The Staff,The Cottage and The Incident in Port Jervis
Well, because I have been so shamefully tardy in my blogging, I am just now posting some photos I took last week, or the week before. Who can keep track? Actually, it's kind of amazing if these photos were taken two weeks ago because the unfinished state of the progress is wholly different presently, with the walls painted and floors stained. As posted previously, this home is 960 sq ft, 2 bedrooms, 2 porches, fireplaces, wide plank floors - the works. Speaking of 'the works', there was an incident in Port Jervis on Friday. So I had to go to Middletown for one reason or another, and any time I head into civilization via Monticello, Liberty or Port Jervis, I always confront a fast food hankering, that is hard to ignore. Where we live in Eldred there ain't any such food, and I don't even really like it, but anytime I head to these aforementioned towns, I battle internally. So, long story short, I am lured into the McDonalds in Port Jervis, and it is frickin quinessential low-end America with lots of loud overweight families hanging out at he soda machine and ketchup dispenser (I'm partial to outlets that offer ketchup dispensers, and not those damn packets). I mean, it was chaos, but I was determined to enjoy my fast food moment with my Friday times. When I hear, "Chuck? Chuck, is that you?" And so who do you know is satisfying their guilty pleasure as well, but Jeanne and Deb from Cottage 14 fame. Well, embarrassed at our mutual contempt for rational meal decisions, we spent a minute or two explaining and making excuses for why we are actually in this low end McDonalds, then discussing why the fries seem to be underfilled (is it a directive from corporate?), and so on. So we were caught, our sophisticated and refined palettes and food consciousness tossed into the air of reality, where a quarter pounder meal combo, supersized, has its place on Easter Weekend.
In this small house we put a big window, ... looking out into the woods. Also, in our last two houses we started playing around with cable hand rail systems, and it is turning out pretty cool - sort of a further exploration of modern vintage.
It's components are hand-hewn wood posts with steel cable.
It's a good look, and even better once the floors and walls are colored.
The front porch ceiling has some nice curves and lines.
And the stream that runs through the property, just off the back deck.
And another shot of the front, before the second coat of Cabot's barn red semi solid stain is applied to the novelty siding, and before the standing seam galvanized metal roof is installed on the front porch.
And our friend Chris and Allison traveled up from Richmond VA with their boys to spend a few days. We are putting an addition onto the house, and this is the final foundation pour truck.
Lastly, this is my office, with James and Anouk posing for the camera - Anouk in fore, James in back. Red lamps, sliding barn doors, red blueprint filing cabinets, and some mid-century chairs make up a pretty cool office design. We've come long way from our underfunded beginnings, and I can't but kind of modestly agree with Jeanne and Deb, who said 'we're the only game in town'. I think it's true, and it didn't come easy.
But in the end, the original inspiration that many families would prefer a cool new house that works rather than a cool old house that doesn't, and a committment to keep getting better, and a dedication to continually experiment and push the envelope - well, it's all combined to create a business that keeps on keeping on.
Happy Easter. It's a sunny day up here in the Catskills, with a few birds presently chirping away.
Southern SoJourn
Lisa and my bookkeeper Deborah both independently commented that my last post was BIZARRE - ending a nice rock star thread with unlinked and disconnected thoughts on taking abuse. Well, I guess it was a bit odd but I beg a little latitude because I have been UNINSPIRED recently - I don't think I'm really uninspired since it is Spring and I'm always inspired by the end of the brown season and the greeting of the green season. And it was pretty stressful to have day after day pass with no blog inspiration knowing the multitudes just out there waiting for some morsel of genius. I just think after 10 months of kickin it big time, developing/designing/selling 10 homes in 9 months (14 in 13 months), I just think I'm a bit exhausted and need a little physical and mental downtime. Take for instance my inspiration to start my last post about the rock star with the following - We started dancing And love put us into a groove As soon as we started to move The music played While our bodies Displayed through the dance We started dancing And love put us into a groove As soon as we started to move The music played While our bodies Displayed through the dance He tried pretending A dance is just a dance But I see He's dancing his way back to me He's dancing his way back to me ... but I ended up with nothing. Oh well, hopefully, I can regroup and kick start the imagination, exaggeration, and bravado before too long. But, in the interim, here are some pics to make me seem family-oriented, well-travelled, leisurely, and, mostly, truely white bread. Me, looking well-groomed, in our bay front room in Fair Hope. The first two nights we were there, big big storms with massive lightening and thunder blew in off the gulf bay.
Here's me and my son and lots of white linen.
And my good host Jason, striking a pose before Sunday brunch. He's pretty good looking but has serious chicken legs.
Big southern oak tree.
Pelican posse.
Lucas close up.
The ships and boats at the Grand, from our window.
Well, that's it. A nice vacation to the deep south with lots of homecooking and hospitality. Now its time to get back to work and sell some houses in this challenging environment. Just entered contract to buy 44 acres and a house for a price not seen for a few years - I'm pretty sure this isn't the end of the world, and soon enough optimism will pervade the psyche, and Catskill Farms will be there with a little house to augment those fancy life aspirations.
The Art of Complaining
I'm a huge complainer - I mean, a real professional. I complain all day long, every day, about something. Paint neater, build faster, organize better, - everyday I am complaining big time about something - so much so that I probably am one of the most effective complainers out there. I complain with a goal in mind, and a strategy to get there. In the end, I have nothing against complaining - it's the way things get done and remedied. Why do we complain and remain a royal pain to most of our suppliers? Simply, So we can provide a constantly better product to our customers. For instance, I already know of 5 people/businesses that need to be complained to today - the appliance guy for setting off 2 alarms in 2 separate houses (the yell, I'm going somewhere else strategy), the employee for copying the wrong person on an email (the sympathetic 'we try to keep the dufusness to a minimal' spiel), the excavator (can it take you any longer?) and a few others to unexciting to mention. But we have engaged in a 5 year improvement process, where everyday we try to get better - which is saying something since we are pretty good now. We try to get better, faster, more efficient, less wasted time and materials. We have probably hired 75% of all contractors in the area, and fired 99% of them for one reason or another. Achieving quality - it's a lot harder than you think, and it's a constantly moving target. Get better today, get better tomorrow, get better next month. What I don't understand about the previous guys I was posting about was, in the end, upon resolution/non-resolution/satisfaction/dis-satisfaction - life goes on, and something new comes up that needs to be complained about, resolved, gotten over. I think that's what I think is impressive about Steve Carr's 16 month complaint odyssey - he never loses focus, he never has anything new come up in his life that trumps this Catskill Farms complaint motif. I mean, most people just get over it and move on, even if they didn't get what they wanted.
Some different Opinions (who write to me directly)
"You are the absolute best. THANK YOU!! We will be your best homeowners, and we will never behave like those creeps from your blog!!" "We never, ever have to go out of our way to talk you up. We are always happy to say good things..." "You are definitely 'the man'". Actually, I made up the last one.
