Symphony Review: Holiday Pops
We attended the second concert in our Pops series at the symphony tonight. We decided to buy some extra tickets for the Thurmonds to thank them for putting up with us for the past 3 months and took them out to dinner too (at nearby Wild Ginger). After we took our seats at Benaroya, I glanced down to the stage from our seats about 40 rows back. Between our seats and the stage was a sea of white! I couldn't believe it. By the end of the night I realized that if we had not invited the Thurmonds along, we would have likely been the youngest couple in attendance. Maybe "Pops" classical music is code for "old people" classical music. Or it could have been the Thursday evening earlier start time.

In any case, the program (conducted by Jeff Tyzik) was hit and miss. There were some wonderful pieces, among which the most notable were "Do You Hear What I Hear" (with vocals by Doug LaBrecque) and "Wexford Carol/Christmas Reel". But some of the other stuff, many that were arranged or written by Tyzik himself were difficult to sit through (specifically the awful "12 Gifts of Christmas" which Mr. LaBrecque assured us would be a "rare treat").

There were quite a few folks that walked out early. Given the composition of the audience, I wondered to myself as each one left if they were leaving because they didn't care for the music or if a certain bedtime hour had been reached. It was a vexing question and I kept pondering on the answer as we exited Benaroya Hall and shuffled past the half-dozen or so large chartered buses that were parked on 3rd Avenue waiting for concert-goers to return. It was a bit of a surreal night.

Next year we will skip the Holiday Pops and hit the Ninth instead. Actually, we may still go to the Ninth. I better check on ticket availability.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: 10 Trucks
I counted 10 trucks parked out in front of my house today. That is the new high water mark. It's encouraging to see so many people on the job. Lots of work is getting done.

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Cost per Square Foot
I received our bill for the work done last month... it was substantial. I had budgeted about $200/sf for our 1200 sq ft expansion. It looks like it will cost about $250/sf... which is going rate for real estate in our area (or in other words, $250/sf is what we would pay were we to buy a bigger house instead of adding on). We aren't really doing this project to add value to our home in order to sell it, but I would still like to keep the budget within a reasonable limit. So how much are we spending on this project? Do the math: $250/sf * 1200sf = $300k ... which is $60k more than I had planned on spending (or roughly the equivalent of a new Mercedes GL320CDI).

Home Renovation Project: Attic Conversion: Stairs and Masonry Started
The stair guy started working on the new stair rail system. We had two companies bid on the job... we decided to go with the cheaper one that came in at $13k(!). I will say this, the stair guy is methodical. He is very careful to measure everything about 3 times before making a cut. I watched him for several minutes throughout the day. His name is Paul. He speaks really quietly (almost in a whisper) and keeps to himself. He just keeps his head down and does his job. Fine by me. He installed the skirt board and set three newell posts today.

The mason started today also... and he is the complete opposite of the stair guy. The mason (Dave Bartlett of Bartlett Masonry) is very talkative (if you get him going) and has a loud booming voice. He has a father of young kids (like me) and loves to talk about his family. Very nice guy. He prepped both of the end gable walls today and will start placing the thin brick façade tomorrow. Cool.

Here is a picture snapped today of the attic interior today. The new newell posts are shown in the foreground and the thin layer of mortar placed on the gable wall interior.