random thoughts – Day 1,948 – (Thursday) – progress and searching

Sleep was interrupted too many times Wednesday night. The alarm blared for me to get up and paint the shed and I got up tired. All day, I felt kind of spacey and slightly off kilter. Good times.

Things got done. The handyman company contacted yesterday arrived this morning. The project, to achieve FHA compliance for the Lowell buyer’s mortgage, was a handrail in the interior staircase, a handrail for the basement stairs, and sanding and painting of the bulkhead.

The stairways never had handrails when I bought the house. It was a suggestion by my inspector but not a requirement for my conventional mortgage and it never felt urgent. FHA has stricter standards which, in this case, means handrails are in and peeling paint is out. The bulkhead had been installed and painted about six or seven years ago, and the sun and weather beating on it seem to have taken a toll.

The shed also had peeling paint, which is why I’ve been outside painting the past couple mornings at 6:45 before the day gets hell hot. Two sides are done, and if I dig deep and rally it could probably be finished tomorrow morning, humidity depending. 

The two remaining sides are in better shape than the two that are done. That would allow for the appraiser to return to sign off on the repairs. Then I can stop worrying about that and focus on packing and loading the cube, scheduling the pickup and delivery dates, and 500 other details.

Encroaching greenery.

While the handyman was busy at work sanding and spraying, fashioning and installing, I was busy combing through job postings and trying to decode the corporate speak and wade through the company sales pitches to try and ferret out what the job entails. Then  it was viewing, saving and organizing my yearly payroll summaries, W2s, and the last few pay statements from the bank payroll processor site. Later, I packed a couple boxes with glass serving bowls, baking dishes, and cookware. 

When the sun got low, it was back out to the shed to trim back the greenery growing over the fence and reaching for the shed. Things were pulled from the ground on my side of the fence, and overhang was cut in preparation for painting in the morning. That will be one less thing to deal with before the painting begins.