS limit gift of 11K immediately (though I'm not sure of this... he may have "gifted" us already this year as a part of the time-share we bought with both him and Mom... I'll need to check on this). So (if that's not the case) that would be 22K available immediately. Then he told me about this "private loan" company CircleLending.com. He said that he would lend us the 142 K with a promissory note and everything, with a lein on the house; we would then make interest-only payments until he passes away, then the inheritance would more than pay off the remainder of the loan. It sounds too good to be true... so I'll need to look into that as well. Like I've got time for all this research and getting work stuff (not to mention water polo--practices all week--and baseball--conceivably tournament games all week) done as well... Thank goodness my therapist called and said he's out of town for the rest of the week... that frees up some time on Thursday (thankfully, there's no stress in my life to talk about.... RIGHT).
Now, I just got off the phone with Michael Charon, the lending guy from Coastline; Fred had told him to give us a call. I told him that we've got the financing all lined up through my dad, so we're good to go, and to tell Fred to expect a call tomorrow. Michael said we could call him anytime if we needed to discuss funds (and just to discuss options, not only to use him as a funding source). I'm liking Coastline more and more ... is that desperation talking? I hope not.
Off to get back to work, and to do more research...
I also tallied up what I think our costs are going to be... damn. I figure around 43K for our outside-the-contractor costs (rent, storage, appliances, fixtures)... I hope I'm high (I'm going to have Lisa look over the numbers tonight)... but that would put us at 418K total cost. Like I said: damn.
I also put together a quick spreadsheet of what our assets are... double-damn. Home Eq has 227K available. We have 15K in joint savings, and my privately owned corporation has an additional 8K. I figure after taxes, the current work project will bring in an additional 35K... so we've about 285 to deal with. That's 133K short. Double-freaking-damn.
Dad called earlier and said that the numbers he had crunched earlier in the year for the inheritance... well, it's going to be the inheritance anyway, so we could use it now. If we needed to liquify his stuff this moment, we could get 126K... if we wait to the end of the year, it'll be 142K. So we need to get to the end of the year.
Fred said last night that by the end of the third month, about 65% will be due (followed by another 20% over the course of the next two months, and a final 15% coming in that sixth [final?] month)... If my math is correct, that means we'll need around 243K by the end of September. Our liquidity right now is 250 (and I figure that would NOT grow, as we'll be soon paying two housing payments [the mortgage and the rent] as well as a storage pod [or a self-store facility elsewhere])... so we'd make it... barely. By the end of October, I figure the project money will be in. So between October and November, we'll be short about 35K (and that's NOT EVEN counting purchasing all appliances and fixtures: looks like our plastic will get a workout, and we should be earning hotel and airline points). We don't know for certain on dates and amounts, since Fred didn't provide a date-by-date payment schedule, but I'm thinking/hoping we won't need Dad's stuff until near the end.
Just after I reached that conclusion, Dad called again with new ideas. He said he could give both Lisa and me the IRS limit gift of 11K immediately (though I'm not sure of this... he may have "gifted" us already this year as a part of the time-share we bought with both him and Mom... I'll need to check on this). So (if that's not the case) that would be 22K available immediately. Then he told me about this "private loan" company CircleLending.com. He said that he would lend us the 142 K with a promissory note and everything, with a lein on the house; we would then make interest-only payments until he passes away, then the inheritance would more than pay off the remainder of the loan. It sounds too good to be true... so I'll need to look into that as well. Like I've got time for all this research and getting work stuff (not to mention water polo--practices all week--and baseball--conceivably tournament games all week) done as well... Thank goodness my therapist called and said he's out of town for the rest of the week... that frees up some time on Thursday (thankfully, there's no stress in my life to talk about.... RIGHT).
Now, I just got off the phone with Michael Charon, the lending guy from Coastline; Fred had told him to give us a call. I told him that we've got the financing all lined up through my dad, so we're good to go, and to tell Fred to expect a call tomorrow. Michael said we could call him anytime if we needed to discuss funds (and just to discuss options, not only to use him as a funding source). I'm liking Coastline more and more ... is that desperation talking? I hope not.
