kronin323
Font of Useless Knowledge
Thought I'd revive this thread to give an update...
Back when I made the OP, I was about as tenderfoot a newbie on this forum as you could get. Though I still have to put in a lot more time to officially shake the "newbie" status, I have learned a lot over these past few months, now find myself answering more questions than asking (though I still ask), and have "met" and got to know (to varying degrees) a lot of great people here; it's been a pleasure sharing this space with you all. Thank you.
So anyway, it's been 3 1/2 months since the OP. Those drying fans ran non-stop for a full week; the silence was amazing once they finally stopped. We left all our stuff in its relocated position for a couple of weeks and then eventually moved things back to their more-or-less original location, to gain some semblance of normalcy. But things have stayed that way; it's taken forever to get all the insurance stuff worked out, shop for contractors, get competitive bids, select one, and get on their schedule. We're been living in the damage for the full 3 1/2 months.
Repairs finally started today. It will take 3-4 weeks to complete. Things will get worse before they get better.
The Wife's been driving me a bit crazy with all this - she's a CPA; she has zero leadership training or experience, zero management training or experience, and zero project management training or experience. I have all three (or all six), yet she still treats me like I'm an idiot, micromanaging all these little details (as if she was in charge or something) when she doesn't know what she's talking about and not trusting people who know what they're doing. I mean, I get paid for a living as a project manager, know all the PMI standard practices and formulas, and get paid for it better (barely) than she does as a CPA. And then when she causes trouble (like right at the last minute deciding she wanted to replace all the downstairs tile, too, after all) she throws the PM stuff back in my face (I had to explain to her the whole concept of scope creep and change management on that one; had to explain the whole risk analysis / risk mgt process when she was hyper about if the contractors don't match our old paint exactly)... But I'm just venting, it's all good...
We have a baby grand piano that's been in the family for a few generations that was right in the middle of the damage zone (luckily it escaped damage, though one part got a little wet). This past weekend we had to move it to a nearby relative's house to get it out of the way during the repairs. I'm not trying to spam these guys' service (nor would it do any good unless there's a bunch of you in the Austin area who need a piano moved), but the company I used was excellent. They had that thing disassembled, securely packed, moved, and set back up in 1/2 an hour, in total control the entire time (no "oh sh!t" moments). Great job, and quite interesting to watch how they did it.
The rest of the weekend was spent moving small items and valuables out of the line of fire. There will be more of that as things progress.
This first week they're replacing drywall, patching holes, texturing, and replacing baseboards.
Here's some pics for your amusement: The first is while they were tearing stuff out back when it first happened. The second better shows that baby grand piano in relation to what went on around it. The third is this morning, after the workers masked off that area (I haven't heard that much potty-mouth Spanish being spoken since I was in a restaurant kitchen; don't think they knew I understood it). Realize, this is only one of five rooms that got some amount of damage. If you include the parts that will be affected by the additional upgrades the wife wanted, about 70% of our living space is getting worked on. And a lot of our possessions are now crammed into that remaining 30%. Fun fun fun.
Have a great day!
Back when I made the OP, I was about as tenderfoot a newbie on this forum as you could get. Though I still have to put in a lot more time to officially shake the "newbie" status, I have learned a lot over these past few months, now find myself answering more questions than asking (though I still ask), and have "met" and got to know (to varying degrees) a lot of great people here; it's been a pleasure sharing this space with you all. Thank you.
So anyway, it's been 3 1/2 months since the OP. Those drying fans ran non-stop for a full week; the silence was amazing once they finally stopped. We left all our stuff in its relocated position for a couple of weeks and then eventually moved things back to their more-or-less original location, to gain some semblance of normalcy. But things have stayed that way; it's taken forever to get all the insurance stuff worked out, shop for contractors, get competitive bids, select one, and get on their schedule. We're been living in the damage for the full 3 1/2 months.
Repairs finally started today. It will take 3-4 weeks to complete. Things will get worse before they get better.
The Wife's been driving me a bit crazy with all this - she's a CPA; she has zero leadership training or experience, zero management training or experience, and zero project management training or experience. I have all three (or all six), yet she still treats me like I'm an idiot, micromanaging all these little details (as if she was in charge or something) when she doesn't know what she's talking about and not trusting people who know what they're doing. I mean, I get paid for a living as a project manager, know all the PMI standard practices and formulas, and get paid for it better (barely) than she does as a CPA. And then when she causes trouble (like right at the last minute deciding she wanted to replace all the downstairs tile, too, after all) she throws the PM stuff back in my face (I had to explain to her the whole concept of scope creep and change management on that one; had to explain the whole risk analysis / risk mgt process when she was hyper about if the contractors don't match our old paint exactly)... But I'm just venting, it's all good...
We have a baby grand piano that's been in the family for a few generations that was right in the middle of the damage zone (luckily it escaped damage, though one part got a little wet). This past weekend we had to move it to a nearby relative's house to get it out of the way during the repairs. I'm not trying to spam these guys' service (nor would it do any good unless there's a bunch of you in the Austin area who need a piano moved), but the company I used was excellent. They had that thing disassembled, securely packed, moved, and set back up in 1/2 an hour, in total control the entire time (no "oh sh!t" moments). Great job, and quite interesting to watch how they did it.
The rest of the weekend was spent moving small items and valuables out of the line of fire. There will be more of that as things progress.
This first week they're replacing drywall, patching holes, texturing, and replacing baseboards.
Here's some pics for your amusement: The first is while they were tearing stuff out back when it first happened. The second better shows that baby grand piano in relation to what went on around it. The third is this morning, after the workers masked off that area (I haven't heard that much potty-mouth Spanish being spoken since I was in a restaurant kitchen; don't think they knew I understood it). Realize, this is only one of five rooms that got some amount of damage. If you include the parts that will be affected by the additional upgrades the wife wanted, about 70% of our living space is getting worked on. And a lot of our possessions are now crammed into that remaining 30%. Fun fun fun.
Have a great day!
