Thursday, November 30, 2023

Bathroom remodel plans, and some writing.

Welcome, I’m Mary Louisa Locke, the author of the USA Today best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series and the Caelestis Science Fiction series. In this daily newsletter I reflect on my life as an indie author trying to age gracefully, including my struggles to maintain a balanced life, what I listen to, read, and watch for entertainment, and occasional bits of information I’ve gleaned from doing the research for my novels.

Daily Diary, Day 1185:

As expected, I didn’t get much writing time yesterday, but I did get three hundred words written, and I did get my Pilates exercises and my evening walk in.

We had our meeting with the bathroom designer, who walked us through 3d renderings, gave us price estimate, gulp, and we signed contracts and put down earnest money. Next week we go and actually choose things like which shower head and door pulls, and then there are a whole series of steps, like lead and asbestos testing, pre-construction consultation, ordering materials, and setting the actual dates for the construction. We will get the ensuite bathroom, which has the shower I use, done first, then immediately they will start on the hallway bathroom (which includes converting tub to shower with things like pull down seat and removable shower head) and do the downstairs powder room at the same time. Construction probably won’t start until the end of February or the beginning of March, then ten weeks of work, so if all goes well, be done by middle of May.

You, no doubt, will hear more from me on this process, and maybe even some before and after photos along the way!

Except for the fact that at some time we need to paint the interior (which hasn’t been painted in 20 or more years), this should be the last maintenance or remodel project we need to do in our life time!

Meanwhile, San Diego just got listed as the most expensive city to live in, in US, our neighborhood is so desirable that the realtors are starting to come to the door asking if there is any chance at all we would sell. The prices of the houses in the neighborhood are simply ridiculous, but I don’t imagine they are ever going to go down much, if at all, because we are located so near to 5 major freeways and a new trolley system that connects UCSD and downtown.

In short, while this will be a large expense, it will simply add to the value of the house, if we should ever need to sell, but since this is not in the plans yet, these remodeled bathrooms will make aging in place safer and more enjoyable.

As for weather, we actually had a little rain yesterday, and some incredible clouds. Below are some photos from car on the way home from her remodel consult. And this morning we had a little drizzle as well. As for today, usual zoom noon meeting, then a scheduled phone call afterwards, but again, I should get at least 300 words written today.

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