Compounding Projects

Things escalate.

I agreed to host family Christmas this year. I expected that would mean having to do some extra cleaning, some extra decorating, and procure some extra dishes and wine glasses. No big deal, a couple hundred bucks for family Christmas seems well worth it.

Then I looked at the stairs leading into the music room. The music room was the concrete patio on the back of the original house. It was closed up and turned into a proper addition by a previous owner, adding walls and a roof, but they left the original concrete stairs. Just tiled over them. Over the years, those concrete stairs had sunk, leaving them way out of level and a trip hazard. When I replaced the rotting subfloor 4 years ago, I ripped out the railing thinking I would demo the stairs and do better, but was stymied by the concrete I found. So there they've stayed. A hulking, crooked, railingless concrete monstrosity.

Do I really want to invite a bunch of families, old and young, over to deal with this?

… fuck.

I called around to some contractors on my break. I was requesting quotes from concrete companies to remove the stairs as well as full reno companies to redo them completely. First concrete guy wanted $1900 just to remove the stairs. The next guy wanted $3500 for the same. Then a full reno guy showed up and quoted the whole thing at $5000, and I figured I had my guy. But then the last concrete contractor showed up, quoted me $800, and would be able to start that day. I could take it, but I'd have to learn to build stairs myself.

… fuck.

While they were taping up plastic and getting ready to bring the jackhammer into my home, I set about buying some more flooring. My plan was to build the stairs properly, taking up way less space, and Id need the extra floor to fill in the gaps. I found, after much searching, that Lowes has discontinued that particular flooring. Can't get it anymore. Which means either I come up with a wonky creative solution or I have to replace the whole floor.

… FUCK.

Welp. If I'm gonna replace the floors, I might as well upgrade to solid wood floors that match the rest of the level, right? So I started researching wood floors. Install considerations. Included in that is moisture, in that wood floors don't deal with moisture. When I originally replaced the floor I didn't understand door anatomy, and I failed to install a still pan or a properly sized threshold. It's not a major deal, but when the rain hits from a certain direction I'll get a little trickle under the door. Which means, if I'm gonna add wood floors, I need to get that door properly replaced as well.

… FUUUUUCK.

Let's recap. Agree to host Xmas. If hosting Xmas, can't leave dangerous concrete steps. If can't leave dangerous concrete steps, then need all new floor to fill in gaps. If new flooring, need new door to protect new flooring.

I've got a full renovation on my hands.

The good news in all this is that I'm able to do everything myself but the concrete demo and the door install. The concrete guys did a great job, and were nice enough to pour me a new slab to build stairs on when they found nothing but dirt under the old concrete ones. I've got a handyman type scheduled for next week to come replace the door. Door is ordered and ready for pickup. Solid wood flooring is ordered and should be delivered next week. And the stairs are officially coming along.

I had no concept of stair anatomy, but after lots of YouTube research I figured I could make it happen. I patched the hole in the wall where the stairs had been (the madlads had build the wall directly on the concrete stairs, so when the concrete was removed the remainder of the wall was floating). Built up the subfloor to the level of the rest of the room. Framed out some mitered steps. Added skirt boards. And, just this evening, I cut out the risers and treads that will finish it.

For a guy that's never done this or seen this done, I could not be more excited about how they turned out. Door will come in next week. Flooring should be ready for me to install the following week. All in all, not bad for such a big project with a set deadline.

I had finished adding that harp stand and some additional instrument frames the week before this started. Thought I had completed my big project for the season. The pride before the fall.

What else is happening? Uhmmmm…

Oh! I went to that cousin’s invite to the brewery that last weekend of my vacation. Wasn't really sure what I was walking into, but decided that more socializing would be good for me. What I walked into was… family. Lots of family. Aunts and uncles and more cousins.

Huh. Well. That was a surprise.

Wound up being a fun little afternoon. Hung out with everyone and their dogs. Two pomskis in tow were the best. I did politely decline to follow them all to the winery afterwards - felt like I was intruding on family time more than expected - but it wasn't a bad time. I got some eyes and a big hug from cousin at the end. Nice to get out again at least.

I was at the box for a workout the other day and found myself chatting with Gymnast. Gymnast joined shortly after I did, but had been at another CrossFit gym for years before. She's in ridiculous shape, strong, and at the top of the rankings for every workout. Reminds me of the cheerleader I dated in college. She's also a bit of a goofball, singing to herself and speaking in accents and yelling things across the gym. Super positive, super silly, Im into it. So we're hitting front squats next to each other, bantering a bit, and I caught myself on SEVERAL occasions responding with either cutting or pessimistic remarks. Like, unintentionally. Say something, think about it, be disappointed in myself because that wasn't positive like I wanted it to be.

I doubt she or anyone else really noticed, but it was in stark relief of who I'm trying to be. So I'm making it a point to fix it. I'm going to speak more positively, even if I have to force it. I don't know what was going on in my head to cause that sort of negativity to bubble up, but I'm sure correcting the speech will help correct the mentality. Maybe one day I'll identify what's caused it, but until then I'll just work on the cure.

I had my follow up with the chiropractor. More of the same, still a nice guy, still couldn't get a pop from my frame, but he reiterated the idea that it's my SI joint that's immobile and causing pain. I decided I'd better do my research to understand what the heck an SI joint is. Probably should have done that before.

The joint between the tailbone and the hip. It's almost entirely ligaments, and controls the little bit of sheer you get when you swing your hips when you walk. A sprain, where the ligaments are damaged, can cause pain throughout the area. I watched some videos with PTs and what they see presented with this condition, and it was a list of things I've had all year. Right down to the constantly trying to stretch out the hip area for relief.

Suddenly the whole thing started getting clearer. I've had extremely uncomfortable hip flexor tightness. I've had a tight muscle in my groin that wen’t let up (piriformis, maybe?). And I've had tightness all through my lower back on that side. Working on the assumption that I sprained my SI joint during that workout that triggered this in January, suddenly it looks like all the surrounding muscles that could compensate to try and stabilize the hip are the ones that are tight and painful. Makes sense, right?

Why on earth haven't any of these doctors been able to help me along to this conclusion?

I've ordered some ligament supplements and a support belt designed for this. Should be here tomorrow, we'll see if I'm onto something. Hopefully this is the cause of all the symptoms I've been chasing for… 11 months? Can that be right?

Jeepers.

Anyway. It's getting late here. Just gonna pretend like nothing else has happened. With any luck I'll have this whole reno project behind me by the next post, and be focusing on more important things again.

-M