Off to get back to work, and to do more research...
Sleepless in Port Hueneme
I slept, but got no rest. I finally fell asleep around 11 (I usually crash around 10). The only time I looked at the clock was at 4:14, but I know I tossed before and after. Feel exhausted.
Coastline's our pick. It's just now a matter of trying to maybe cut back on some costs: Lisa wants to get rid of the door leading from the master bath to the backyard. There' s no longer a door from the garage to the laundry room. Maybe if we get rid of the skylight in the boys' bath...
Got to talk to dad today about the money situation.
Not looking forward to that.
Coastline's our pick. It's just now a matter of trying to maybe cut back on some costs: Lisa wants to get rid of the door leading from the master bath to the backyard. There' s no longer a door from the garage to the laundry room. Maybe if we get rid of the skylight in the boys' bath...
Got to talk to dad today about the money situation.
Not looking forward to that.
Monday, June 11, 2007
The Last Bid
Fred from Coastline came by tonight. His bid was 375K. It was the lowest (8K lower than Herman), and his included hardwood floors, the windows, and the kitchen cabinets. The only problem was that his bid was NOT line-itemed... which kinda worries me. But he says he wants this job... he wants to have three jobs in this neighborhood, to showcase his work.
So... given Lowe's outrageous bid (nowhere near his earlier "ballpark") and Herman's no-look bid, I'm thinking that this out-of-town, last bidded, last resort contractor may be the one.
After he left, we went down to the corner to talk to Gloria and Ray, who are finishing up with Coastline now. They're thrilled with his work: ahead of schedule with no extra costs. We also went around the block to check another job. They, too, are big fans. They only had an extra room added, but they said that if they were to ever go up for a second story, Coastline would be their pick.
So we think Coastline's the one.
The only question now is how to pay for it. We've got around 230K... and a work project that I'm wrapping up will give us an addition 35K (after taxes). That's 265... you figure we'll need at least 20 for appliances, tile, granite, etc.... so we're back down to 245. Dad had mentioned Friday possible assistance (and on Saturday had mentioned a number: 120K)... Looks like we may need to take him up on the offer. Lisa would like to put his name on the property, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing for him or not. Either way, it's going to be tight.
About as tight as my chest... but tonight, I think I'll do some rum instead of the sublingual.
So... given Lowe's outrageous bid (nowhere near his earlier "ballpark") and Herman's no-look bid, I'm thinking that this out-of-town, last bidded, last resort contractor may be the one.
After he left, we went down to the corner to talk to Gloria and Ray, who are finishing up with Coastline now. They're thrilled with his work: ahead of schedule with no extra costs. We also went around the block to check another job. They, too, are big fans. They only had an extra room added, but they said that if they were to ever go up for a second story, Coastline would be their pick.
So we think Coastline's the one.
The only question now is how to pay for it. We've got around 230K... and a work project that I'm wrapping up will give us an addition 35K (after taxes). That's 265... you figure we'll need at least 20 for appliances, tile, granite, etc.... so we're back down to 245. Dad had mentioned Friday possible assistance (and on Saturday had mentioned a number: 120K)... Looks like we may need to take him up on the offer. Lisa would like to put his name on the property, but I'm not sure if that's a good thing for him or not. Either way, it's going to be tight.
About as tight as my chest... but tonight, I think I'll do some rum instead of the sublingual.
Thoughts, Resubmissions, and Bad News
So the weekend's over. Been trying REALLY hard not to think about all this (at least until Coastline's bid comes in later today)... though we've been quietly talking about options. But without heavy thinking, I've been able to get through Saturday and Sunday with only one sublingual on Saturday. And why did I need one on Saturday?
Well, David the architect came over. And I tried not bring up his lack of communication. I succeeded not exploding... but I needed a sublingal after. He took home copies of the bids to give us feedback. Whatever.
Our discussion (light, tangential) of the bids DID bring up one glaring item. The Herman bid (384K) included allowances for such things as flooring and granite; the Lowe bid (412K) didn't. Ewwww. Lowe's out of the picture.
