alone in the windy city

House update

( Cut for pictures )

So that's the construction-y progress so far. The cleaner is going to come next week so once that's done, we're going to start slowly moving things over in bits in our zippered moving bags. I also ordered a full size daybed frame, a lumbar pillow for the daybed so I can lean against it when sleeping and a rug for the bedroom. I shopped sales and looked for discounts. I am obviously having them shipped to the new place and will drag them in when they arrive but won't open the boxes if they arrive before the cleaner.

Tomorrow is my annual review and thankfully Josh is going to do it. Hopefully we don't have to track down old bitch Bosslady to have her sign off on anything. We're going to be talking about upgrading my job. We had a surprise last week when Josh had a conversation with the head of the Business/HR/Budget office who mentioned to him that he was hoping that he could pass off the duties of the idiot business guy I've dealt with for a decade.

Um...wut? I mean while he's a dumbass and needs replaced, I wasn't thinking that *I* would be replacing his job. I'm not a business person and I've not done any of it though I guess I could learn it. Well, I'll be telling Josh that anything that doesn't have to do with the land-grant stuff can be passed to someone else in the business office. Also, one of the other people on my "team" is going to take some of it. We're going to talk about that. They also may have her report to me which woo, minion, I suppose. Though not really, probably more on paper. I don't like that it's also not being proposed to make me the same level as Elaine or as my equivalent in the Extension office. We'll see.

Oh and no, I won't feel one bit bad that idiot business guy will lose his job. He's been a burden and a waste of space for more than a decade. He does the bare minimum and does it badly and he STILL saves the shit from his side gig on our shared drive.

It's a lot, though. Everything's a lot right now and it's quite the Jenga stack with missing bits.

Former Bosslady (FB) sent a zoom link yesterday afternoon to what should have been a pretty big audience at the entire University and Josh forwarded it to Elaine and I so we could attend this morning. Mind, Bosslady is now the Vice Provost for Research and making an obnoxious $300K.

This zoom has had a max of 20 people on it, four of them being FB, Elaine, Josh and myself. That is a pathetic number. Also, this was a camera on type situation and she greeted Josh and Elaine and not me. Fuck you, ho. I hope that you lose your job since you are clearly USELESS. Come crawling back to faculty and don't expect any favors from me if you're on the Ag Experiment Station dime.

Emily got a quote of a little over $3000 for the basement demo work, including getting rid of stairs that are NOT to code (we suspected) and it also includes putting in a new set of stairs. Sounds like a reasonable start to me. We weren't sure when it was going to be scheduled and then she got a message today that he had a cancellation and can he start this Tuesday. YOU BET YOU CAN. They're going to put the dumpster in the driveway tomorrow and then one of us will need to make sure we're there on Tuesday to let him in to get work started.

After the demo and the stair reconstruction, since the ceiling the previous owners slapped in will be down and things will be exposed, then the contractor will call in the electrician to see what needs done there (only half of the basement has power at the moment). Our goal here is not anything fancy, make it safe and functional. Also half of the floor is dirt so that'll have to be taken care of too. Our aim is to have laundry, freezer and mini fridge (Emily has that at her current house) and storage, mostly wire racks and boxes.

It would be awesome if all of the work could be done by summer since I loathe being in this apartment in summer. Her sister still needs to clear some things out and near the end of this month, her sister's cleaning lady Millie will be doing a deep clean - thank goodness because it NEEDS it. Once her sister has cleared out the rest of her bits, Emily and I will be bringing over the contents of our places bit by bit to clear space for proper packing of the bigger stuff. We'll probably keep Millie coming every two weeks as long as we both stay gainfully employed. Maybe when I get my surgery, we'll have her come weekly to help out with cleaning.

I have a bag hanging out in my kitchen with two extra long shower curtains and extra long liners that I ordered - 84" since that's what the walk in shower needs. I also got new metal hooks. I'm wondering what I can do to restore the bar that they're hanging from without having to replace it? It looks old and rough. Well, I guess I can just clean it as good as I can and then put WD40 on it so things slide along ok.

I have to replace the bar and shelves in my bedroom closet to be and so I'm going to get this.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/ClosetMaid-Selectives-12-in-W-White-Custom-Tower-Wall-Mount-6-Shelf-Wood-Closet-System-7033/100597846
I won't have shelves on top because the top bars are about 82"-ish high and the while the inner part of the closet is 92", the outer part is 80" so it would be a pain to put anything on top. But they'd be high enough that I'd be able to use the floor space

This is the listing with pictures on the house from when Emily purchased it for her sister and the kids in 2020. The room with the daybed and the bathroom with the flowery curtain are next to each other downstairs so that'll be mostly my domain. The upstairs bathroom is honestly...well...not great so if Emily wants to use my shower, I've no issue sharing. I've measured and have some plans for the best use of the space. 

With her sister, three teens and then her sister getting a new wife, the house is...well...kind of beat up. So we're going to do our best to make it clean and nice before we bring our stuff into it.

I only took photos of the bedroom and bathroom that I feel responsible for making nice. I'll take pictures of the living/dining areas when I go over next time so that I can do some better before/after shots. But here's some of the before of the bedroom and bathroom:

( Snip for Pics )

So that's the so far. Wish us luck!