Back in Action
Dear Family and Friends,
After getting sick and delaying the past post, it seems like I just wrote and these letters are jumbling up together. In fact, I considered only writing once, but I think it would be too long for even the most dedicated friend to read.
So just think of this as a continuation of the last letter.
Tourism is Brewing
Thursday was a state holiday, “Reunification Day”. After being on sick-leave Tuesday and Wednesday, I was feeling pretty good on Thursday—and I got to stay home again, anyway!
We woke up to a message on the phone from our neighbors. Their son-in-law was looking for me. 15 minutes later he was standing at our door. He offers tours at the local brewery and their interpreter could not make it.
Spontaneous person that I am, I said that sounded like a great idea! Ignore the fact that I really do not know the minute details of brewing beer nor about the brewery in general. I had never been on this tour and had not worked in tourism or interpreting in over 5 years. But we both really like Michi and knew that this would be a great adventure. We also knew that he knew his stuff and would help make this a fabulous experience.
I jumped in the shower and got ready while reading Wikipedia and looking up vocabulary online to make sure I didn’t make a total fool of myself. I felt like I was prepping for a final exam in a subject I hadn’t really studied.
Michi picked us up and we drove to the brewery together. He gave us a tour and explained to me how things would generally work. Then, the Americans came!
I had a GREAT time! The group was absolutely fabulous and really knew their stuff. If they had wanted to put me on the spot, they really could have, but they were all so generous and friendly. As they had already been on a lot of tours, Michi and I changed tack and made the tour more about the brewery itself and less about brewing beer. I think they enjoyed the change and I really hope that they left feeling that they had a great time, but also that they had visited a brewery worth seeing, a region worth exploring and meeting people worth getting to know.
If they ever come back, you can bet, I would love to show them around again. It was a definitely a highlight of our time here in Anger so far.
Starting at the Top
Last week we also hit the jackpot!
OK, not really. It would be nice though.
No, we didn’t quite win the lottery, but insulating batting went on sale!
It’s the little things in Life, I tell ya.
When we moved in, we promised ourselves we would not rush into things and “over-pay” for home improvements. We (I) said we would be better than that and take our time knowing that these months will pass and our house will still be fabulous if it takes us a year or more to do.
That sounds so noble and practical and sensible and just plain logical. However, it is much harder to do it in real life, however, as we are finding out to our chagrin. We WANT to get something finished! Anything. Pick a room.
After waiting for months (quite literally, I am afraid) on the energy consultants to respond with their reports (yes, multiples were asked), we finally came to the conclusion that it was just not worth the 10% government subsidy to wait on them. We decided to move forward and hope for the best.
Our first major project (remember weeks 1 and 2, here?): reinsulating the upstairs. At first we weren’t going to do anything and just let it go. Then, we were going to do the bedroom. Finally, we decided to do the bedroom, the staircase and the bathroom completely from below and then complete the attic floor from above giving us the most effect without having to take out the siding of the two other rooms.
YES! A decision has been made! Weeks ago. So after deciding on the type of insulating we wanted to do. (Yes, I am writing a post on it to come someday when I have results to share.) I set about gathering offers for the materials. You can buy them at any home improvements store or online, but it made sense to me to figure out a package and then have it priced out by various companies.
Our offers came in. All were about the same at around 1200€ for everything. Some places were a little less, others were a tad more; some had a “better” insulation brand, a couple missed the mark of what we wanted, one was completely organic, ecological, renewable and everything fairytale perfect—with the price to go with it.
Then Thomas’ Dad called. He is a great guy and so willing to help us out. He also is very vested in the renovation ideas and process and, having just helped his youngest daughter renovate her apartment, he was armed with tons of information and a hole to fill in his schedule. Those people in your life are worth 1000 times their weight in gold.
Thomas’ Dad had snapped up that we were looking for insulation and just happened look into the advertising circular of another home improvement store we don’t get. They had insulation on sale—a serious sale.
We went out to the store to order the materials (online was not an option, as this sale was only for this one single location in all Germany). They did not even know they had these prices. When we went to get things ordered, they were sure we wanted a lower grade insulation, as the other one was never in stock. In fact, we got the distinct impression that no one ever ordered the higher quality. “But it WAS on sale, we COULD order it and, by the way, next weekend is minus 19% on everything in the store,” the sales associate assured us. As the pricing was only good for that weekend, we ordered the insulation as a package saving almost 1/3 of the total cost. We will also be going back to pick up the attic door we feel is worth the investment when it is 19% off next weekend.
One tiny step forward. Now we wait again—2 weeks for the insulation to come in.
In case you can’t tell, I’m REALLY excited to be moving forward.
Plans to Come – the Upstairs
The goal when we have the insulation is to finish the bedroom (for now), get the wardrobe put back together and finally unpack all our clothes and linens.
That will open up the two other rooms upstairs, so that, when we have removed the carpeting there, we can move the correct boxes into their proper rooms, as well as a bed for Thomas’ son. That will make things here feel so much more like living in a home and much less like squatting on a construction site.
Plans to Come – Outdoors
Some day between now and Christmas, we are planning on taking down the big spruce tree taking over 1/3 of our front yard. And that is all I’m going to say.
Great times are headed our way. I can feel it!
