Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.
- Pueblo Blessing
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Tuesday, Sept. 05, 2006 - 3:45 p.m.
WARNING!!!! if you know me personally, you may read my diary, but if you do, you take the chance of hearing things you don't want to know, misunderstanding what I've written and being hurt by it. If you are unsure if it is ok to read, save yourself and me the grief and heartache, and ask first!!! Please note that this is a DIARY, ie my subjective feelings, hearsay, suppositions, and outpourings of ranting of the moment. It does not represent objective news, the whole of what I think of a topic or someone, or even a thought-out representation of any of the above. Keep that in mind. Thanks. * Here is a Diary Etiquette Read Me.
Engineer Confuses The Diagnosis
ACK!!
this is so stressful.
I just had this foundation company who is wellknown for being an expert in the area, come over and take a look.
Unlike the last four companies who took a look, he does NOT think it needs to have pilons to hold the building up. He says it absolutely is NOT necessary. That he can put them in, if i insist, but really, the foundations are fine.
He says the cracks in the brick and around the windows are just natural settling, but the building is not sinking. He says I would NOT have small cracks, that instead, they appear SUDDENLY and wide, as the building falls into an empty space created by drying soil. And since I have a water problem, I have wet clay not dry clay, and I cannot have sinking due to dry and flooding due to wet at the same time. Now I don't know if I believe him about that, since often we have flooding BECAUSE the ground is too dry to absorb, or the water follows cracks in the dried out earth.
But he is adamant that I do NOT have the problem the last four places said, and I do NOT need to spend $40-50,000. He says I just need to hold up the central beam, since when digging the basement on one side of the house, they dug too close to the footings holding up the central beam and the little dirt left under them IS open to air on the basement side (the other side is a crawl space), and it is drying and eroding.
He says it will cost around $7500 to fix.
Hmm.
Let's see. This is an engineer for a company who puts in pilons. It is in their interest to do the work (and not do the work in the basement which is a huge pain in the ass, since the ceiling is only 5feet tall under the floor joists... 5.5feet between joists... and really, he could get a $40,000 contract saying "put in pilons" like everyone else says.
If I believe him, and he is right, I will save thousands of dollars, not have to remortgage the house, not pay that much extra in interest to the bank on my new mortgage for the next millenium, save digging up the front and back yards, removing the porches, the plants, etc etc etc. I will just have to get work done in the basement.
If I believe him and he is wrong, then I will further have structural damage on the building, and think "why didn't I do that when it STARTED, and not wait!!??".
Now it is true that he is an engineer, and the others "have engineers working for them"... ie the person diagnosing on site who gave me the quote is not an engineer. On the other hand, I am sure there are engineers who make mistakes, don't know what they are talking about etc.
ack.
I wish I could just believe the good news.
I feel like someone who has been diagnosed with cancer by four people, and then told by the fifth specialist that they just have an ulcer. It feels hard to trust the good news.
ack
I should be happy as shit that I have just saved $30,000. Instead I feel worried and anxious.
egads.
Well, I have a class in an hour and a half... what would be the best use of my time? I wish the Flintstones was on TV. They are so predictable and I don't even have to deal with irony like the Simpsons. That would be a good way to waste some time.
Instead I will finish my comics page, fold some clean laundry, and see if I can look presentable for my internet date after my class.
Cheers
me
wenchie
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previous meanderings - future past
Goodbye Michael. May your next life be kinder to you. - Thursday, Jun. 25, 2009
Taking Care of Your Cows - Thursday, Jun. 25, 2009
Saint Joseph robs the cradle and eats spaghetti - Sunday, Jun. 14, 2009
sticky notes and broken irises - Friday, Jun. 12, 2009
The FOODCOMMANDER - Monday, Jun. 08, 2009
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