We are building a house. What a wonderful thing to be able to do. We are very, very lucky, and we know this. I am not complaining. Talk about first world problems. Can you imagine complaining about something as wonderful as building a house? I mean, all those choices. All that designing, all of those totally open-ended options -- it is truly staggering. Seriously, every single thing that you see in your apartment, dorm room or home had to be designed, chosen, paid for, shipped, installed, tested, sometimes repaired and possibly reinstalled by someone. Someone like you, if you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to build your own home. There are binders (plural) full of decisions we have made that the experts who are doing the building refer to for our one house. Decisions after decisions... Take this sink discussion for (an only slightly exaggerated) example.
Expert: Are we installing your sink on top of the counter, or under mounted? Is it a 50/50, 75/25, 60/40 or single open sink? Porcelain, steel, or copper?
Me: Um...
Expert: Do you want a pull out faucet, a separate sprayer, or no sprayer at all? Modern, traditional, or contemporary style? What finish?
Me: Um... Can I have that one that looks like a robot?
My Wife: No.
Expert: What color do you want the flange in your sink to be?
Me: What is a flange?
Expert: That is the thing that surrounds the drain at the bottom of the sink, where the garbage disposal goes. Do you want a garbage disposal? What horse power?
Me: Oh, what are our disposal horse power options?
Expert: There's only two -- powerful or more powerful.
Me: Well, more powerful, of course. (My wife rolls her eyes.)
Expert: Do you want the special push button switch or the regular wall switch?
Me: The push button looks like the thing they use to summon the Kraken in Pirates of the Caribbean, so we want that one. (My wife agrees.)
Expert: What color?
Me: Matching the faucet, please.
Expert: And the flange?
Me: What's a flange again?
It really is awesome. In addition to working with an expert to actually lay out and another to build the house, we had the pleasure to work with an expert designer for everything inside the house, helping us select every single thing that is drilled, bolted, screwed or glued into or onto the house. Think windows (size, number, type, color), flooring, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, lights, mirrors, door molding, countertops, base boards, tile on the floor, tile on the wall, tile on the counters, interior doors, exterior doors, door handles, locks, closet set up, vents, smoke alarms. It's obvious, I know, when I write it -- but doorbells don't just appear. Someone had to remember that you need one. Someone had to wade through the hundreds available on Amazon. Someone has to install it.
In the beginning of this wonderful adventure, my wife and I were laser-focused on each decision. We poured over details and advice from our experts. We carefully discussed the pros and cons between ourselves. Budgets were balanced, research was done. Care was taken. Each decision was jointly made. Now, not so much.
One of us will ask the other, "Do you care?" and if the answer is no, we just make a decision. Same thing for the yes answers. There is less research, less discussion, and less care for each decision. At this point, we kind of wish that the doorbell would just appear, and maybe we can just be fine with whatever one is installed. Now, we are more like adventurers hacking through the jungle with a machete just trying to get out of the jungle, back to camp. The giant, ravenous tigers chasing us are our budget (looming large) and the City (with its snapping teeth of inspection and approvals). So, we run, while hacking through the jungle. You can imagine that lots of details get missed when you are hacking away and running from tigers.
My goodness are we tired. Again, I am not complaining. When this is all done, we will move into our new home. I can see the joy just around the corner. It will take a while for us to get everything just right, we know, but still the joy is there. It will be ours. From the foundation up to the top of the roof: ours. What a wonderful and amazing thing. Perhaps we will sleep for a week after we move in, the peaceful sleep of people who have chosen the sink flange wisely.
It's Butch to get the Kraken-summoning-garbage-disposal-switch (even if you can't have the robot faucet). Be Butch.