So yesterday, we visited some of Lisa's distant cousins for an engagement brunch; I kept thinking how cool any such event for Kyle or Jack would be in our new kitchen. Otherwise, I kept the remodel completely out of mind.
But today, it all came back. I had to resubmit the plan check... the City said that it would be another two weeks. Grand. And the Fire Department flipflopped and now we need the fire sprinklers. Great.
Fred will drop by the bid tonight at 6.
Wonderful...
Well, David the architect came over. And I tried not bring up his lack of communication. I succeeded not exploding... but I needed a sublingal after. He took home copies of the bids to give us feedback. Whatever.
Our discussion (light, tangential) of the bids DID bring up one glaring item. The Herman bid (384K) included allowances for such things as flooring and granite; the Lowe bid (412K) didn't. Ewwww. Lowe's out of the picture.
So yesterday, we visited some of Lisa's distant cousins for an engagement brunch; I kept thinking how cool any such event for Kyle or Jack would be in our new kitchen. Otherwise, I kept the remodel completely out of mind.
But today, it all came back. I had to resubmit the plan check... the City said that it would be another two weeks. Grand. And the Fire Department flipflopped and now we need the fire sprinklers. Great.
Fred will drop by the bid tonight at 6.
Wonderful...
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Don't Want to Think About It
Still depressed (less angry, which I guess is good). Still stressed. Yesterday, I ended up taking a total of three sublinguals for the chest-tightening. For a while, it go so bad I thought I'd need a vicodin, but it faded to just tightness.
Lisa took me out to see a movie to take my mind off all of it (Knocked Up ... made me laugh hard), it worked to take the tightness in the chest away. Until afterwards and we got home... and I took the third sublingual.
Today so far, no sublingual. Yet. Lisa's on the phone with the architect as we speak. I guess he's going to drop by the plans for re-submit.
Whatever. I don't want to talk about it. Don't want to think about it.
...though I'm sure that Dad will want to today at the boys' sporting events -- Kyle's water polo at 1 and Jack's baseball at 2 -- yesterday, dad caught me on the phone in mid-meltdown over Lowe's bid... he called me back to see if I was all right and then to offer assistance [having already "crunched some numbers"]... at that point, I told him I didn't want to talk about it until after we got the third written bid from Coastline on Monday [they called in the late afternoon to let us know that the questionnaire has allowed Fred to put together the bid that he'll deliver Monday]... and that quite frankly I didn't even want to think about it at the time... this being before the first sublingual.
[It occurs to me that I haven't explained the whole sublingual thing: in December of 05, I was hospitalized for chest pains... after an MRI and an agiogram, it turns out that it was stress-induced esophogeal spasms... for which I was prescribed sublinguals (pills that go beneath my tongue and melt away and into the bloodstream quickly) to relax the spasms to relieve the pain, as well as vicodin when the pain gets REALLY bad... guess I'm supposed to go back to the hospital if it gets REEEEEEALLY REAAAAAALLY bad]
Stress-induced.
Don't think about it. Don't think about it. I keep thinking that. Not sure if that's effective, as I feel the chest tighten again.
Lisa took me out to see a movie to take my mind off all of it (Knocked Up ... made me laugh hard), it worked to take the tightness in the chest away. Until afterwards and we got home... and I took the third sublingual.
Today so far, no sublingual. Yet. Lisa's on the phone with the architect as we speak. I guess he's going to drop by the plans for re-submit.
Whatever. I don't want to talk about it. Don't want to think about it.
...though I'm sure that Dad will want to today at the boys' sporting events -- Kyle's water polo at 1 and Jack's baseball at 2 -- yesterday, dad caught me on the phone in mid-meltdown over Lowe's bid... he called me back to see if I was all right and then to offer assistance [having already "crunched some numbers"]... at that point, I told him I didn't want to talk about it until after we got the third written bid from Coastline on Monday [they called in the late afternoon to let us know that the questionnaire has allowed Fred to put together the bid that he'll deliver Monday]... and that quite frankly I didn't even want to think about it at the time... this being before the first sublingual.
