Two Days Later

The photo I posted on Monday, January 27th - 2 days ago was taken when the temperature was in the 60s.

Here is today's photo with the temperature in the mid-20s.

We didn't get a lot of snow, but it happened in the middle of the day when the temperatures were in the 20s and everything froze on the road as people were driving on it. The snow was totally packed down into a layer of ice that was challenging to drive on. Driving home from work around 7:30 pm was fine until I got about 3 miles to my house, then the traffic on the main highway was at a standstill. I drove around a back way where the roads were fine. Until ... I got about 2-3 miles to my house on another road and it was a dome of ice. Cars were sliding all over the road. I witnessed 1 wreck and 2 cars sliding off the road. I decided to park at a little vegetable stand and walk most of the way home then have my family pick me up. As we went on a overpass we could see the main highway near my house and it was bumper to bumper traffic stopped on the highway.

Today driving was fine. We had enough sun to melt most of the ice. Shady areas will continue to be a problem for a day or two. I don't think many people lost power because ice on the trees was not a problem.

I checked the temperature in John's house - it was 40 degrees with no heat source on and outdoor temps ranging from the teens last night to 20s in the daytime. I am very happy with the thermal performance of the house.

January Status of the House

Ok, so here's where we are right now with the house. Front view of the house with the new railings.

Here is a view as you approach the front door. I think the door we refinished looks great. Carlton did a great job on the stairs and the railing.

Now here are a few photos of the inside of the house showing the blown-in cellulose insulation and the service chase. This is the service room with the water heater, heat pump, and the washer/dryer.

Next is a view of the dormer insulation.

Insulation around the upstairs bathroom.

And finally a cute cat photo. This is Daisy and Rocky napping together.

I have a lot of stuff to cover about the house, but that will come later. Ya'll take care of yourselves.

Tired.

I'm tired.

I haven't been posting largely because I am tired and the most interesting part of the house has been built. That would be the thermal envelope in case you couldn't tell.

I've been working a HUGE amount of hours to make sure we can pay for the house while we were waiting to hear about our construction loan. I anticipated that we would be able to get the loan, but I didn't want to use too much money so the pay back amount was reasonable.

Well, it turned out we did not get approved. I'm not sure, but I think the underwriter was just not comfortable with giving us a construction loan so late in the process. The loan officer said he could not tell what had been paid for and what had not been paid for. I don't know really what the problem was.

I applied at a my builder's bank yesterday for about $128,000 which will pay off the current mortgage and $90,000 to finish the house. Wish me luck.

So what this all boils down to is that I am working all the hours I can (I work in an emergency department where there are almost always extra hours) until I can find out where we are in the loan process. Worst case scenario is that I would have to get a home equity loan on my house to pay for John's house. Then he would pay me back. Not really the way I want to do it.

I've got the night shift tonight. Need to go take a nap.

I do have more photos. Later.