Homeless in Beirut

I think something is starting to get to me in a bad way. One of the primary reasons we are at our place in South Carolina is that there is a major repair being done. There were issues with the original construction, a settlement, now the remediation. New exterior stucco, new gutters and drainage, new exterior lights and new roof. We felt it to be prudent to be on site during the times when there was to be significant work being done, we made the trek south. We are fortunate in that we can go between South Carolina and Connecticut at will. We also planned to do some short trips, hence our visit to New Orleans. But, it is tough to be here right now.

• The furniture is covered and moved away from exterior walls.
• The windows are covered with plastic, it’s like being in a perpetual dense fog.
• The exterior is covered with scaffolding.
• Workmen need access to the inside for windows removal, trim repair and repainting.
• Dust flies
• It is noisy

The noise is interesting. Nail guns sound like small arms fire, there are thumps like distant artillery and some tool that sounds like a machine gun. The title of this posting sums up the experience we are having. That is if you take the negative to the extreme.

That’s the bad stuff. There is also good stuff.

• At the end of all this we will essentially have a new structure.
• The work that is being done is truly top quality
• The project manager is open with communication, proactive with every issue (as are the supervisors), knowledgeable and smart. He is also a very pleasant individual.
• We are able to get away during the day, movies, the gym, the beach and lunches out are all fun.
• We are able to do some small interior projects at the same time. Tina is redoing the downstairs powder room.
• The workmen are courteous, clean (they remove their shoes when they come in). And, there is a background of latin music on their radios.

I am reminded of what my mother used to say when I started to complain. She would use an old German expression “Quitchurbitchen”. It’s not German nor is it an expression but it got the point across.