PERMIT!!!!

So, great news came via Libby, one of our architects - it seems that the City has finally, after much cajoling, issued us our actual building permit.

We've had the Demo permit for 2 weeks, but the building permit was a protracted circus with the City. Lost documents, endless vacations, internal political battles (ask me about fire sprinkler rules :( ), overworked, overstressed civic employees, recalcitrant consultants - you name it, we've got 5 stories about it.

Now, that said, neither Cathy nor I have actually SEEN the mythical permit, but as of noontime they were supposedly stamping it and signing us off.

Today was a nice turning point, both for the permit and the deconstruction. It was pretty disturbing to see your (actually quite lovely) house violently dismembered by a pack of people who weren't getting paid to care all that much about what got smashed and what didn't.

They are supposed to finish tomorrow (a bit doubtful), but the end is near and the parts we are keeping are starting to become clearer. The worst is definitely over with the demolition. Which is good, since we are ready to move on and actually get to the putting-it-back-together part of the program.