We're In!

Oh geez, we've been in for a while now. Lame lame job of updating here obviously. Things are still a pretty big mess. For example the dry wall guys arrived at about 8am today (Saturday) to continue work on the attic and basement stairwell. I'm not complaining. Heavens no! I am far too anxious for the work to be finished to complain. Especially about the stairwell since there will be shelves there to hold pantry items and they can't be installed until the drywall is done and painted and so the boxes of pantry items are scattered about the kitchen and dining room. But it will be nice to have the house to ourselves if you know what I mean.

So, stuff happening now. Already mentioned drywall. The faucet in the kitchen was hooked up yesterday! Whhhoooot!! Living without water in the kitchen is tough work. And despite having water in the upstairs bathroom and basement sink I stubbornly refused to do any real cooking without water in the kitchen. To hell with the guy at Kroger who remarked on my "home cooking" as I was paying for a cart full of microwave meals. Pfffft.

The kitchen will be truly a work of art. Granny Jane has cleaned and polished all the St Charles metal cabinets. They look grand. The original light fixtures have been rewired and cleaned. They are FIERCE! (<-- my attempt at current lingo will no doubt cause Emma to at least roll her eyes if not actually gag.) The counter tops are done and amazing. They are black Paperstone -- our installer says he went through more than the average number of blades cutting them so no question on their durability. They look a lot like soapstone or honed granite.

There is so much more to tell but also a soccer game to get ready for. More later....

Between Houses

All of our belongings are spread out between two pods, a storage unit, our fabulous new neighbor's garage and Granny Jane's. It's certainly sobering to realize how much crap we have. We managed to get out in time for the closing and 557 belongs to a new family. I worried that I would feel like we were abandoning Lydia's house but instead couldn't feel better about the family that will make it their home. All good.
Unfortunately, OBOH is not ready. We have a new carpenter to speed things along. The floors have been refinished by a miraculous crew that worked nights and weekends. The plaster guys are patching, the painters are lined up and the wells for the heating cooling system are being drilled. In the meantime, we are living at Granny Jane's. It's a tad crowded but we are incredibly lucky that she is here. Maizie and Olive are enjoying their walks around the Virginia Park neighborhood and Olive is behaving fairly well, for Olive. Emma and Gus are staying out of each others hair for the most part. It helps that Gus had soccer from 9-5 last week (miraculous timing on that) and every evening this week.
We found a fridge and dishwasher at the Sears Outlet (excellent resource, btw) and need to order our range and hood. It is likely that we will move in before the kitchen is done. Once we do some research we will get our washer/dryer at the Sears Outlet, too. I picked up a red currant bush to plant on the side of the house and a few tulips and daffs for spring. Soon enough this pause between houses will be a distant memory.

Finish! Finish! Finish!

At the house until 11:00pm last night trying to get rid of the last of the wallpaper. Floor refinishing begins today and, at least the way I do it, removing wallpaper makes a big mess. Tom's office is all that is left to do.
I would like to offer a suggestion to anyone with a big wallpaper removal project in the near future. Hop on it quick before the weather cools down. Choosing a ridiculously hot, humid day to use a STEAM wallpaper remover makes for a very enjoyable spa-like work environment. Good for the complexion and instant water-weight loss if you have a big party coming up. Um, yea, that's right. So there you go. Off to the house...

Poem from August 6 City Council Meeting

Courtesy of Dave Askins, Ann Arbor Chronicle

Text of the poem mentioned in the council meeting report, which was read aloud by Marvin Bartlett during public commentary [based on his remarks preceding the reading, Bartlett did not claim authorship]:

The Mayor claims that chaos reigns
When the public sings as one:
It is as if he sees no diff’
Between our unison
And the cries loud of an angry crowd,
So he must clear the place.
But we allege he leads the pledge,
And there, we rest our case.

Is it not a crime that much of the time
Greden calls the tune?
When he scripts a meeting, we think that’s cheating.
And he should leave the room.
What did he write for the meeting tonight?
What is yet to come?
Ours is to wait, and ponder the fate
Of the moratorium.

The Council’s last session might give us a notion
Of what we’re soon to hear
About Anglin’s plan for a building ban
Lasting half a year
On the projects few (under review)
Which need site-plan approval
In the R4C, so construction can be
Appropriate and lawful.

Will Taylor say that the parcels in play
Are fourteen hundred or more?
Will homeowners think that replacing a sink
Involves them in going to war?
Will the compromise views that Sandi brews
Be anyone’s cup of tea?
And will Tony declare from his big blue chair
That we must be nuclear-free?

From where we sit, when the permits hit,
Monstrous eyesores arise;
Our building boom is a kind of doom
Falling from the skies.
The Council quakes, but for our skaes
The building bombardment must pause;
Let’s call an end ‘til we can mend
Our tattered zoning laws.
Developers threaten with legal weapons
To bring us to our knees.
Let us defend our neighbors and friends!
Disarm the developers, please!

Chorus: Disarm the developers, please!

OMG.

Our house has sold and we have to be out by the 20th. OBOH is NOT ready to move into and we have only 12 days. ACK!

Long Overdue Update

We have neglected this site. But there has been progress at OBOH. The kitchen is completely deconstructed.



The servant stairs have been uncovered, removed and rebuilt as new basement stairs.



The floor is gone in the laundry area of the basement. I'm not quite sure why but Tom has been digging around the pipes down there. Ok, to be fair, the ceiling was very low, low enough that anyone taller than me had to duck at various spots...so I guess that's probably why.



The opening from the kitchen to the dining/living room has been opened up.



The pantry at the back entrance has been removed and there is a doorway through to the front of the house. The first floor is definitely taking shape.

Dim Lights on City Council

What we have come to learn in our dealings with Ann Arbor City Council regarding the proposed obliteration of our new neighborhood is that there isn't much to like about the way business is done 'round here. It's long been fact that council members can't be bothered to pay attention when citizens are speaking during public hearings. Turns out that some of them are reliving their middle school years using their taxpayer provided laptops to send snarky notes back and forth. Local media got a hold of emails sent during a council meeting as part of a FOIA request related to the failure to follow state law in the approval of a new underground parking structure. There's some good stuff in there and so far we've only seen part of it.

Although all the current council members have a capitol D after their names, it's obvious that some of them are true Republicans who call themselves democrats for convenience only. Particularly 3rd ward rep Leigh Greden who proudly proclaimed in one email that "I focus on money and buildings" and was unapologitic when caught making sophomoric remarks about other council members.

It's pretty disappointing to be faced with the true character of some city council members. These are the people who decide how our tax dollars are spent. These are the people who get to decide if seven historic houses near downtown Ann Arbor should be torn down by a manipulative developer. Are they looking out for the best interest of the city, the taxpayers and the future? Based on their behavior, it's hard to feel confident that these are the people we want representing us.