Look ma, we got floors

Rendered speechless

    I haven't updated the blog in a while, but I got laid low by a flu/cold that I just can't shake off. It started out with a sore throat a week ago and it is still hanging on, tormenting me. One of the most obvious symptoms I have is laryngitis which makes me sound either squeaky or husky or something other then my usual voice and makes it hard for me to talk. Which .... could be a good thing.

     Meanwhile, back at our loft not that much has happened. We are hoping for big progress this week. We even are holding out some hope that we can move back in on Friday, but we are not counting on it. The crew was otherwise occupied last week and not too much more then laying the new floor down transpired. It looks great, though, and most of the walls are painted as well. The finances have mostly gotten sorted out as well. Travelers seems to be coming through and paying for all the work. That is a huge relief. Now it is mainly that JD and I can't believe we have been ensconced in this hotel suite for over a month now and having a home of our own seems like a distant mirage. This hotel living is very strange. We have been operating with just the stuff we threw in bags the day we moved out, over a month ago. Same clothing, same shoes, same old same old. Very much sensory deprivation tank living. That has its upside, though. Less choices to be made, less things to fuss about. Our room gets cleaned each day. New towels. Hopefully we will remember how to fend for ourselves once we return home.

a celebration

    Tonight, Oct. 18th, marks our 43rd universary. That is the the night we met, those many years ago, at a fraternity party on Langdon St. in Madison, Wisconsin.  JD was playing a gig there with his band, The Tayles, and I snuck into the party with my BBF Jane, whose boyfriend Bo had been in another band with JD. Jane figured out that JD and I were meant for each other. It was love at first sight for me, but it took us a little while to work out the kinks.  Oct. 18th was the night we actually connected. So in honor of this occasion, which often feels more momentous then our subsequent marriage the following August, we celebrated. As most of you who know us are aware, we are not ones to stand on very much ceremony or ritual in our lives. Tonight was no different but it has a special flavor this year. We "dined in" at the Marriott Residence. We had some inexpensive, but tasty champagne, a microwaved entree we picked up at Whole Foods, and collected some pre dinner snacks (cheese cubes, humus, salsa and chips)  down in the lobby. It has been delightful. Perhaps we will make it our new tradition.

"Houston, we have liftoff ....."

    That's how it feels to me. Yesterday ---- a full 18 days since this personal disaster was set in motion, our trajectory is turning towards completion rather then destruction. Stuff has stopped exiting our little home and there is now our apparently very competent crew working on rebuilding it. Here JD is standing in front of the new wall that is replacing the big, black bookcase. It does look rather like the moon's surface on the ground there. Wood has been ordered, tiles have been chosen, many decisions have been made. It feels encouraging to see these signs of progress. I am almost able to visualize returning home.

progress report

Well, not much to report yet, folks. But we've turned the corner on the demo-ing. Everything possible is out of the entire place. Cement floors and a bunch of exposed studs down at floor level. We have a contractor --- a father and son team ---- who will be working on the restoration, along with their crew. We are very hopeful that this process will go quickly, but I think we are still looking at three weeks or so before we can hope to be back at home.

Meanwhile  ..... we are getting very used to our new set up at the Marriott Residence down by the river. In fact we are getting so used to it, that it almost feels weird when we go "home" to check on our place. Just shows the incredible adaptability of human beings. Each morning we trek down to the copious, if not very appetizing, complimentary buffet breakfast. JD grazes through all the offerings, but I have returned to eating my minimalistic weight watchers breakfast of crackers and lite cheese spread. Doesn't this make you all envious. Well don't be. On the other hand --- it is pretty funny to have daily maid service, new linens, and no house keeping chores.  Reminds me of being back in college in a dorm, but with a servant.

JD is in the midst of writing the Bananas holiday newsletter ---- an annual project that he has continued to do for Alan and the store. It is very labor intensive and arduous. Having to take time out to visit Ikea and Home Depot is not that amusing for him, but has to be done to get back into our house. I am trying to keep up with my normal exercising and loafing around.

