Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Here we go.

Why did I decide to jump on the narcissistic blogging bandwagon? I suppose the articles in the Times-Pic showed me that people actually are interested in keeping up with our misfortunes as it seems to be fairly compelling stuff. There's another article in this Saturday's InsideOut section. (Ever notice how it seems like it would also be a name for a gay weekly?) I mean, really, just when you think it can't get worse....

That's something of an overstatement as Kayla and I still have our (relative) health. This experience has, however, given us a pretty grounded perspective. Take for example the recent brouhaha (is that how you spell that? Well, Google thinks so) concerning trash cans in the French Quarter. I mean, c'mon guys, if your biggest problem is unsightly trashcans for your TWICE A DAY garbage service... But, this is the kind of stuff I myself may have gotten worked up about Pre-K. Well, we're also pretty sure The Beeb has something to do with it. She keeps us so distracted we don't notice the minutiae anymore. Expect frequent postings of pictures our our little furry baby with super sharp teeth.

So, a quick update as to "how we're doing with the house." We've officially fired James Kim and his contractor firm called "CMC Construction, Inc." of Virginia. (How's that for seeding Google?). The unbelievable shoddy work has set us back an extra few tens-of-thousands of dollars. Hopefully they'll settle without litigation, but I'm not optimistic. The Road Home money would help as well, but again...not optimistic. Right now we're soliciting bids from contractors and are debating if we should piece out the work between general contractors and ourselves to save us from money. Kayla says I can get a diesel dually with a camper shell if I do most of the contracting myself. Hellz yeah.

Something else I've learned is how f'in easy alot of this stuff really is. It appears that 90% of construction is knowing how to hide poor work and defects (right James Kim and CMC Construction, Inc. of Virginia?). There seems to be an industry-wide conspiracy to make it seem hard. This is evidenced by the unbelievably condescending attitude you get at home shows and dealing with contractors one-on-one. It's like they're terrified that you'll find out that this stuff is so easy, a high school dropout caveman could do it.