The condo is well insulated and sealed, judging by the fact that the CO2 levels reach above 1800 ppm (typical atmospheric levels are around 400 ppm, which itself is an increase of about 50% since the start of the industrial revolution, according to Wikipedia) while I'm walking on the treadmill. Even without someone exercising, it sits around 1200 ( Read more... )

The realtor we talked to said that having a shower instead of a bath is a wash (see what I did there?) in terms of resale value. But even if it decreased the value, and even if it wasn't an accessibility issue for Miriam (which it is), it would be *so* worth it. Even before I installed the shower wand today it was wonderful having the space and the ( Read more... )

Miriam and I have been in the new/old place for a couple nights now. Overall, it's wonderful. We have a couch we don't hate. We have room that isn't taken up by a bunch of furniture we don't need and that isn't ours. We have nice big windows in the living room we can open up and enjoy the breeze through. It's been a long road getting here, and ( Read more... )

Stuff from yesterday:

I went to the dog park with the intent of walking for an hour while Ella ran around, but the whole place was like walking through a living cloud of mosquitoes. Someone even gave me some bug spray and they were *still* getting me. Ugh. I left after about 10 minutes.

In the evening, I unexpectedly smelled a burning-related smell ( Read more... )

More condo updates:

The rebuild manager, who I like so far, says that our move-back-in date is likely to be mid-June to early-July, though that's subject to change. After the fire, the insurance adjuster said that it could take as long as a year for repairs to be done, given the damage. so 9.5 to 10 months isn't too bad. Of course, contractor ( Read more... )

We had a longish email conversation with the person working with us on picking tile for our condo. I knew that it was a bit lengthy, so at the end, I sent an email that I tried to make very brief and clear.

---
Hi X,

To confirm our choices:

We would like to use the Argile #ARG27567 in Ice for the area in front of the fireplace.
We would like it laid ( Read more... )

This Thursday, Miriam and I are meeting a contractor with the restoration company at our condo to "go over some things." "Due to the extent of the repairs," they say, "we will have lots of questions for you."

I imagine they'll have questions about materials or styles or something. We'll also ask them about replacing the bathtub with a walk-in shower ( Read more... )

Shit's been rough, lately.

I had to be away from social media for most of a week. Back then, I had spent a couple of days reading about the current research on Covid, trying to understand how dangerous it is in general, and how dangerous it is specifically for Miriam. I concluded that the answer is potentially very dangerous, if what Miriam has is ( Read more... )

As of yesterday, we've been told, the cleaning and demolition is complete at the condo and they started the odor removal process.

Our adjuster originally told us it could be a year before we could move back. I really have no idea whether this progress is in line with that timeline or not.

I'm having a pretty hard time concentrating today, but it's better than yesterday ( Read more... )