[It occurs to me that I haven't explained the whole sublingual thing: in December of 05, I was hospitalized for chest pains... after an MRI and an agiogram, it turns out that it was stress-induced esophogeal spasms... for which I was prescribed sublinguals (pills that go beneath my tongue and melt away and into the bloodstream quickly) to relax the spasms to relieve the pain, as well as vicodin when the pain gets REALLY bad... guess I'm supposed to go back to the hospital if it gets REEEEEEALLY REAAAAAALLY bad]
Stress-induced.
Don't think about it. Don't think about it. I keep thinking that. Not sure if that's effective, as I feel the chest tighten again.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Numbers and Anger
OK, so the numbers came in: Lowe's while we were at a doctor's appointment, and Herman's just a few minutes ago.
Lowe's number was 412K. The man sat in my dining room in March and told us that 250 was in the ballpark. And now 412. Fuck. I don't know about anybody else, but 300 MIGHT be in the ballpark of 250. 412 isn't even in the same fucking zip code. Suddenly, Coastline's 330-380 isn't looking so bad.
So I'm pissed. And Lisa's pissed at me. [She stands over my shoulder and says she's not. OK]
Regardless. Not a happy camper. A couple of minutes have passed, during which we made the bed and I popped a sublingual (only kinda sorta maybe joking when I said to Lisa I was going to chase it with some rum).
OK, after Lowe's bombshell... I wanted to call him up and let him know we got the bid, but then ask, "What the fuck? How is 412 the same ballpark as 250? 300 I could understand... that's 20% over... but 412? That's over 60% beyond the ball park." But Lisa didn't want me to call because I was angry.
And she says she doesn't want to get angry. Says it serves no purpose to have both of us angry. FUCK THAT. We should both be pissed. The guy sat in our dining room and lied to us. And if he didn't lie, he's inept. Now Lisa, in her forgive-anyone-anything personality, would rather believe him to be inept than a liar. Either way, no way we're doing business with him. If he's a liar, we'd be stupid to sign a contract with him. If he's inept, we're going to trust him with our house? To what order of magnitude of incorrect-ness would his 4-6 month timeline estimate (OOOOOH, and that's another story I'll get to in a minute) be? Another 60%? So then we're out for 10 months instead?
NO WAY.
Anyway...
In the midst of our bordering-on-argument over anger (righteous or destructive? Discuss in a 3 to 5 page paper, single spaced with a margin of a quarter inch), Herman's guy shows up with his bid. Didn't recognize him. Didn't matter, he said who he represented and handed me the sealed envelope.
So I took it inside and with GIDDY ANTICIPATION, oh, I'm sorry, that would be DREAD and LOATHING, I opened up the docs. 383K. Wow. Under 400. Whoopifuckingdoo. Let's do a jig.
Great. So Coastline looks like it's going to the lowest bid. Coastline. The out of town contractor. We said we wouldn't go with an out-of-towner. Mom and Dad used an out-of-towner... and it was a disaster... not an unmitigated one, but not anywhere near a pleasant experience. And so I'm a little leery. Fred picked up his questionaire before Lisa's doctor's appointment... and tried to convince Lisa to go with hardwood floors instead of the laminate we've been talking about... and tile in the kitchen (as opposed to laminate over the entire first floor... except for the bathrooms... we like the idea of tile, but we think that doing the only the kitchen in tile would define the space too much).
My chest is tight, even with the sublingual, and I feel like throwing up. No lie.
[by the way, according to a email last night, David the architect will be bringing over the resubmittable plans tonight... like I want to talk to ANYone about ANY of this... in fact, what I'd really like to do is hit the road... get the hell out of Dodge for the night... alone or with fam, I don't care... just escape... Lisa may think that I'm more Fight than Flight... but right about now fleeing sounds like the ticket... a ticket cheaper than fourfuckingtwelvethousand dollars (that we do not have)]
Lowe's number was 412K. The man sat in my dining room in March and told us that 250 was in the ballpark. And now 412. Fuck. I don't know about anybody else, but 300 MIGHT be in the ballpark of 250. 412 isn't even in the same fucking zip code. Suddenly, Coastline's 330-380 isn't looking so bad.
