vicarz | Clean sheets, a fresh dump, and a rock hard alibi

Told the neighbors to expect construction Monday, also a heads up that my contractor would introduce himself to the neighbors (hope he is bilingual). I gave him keys to the place.

Cancelled my plans with the gf to do "house work" getting ready. I've spent time making the place liveable by cleaning some areas and furnishing the bare minimum to work and survive. Now the tools, desk, table, futon, clothes, and cosmetics are in the way. I am going to dig up the shocking flowers that survived the winter, and pig-lipstick application, to move them to survivable areas during construction areas. I have to tag all the keep and donate items; anything not tagged/nailed down will be dumpstered.

I'm paying more than I meant to, way more, than both when I bought the place and when I knew the scope of the work. However in each case the prices seem good and to match up. It's reality meets HGTV - doing work costs money. Me doing work does not save money - politely confirmed I'd probably be in the way (to my credit I described myself as a half-speed laborer). I really do want to dig some dirt out of my basement though.

I'm looking forward to seeing the house gutted - all the plans are sketches only; general designs and concepts to apply when the bones are exposed to adjust for efficiency.

Surprising number of expanded plans for my bedroom; blow up the ceiling to expose doghouse windows (partial or total, joist exposed/removed options), restore bricked up middle window. When this is over I'll be like a Vonnegut character living in a glass terrarium. Close your fingers to hide your eyes if I'm being silly. I may save money by restoring the pine subfloors on the top level, shellacking them to death, and not adding a wood floor on top of that.

I misunderstood the plan for the hall closet and powder room, thinking the door would stay where it is for the stairway now and a separate room would be powdery, but instead the door is moved to the side and wall extended for powder - which makes 200% sense to save space and have visual continuity. Kitchen/piping bulkhead similarly is on a different wall than I thought, presuming this makes sense, again maximizing straight lines and sight lines from front to back of the house. Already accepting a proposal to move the electrical panel from the living room wall to the new powder room / utility area.

I'm doing accounting - after writing a ginormous check, I have a rough schedule of when the others are due. I need to plug stock sales into my calendar reminders to ensure I'm liquid when I need to be. I also need to set limits on my expenses, as I'm addicted to economies of scale and each add-on is a great idea; yet there has to be a point where I don't spend more money as it overbuilds the home. I think my limit is based on sale values, but seriously each thing I want is only a couple hundred or a couple thousand...death of a thousands cuts. I just decided to keep the old chimney for the flue rather than spend $400 removing it and gaining a sf throughout the house (influence - it's an easy place to route exhaust fans). Taxes - I have to project stock sale amounts, compute profits-deductions-taxes-withholding, and essentially ballpark my entire tax return now to set my withholding to ensure I don't owe more than a grand come 4/15/15. So glad I converted my life to a spreadsheet a long time ago.

But this is all a relief right now. It's no longer shopping for a contractor, deciding scope of work, and wondering if I am doing the right thing. Right or wrong, I'm in it now and there is nothing reasonable to do but march forward with my plan.