A long awaited wish finally manifested!

I live in a small studio apartment in a beautiful and very expensive city, San Francisco CA.

According to Zillow the building was built in the 70’s. The apartment has 3 panels of windows. 2 regular size and 1 large panel that is the size of 2 regular windows together. The windows were so old, single panel and for some reason they didn’t fit perfectly in the frame so when you close them there was a gap. This would make the apartment super cold during the winter months and I would wake up to very cold air during the early hours of the day. It sucked. There was also mold and as much as I tried to clean it it would come back.

I have been in this space for a long time but I guess I just got through each year because I was mostly getting through each day in a fast paced prepandemic world. I would get up super early to get to work in downtown, drop off the kid in school and then get back to pick V up and do our school night routine. Then when the kid was older. I would get to the gym and then come home and rest to start all over again. You see I was only here in the evenings for the most part. And of course I would have to use the heater which is also super old but thankfully it works

Then 2020 hit and we started working from home. The apartment was sooo cold. I finally told my landlord if it was possible to upgrade the windows. I also noticed the other apartments had double pane windows except for mine. She said unfortunately it wasn’t in the budget 😱😭

The windows were so flimsy they would shake if there was wind and if you know the Pacific wind, you know it can come as quite a strong current. Basically, it was almost like camping… Just not completely outside and without the sleeping bags. No wonder why I would use so many layers and I have a dedicated blanket just for my head! Looord!

I managed to work remote from friends and family places sometimes but I can’t do that all the time. This summer the landlord had to come in to replace the fire alarm in the building. I showed her the windows again and pointed out the mold and the window gap and some cracks around the windows and just how bad the insulation was in the apartment. It was basically non-existent. Finally she agreed to upgrade the windows. Miracle!

The process took a few months since this happened and they had to bring in the contractor and then ordered the windows. Finally this past week the contractor came in and did the work. He also found out the water drain from the ceiling to the lower floors was completely rotten. I’m in the third level. I knew the neighbor on the second floor had problems during the rainy season because the water was out of control. The contractor is now working on the side of the wall and is replacing the surface with new wall materials. Thank goodness!

They patched up the cracks in my interior wall and also repainted. It looks like I live one 2023 now.

Besides the usual inconvenience of dust and loud noises from the machines they were using to rip the old windows out and finish the wood frames around the new walls there was one very stressful moment.

The Internet modem and router connection is hooked right in the middle of that wall. I even put a little sign for the 2 men doing the work. Please be careful. Internet modem. The job took three days. On the final day, yesterday, they were getting ready to paint. Meanwhile I started my work call and after about 5 minutes I lost connectivity and got kicked out of the wall. Mind you I was trying to get through this call from the bathroom since my studio is so small it was the only place with a door. I got creative and used some stools and books as a very improvised desk. Loord. Desperate situations required desperate measures. I thought about going to the library again but you can’t talk too loud during calls so I decided to stay.

As soon as I lost connection I panicked and ran out of the bathroom to check the modem. The cables were all wrapped in tape because the contractor was taping before painting. I couldn’t get the modem to work but I was able to get back into the call from my cell phone. I missed about five minutes but thankfully it wasn’t too bad.

After the call was over. I tried to re-connect each cable and see if I could make the Internet work. After several failed attempts during the rest of the day I still don’t have a working modem. I made about 3 calls to my Internet provider and they are sending a technician this afternoon. I am typing this from my phone. I know this is a very typical first world problem and in the bugger scheme of things all is well. I do hope this tech guy can fix the issue because I start calls on Monday super early.

The good news is that there is no more wild wind coming through the window and I have woken up to a nicer and warmer air this fine November morning. 🙏🙏🙏

Just in time as there is rain forecast for next week. Now I have to focus on the modem… 🫠🙈🤞