We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We went to Ed & Lynne’s. Jul, Pete, and their kids joined with us. All the traditional foods were there. Nobody went home hungry. We weren’t able to give Jul shelter, due to the construction, so they stayed in a hotel overnight. Friday as a service project, we made 50 bag lunches. These go downtown for the poor & homeless. Then we all went to Charlestown and had a very nice lunch with Mom.

The house construction is in a lull. The took the measurements required for the countertop. It takes a week to get that fabricated. Then there is another measure/fabricate for the backsplash. But we are seeing serious progress. All the tile is in place for the bathroom. Cabinets are in place. Once the backsplash is in place, it should be a quick job to finish everything up. We’re scheduled to be done on December 19. If that fails, we have been promised a working kitchen.

With the house looking pretty good, my attention was drawn to the grouting in the loft bathroom. It was once white. Now it was dark and looking gnarly. My weekly cleaning never helped. I tried having it steamed cleaned. No improvement. Most cleaning tips are based on chemicals that I don’t even want in the house — you know, like this:

Safety tip: Be sure to use heavy duty rubber gloves. It is suggested that you not inhale while losing this product. You might also want to close your eyes.

Hitting the internet with renewed focus, I decided to try using bleach powder coupled with a seriously heavy duty brush. Here’s something I learned. Bleach powder is much safer than the more common liquid chlorine bleach, and it is very effective. I’m pleased with the result. Nobody is going to confuse this floor with a new one, but there is significantly less “gnarl” in the house.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

The construction crew went back to work. This time they fixed, sanded, and painted the walls in the kitchen. It didn’t look like all that much work, but the dust generated is huge. It’s not just one crew that does the work. So far there are painters/wall fixers, electricians, plumbers, and tile guys. The painters wanted to install a shower liner Friday, but we had to say no. This work involves glue. Danita’s allergic to that. We have a hotel lined up, but our reservation starts Monday. So the tile guys will install the liner as well as the tile, starting Monday morning. We hope to be back in the house Friday.

We had an unusual lineup of dinners this week. Friday we had a neighborhood dinner party. Saturday we had the volunteer dinner. Today (Sunday) we have a pot luck dinner just for our home owners association. And just for fun, I also will enjoy Monday morning Men’s club, which comes with bagels and coffee. After that, we’ll be on our own for food until Friday, when the potato food truck comes. You have to be sharp to keep up in this neighborhood.

That’s all for us. Here’s hoping everybody is doing well.

Last week was the time for fall foliage to strut it’s stuff. Crimson, red, yellow, gold, and green. Colors leapt out, each according to the species of plant, in combinations that surprised and delighted the observer. It was a great time to ride Columbia’s wooded trails.

We often go to concerts in the weekend. This weekend we doubled down. Saturday we enjoyed a delightful performance of Brahms and Mendelssohn at UMBC. Today’s concert tempted us with a performance by a steelpan and piano. It was an intriguing concert. The guy is a genius on the steelpan. They paid jazz pieces. Unfortunately, after a while the songs were all sounding pretty much the same. Still, how many people have attended a piano and steelpan concert?

Danita and I decided to place a sun screen on the front door side panel window. The window is 15 inches wide and 7 feet high (more or less). I found a company, located somewhere in Southeast Asia, through Amazon that would make a custom blind. I put in the measurements. In a few hours, I got notice of a message from Amazon. It was the blind company, making sure the measurements were OK. I returned the message. I think it’s pretty amazing. Somebody half way around the world making a custom blind, checking with me to make sure it will be OK, making the blind, and shipping it to me in a couple of weeks. But there was one minor glitch. When they messaged that they will start making the blind immediately, they signed off “Have a nice life!” Amazing service. Decent English. No clue about American idioms.

That’s it for us. I hope all are well.

The big news is construction. We asked the contractor to:

fix cracks in the ceiling,
replace the kitchen cabinets,
renovate the main bathroom, and
paint everything on the first two floors, from the toe boards to the ceiling.

We got off on a rocky start when the construction company said that fixing the ceiling cracks was not in the contract and we had to pay the extra immediately. We disagreed. Resolution comes from the big boss, who was too busy talk to us. Ultimately, after a lot of spirited discussion, the big boss made himself available. He talked with us, the site boss, and the sales person. He agreed this was an oversite on their side and said we would not pay extra for the cracks. The day after the cracks were fixed, we had a small earthquake. The epicenter was just a couple of miles from us. The cracks remained fixed. That’s a good omen.

After that, things were totally amazing, in the very best way. They brought in a large crew of 8 or so and did all the demolition in one day. They decided to do the painting next (except for the kitchen and bath, of course). After four days, the only room not finished is the large bedroom upstairs. The painters are fastidious. A separate person follows along behind the painters making sure the job is prefect. I say with total assurance that the ceilings and walls never looked this good, even when the house was brand new.

It’s been a time of continuously moving our stuff around as they paint different rooms. Most of our appliances are in the garage. We have access only to our microwave and the refrigerator. Before they went home for the week, they put a folding table in the living room. This is a great improvement because our meals, the food, and the laundry are all on the same floor. We have access to one bathroom upstairs and one in the basement. The only water available on the main floor is a pitcher we chill in the refrigerator. Filling the pitcher upstairs and taking it to the refrigerator reminds me of a Lenten exercise we did many years ago, taking all our water from an outdoor outlet. (It was to help us remember that many people on this planet still live in primitive conditions.)

The crew is pleasant and hard working. Almost everything went well so far. The first day of work, one of the crew intentionally jumped over the landing railing and landed on the living room floor some 15 feet below. He claimed he didn’t hurt himself, but he never jumped the railing again. The more serious accident was when the scaffolding collapsed. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. They had finished painting the ceiling, so they just packed up the pieces and took it away. They will finish painting this week.

Electricians are already at work. We used to have an outlet on the side of the kitchen island. The code has changed a lot lately. The construction crew told us we would have to move that to a pop-up outlet on the island surface. Then the electrician said the pop-up outlet is also disallowed. But there’s a trick. There’s no rule against having a junction box inside the island. After the inspector is done, the electricians will install an outlet — right on the side of the island where it used to be. As the electrician was leaving, he said “I know what I want to put in the permit”. This is just one example of why you want pros doing the work.

In unrelated news, I was able to finally declare the shirts I ordered were lost. One of the options I had was to immediately refund the money. After I clicked the box, a message said the order is refunded. (Yea!) I would receive the funds in 7 to 10 days. (What?????) We received the funds the yesterday. (It’ about time!)

I hope this finds everybody doing well.