I had zero expectations. One plumber after another said we don't build kitchens, we swap sinks. I say no, you don't understand, I want a kitchen downstairs. Plus a washer dryer hook up on the outside of the wall in the front of the house.

This is a challenging task. The house is built on slab. We think. Actually it's on dirt with the beams resting on cement blocks, now that I see it. We have no idea where the drain hookup will be and therefore the angle of decline might not allow for the placement of what we want. Unless we are willing to build a platform floor to mask the pipes. Go ahead. Do it.

I cringe. I don't want to do this. I want the end result but I don't want to do this. Do it.

So he spends a day doing demolition. He cuts holes in the walls and the floor. He cuts a path right through to the front door of the house where I will fall through and die. I asked him to put a couple of boards down there and he very nicely did. With a nail sticking up.

Off to the free clinic. I pay them. I pay them more than their average patient cost. Which is less than what my primary care doctor costs. And they are closer than my regular doctor. And I can just show up.

It took an hour and a half. I need a tetanus shot of course. They don't give that. But they give vouchers which gets you a free one at Walgreens which would have cost me 80 bucks if I didn't go there first. So I was quite happy to do it.

My last tetanus shot was 30 years ago. It's time. My last tetanus shot hurt like hell. I accepted this. The pharmacist who gave me the shot explained I need to massage the area of the shot continuously for the next couple of hours. That will distribute the shot throughout the muscle and the pain/ inability to use arm reaction will be much less.

I have no pain from that shot. I love that pharmacist. She has the beginning of carpal tunnel from using the mouse at a wrong position (and she has no choice) and I explain to go get a Kensington expert mouse. Which is really a trackball. A really big trackball. I think I might just give her one.

So it's day two and the plumber is back and he runs the pipes and the water tubes and I now have an outdoor washer dryer hook up as well as the full plumbing for a kitchen.

Why would I need a kitchen? I already have one upstairs.

Cuz I'm splitting this house in two. Once downstairs is an independent unit then I can rent it out. This is my retirement plan.

Also, I am committed to hosting my demented father-in-law two months a year as he rotates through the children. We get him January and February. So we need that space laid out just like that.

Then the electrician will be here on Friday for the remaining house outdoor outlets. He's already given me three additional kitchen circuits. And he did it by running conduit outside my house. So there was no damage on the walls or floors. Plumber, not so much.

He already is planning on doing the outside washer dryer circuit at that point.

Keep in mind, every time I say outside I mean with a 10 by 20 ft overhang and then in front of the overhang totally blocked with sheds. Totally protected space. I will also build an enclosure for them.

At that point we will spec out the kitchen.

The electrician is very happy that the plumber ripped this floor out because now he can just throw conduit under the house without dealing with wrapping it around the walls outside which was the original plan.

I really didn't want to cut holes in floors and walls but now that I have I'm okay with it. I will put an access panels everywhere. There will never be a moment where I think there might be a leak and I can't just pop the wall or floor open and take a look.

In order to split the house I need second set of stairs. I have to block off the middle. I have a sliding glass door on a very nice deck area. As I'm dictating this the carpenter is building the steps. This is the third contractor.

The first one tried to rip me off for 3500 and ended up refunding me 4 Grand. The second was doing an excellent job but then he went to jail with it about half done. But of course everyone thinks it's almost done. But the second one was a talented amateur and we were winging this. This is the guy I bought the house from. We read the code book and we follow the directions but we were total amateurs.

The third one was the primary carpenter for the contractor who tried to steal from me so I stole his carpenter from him. He's doing a great job right now and he's done many of these and I'm sure it will get done. Not today though. There will be a home Depot run. His life is complex and I am forgiving. I also fed him a sous vide steak that blew him away. Gave him more than he could eat. I treat my contractors well.