Time Ticks Away...

Everything seemed to be falling into place, with a tentative closing date of Thursday, Dec. 17. We'd hired a sewer lateral company (And I recommend them highly, Terra Nova Engineering), they were scheduled to come in and get the sewer done on Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Then it all fell apart again. A rainstorm moved in, causing the sewer lateral work to get postponed to Dec. 17 - a closing still possible, if we can get the completion paperwork from them early enough in the day. But then a bigger hoop appears - F. gets notice from the underwriter on Wednesday that they would like all the Section 1 work called out in the termite inspection completed (more on that in a minute) and since the inspection mentioned missing window cranks on some of the casement windows, they would like all those replaced. Oh, and after all this work is done, could we please have an inspector look at it again? Are you serious? We're not going to get our loan if the windows are missing cranks??? Thursday closing out the window, I go home and alternate between blubbering and cursing like a sailor, and drink lots of wine. The powerlessness of this process is what drives me out of my tree. The Husband and the dogs give me wide berth.

The termite inspection does not just deal with termites, of course, it also includes water damage - and ours showed some dry rot in two or three places in the eves (near the wooden gutter), at the base of posts on the front porch, and in the door jamb of a side door. Not a lot of work, but finding someone to do it, and quickly, is the challenge - our loan rate has an expiration date. F. scrambles to find a handyman, ends up calling the selling agent, henceforth known as Champ. (We've learned that the seller owns a great deal of property in Richmond, Albany, and Berkeley - and Carmel. And Champ manages a great deal of it.) Champ tells us he can get the work done in the next 2-3 days. We love Champ. F. loves Champ. We start planning the gift basket we can give Champ at the end of this long nightmare.

So if the work can get done over the weekend, then perhaps F. can get an inspector in Monday or Tuesday, and we can get funded and recorded while we are home in Missouri for a few days - and we will be handed keys when we get back.