Saturday 22 January 2022

Taking it easy and spending big

Many of you suggested I was due for a rest this week after the busyness of last. I agreed. So there isn't a whole lot to share in this post. 

The weather turned ugly again on Tuesday - we were supposed to get a storm Monday evening but it was kind enough to hold off until the following day. We didn't get a whole lot more snow but the wind blew. All of the highways in/out of the city were closed due to poor visibility. It isn't as bad here in the city. I took a photo out the kitchen window of the birds huddled up on the fence, waiting their turn at the feeder. The sun had peeked through but it was blustery out there. Cold too, the temperature dropped throughout the day.


Wednesday was just plain cold again with the temperature at -29C (-20F) when I got up to feed Saku at 6:30.  It warmed up slightly throughout the day, but then a warm front came through and things were much improved after that. I can manage a single day of cold weather!

We had more snow overnight into Friday and it warmed up to near freezing. I shovelled the driveway and sidewalks and enjoyed the nicer temperature. Unfortunately it didn't last long as the temperature dropped throughout the day. This morning, it was -17C (1F). It has been snowing off and on all morning. I'll head out there shortly to shovel once again. We've had enough snow that the the city actually plowed our street. Of course they left big ridges of snow on our sidewalks, which we're expected to clear. :p

Since I wasn't doing a lot of houswork, I spent a good deal of time on Ancestry focusing on my father's side of the family. There is new information available since the last time that I did a review. More exciting (at least for me), is finding a distant cousin here in the city. I've sent her a message as I was hoping she might have more info on my paternal grandmother's side of the family. Her great-grandfather was my grandmother's brother. There is little info for this branch -  just census data from 1842 for my great-great grandfather and his wife, and I located their marriage certificate in the UK, but nothing prior. Nor did I find any evidence of his death in Canada. She got back to me quickly and sadly, she nor her mother met the great/grandfather and she wasn't able to provide anything more. However, she did suggest we meet sometime this spring or summer - I think it's a great idea.

My other big task was ironing clothing that D plans to take to the consignment store on her next visit to the city.  I might have left it until she got here, but the chances of her getting it done in the short time she's visiting is slim to not at all. With the ironing board set up in the living room, I watched television while I worked on it. It is all children's clothing, items that Eli has grown out of....and a few pieces that still had their original tags. 

Oh, and the other big (ticket) item on the list was meeting with the contractor about the basement renovations. He arrived on Tuesday afternoon, armed with a pencil and paper, measuring tape, etc. We walked through the basement and I explained what work I was looking for. He was able to explain what needed to be done in order to get what I wanted, and provided a few different options for doing the work including the products to be used. When we finished discussing the work, he spent another 20 minutes or so taking measurements. 

As he was leaving he recommended I get another quote - I'd told him I probably wouldn't since I'd seen the work he did. But, after some thinking about it, I decided to do so. On Wednesday I reached out to another local contractor based on reviews in the Better Business Bureau listings. He called and we arranged for him to walk through the same afternoon. Hmmm...quite the difference. He showed up with a business card, no paper and pencil, nor anything to take measurements with. As I explained what I wanted done, he told he couldn't do it because a couple of the interior walls are not floated. He told me he'd have to get a permit, and basically the entire basement would have to be gutted to ensure all the walls are properly floated to code. Then he went on to tell me he didn't like my design ideas for the room, and he'd create a drawing to show me what he would recommend.  Before he left he gave me a verbal quote....and I just about collapsed on the spot.

In the meantime, J had e-mailed his quote, and after reading through it I immediately called him. I asked about the permit and he explained we would only need the permit if the basement was being developed. Since the room already exists, and I'm merely adding an interior wall, this wouldn't be necessary. Phew! We went through his quote, and while it is somewhat higher than I had hoped, I do know that the work will be done properly and within the limits of what I have requested. I'm also well aware that the costs of construction material have increased significantly in the past two years.  Maybe I'll get lucky and prices will drop in the next few weeks. Ha!  So we're tentatively scheduled to start the big project at the beginning of April. This will allow Saku and I to spend our days in the sunroom and away from the noise. 

I'm heading to visit D and Eli again on Monday. She has a telephone appointment with the psychologist who will be assessing Eli. He advised the appointment will take up to two hours for their conversation. That's too long for Eli to play quietly while she talks with the doctor.  While she normally would have asked a friend to take him, one family is currently in isolation as one of their children has Covid, and the children of the other family were exposed to Covid at daycare this week. D has keeping him home and limiting their contacts as she wants to get him through these important appointments first. So far, so good. I'll drive up Monday afternoon and come home on Tuesday.