So I'm pissed. And Lisa's pissed at me. [She stands over my shoulder and says she's not. OK]
Regardless. Not a happy camper. A couple of minutes have passed, during which we made the bed and I popped a sublingual (only kinda sorta maybe joking when I said to Lisa I was going to chase it with some rum).
OK, after Lowe's bombshell... I wanted to call him up and let him know we got the bid, but then ask, "What the fuck? How is 412 the same ballpark as 250? 300 I could understand... that's 20% over... but 412? That's over 60% beyond the ball park." But Lisa didn't want me to call because I was angry.
And she says she doesn't want to get angry. Says it serves no purpose to have both of us angry. FUCK THAT. We should both be pissed. The guy sat in our dining room and lied to us. And if he didn't lie, he's inept. Now Lisa, in her forgive-anyone-anything personality, would rather believe him to be inept than a liar. Either way, no way we're doing business with him. If he's a liar, we'd be stupid to sign a contract with him. If he's inept, we're going to trust him with our house? To what order of magnitude of incorrect-ness would his 4-6 month timeline estimate (OOOOOH, and that's another story I'll get to in a minute) be? Another 60%? So then we're out for 10 months instead?
NO WAY.
Anyway...
In the midst of our bordering-on-argument over anger (righteous or destructive? Discuss in a 3 to 5 page paper, single spaced with a margin of a quarter inch), Herman's guy shows up with his bid. Didn't recognize him. Didn't matter, he said who he represented and handed me the sealed envelope.
So I took it inside and with GIDDY ANTICIPATION, oh, I'm sorry, that would be DREAD and LOATHING, I opened up the docs. 383K. Wow. Under 400. Whoopifuckingdoo. Let's do a jig.
Great. So Coastline looks like it's going to the lowest bid. Coastline. The out of town contractor. We said we wouldn't go with an out-of-towner. Mom and Dad used an out-of-towner... and it was a disaster... not an unmitigated one, but not anywhere near a pleasant experience. And so I'm a little leery. Fred picked up his questionaire before Lisa's doctor's appointment... and tried to convince Lisa to go with hardwood floors instead of the laminate we've been talking about... and tile in the kitchen (as opposed to laminate over the entire first floor... except for the bathrooms... we like the idea of tile, but we think that doing the only the kitchen in tile would define the space too much).
My chest is tight, even with the sublingual, and I feel like throwing up. No lie.
[by the way, according to a email last night, David the architect will be bringing over the resubmittable plans tonight... like I want to talk to ANYone about ANY of this... in fact, what I'd really like to do is hit the road... get the hell out of Dodge for the night... alone or with fam, I don't care... just escape... Lisa may think that I'm more Fight than Flight... but right about now fleeing sounds like the ticket... a ticket cheaper than fourfuckingtwelvethousand dollars (that we do not have)]
Thursday, June 7, 2007
No News and Worse News
No word from either Herman or Lowe, and bids are due tomorrow at three... not a word concerning the bid or the email I sent Sunday re: slight changes to the bids: demo the garage interior concrete steps, infill the garage/interior door (with avenues of re-instating the door at a later date), and line item the fire sprinklers.
We had hoped to re-submit plan check today (as it's Thursday and the plans are sent out by the City to their outsource agency on days that begin with Ts). David the architect said Saturday that he would be contacting Vinci Monday to see if we could get the changes made by Wednesday so we could submit today. Only crickets and tumbleweeds from David this week.
So I sent David the architect an email this morning saying "Since it's Thursday morning, and I haven't heard anything, I'm assuming we're not going to make today's submission. Any word if Tuesday will be any better? I really want to get this moving forward.... BTW, I have still yeat to hear from Herman; neither Lowe nor Herman responded to my email on Sunday."
Now I get an email back from David: "This was the tag I got back on Monday ... I will follow up now and communicate ASAP.... [forwarded message: 'We will make the changes and aim to be complete by the end of this week.']"(empahses mine).