We are using our wonderful Portland transit system quite a bit. Our garage at home is piled high with our appliances and cabinets and it is not easy to park in the Pearl.  Our hotel is at the last stop in what they call "fareless square" here--- the first stop is right by our house. We end up going back and forth on the trolly quite a bit, to go to the gym,  to get our mail, check on our place, stop by the library and go to our NIA classes.  It creates this whole different rhythm in our life to rely on public transportation.  After all those years of being a two-car suburban California family, our move to Portland and the Pearl has allowed us to have many days without even using the car and walking places. Now we are a bit further away from our usual destinations, so we are availing ourselves of this incredible and free street car system. The whole trip takes between 15 -25 minutes, depending on traffic. If you add in down time waiting for a streetcar on the way back, it adds up. Thank goodness for our iPhones. We just continue on with our virtual offices in our hand. Or bring a book to read. It is reminding me of my life back in New York when I used to read on the bus or subway.

Our local pals have been stepping up to feed us home cooked meals when they can and it is comforting to us to get out and visit in a "real" house that doesn't have long hallways and elevators and matching furniture in every room. Otherwise we are going to many happy hours and eateries on our list of places we want to try, or return to the places we like. More about that in the next post.

Homeless in Portland

Thanks everyone for your caring responses to our predicament. Yesterday proved to be a bit manic depressive. We met with the insurance adjuster early in the morning and it does seem like we will be covered for our loss and will even be able to make changes within the budget envelope if we desire. We don't have the final news yet on the extent of the damage. As the demo guy said: this is an ongoing investigation. So during the day we started adapting to our new life, down by the waterfront, at  the Marriott in SW Portland. We are still on "our" side of the river, but further South a bit, below downtown.  The fare-less streetcar is still running outside our doorstep. So that is all good, and we started thinking about tile color and rearranging some details in our little loft, and felt okay but then in the evening we went by our place to pick up mail and check out progress and whew ---- it's just a disaster zone there. All our stuff packed up and gone. Refrigerator standing in the living room,  other appliances in the garage, baseboards off with holes drilled in dry wall, bathroom tile partially dug out and the wood floors not even excavated yet. Looked like a long, long way to go before you could even begin to imagine it being our little house again. Sob. Oh well. We are trying to remain upbeat about this and again, no animals were maimed or killed in the making of this situation. Sadly, quite a few oak trees will be sacrificed however. 

And to further keep things in perspective --- the local eatery we tried to go to yesterday for lunch turned out to be closed, with a sign on it, saying they would reopen sometime in the future, due to electrical and plumbing problems. We are not alone. There is a big, bad world out there.

Day 1 --- from Andrea

Restarting the blog:

The Sharps are on another vacation trip of sorts...this one not voluntary, but it is involving motels, or a motel. Sometime in the wee hours of last Friday morning, a little, innocuous looking hose that connects the cold water to our filtered water spout under our kitchen sink, became distended and then cracked. Water began spritzing out and eventually woke me up (I was asleep on the couch after a particularly fun evening of eating and drinking) and came to consciousness hearing an unfamiliar sound that I traced to the sink --- the source of this sound became apparent when I realized I was standing on something wet. The man of the house managed to turn off the water inlet and we mopped up, but by the next day we realized something kind of untoward had happened to our beautiful oak wood floor. And that was just the very tip of an especially ugly iceberg. Our beloved loft is built on a concrete slab and apparently water seeks its level and the course of least resistance and once it gets there... well it couldn't get below the slab. So there we are with 3/4 inch oak, two layers of ply wood and water sitting maliciously atop our moisture barrier and only accessible via total destruction.  It is looking like they will need to rip up almost the entire floor of our unit --- possibly including the bathroom. Cabinets will need to be moved (out of our relatively recently remodeled kitchen) and every thing in our entire house is being moved out for us and stored. I'm sure you can all imagine our shock and distress. 

The down side of all this is pretty obvious. On the up side: we don't have regular jobs we have to deal with, we don't have small children or pets, and we know we can survive out of suitcases in hotel rooms for extended periods of time. Perhaps our criss crossing of the country last summer was just a warm up for this new challenge. This adventure will not involve driving hundreds of miles each day. Perhaps we will reorganize our living space and make it even more perfect. So far our insurance company has risen to the occasion and is taking care of business. They have sent in a company to both perform the demo on the house and also to move all our worldly goods out of our home and into storage. They are housing us at a Marriott Residence hotel and we even have a sliver view of the river. So --- things could be worse. No one has died or been hurt in the course of our leak. Hearing the very sad news about Steve Jobs yesterday certainly puts perspective on the difference between people and things and what really matters. My theory is that blogging might help me get through this trying time. So here it goes......