Diary #433

Here’s another month whooshing by, and my brain still hasn’t quite recovered from summer yet.  But I managed to break out of my inertia a little, starting a couple of projects I’ve been putting off for a while (such as a new and much-longer-than-usual story which I hope to have ready for your reading pleasure before Halloween).  Grace and Chekhov have been finishing up a number of projects at Sunset (such as re-waterproofing roofs just in time for the rainy season), and on Saturday Grace sent me the materials estimate for the floor-leveling project, which doesn’t look nearly as bad as I had feared.  It would be kinda nice if we could finish at least one aspect of this relocation for dramatically less money than expected; the initial estimate from contractors for the repair was $20,000, but Grace’s estimate is only about $5000-$7000, largely because A) no extra labor cost, and B) no profit margin.  That would be especially great, because by a shitty coincidence the move itself cost me $20,000 more than expected.  And once the floor is fixed, she can get working on the bookshelves I’ve been wanting for the past 16 years.  Ah, well; patience, they say, is a virtue.  I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s certainly a survival skill.