Honest Day's Work (for once)

We extended our Labor Day weekend by an extra day today, primarily because we had planned to be vacationing in Mexico anyway, but also because it was a perfect "house prep" day. With approximately 55 days before departure and resolute in our (heartbreaking) decision to sell, we need to get this sucker on the market.

The biggest task at hand was gutter inspection work, since drainage was such an issue during Chicago's repeated pummeling by monsoons and tornadoes this summer. Also needing attention were some very useful 3" holes cut in the aluminum siding at the very top of the house--very useful, that is, if you need to fly in them for laying and hatching eggs in the springtime. Typical Chicago construction...who really knows why?

Although I was raised under the firm white-collar family motto "Subcontract first, ask questions later," our last experience with a Chicago subcontractor was so terrible that I couldn't bear paying some dope $500 for a few mindless (albeit elevated) tasks. So we rented a 32' extension ladder for the day, delivered from the fantastic Industrial Ladder Co. after a 25-minute phone call to the local Home Depot proved they couldn't locate their own Tool Rental department.

I've never done elevated house repair (yes, I've not done much house repair, period, thank you) but Steph reminded me that I have completed one of the world's longest bungy jumps, so I shouldn't fear. At least I'm good at free-falls..? Even so, we decided to bolster my courage last night by polishing off a bottle of Bordeaux.

Since I'm not writing from a hospital bed, obviously everything went OK today. Dealing with heights is all mental, and I did some of my best-ever work twenty five feet up. I found a half-moon shaped piece of tile that was perfectly angled over the roof drain, obviously strategically placed there by someone who hates me; removing it should solve the drainage issues. And I managed to plug the bird holes without any grievous peck wounds or permanently caulking my thumb to the siding.

After re-carpeting the downstairs bedroom on Thursday, with any luck we might have the house on the market by Sunday, after the Lake Geneva triathlon on Saturday. Wish us luck!