Solo trips

Last weekend I went out to the desert by myself. It was mainly to meet yet another contractor, but also to try out being by myself out there. The H has been on an extended work frenzy - other than our Hawaii trip and taking time off for the boys’ birthday parties, he hasn’t been home before 2 AM once in nearly two months and we’ve barely seen each other. I was determined to not let a completely empty weekend go by without a desert visit (we’re back in at Knott’s this summer, so by May every weekend will be occupied until the fall). I thought about taking the kids, but then thought about how bored they would be, and how much I didn’t feel like entertaining them. I just needed time to myself. So the H took the kids to work, and I went.

I was concerned I would be scared, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The weather cooperated, so the temperature was perfect day and night, and there was no wind, which is unusual for this time of year. It was a delight being out there. It was slightly tempered by the fact that I wasn’t alone - the new neighbor was there working on his place and camping out just a few feet away. I finally got up the courage to go introduce myself as I was leaving - and the results couldn’t have been better. He’s a nice guy with the same aspirations as us - just wants to build a weekend place for himself and his family, and is slowly figuring out the logistics of water, power, etc. We traded info at a rapid pace - did you know about this, did you know about this? We exchanged numbers and he sent me a rendering of his place, which will be very modern. Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather nobody be there, but if we must have a neighbor, this is pretty much the best case scenario. 

The contractor I met with was a bust (will not give estimates for anything - just gave me an hourly rate for his guys but refuses to give a time estimate for each job, so it’s impossible to know what finishing up will cost. Yeah, forget it). The H and I had a contentious discussion in which he insists that we give up on all contractors and he just does the work himself. I see where he’s coming from, and certainly it’s not like we have any other options at this moment. I know he’s capable of the work, but I worry that YouTube videos alone are not enough detailed instruction to do jobs correctly. I also worry about logistics - he’ll need a truck, generator, and extra hands. If I go help him, it means the kids have to come, too, which means them being bored to tears while he and I work all day. This also means having to do this while there’s no school, which is summer, which is unbearable out there. And it means his having to take off work, which means loss of income and clients and having to be non-existent in our lives for the weeks around any time we work out there. All of these things just don’t make a great case for doing it ourselves. I can see doing some things - upstairs flooring, maybe, and painting the exterior. But structural things like windows and insulation and siding I feel like really need to be left to professionals. With summer coming on I don’t see us being able to do anything until October anyway, and then kids are in school so I can’t go. To me, continuing the contractor search makes more sense. So the neighbor says he’s going to look for us, and I reached out to some people on Yelp. La lucha continua.