Today the plumber came to look at what it will take to put new water lines in my red cabin. He is always very thorough, so when we were talking about the surge tank on the pump, he said we might as well replace it because they only last about 10 years, and 'when the work is being done, might as well do it all.' “That’s my Brian!” I told him. He always wants to do things right, which is a good thing, but it’s not cheap. He did offer me a free bathroom faucet that someone had him install in their bathroom for a week, and then wanted it changed. I asked him why they didn't like it, and he said they wanted one with a more gooseneck shape.

He was much more encouraging than the electrician who was here last week, although I don't know how much the plumbing will cost; at least he didn't act like it was going to be just about impossible. He considers the building worth saving since it was built in 1910, and has survived all this time, through two giant floods with structural integrity - it's just the utilities that need work. I hope this means he'll be gentle on the pricing, but I doubt it.

He had this story about someone who wanted a minor change in their kitchen. The electrician said they’d have to install new can lights since the cabinets would be higher, and the plumber said the dishwasher should be relocated, and then the floor guy came in and said what about the carpet because there would be a gap between the kitchen and living room floor covering, and the homeowner said he guessed he’d have to rip it out and install a new floor, and then the floor guy pointed out they would need a new front door and threshold because changing the floor covering would leave a big gap under the door. “Well thank God they didn’t take a look at my driveway,” said the homeowner, “or the mailbox.”

The electrical is a whole other deal - we will have to bring the whole place up to code, and re-wire the whole house. The crawlspace is totally silted in, so all the wiring has to come through the walls and what attic there is. The front part has solid log walls and a vaulted ceiling, so the wiring is run through metal conduit. We can re-use the conduit itself, but have to replace all the connectors that attach it to the walls and all the outlets, plus put in a bunch more stuff to meet code - $12,000 at least.

The electrician acted like he didn't even want to think about doing it, said it will take at least a day for just the planning. But then I shed a little tear to think of what an insurmountable task it is, and he got all nice, went clear back in there and started waving his arms around describing what they could do - nothing different from the first time, but in a happier manner.