The course of true love never did run smooth and neither does the course of making a couple small updates to your house.

Over a month ago we started down the path of updating our siding. The old cedar shingles were slowly rotting and the paint was peeling; the idea of replacing more shingles and once again painting the house (something we did just a couple years before) just seemed like a waste. So enter a project to update to fancy HardiePlank Fiber Cement siding. Then, because hey the majority of the labor for replacing the windows would be done with the siding job we decided to get rid of our old, falling apart, drafty, leaky, horrible, aluminum windows and replace them with über energy efficient ones. And hey while they’re at it I’d wanted a new kitchen floor for ages…. It was already adding up.

First, they found rot under the siding. Then, they found mold under the rot. Then, the windows didn’t fit as perfectly into the interior trim as we’d hoped necessitating replacing that AND one of the windows arrived from the manufacturer broken (still waiting on the glass guy to repair). Meanwhile, while replacing the kitchen floor it was discovered that the previous owners (dating back to the 50s) had never actually removed flooring, they just kept putting layer after layer after layer on top of each other (it was like a time machine even including avocado green at one point) so there was no way to actually get the floor level with the rest of the rooms without a huge job at triple the cost (let’s just say it’s not level now and I’m happy that way, probably how all those past owners ended up with layers of floor not removed). All in all it’s been an…experience.

My, should be done in just a couple weeks, project has already spanned a month and we still have to tear the bathroom down to the studs (the location of the black mold discovered under the rot!) and put in new drywall and a shower surround.

You never learn this stuff as an apartment dweller. Up until we bought our house a few years back apartments were all I knew. It’s been a real eye opener! Next time I’m taking my projected budget and tripling it, would probably be closer to the reality!

Is this what it’s always like? There are still other small updates I’d like to make, not to mention the dream of adding a second bathroom. With the way this project has gone I can’t help but think that buying a new house would be less hassle!

The house, once upon a time:

The house, a month ago (well okay, a couple years ago right after we finished painting last time):

The house, right now:

I still have to decide what color to paint. Decisions, decisions! Any suggestions?

When I was 16 I just kind of fell into the web. No, not some giant spider web, but that great world wide one that people keep blathering on about. It was the good ole dot com days, where anyone who knew what a <p> tag was could get hired. I’d always been a bit of a computer geek, it was a source of endless fascination with me and I remember many a childhood hour whiled away typing in DOS commands or other mindless pursuits. But I never really planned on being a professional geek.

By the time I was 18 I was already on the path to a career and a jagged hop through an assortment of gray cubicals, large corporations, small companies and everything in between. I’ve been a designer, a developer, a webmaster and a code monkey (not my official title, but really, it should have been). It’s been a dozen years and until recently I never really stopped to think, is this what I want? It just was what it was. The bills were paid; some days my mind overflowed with excitement and ideas, and other days my feet had trouble moving I was so numb from the drudgery. It was work, basically. It wasn’t until a few years ago when I really sat down and thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up and even that didn’t go further than a constantly changing idea of “what could be” and an unused bachelor’s degree achieved while still working the same sort of jobs.

When I was a kid computers were always there (despite it being the early 80s), but they weren’t my overriding passion. From the time I was 6 I wanted to be a doctor (before that I wanted to be an actress/singer, I’d still take that job, if only for the paycheck). First a pediatric cardiologist (try asking most 6 year olds to pronounce that much less explain it!), then later a research biologist (but still a medical doctor) once someone introduced me to medical laboratories and let me play for a couple of days with centrifuges and other assorted equipment. The mysteries of the universe opened up before me, it was thrilling.

Now though, now I don’t know. I’m rushing towards 30 and I still don’t truly know what I want to be when I grow up. I can keep following the path I’m on and will likely continue to grow and enjoy my career or I can put on the breaks and completely change paths now, while I’m still young enough that I’m not that set in my ways.

So how about you? Are you doing what you’ve always wanted to do? Or did you fall into something that you really enjoy, but wasn’t an overriding passion or an intentional decision? What would you do if someone handed you 4-8 years worth of living expenses and said “go to school and study your heart’s passion, you just have to come out of it with a paying job and support yourself after”? What would you study?

Me, well I still don’t know. I know I’d miss what I’m doing now, it has become a passion. Maybe not my first passion, though. When do you give up on the what-ifs and what-could-have-been kind of thoughts? Is it when you finally grow up?

Remodeling, it’s a word many probably thought was left behind back in the dizzying housing boom when everyone used their houses as piggy banks and took out equity loans left and right, funding that new kitchen with a Sub-Zero fridge or that shiny new boat. Well, it wasn’t, at least not entirely. It’s never really been much of a word in our household actually, we bought a 1950s ranch a bit over 4 years ago and haven’t changed much. It’s small and cute, needed updating, but nothing pressing and we have slowly, but surely, made little updates here and there. A little paint, a little Spackle, a lot of wiring (computer nerds and 50s wiring do not get along) and it’s been a nice home.

