Barn Face-lift Completed

The barn renovation is complete. Technically it is a granary and not a barn. I have to mention this because The Wench pointed-out that the original barn is long gone. Its silo buried somewhere beneath the rock wall where the cascade hops now grow. Big snakes reside underground in the rubble. Since the original antique grain mill can still be found in the granary it must be a granary. And not a barn. Picky, picky, picky.

This and the pump house are all that remain of the old Door County homestead. The original log house dismantled and sold to some guy from Chicago all too many years ago.

Ooooh baby! Doesn’t it look nice?

It survived more than a hundred years and I think it might just be good for another hundred.

I have some advice for those of you who might be considering a construction project.

Pick a good contractor.

Since I first met Brian he’s built two homes for me and has now completed this outstanding barn face-lift. He employs his own crew, pays them a good wage and provides an outstanding benefits package. He is uncompromising in demanding quality workmanship. I will hire him again. In a heartbeat.

I also happen to believe that you need to befriend yourself to the contractor’s work crew. I am serious about this. You need to schmooze the crew. So periodically you need to do stuff like this.

Keep a cooler or fridge filled with an unlimited supply of cold drinks. Tell the guys they can help themselves as often as they like. Beers are at the discretion of the foreman at the close of the work day.

Periodically you should grill for them.

Construction guys like nothing more than a freshly-grilled cheese burger (with all the sides) for lunch.

Leave them freshly-baked cookies for break time.

It never hurts to mingle with them during breaks and talk about hunting or let Girlfriend become acquainted.

So how do you pay for these projects?

That’s easy.

My financial guy says the best way to do so is to purchase stocks when the frightened lemmings are running over the cliff. Then you wait for maybe a year or more for the next generation of euphoric lemmings to run the other way. Here you sell your stocks for a tidy profit.

That way you can always use the other people’s money to feather your nest.

Me? That is way too complicated.

What I do is empty my pocket change every day before going to bed and slip it into an old wool sock on the bed rail. When the sock is full I take it to the bank have them run the contents through the change counting machine and then credit my passbook savings account.

I know. It sounds tedious. But it works.

Slow and steady wins the race.