December 22nd Wrap-Up

 

The couple that has been waiting for its fire-damaged Grace Village condo to be restored told my husband that they have been told December 22nd is the wrap-up date. You can see in the photo that the condo does look about ready for occupancy. The refrigerator is visible through the kitchen opening. Looks like they chose to go with laminate flooring which is probably wise since they own a dog.

 Because of window screens, I could only get a good photo through the glass patio door, but a look through the bedroom window indicates the doors and closet doors and lighting is in place now. I could see through the pass-through window between the kitchen and TV room/den somebody painting the garage walls today. It may be that there has to be some kind of inspection before moving in. Their little dog will be confused again since the condo where they have been staying has a flip layout from this condo. Over 10 months is a long time away to remember how things were; the dog has memorized a whole different layout for home. 

My husband felt almost back to normal earlier this week. Thursday afternoon/evening he had a runny nose and chills again. Yesterday sneezing and coughing. I found out there is something called COVID rebound. His home test yesterday showed positive so he is to isolate for another 5 days (or less if a subsequent test is negative and he has no fever). The Grace Village receptionist has COVID now, too. Several residents, also. It's not surprising since folks are attending holiday concerts and parties now. I am not 100% well but except for a slightly stuffy nose and occasional cough I feel pretty good. 

For Christmas Day I have ordered a Bob Evans holiday feast which is prepared dishes to be reheated and prepped: mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey breast, gravy, cranberry sauce, corn, green beans, pumpkin pie, rolls. We will pick it up at 1 p.m. December 24th from the local Warsaw restaurant. I will need to make room in the refrigerator. My husband's sister and her husband will join us at our home midday. 

Hope you are well and that your plans are falling into place.

Condo Restoration Progress

 Most of the work this week on the burned condos has been inside. They finished reroofing the entire quadplex. I am glad to see the progress, but since I am a light sleeper hearing hammering at 6:40 a.m. meant I was up far earlier than normal many days.

The vinyl siding and trim that melted in the heat of the fire still needs to be replaced. I think it will be hard to "match" with the existing material.

I was surprised when I looked inside today (no workers on Saturday) that all of the walls are being reframed. It looks like even the kitchen has been gutted. The front door and sidelights appear to be the only structural elements that are original. 

This is what I saw before July. It has all been cleaned up to bare cement. 

The last report I heard was that the two burned units would not be ready to move into until October. The fire was February 12th. Such a long wait for the couple that wants to move back. According to the grapevine, a new couple has signed up for the unit next door. They will get a "new" condo so to speak. 

As far as I know, this was the first fire ever in the condos. It has been a learning experience for the administration.

Progress

 I learned Monday that I was mistaken on June 22nd that the trusses had arrived for the condo reconstruction. The workers were just clearing off the damaged roof and taking down some of the burnt timber. On Monday a truck arrived with the trusses. Today a big crane showed up to hoist them to the roof.

I walked one block over to observe the activity. 

My backdoor neighbor's front yard has been overtaken by lumber and other items. We can hear the hammering, but it isn't too loud.

The construction made for an interesting walk for me. This morning my stitches and staples were removed. I am finding the incision area very tender, my back sore. I loosened up the area by walking. After 2 weeks on a catheter, I contracted an UTI. The med to treat that made me nauseated Sunday. Now, it gives me a gut ache. I will finish Friday; hopefully, I will feel normal by then. The end is in sight. Probably another 2-3 weeks to get back to normal routines and movements after the surgery.

I had never gone to the backdoor-and-one-over condo to peer thru the patio door to see the damage. I was a bit startled. This was the living and dining areas. The bedroom which was next to where the fire started and most damaged I didn't look at because it was under the roofers. 

Good progress has been made the past two days, but obviously there is a lot to do. The attached condo just east of the above one, was completely gutted. It is going to be months before the two units are habitable, but the work has finally begun.

