Occupying my home

It’s been awhile since I made a new blog post- and there’s good reason for that.

It was an incredibly busy summer and fall consumed-or more accurately- wrapped around the construction that was going on in my home. This was major construction that began in August and finished several weeks ago.  It involved ripping out the entire terrace that winds around my apartment, because the terrace had major leaks into my apartment and the apartments below. And most construction jobs drag on:  a projected completion time of thirty days stretched into more than three months because not only was the terrace floor replaced, but bricks needed to be pointed, flashing needed to be replaced, and other waterproofing devices were required to insure that no more water leaked into my apartment. Once the outdoor work was done, all the wood floors in my apartment needed to be replaced too.

Water leaks were a problem for over a year, but reached a critical situation last winter when the abundant snowfalls we had started to melt and then leak from my terrace into my apartment, creating a pond like atmosphere  inside, and causing most of the wood floors to buckle, expand, and at times resemble a ski slope. Besides the actual damage to my apartment and furniture, it was a tremendous challenge dealing with my landlord who was responsible to make these repairs;  I would have made the repairs myself if they were minor in nature.  Nonetheless, because of the complexity and length of these repairs, I spent about half the summer and fall out of my apartment with the resulting dislocation to my personal and business life.  And for someone who prides himself on his general detachment, I was given an interesting lesson in how emotionally attached I was to this great apartment with its amazing energy, a place I have lived in almost my entire adult life.

 Now that all the work is completed, things are beginning to return to normal and I am focused on feelings of gratitude. It feels so good to be back, and occupying my home once again.