Wednesday, December 9, 2009 - The Windy City

The city of Chicago was gracious enough to lend its nickname - The Windy City - to Nashville for a 24-hour period, from about 6:00pm last night until 6:00pm today. Because of that, I slept with one ear open last night, listening for any creak, crack, snap, crackle, or pop that would come from this enormous half-built structure being buffeted by 40 mph winds. But I woke up this morning with the addition firmly in place as it should be. The wood planks were added to the roof beams and will be finished and tied into the rest of the house Thursday. The final concrete pour on the steps took place today as well. They also took the brick off the back of the house, so there is nothing protecting us from the great outdoors but 3/8-inch drywall. Tomorrow the existing windows come out and plywood will be put in their place, adding to the minimal protection from the cold outside world until they can insulate and install the drywall on both sides of the wall. With more cold weather moving in, this isn't the best of news, but we knew it was coming at some point. What we didn't expect was to have a cable line cut and power knocked out to half the house. I guess they must have hit a junction box without noticing while knocking the brick off the house. No lights, no television and no clock in the bedrooms. So if I'm late for work in the morning, you know why.