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by David Leonhardt
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yone?
If tearing it all down took so long, how many hours will it take to put up the new walls, including the wall overlooking the staircase? (Did I mention I'm afraid of heights?)
How long will it take to cut and place the trim (baseboards, casing, crown molding, and a new window sill – I broke the old one trying to pry loose a lathe strip)?
How long will it take to hang a new door? To sand the old floor? To clean up the big mess? To lift the wallboard to the second floor? To return to the store for more nails or to replace lumber I wreck or to pick up a few dozen items I forget? To replaster the corners I plaster wrong the first time (and the second and the third and ...)?
I sat my wife down for a heart-to-heart. "Honey, we have a business to run, a toddler to nurture, family members to help, a house to clean on occasion, and a jungle that will need mowing one of these days. We need ductwork to thaw our bedroom this winter, the foundation needs crack-filling and this nursery would take Hercules many long days of hard labor to complete. I don't know if we can find time for all this before the baby is born."
"Maybe we should put something off," my wife suggested.
"Great idea!" I said, looking at my agenda. "Now, let's see. How long do you want to delay the delivery?"
I ducked just in time.
The easiest thing to reschedule turned out to be my sleep. Right now I have a house to upgrade. There'll be plenty of time for sleep next year. That is, if I don't grow too old in the meantime and need to be torn down |
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