Mortgage Monday: Water, Garage Doors, And Security

Last week I spent some time working from home but, just like the days that I decide to “take off”, it was for the simple reason that there was work that needed to be done at the house. Actually, I wasn’t doing any of the work, I was there so that could answer any questions that may come about from the minor projects around the house. Namely, over the two days at the end of the week we had Martin complete an inspection of our filtration system, Shank install the garage doors, and ADT check a few of the sensors that we have had to adjust lately.

Surprisingly, all of these appointments went about as smooth as possible beginning with the garage doors on Thursday. The old doors were exactly that and with the one destroying itself a few months ago, it was something that needed to be done this summer. Now seeing the new doors in place, the features that Shank includes, and hearing how quiet the new motors are, we are really glad that we made room in the budget to get this done. Of course, it helps that the person installing them really knew what they were doing and had the full swap out (doors, motors, tracks, sensors, etc.) done faster than I was expecting.

Friday morning the door bell chimed at about a quarter to eight in the morning. While I am all for being on time or even early to appointments, it isn’t as pleasant when ADT has already screwed up the scheduling (I made the appointment for and confirmed it with customer service at the time for the 12-5 window). This on top of the fact that the technician expects our full attention as we are in the middle of our son’s morning routine. Just one of many issued that we have had with that company so far. After a few unexpected (and without warning) triggers of the alarm and a few moments of puzzled contemplation regarding the use of adhesive, the work was completed and the rest of the morning could begin.

Martin Water was the third and final appointment of the week and as they were the ones who maintained this system previously, it was a pretty straightforward process. And it was great that they took the time to go through the steps that I need to follow to properly maintain the system. I was shown once before when we bought the house exactly what needed to be done but I can’t say that a whole lot of information was retained that chaotic week.

So, it may not be a big dent in our overall plans for the week but we were able to at least get things started while making sure a couple of the other things in the house don’t become future projects. And while ADT may be lacking at times the important thing is that the security system and monitoring are still solid. As for Shank Doors and Martin Water, don’t hesitate for a second if you are in need of their services… their prices and the quality of their work is exceptional. That is all… for now.

Busy Day Off

A day off is never simply a day off anymore. While there are occasions when I have taken some time to travel or go to different events, lately that hasn’t been the case as there are simply too many things that need to get done or appointments that need to be scheduled. Yesterday was a prime example of this new, self-created, reality as I originally took the day off to speak at an event in the afternoon and go to my son’s appointment in the early evening. Well, that isn’t exactly how things ended up working out.

Having slept in an extra thirty minutes on Sunday, I told my wife that I would take care of breakfast for our son in the morning. It is actually pretty fun spending the time with him and he is usually pretty patient with me when it takes a little longer to prepare his meal. By the time he was done eating and I had finished waking up, half of the morning was already gone and the first appointment of the day was about to begin. When I previously said that I needed to get more estimates done for the various projects around the house I wasn’t kidding.

As I discussed all the options and what exactly needed to be done with the garage door company, my wife headed out to a local event as one of the orchards in the area with our son. After my meeting was done and the quote in hand, I got in the car and drove the ten minutes down the road to meet up with them. It was actually pretty interesting watching my son walk along the long rows of strawberries eating all of the fruit out of the small basket almost as soon as my wife put it in there. When we finished picking our pile (pile and a half when accounting for all the ones our son consumed), we got back in our cars and headed home where we finished feeding out son his lunch, played a bit, and put him down for his nap.

Just as we were about to take him upstairs, the doorbell rang and the second appointment of the day began. This time we received a quote for my office doors (and a few ballpark figures for the deck and porch that we would like to add later). Like the first quote of the day, it was much lower than the initial estimates that I received. Unfortunately, that was the end of the estimates as the third appointment had to be rescheduled for next week… honestly, I don’t know if they are going to be able to beat the price I just got from this company but we will have to wait and see.

After taking a short break when I was able to check the mail, send a few emails, and waking up our son for his snack, we got back in the car and headed north to the pediatrician’s office. It was a great checkup that I will write about later and, fortunately, the waiting room wasn’t filled with Gosselins. Like many days away from the office, time seemed to evaporate from by grasp and before we had another moment to catch our breath, the day was winding down and we were planning for the follow day. All of this and I still wasn't able to fit everything into my schedule. And, at the moment, it looks like my next day out of the office will be just as busy next week.