THE WORKS (4): Bounce






The facade, including front door which I still dutifully locked every night, disappeared too. But what comes down must go up, as they say. The first signs of bounce have started to appear; the construction of a new facade has begun.

Today is a public holiday, but two of the builders still showed up for painting upstairs. They have promised that Sanna's new room will be all done come Saturday night. Photos will appear in this space.

THE WORKS (3): Roofless

Being lately about something else than it used to be, my blog suffers from identity crisis. So here's a quick update on the running:
1. I set up a Running for Beginners group at work and ten people signed up. Seven of them joined for the first training Friday at lunchtime.
2. I ran the Ninove 15k today and got proof of just how out of shape I am. I'm sure I finished last in the "Men Who Still Have Their Own Teeth" category.
3. The Brussels 20k is only two weeks away. I should not run it, but then it'd be my first absence in five years. Also, I may lose my pre-registration spot if I don't show up, which is a big thing as the 20k sells out in just a few hours nowadays. I guess I'd rather make a complete fool of myself than forfeiting.

Back to the renovation. Earlier, the builders started taking the roof of. That same day it started pouring, leaving us with a pool.

The following day, they took away the rest of the roof. The rains did not really stop. Now they will heighten the walls (for the masonry they need dry weather...) and do some other stuff. There'll be a new roof in a fortnight. Hopefully.

THE WORKS (2): Demolition Day

Did I say demolition?
Of course, this is the stage of the nasty surprises. Some of the support bars for the roof are rotten and need replacement. Such are the extras (not foreseen and not budgeted, I mean) that reveal themselves when the builders start breaking. Emergency meeting tomorrow morning at 7:30.

THE WORKS (1)

In the absence of anything noteworthy to report on the running front, I'll focus on the renovations instead. There, at least, should be major progress in the coming months.

Today the builders started on the past-garage-then-dining room-future entree hall and lounge area space that separates the old house from the kitchen. They are stripping everything bare before doing some major demolition before rebuilding the place into a grand space. We both (Chui Hsia and I) have images in our heads of what it will be like, though not necessarily exactly the same.

In the meantime, the builders are piling up an intimidating volume of debris in the carport. One day, they will bring in a container, load it all up and ship it out to Eternal Debris Land. I hope much of it can be recycled.

PROGRESS

Last night I ran, or rather jogged, my 11k circuit again. Took me 68 minutes. Which is slow, but at least I managed to keep going for over an hour.