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Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Watching A Craftsman At Work And Battles With The House


It was Monday and a beautiful day. John Jolivette, Jr and his crew arrived while Elena was still here. I had to take the dog for a walk to get him away from the crew whom he might just bite. Copernicus and I walked toward the beach. Candace McDonald drove up in her car. She gave me the good news that Casiopia, the daughter of Copernicus, will be able ot come home and live with us on October 2 or October 3. This is joyous news. The blood line of Copernicus will continue. He will have a daughter to raise and be a father for the first time in his life. If only his mother Eloisa was alive to see this joyous moment. Copernicus's father Virgilio would have been proud also.

Copernicus got to see some of his doggie friends on the beach, We came home and there were the loud noises of hammers and crew members shouting. I was amazed to see the craftsmanship. The crew worked in the area that is going to be Elena's new bathroom and the pantry. They did what is called the framing. This is putting in place the lumber that will act as the supports and superstructure for that part of the house. I was amazed at all of th e detail work that goes into each piece of timber put into the super structure. This is true old-fashioned craftsmanship. This sort of skill is dying out, sadly. If tere is an earthquake or a typhoon, this house will ride it out.

We started the planning for the kitchen area. The counter tops, even with quartz, will cost around $1,200 US. Cabinets will easily be $5,500 US. We also will have to tear down the back wall of the kitchen for the plumbing, etc. This will be labor intensive. The plumbers want over $3,000 Us for their work. This is in addition to another $6,200 US already paid for plumbing. We have had to redo all of the plumbing in the house. The same can be said for the electrical system. We will get a big credit from the insurance company that insures the house.

I got concerned that the new stove for the house had not been delivered. I had to go to www.amazon.com and complain that the new stove had not arrived in the promised delivery window,. I got a voice mail in the afternoon telling me how to set the delivery up online. I followed the instructions and the stove will be delivered this Friday.

It is a long battle to bring this 70 year old house back to life and allow it to continue until 2100 or later. We are also stimulating the economy and providing a lot of people with jobs. This is what needs to be done to get people back to work. People need not be afraid of tomorrow. They need to invest and build things.


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