Day 12: seeking normalcy

Things have been weird too long and I want some routine

I checked the tracker yesterday mid-day and our trailer full of stuff had debarked the BSNF train in Winston-Salem and was waiting for transfer to Raleigh. That is still the status, a day and a half later. Since the ABF people don’t work weekends, if the trailer doesn’t come Friday then the earliest would be Monday. So I’ll check on status tomorrow morning and try to apply some pressure. Their original estimate says 6-8 business days in transit. Depending on whether you consider last Wednesday (pick-up day) the first business day, we’re still within their original estimate window. Some clarification would be super, as that would let me lock in some mover guys to help us unload.

There are several problems with the house we’re working through with Lennar. Something tropical swung through on Monday and Tuesday and dumped a ton of rain on the area. I noticed this water dripping between boards on the front porch, well under cover:

I opened a ticket yesterday afternoon with the builder, who came to check it out today, who said the roofers would be here tomorrow to fix it. Which is a promising response from the builder, since we have another concerning issue with the electrical system. The oven tripped its circuit after 15 minutes, and tripped again quickly after I reset the breaker. This, coupled with my Tesla tripping a different breaker after ~10 minutes of charging the other day, has me concerned.

Working from home without the benefit of solid Internet or a proper desk has been more difficult than I anticipated. I do feel like I’m at a distinct disadvantage when I’m audio-only on a Zoom call. Not being face-to-face loses a lot of non-verbal communication I didn’t realize I was relying on.

Lennar isn’t wasting any time in putting up new houses. These 2 lots directly behind us were grass fields at the start of the day. We could use some trees, for sure.

I’m focusing somewhat on the negative; there are many things outside of my control or influence, and that makes me a little crazy.

For positives: the kids had a great day of meeting neighbors, playing on a trampoline, and rolling down a hill. The yard guys came by and our grass is looking less wild and wooly. MSFT stock was up so I realized some gains (mostly to pay for furniture!) We got the inspection back from our old house and it wasn’t as bad as we expected. The sun came out and dried up all the rain. We don’t have COVID. Things could always be worse.

For tomorrow I’ll make a more concerted effort to appreciate all that’s gone right rather than dwelling on the few things that haven’t.