slow coalescence

Things are starting to come together. The kitchen cabinets are coming in tomorrow; the kitchen area is also to be repainted. Most of the flooring will be done tomorrow; the new dining room looks amazing with its new floor. My problem is that I find hardwood floors generally unforgiving: they're cold, hard, and uncomfortable, and once you scratch them, they're a pain to maintain. I'd much rather have carpeting, despite the latter's disadvantages (trapped hair, dirt, dander, mildew, odors, etc.). From now on, the parents will have to watch every step: dropping a hard object on the new floor won't be pretty.

Dad is pooped. He's not a handyman, but he's been the main person assembling the deck, with Mr. Jeong popping up occasionally to watch Dad's progress or to teach him what to do for the next phase of deck-building. Dad's more familiar with power tools than I am; I assist him on occasion, but most of the moving and shaking is entirely up to him.

The deck's vertical posts are almost ready; after they're levelled out and securely bolted in place, we'll be able to assemble the deck kit-- the railing, the "sleeves" that will go over the posts, etc. We've got some stairs to straighten out, and the rest of the deck's floor to put in, but at this point, the deck is far enough along that it's easy to visualize the final product.

The renovators lost their December 1st contract but picked up another one, also beginning on December 1st, so it appears they'll be out of here around the end of the month. By the time they leave, about 95% of the renovation will be done; the rest will be up to us (3-prong wall sockets, new light switches, plus some frills and accessories). And once that's all done, we'll still have to bring back everything we've stored outside on those cargo skids-- i.e., half the house. Christmas promises to be very meaningful this year; it will truly be a time to kick back and relax. No one's going to have the energy to participate in the hectic nonsense of a normal American Christmas-- the shopping sprees, the baking sprees, the spastic bouts of in-home decoration, etc. That'll be a relief.

We finally turned the computer back on a day or so ago; access remains a bit shaky, as the renovators will have to re-floor the computer room sometime this week. I've got pics to upload (not to mention an old video of Mom using that pneumatic hammer), but don't hold your breath. Uploads might be a while.


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