What the FUCK? David gets this response MONDAY (morning, according to the email details), and I'm only hearing about it now? Lisa talked to the sonofabitch Monday night, to convey the compliments from Fred from Coastline... and he told her NOTHING of this possible week-long delay.
Now I'm pissed.
The only good news is that Coastline stays in contact with us almost daily... Fred will pick up his questionaire tomorrow... but at their price... I just don't know.
If I didn't want the boys to have their own rooms (Dad included), I'd scrap this whole fucking project.
We had hoped to re-submit plan check today (as it's Thursday and the plans are sent out by the City to their outsource agency on days that begin with Ts). David the architect said Saturday that he would be contacting Vinci Monday to see if we could get the changes made by Wednesday so we could submit today. Only crickets and tumbleweeds from David this week.
So I sent David the architect an email this morning saying "Since it's Thursday morning, and I haven't heard anything, I'm assuming we're not going to make today's submission. Any word if Tuesday will be any better? I really want to get this moving forward.... BTW, I have still yeat to hear from Herman; neither Lowe nor Herman responded to my email on Sunday."
Now I get an email back from David: "This was the tag I got back on Monday ... I will follow up now and communicate ASAP.... [forwarded message: 'We will make the changes and aim to be complete by the end of this week.']"(empahses mine).
What the FUCK? David gets this response MONDAY (morning, according to the email details), and I'm only hearing about it now? Lisa talked to the sonofabitch Monday night, to convey the compliments from Fred from Coastline... and he told her NOTHING of this possible week-long delay.
Now I'm pissed.
The only good news is that Coastline stays in contact with us almost daily... Fred will pick up his questionaire tomorrow... but at their price... I just don't know.
If I didn't want the boys to have their own rooms (Dad included), I'd scrap this whole fucking project.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Rough or Finished
Fred from Coastline just left. Before he arrived, I was thinking I would need a sub-lingual for the chest tightening when he left; it's close, but I think I can make it without one.
He was here to meet us, interview us. He came with ballparks for rough work and finished products: Rough (plumbing, electrical, drywall, flooring, primer, and stucco)... we could be back in the house in two and a half or three months... for around 270K. If we want it all (and we do... as it's taken maybe 8 years to get us this far into the project... god only knows how long it would take us to "finish" on our own), we're talking six to eight months (though he intimates he thinks it can be done in five, if we have our ducks in a row, when the rough is finished)... and with a cost of anywhere between 330 and 380K.
OMG
Just typing that makes me think I do need the sublingual.
We like him. Nice guy. I think he's concerned more about his accent and nationality; we aren't. Middle Eastern? Who knows. Who cares. Whatever.
350K.
That's what I care about. We don't even have that much money.
We'll need to see what the other bidders come in with. Friday's the due date; I gave Fred until Monday for paper / concrete numbers... for that Lisa and I have homework, worksheets to fill out before he's back in town on Friday.
This is scary.
He was here to meet us, interview us. He came with ballparks for rough work and finished products: Rough (plumbing, electrical, drywall, flooring, primer, and stucco)... we could be back in the house in two and a half or three months... for around 270K. If we want it all (and we do... as it's taken maybe 8 years to get us this far into the project... god only knows how long it would take us to "finish" on our own), we're talking six to eight months (though he intimates he thinks it can be done in five, if we have our ducks in a row, when the rough is finished)... and with a cost of anywhere between 330 and 380K.
OMG
Just typing that makes me think I do need the sublingual.
We like him. Nice guy. I think he's concerned more about his accent and nationality; we aren't. Middle Eastern? Who knows. Who cares. Whatever.
350K.
That's what I care about. We don't even have that much money.
We'll need to see what the other bidders come in with. Friday's the due date; I gave Fred until Monday for paper / concrete numbers... for that Lisa and I have homework, worksheets to fill out before he's back in town on Friday.
This is scary.
Let the REAL Stress Begin...
I thought I was stress out before.
Just got off the phone with Fred from Coastline (with whom we'll meet tonight). He just wanted to touch base and prep me for tonight's meeting (so as to not, as he put it, "waste each other's time").
He says that he already sees the budget at being between 350 and 400K. Fuck. This is about 100K higher than expected. He also sees us out of the house for 6-8 months.