Neighborhood Update

 Mostly I dislike blue jays with their raucous voices and domineering ways. It is 92 degrees this afternoon. There is little activity in our neighborhood. Just before I started typing, the bright blue of a jay accented the nearby pine tree. Among all the green and brown, he was a bright spot. The cheddar pinks and my neighbor's peonies are fading from bright pink to dusty rose in this heat. 

Maintenance discovered at the beginning of this week that the panel that controls the west side of Robin Hood sprinklers was the one burned up in the February fire. Apparently, the purpose of that panel was unknown by the current crew. My husband commented recently that with the layoffs and resignations in the last few years, Grace Village is losing historical knowledge of the evolving structures/systems that were put in place over the years. I guess how the sprinkler system is wired and works was one of those losses. Since none of us have hoses to set up manual sprinklers, the grass is yellowing fast. The insurance company is using its clout to get a repair made to the control panel, but so far no operating sprinklers for a week. We may cool down a bit mid-week, but no sign of significant rain in the forecast.

There was good news at the start of the week, however. The roof trusses needed before any other restoration can be started on the two burned condos are finished and should arrive in the next 2-3 weeks.

Of course, things will not be the same. One of the condo occupants moved to Florida. The couple who temporarily moved to a vacant condo do plan to move back. Now my back-door neighbor died on Memorial Day in hospice in Fort Wayne. I attended his funeral today. Big changes to the quadplex.

I normally have been going to bed around 11 p.m. Now the sun wakes me up around 6 a.m. I doze a bit more, but really I am not going to get 8 hours of sleep unless I go to bed earlier. Pretty soon, it won't be dark outside until 10 p.m. which won't promote an earlier bedtime. I guess I can do what I did today: take an afternoon nap.

Updates

 A photo from a local news source of the condo fire at Grace Village

The blind lady left with her son yesterday to relocate in Florida where he lives. I think she said that she had lived 16 years in that condo. A big adjustment for her.

The couple next to her have temporarily settled in a recently vacated condo on my street. Somebody told me they thought they would be there 6-8 weeks. No work has begun on restoration; the insurance company wanted a forensic expert to investigate the cause of the fire. I saw him there mid-week. The general consensus is that it was an electrical fire. Though the CEO said at the Townhall that restoration was possible and not as much tearing down as originally thought, I have to believe it will be more than 2 months before anybody can live in that part of the building that was damaged by flames and smoke.

The couple directly behind us was going to move back home since they had little damage (maybe some air quality issues), and the power to the building was turned on this past week. Alas, the man now has COVID (was in the hospital one night), and they are isolating in the Grace Village guest room where they have been since the fire. 

I am doing well. My belly button incision is still tender, but I can zip my pants all the way up. I had two incidents of regurgitation this past week: some chicken pieces infused with Greek flavoring on Monday and au gratin potatoes Friday. I was able to finish my tilapia Friday night. Today I had salmon and mashed potatoes at Ruby Tuesday. This was my first restaurant meal since the surgery. I did ask for some tartar sauce to lubricate the salmon. I did OK. Lubrication is still key I guess.

I am going to push ahead some this week. Baked chicken cutlet with lots of gravy tomorrow, crock pot chuck roast cooked in a sauce Tuesday, and ravioli with Prego marinara sauce Thursday or Friday. The Prego will be the first tomato acidic item since the surgery. I am not noticing much dysphagia (swallowing problems). I have to keep doing the waking hours hourly swallow of yogurt, apple sauce, pudding, or cracker until April 1st. Thursday March 2nd will be one month since the LINX was implanted. 

Winona Literary Club starts up after the winter break on March 1st. The GV choir sings in chapel that morning, too. A busy week with choir practice Monday, the cleaning lady coming Tuesday. The week of March 6th I will start on our income tax filing. 

The passing winter weeks have gone faster than I anticipated.

 I have been amazed at the news photos of Big Bear in California; so much snow! The fallout of that storm system has mostly been north of us in Michigan. My husband's brother in the Detroit area lost power because of ice, but he had recently bought a generator so is getting by. Hope you Californians are doing OK, too.