I'll leave you with a photo of a visitor to the yard yesterday. It's a Hungarian partridge.  It and several of it's friends were hanging out on the roof of my house when something startled them. I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch them.

Have a great week ahead everyone! 
 

23 comments:

  1. Isn't it amazing how 2 quotes can be so different. I hope all goes well and you get to start in April and let's hope prices start going down. They have a little in our area - still expensive.
    Stay safe on your little trip and enjoy time with Eli.

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    1. Thanks Cheryl, it was a great visit. More on that later.

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  2. Sounds like you have a good plan for your project!

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    1. I hope so and I'm looking forward to having the useable space.

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  3. The second quote was a good idea for it made you appreciate the first.
    Had to smile at warming up to near freezing. Somehow you make my temps seem balmy.

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    1. It was definitely worth calling someone else as it confirmed my decision.
      Temperature is all relative. :)

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  4. At least you know the wide differentials in quotes now. I had heard that building supplies are sky high. I do think finished basements are more the norm now. But then I now live in the land of no basements.

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    1. I don't spend a lot of time in the basement, but they definitely do see to be an attractive feature.

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  5. Nice update of all your goings-on. D must be very pleased that you can help her out and I know you enjoy doing it.
    How fun to find and soon meet a distant cousin, life is too short to not follow up.
    Interesting about the quotes, the second guy sounded strange, how could they be so different?
    The partridge doesn't seem to mind the snow. Nice picture catch!

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    1. I'm happy to help D out, thankfully she doesn't live that far away and I get to spend time with my favorite kid. :)

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  6. Quotes can vary SO much. Good idea about waiting for the weather to warm before doing it so that you can be away from the noise. Just one idea from me since we've had renovations going on for more than a year - you might ask the contractor to order all of the supplies now so that you have plenty of time for them to arrive in time for April. The supply chain has been terrible in terms of building supplies. It took us 8 months to get windows and just as long to get good lumber!

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    1. J has already let me know that he wants me to pick out the flooring as as possible. Hopefully they'll have what I want in stock. He's responsible for the lumber and drywall that he'll need. And I have the paint leftover from 2019...it just needs to go back to the store to be shaken.

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  7. How neat to have discovered a distant cousin in your city! It'll be interesting to meet when you're able to.

    I wish our temps would warm up to freezing. Lol. I hope February is a lot warmer than this month has been, for both our regions.

    Smart to get another quote, though I'm distinctly unimpressed with the second fellow. Companies pay the BBB for their rating, though, so unless people file complaints, it's meaningless, IMO. Our property management company has an excellent BBB rating; what a joke! I will Google for reviews instead and I always filter on the negative ones first, but of course you have to take every review with a grain of salt, since there are "professional" reviewers who are paid to write positive comments, even if they no nothing about the company.

    Anyway, enjoy your time with Eli and have a great week!

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    1. You are completely right about the BBB Kim. I didn't know that fact until maybe 20 years ago. Unless someone tells you or you do enough investigating you have no idea.

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    2. I had no idea that BBB allows companies to pay for their listing. The second company was listed just below the first guy - but of course, I've seen his work for myself. As for the second company - it must cost them a lot to get that rating.

      I'm looking forward to meeting my "new" cousin.

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  8. It always pays to get more than one quote or recommendation, just to compare - though in this case, it was quite a contrast, rather than a comparison! Yeah, I'd stick with the first one, especially as you are familiar with his work.

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    1. If J hadn't recommended doing so, I probably wouldn't have bothered. But I'm glad I did because it gave me confirmation that I was correct in the first place.

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  9. What.... I am glad you got the second quote, but man how can he figure anything with out a measuring tape or pen/pencil and paper.

    Enjoy your visit, hope the weather is good, we are getting rain here tonight. Yuck, means ice on top of all the snow.

    God bless.

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    1. I had a good visit, but the roads weren't great on the way out. Definitely some slippery and icy sections but I took my time.

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  10. It's good you're having a more restful week. Shoveling is hard work so pace yourself. We've had a lot of snow and cold too. Have a good and healthy week.

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  11. Heck I spent all of my time commenting to Kim. :-) You are right to use the first guy. That second one is awful.

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    1. You're absolutely right...I'm beginning to think I ought to write up a negative review for him. Totally unprofessional.

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