Tag Archives: construction zone

Progress: we finally have a couch

23 Wednesday Apr 2025

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message, travels

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Last weekend we went to a follow up with my dental surgeon.  According to him, all is going well.    I was hoping it would look and feel better, but I know not to have too many expectations when it comes to my teeth.

The surgeon is located a couple of hours away, and it is not too far from some casinos.  Since I like casinos, we always stop by one of them.

This time we went to the Hard Rock in Hollywood.  The guitar shaped building is so cool. We had a great meal at their restaurant.  I had a flat smashed burger with burger and caramelized onions.  It was delicious. Michael had the impossible burger, since he doesn’t eat meat.  He enjoyed his as well.

To drink I had a cosmopolitan.  I had to stop and congratulate the bartender.  It is the best one I have had since my nights in New York City. Michael had a Bahama Mama and it was equally delicious.

We are finally seeing a lot progress in our building renovation.  This renovation started in March last year.  We bought it in June, but didn’t move in until September.  We didn’t expect to last this long and cost this much.  The cost is still increasing as at every turn there is a new costly discovery, and more assessments.

We finally have a couch.  Since we moved in, Michael and I decided we wouldn’t really get any furniture or spend any money until the construction was finished.  But there were things we needed to do.  We got a cheap bedroom set, an Amazon one that we put it together ourselves, and a couple of TVs.

As you can see in the pictures, the TV is sitting on Tupperware. We are still debating if we are going to have it on the wall or on a rack. The rug is an extra one I had in NY.  This couch has made us so happy.  It signal to us that this project is almost done, if feels like a huge step forward.

We also had contractors to do part of the tiles to match the part that it was damaged with the construction.  To do the entire floor, it would be costly and too much disturbance.  We also had the walls and floors painted.  We just left the second bedroom out, it has a wall painted with flowers, so I will leave that as is for now.

Once the building is complete than we will work on decoration and the rest of furniture.  With that being said, we don’t want a lot, we want simple and minimal.  We want it to be practical and comfortable for us.

 

 

Waiting for Helene

26 Thursday Sep 2024

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“There’s no such thing as safety. Only degrees of risk.”
― Christopher Paolini

This is my first hurricane since I started living in Florida (about 1 month).
Hurricane Helene should be arriving in a couple of hours.
I am not sure what to expect. For now we have just heavy winds.

We are not in its path.  I think that the area I am in, in Eastern Florida, we will get more of a tropical storm.  Or so I hope. 

I am a bit concerned, since this is what my building looks like: 



We thought that by the time we got back from Brazil, all the construction would be completed, but of course more damage was found.  so that means more time and money needed. Oh well, fingers crossed we are done by the end of the year.

I feel safe, just apprehensive.  I have so much work to do, that is keeping my mind from overthinking.  I pray for the safety of everyone in the hurricane’s path.

“Security is not having things; it’s handling things.”
― Susan Jeffers

Update: I walked outside just now 6:30pm, Thursday.  The workers reinforced our temporary walls.

Also, there are heavy winds at this moments, but not much,.

Floppy in Florida

10 Tuesday Sep 2024

Posted by in Daily Life, Daily Message, Finding Me

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“Disruption of our mental construct can be deeply disorienting. Still, it may also provide an opportunity for growth and reevaluation, prompting us to rebuild our mental frameworks perhaps more resiliently than before. (“Then everything was capsizing.”)”― Erik Pevernagie

Even though we have closed on our new condo in June, we are only now returning to Florida.

We chose to stay at an Airbnb for a couple of reasons. First, we have no furniture, linen, silverware, anything at all; and second and more important, we didn’t know how the work being performed on the exterior would be affecting the interior.  

In Florida, every building that is 3 stories and higher must undergo a Milestone Inspection to assess the health of the building. This building failed miserably and it resulted in major work to be done. And major assessments.

While the seller had paid for all the assessments by June, it turns out that there will be more assessments necessary, as the work continues. We expected that.

We just didn’t expect that the work in the balcony would be coming into the living room.   The doors, windows and wall facing the ocean have been all taken down.  At this moment, our beautiful ocean view is blocked by sheet rock.

Michael and I were a bit startled by the amount of work that needs to be done, and how dismantled the whole front of the building is. But we are trying to remain positive that in the end we will have a perfect structurally sound place.

 Fingers crossed that the work will go fast and be done correctly; and that there will not be tons of extra assessments. 

Tomorrow, I will be going to DMV to get a Florida Drivers License and will also be continuing my search for office space.  Wish me luck 🙂

“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.” ― Roy T. Bennett