OK. We'll meet for more stress.
He also says he needs more time to put together a proper bid. He floats the idea of an extra week to 10 days. I tell him I might give him until next Monday, but that we want to move forward.
David said that the contractors might want to extend the bid period. He was right about that at least (and Fred sends his compliments to the architect... whatever).
I've got to get on the bike and ride to alleviate some stress...
Just got off the phone with Fred from Coastline (with whom we'll meet tonight). He just wanted to touch base and prep me for tonight's meeting (so as to not, as he put it, "waste each other's time").
He says that he already sees the budget at being between 350 and 400K. Fuck. This is about 100K higher than expected. He also sees us out of the house for 6-8 months.
OK. We'll meet for more stress.
He also says he needs more time to put together a proper bid. He floats the idea of an extra week to 10 days. I tell him I might give him until next Monday, but that we want to move forward.
David said that the contractors might want to extend the bid period. He was right about that at least (and Fred sends his compliments to the architect... whatever).
I've got to get on the bike and ride to alleviate some stress...
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Not Having Fun
In the midst of our meeting with the architect yesterday, discussing changes in the plans for plan check re-submit (demo'ing the concrete steps in the garage, and in-filling the door leading from the laundry room to the garage [leaving a single vertical stud, but with no wiring, so we can put the door back later if we want... 'oh, you'll want to...' David tells us]), I lost it. I blew up at him. Wasn't his fault. I'm just in a pissy mood as far as this remodel is concerned.
I don't want to move out.
I don't want to pay two mortgages.
I don't want to have to be out of my house.
I don't want to have to move back in.
I want to be on January in my new house, looking back on all this, being able to laugh at it.
I am not having fun. When we were planning, it was fun. It's not now. I hate it. The waiting. The limbo. The looking for a place to live in the meantime (yesterday's visit to a duplex was more than depressing: the bedrooms, all on the east side of the building (soaking up the summer heat) with no air conditioning, a kitchen no bigger than my walk-in closet, and the second story of a building the first story of which had bars on the windows. Great. And all for just 70 bucks a month less than for my freaking mortgage.
Later today I have to send out emails to the contractors, outlining the slight changes to the bids: the garage stuff, plus line-item-ing of the fire sprinklers as it looks like we might not need them.
Tomorrow we meat with Coastline... I think to accept their bid... though it may be to usher their subcontractors through (the call was a little hazy).
And we have to wait for Vinci the structural engineer to get the plans back to us... hopefully by Wednesday night (the changes according to David are minor), so we can resubmit on Thursday (the City sends out the plans ton Tuesday and Thursdays, and Tuesday is too much to hope for...).
The architect's faves Herman still hasn't called us at all. Not exactly winning us over.
Of course, right now I'm a pretty hard sell...
I don't want to move out.
I don't want to pay two mortgages.
I don't want to have to be out of my house.
I don't want to have to move back in.
I want to be on January in my new house, looking back on all this, being able to laugh at it.
I am not having fun. When we were planning, it was fun. It's not now. I hate it. The waiting. The limbo. The looking for a place to live in the meantime (yesterday's visit to a duplex was more than depressing: the bedrooms, all on the east side of the building (soaking up the summer heat) with no air conditioning, a kitchen no bigger than my walk-in closet, and the second story of a building the first story of which had bars on the windows. Great. And all for just 70 bucks a month less than for my freaking mortgage.
Later today I have to send out emails to the contractors, outlining the slight changes to the bids: the garage stuff, plus line-item-ing of the fire sprinklers as it looks like we might not need them.
Tomorrow we meat with Coastline... I think to accept their bid... though it may be to usher their subcontractors through (the call was a little hazy).
And we have to wait for Vinci the structural engineer to get the plans back to us... hopefully by Wednesday night (the changes according to David are minor), so we can resubmit on Thursday (the City sends out the plans ton Tuesday and Thursdays, and Tuesday is too much to hope for...).
The architect's faves Herman still hasn't called us at all. Not exactly winning us over.
Of course, right now I'm a pretty hard sell...
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