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| Construction and Destruction Begins |
| 9/4/2004 2:53:00 PM |
| "Where's our house?" OK, some of it is still standing but suddenly we have begun our construction phase of the remodeling. In a series of events unprecedented for their rapidity the City approved our building plans, issued a permit, the builder found time in his window for the "cement guy" to pour the new foundations and we moved out. Of course we had a party while this all happened. |
 Just when it looked like the City would hang on to our plans for a week or so longer, they suddenly approved them. Joan doesn't want to take too much of the credit but John thinks it was her "Do the math" comment to them during her final daily visit that tipped the scales in our favor. She pointed out that it would only require about 5 minutes of effort for them to complete our plan they replied that there were 5 people ahead of us. Hmmm. 5 times 6 is 30 minutes. That's when math was invoked. They approved the plans that day: August 25.
We had begun to move next door on Monday, August 23 so the builder was able to pick up the permit the next morning and start work immediately. The garage was the first to go. It was completely removed by the end of Friday.
Friday night we invited a large group of friends to a very informal "Bringing Down the House" party. We had about 70 guests. Many of them had heard our horror stories during the previous year and a half so they were anxious to see the house that was the subject of such controversy. And to see where they people who had opposed the project lived. But the primary attraction for both men and women was the heavy equipment in the back yard. At least half of the attendees had their picture taken on one of the pieces.
The picture on this page shows the house without the garage. The family room and the mud room are also gone now. We are taking daily pictures to record the progress. We will post a full picture gallery shortly. |