32. Mann + retrofit

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Kaisersaschern dreaming...

A friend brought to my attention that Thomas Mann's house in Pacific Palisades is on the market and his German fans are concerned that someone will buy it, demolish it, and build something bigger and more up-to-date -- which is exactly what I imagine will happen. There were some poor photos of the house in the article. My first thought was to describe it as Mid-century Modern, but it's really more pre-Mid-century Modern. It isn't a Case Study style house but the architect was probably influenced by the Bauhaus. It's really more of a characteristically SoCal house of that time and neighborhood. 

That Mann wrote Doctor Faustus there is hard to keep in mind as I re-read my blog. Imagine if Proust had retreated to Tahiti to write In Search of Lost Time. Now I could easily imagine Mann writing "Snow" from The Magic Mountain -- or at least the dream within that chapter -- while on the cliffs above the Pacific. (Possibly with "Hotel California" or Natalie Merchant's "San Andreas Fault" playing on the stereo.) To sit there, between dog walks, turning the corruption of German culture into a Faust story can not have been easy. Now do you get my heading above?

Retrofit

For some reason (denial?) I was thinking we were at the point where the worst was past and we could just coast to the finish line from here. Now I'm noticing a whole cluster of things that could still bite us in the ass. I think it may be safer to just assume this is going to be as difficult as imaginable all the way to the end.

My new expectation is that by the middle of next week I will be back to focusing on what I can actually control -- getting the laundry room back in order. It does look like I will get my shot at painting (priming) the new wall (and my ceiling that they tore out and replaced again) before the electrical conduit and gang boxes go back on. That's something. 

I also have a scheme in mind for getting my hands on some of the plywood -- that's been covering the hall carpet since the very beginning -- for a shelf and a door. If this works we could finally have a way to block off and lock a section of the laundry room for more secure storage. Something we've talked about for years. We already have a nice "left behind" wall shelf I need to install. But a nice bit of plywood would give us a nice counter/work space in that secured area. And since that area is unlighted, it will give me an excuse to buy one of those cool, battery powered LED lights. They keep getting better and brighter and I don't really have any use for them in my own apartment. Frustration.

What I'm really looking forward to is cleaning out my webmail In and Send folders as soon as this is all over -- so many emails and I don't want to delete anything until the process is complete. I have been known to over-purge. That makes me sound like Karen Carpenter.

Next - 33. Derivatives an TA, again