Reconstruction junction

Maybe the third time is a charm because we are getting to be quite good at this whole reconstruction thing. Everything starts on Monday, and while that’s almost a week away, I have a lot to do to get ready.

First up, the cats have to be boarded. They’re going to hate being at the vet’s, I know, and our wallets will hate it too. It’s $25 a cat a night and they’ll be there four nights. So I’m already waving bye-bye to $300 plus tax.

Next, I can’t stay in the apartment while the reconstruction is going on. I don’t yet have the results of the allergy tests my doctor ordered but it’s safe to say that even if I’m allergic to nothing, all that dust and debris from dry walls and floors won’t help my lungs any. My peak flow readings have improved over the last two months, and I am a fan of that trend continuing. So I need to leave. The problem is figuring out where to go on such short notice. I’ve recently inflicted myself on visited two sets of family and since then they’ve also had a lot of out-of-town company. So they are both out as options. I thought about going to England to see my sister but the tickets are over $1200. Yeah, that’s a budget buster. No decision on where to go yet but I do need to figure that one out.

Edited to add that I'm going to Denver. My other sister very kindly invited me out and I haven't seen her in about 18 months. It will be great to see her and her family again.

Kent won’t be able to eat in the apartment for at least the first couple of days because that’s when the drywall is getting replaced. Bostonian will tape up the openings to the unaffected areas of the house and move our belongings into those tiny places. There’s just no way Kent can cook when the house is in that condition. Plus I think he’d mostly be eating drywall dust. So restaurants it is.

He’s also got to recaulk our tub while I’m gone. The caulk failed and our first repair also failed. We think it’s because we used acrylic caulk instead of silicone caulk and also we probably didn’t let it cure long enough. So next week is the week for that.

And he’ll be cleaning out the Room of Doom ™ where our hot water heater is. That room most definitely has mold in it and also has some things stored in there which have succumbed to the mold. So out they all go while I am safely out of the house. 

As for those who have been following along with our story since January, the neighbor whose pipe leaked didn't have home owner's insurance. We had to file on our own personal property insurance so that the deductible for the condo association's master policy is covered. It's not fair, but it does let us get things repaired. At this point, repairs are more important to us than being right.