Paradise ponders...

Paradise ponders...  I had a first-in-my-lifetime experience yesterday that I'd much rather have missed.  While backing Debbie's pickup out of our driveway, I ran into a construction worker's pickup.  It was all my fault – knowing my driveway well, I just used the driver's side mirror to keep my side lined up.  The construction guys had parked to the other side, out of that mirror's view, to unload their tools.  I never saw their truck simply because I never looked in the passenger side mirror.  Smash!  Bang!  Tinkling of glass and plastic everywhere.  Thankfully nobody was hurt at all.  The two pickups?  That's another story altogether.

The rear bumper, side panel, and right taillight on Debbie's Toyota Tundra are smashed beyond repair (see at right).  Some other internal parts are bent, but they can be fixed.  The other pickup had substantially more body damage (Tundras are tougher than Fords, apparently!), but amazingly their taillight was still working.

Our insurance company is covering the damage I did to the other truck.  Our truck doesn't have collision insurance (that never made economic sense for us, as we've never before made a claim on it!).  So I called Hyrum Tire, our local repair shop that we just love, and asked if they did body work.  Nope, they do not.  They did recommend someone, though: Mountain View Auto Body in Hyrum.  I'd never heard of them, but when I looked them up I discovered that they're only a couple of miles from our house!  I drove there yesterday to get an estimate.  Their shop is located in the center of a field, in a building they put up next to their farm house.  It's a father-and-son operation with four bays and modern-looking equipment and software.  Mitch, the proprietor, was as friendly, direct, and straight-shooting as the folks at Hyrum Tire.  He took some quick notes and photos, then used his fancy software to generate an estimate: $2,500, two thirds of which is parts.  Ouch!  But I'm not really complaining; that's less than I had feared it would be.  The truck goes in on Monday for a week-long stay in the “hospital”...

Construction update...

Construction update...  The workers assembling our sun room finished yesterday.  Woo hoo!  Now we have to get the floor tiled, the porch built, the wiring done, and the wallboard installed and painted.  I guess we're not quite finished yet. :)  But it's definitely progress!  Some photos:

In addition to that, the framers showed up yesterday to start framing up the mud room.  Talking with the workers, I found out that they were only here because the crane on another job broke down, so they had nothing to do.  Our builder, like any successful builder, is working on multiple projects at the same time.  In addition, he and his wife are moving into a new house themselves, one that he also built.  The worst part: I'm certain that we're one of the smallest jobs he has going.  So ... we're not exactly at the top of his priority list.  Dang!  But at least something got done!  Some photos:

All three of the additions we're making are changing the shape of our house.  If you were to look at our original house from above, it was basically a simple rectangle.  Now, viewed the same way, one end has a rounded extension, one side has a small rectangle sticking out, and the other side has a large rectangle sticking out.  I can't quite visualize it all yet, but I'm pretty sure the result will be more interesting looking.  It will certainly be less regular!