Now though, now the first big change is about to occur, the first time I’ve had to hire more than a simple handyman and where the cost…well it’s when I start thinking of things in terms of how much of a Mini Cooper S (with the options I want) that would have bought me (roughly 1/6th of a Cooper in this case). We’re not doing anything luxurious, my dreams of new kitchen counters and a jacuzzi tub are still unfulfilled, but the sense of joy the idea of new siding and windows is bringing me is, quite frankly, weird. You never realize until you own a house just how much of “you” gets invested in it. And it doesn’t happen to everyone, Jer couldn’t care less, but me I’m wrapped up in U-factors and debating colors to paint. To each their own I guess.

The contractors though, that’s been the worse part. First, getting them to actually call or email me back was a trial. Of the 20 or so I actually contacted to get them to give me a bid only 9(!) actually responded. For such a down economy I guess business must be booming for them. And then the actual appointments, good grief.

First, there were the guys who talked down to me; pretty little girl, hasn’t a clue in her head about what she wants, so I’ll just tell her what she wants or ask if her husband will be home soon (next please!).

Then, there were the creepy ones, the ones where I wish I hadn’t been home alone during their bid (um, police?!).

Third, there was the salesy one, thankfully this was only one of the 9, but he made up for his minority status by pulling out every cliché there is. He started off asking me what he needed to say to get me to sign on the dotted line today (how about “I’ll do all the work and pay you $500 for the privilege.” No? Then I’m not committing during a bid). He then proceeded to tell me how they do everything differently and better than every other company out there. Then he told me how they’ll match the bid of any other company, as long as they’re using the same materials and exact process as they are…hmm what about how they’re completely different? I guess he didn’t think I’d catch on to that. He also insisted I sit down with him to go through his brochure (which was pages and pages about how they’re different, addresses of houses they’ve worked on, obviously as proof they’ve been hired before, their better business rating, etc), before he’d even get into the product OR the costs. All the while talking about how he’s not really a “salesy” type person and not at all pushy. And then of course he wanted an answer. Wasn’t too thrilled when I wouldn’t give him one OR when I said please don’t call me, I’ll call you (he said he WILL call within a week, um thanks). Listen, just take your measurements, listen to what I want and hand me your bid. Include a reference sheet if you want, if you don’t and I’m interested, I’ll ask for one. Otherwise, be on your way. You can ask questions, suggest products or methods you think would be better, but if the whole thing takes an hour you’re doing it wrong!

Fourth, there were the low pressure, listen to what I want, cheerfully respond and promptly give me my estimate ones. There were 2. Still trying to decide which of those 2 will get my business. Too bad I can’t hire them both.

I’m not sure which will be the tougher decision, which contractor to hire or what color to paint the house. Both won’t be easy. A bad contractor will be more expensive though.

If you’d asked me a few weeks ago what the word wax meant to me I probably would have said something about making my car shiny and protecting the paint. Now though, now I could ramble off an ode to wax. I could give you a 1,000 page essay comparing and contrasting the properties of standard dental wax and silicone wax. I could rant and rave about the percentage of my day that’s now spent putting on and taking off wax. It’s my friend, my blessing and my tormentor. I wonder if it’s an addiction, if I could stop putting it on, would I adjust to the agony of braces faster? Or is the application of it all that’s keeping me from pulling out the pliers and ripping these things off myself?

To those contemplating getting braces, really they aren’t that bad. I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the end. It’s not some delusion forced upon me by the orthodontic industry. I think. I hope.

Oh, and silicone wax is far better than standard wax, but it takes 3 times as long to put on, so get both.

Today Macmillan started to announce some details about their new agency model, book available and pricing. While pricing isn’t something I’ve really gotten into voicing my views on yet (don’t worry, I will) availability is and as much as I disagree with other things they’ve done I’m really digging their views on this, at least so far.

First, as CEO John Sargent says, “All the new adult trade books for which we have the rights to publish in e-book format will be available at the first release of the printed book.” Meaning, Macmillan books won’t end up on my boycott list.

How will they do this you ask? The same way publishers have been doing for ages now, with tiered pricing, meaning the initial release will be priced higher. Think of it as a hard cover for ebooks. If the book you want is released as a hardcover first and you want to read it the day it comes out, expect to pay more than you would if it was a paperback. They say that prices will be lower than the paperbacks, “between $14.99 and $12.99; a few books will be priced higher and lower” and as a paperback version is released or time goes by (for those that do not come out in paperback) prices will be lowered.

Is this going to solve everything? No, odds are their prices are still going to be higher than many are comfortable with paying. It’s a step in the right direction, though. I like that at least one publisher is recognizing that ebooks aren’t just another medium like paperbacks vs. hardbacks, it’s another market entirely. Pricing higher at release and lower over time is the way to go in my mind. If I want a book the day it comes out and it’s something being released in a hard cover edition, I’m already conditioned to pay more–I’m fine with this. As long as it’s cheaper than the actual hardcover (showing both the savings from the print costs and the loss of value in terms of resale, sharing, etc, to me as a reader) I’ll be happy. Will they actually hold firm to prices the market is willing to pay? That’s the real question.