It’s been a busy week of building and supporting the building process, so not a lot of other things have been going on. There have been trips to exciting places like a rock yard to select stone for the house, and things ended on a small high on Saturday night when the Atlanta Braves convincingly beat their strong rivals, the Washington Nationals. But it is just the start of the season, with another 160 games to be played before we reach a conclusion, so there is no cause to be excited yet. It raises the question as to why in USA the popular sports are those which virtually no other countries play. NASCAR racing, American football and baseball are all prime examples. Canada, which many Americans seem to regard as a sort of “almost-US state” can only field a single major league baseball team. I suppose it is a good way of minimising the risk of an embarrassing defeat playing as a sport at national level against, say, Argentina or New Zealand.
On the build site
Monday was a busy day – things are really going on inside the house. We spent most of the day there, making snap decisions (though usually significantly premeditated – Lisa has usually researched everything to death, but it makes us appear very decisive!). We spent a lot of time with Jonathan White, the electrician, checking the position of every single socket, plug and light. Most of the internal and external lighting will be high tech LED lights which are economical, ecological and long life – there is no bulb as such, just this LED unit which is good for ten years. Just as well, since the ceiling height in the living room reaches 20 feet in places, so standing on a stool to change a bulb is not an option.
The well diggers were on site, laying the water pipe from the well into the centrifugal filter and storage tank in the basement. They had an amazing machine called a Ditch Witch – a small tractor with what looks like a massive chainsaw – it digs a neat trench six inches wide and three foot deep for the pipe in next to no time.
The heating and air conditioning has nearly all been rough fitted. The main AC unit is located in the attic, rather than the basement, and it is surrounded by a multitude of silver ducts – it looks like a huge shiny octopus looming over us. A few final details over cabinets have been settled with John Browning.
The siding installers (putting up the exterior shell over the structural timber walls) started this week, and have got about halfway round the house. The sides of the house have a lower section to be covered in reclaimed brick, and above them are overlapping horizontal planks of a synthetic material called Hardie shakes, laid horizontally like a clinker-built boat. Apparently, the right way to do this is not starting at the bottom, but commencing halfway up the wall with the shakes, and working up. The bricks come later. Fingers crossed that gravity does not exert a fatal toll on this process! Some of the front of the house is covered in shingles, again of the Hardie material. It is all a not-unappealing yellow/olive colour, but will be painted as required in due course.
We also had an important meeting with TJ Pierce, the foundations specialist (don’t worry, no underpinning needed – he now has to plan outside paving, stone wall installation and some other support issues). One problem that has become apparent is the lie of the land. Where we are building is based on a large niche carved out of a ridge which lies on a slope. So, having cut the space to build, there is a sizeable overhang of ridge rather too close to the house for comfort. TJ recommended that we build a retaining wall to ensure no untoward nasties like landslips or trees falling onto the house. Not really an option to say no, so his crew has been hard at work all week. The Great Wall of Dahlonega is being constructed of massive timbers, 6” square, nailed together with 12” spikes and backed with compacted dirt. For safety, there is a lower wall in front helping to support the back wall 5 feet behind, so now Lisa will have a long narrow flowerbed alongside the house, 100 foot long by 5 foot wide.
The coming week is supposed to be inspection week – the building inspectors come to sign off on the work done to date. Assuming that they are happy (Bill assures us that they will be), they sign off the relevant forms and we can move onto insulation and drywalling – which covers up all the skeleton of the house.
Robin’s Opinions of America
False prices on everything
I have already had a rant about the relentless hunt for a bargain in USA. The reality is that the actual price you pay for everything is usually very well disguised. The first big hidden extra is sales tax, which is charged on almost everything. And this varies depending upon where you are – the State and the city both can impose sales taxes so by moving a few miles down the road (or even better, across the line into another state), this tax can vary significantly. We personally take advantage of this by purchasing some of the materials for the house build in other states and shipping them to the build site – in theory the state where you purchase does not charge taxes on exports out of state, and there is no clear mechanism for the state where you take delivery to have their piece of the action either. Please don’t think that this is me trying to stop people paying taxes – that’s what keeps governments running and providing all the service we demand of them. But since taxes are inevitable, why not be open at the outset and include the tax in the price of what you are shown on the sticker?
But I digress. Another disguised cost is the extra charges over which you have no control. One practice which is now widely copied in Europe is airlines, who impose surcharges for such mundane things as taking a suitcase with you when you travel. Though at least in Europe such charges are usually in the price you pay for the ticket, not imposed at the airport. It is only a matter of time before the airlines find a way of charging you a premium price for air in the plane once you lift off.
And don’t get me started on tipping.
It may seem a nice friendly thing for a waitress in a restaurant to drop by at three minute intervals to ensure that you have everything you want and you are enjoying your meal. And serving up these enquiries with a beaming smile. But the cynic in me wonders how much of this is geared to the more important but unspoken question of how much of a tip you will leave. I cannot speak from detailed and verified information, but it seems to me the 18% or 20% extra you are expected to leave for service is rather high. In Europe a figure of half that seems norm, and in many countries, is positively discouraged (TTF on the bill in France means that service AND local sales taxes are included). I have read of expensive restaurants in US where not only are waiters not paid by the restaurant, being expected to make their living out the tips they can garner, but they have to pay the restaurant for the privilege of having this job. No wonder the price on the menu may seem reasonable, when there is a hidden 25% not mentioned for tips and taxes.
What is clear is that tipping is just the visible part of an iceberg. The hidden part is a great marketing scam to make people feel like they are paying less. The price you see on a menu is nothing compared to what you’ll actually pay. Apart from tipping, you have to of course pay taxes. And all the unavoidable charges. So why not be upfront in the beginning – make prices all fully inclusive. It might make things seem more expensive – but the amount you pay will be just the same, and you would not wander through life in a fog of cost confusion.
A list of an outsider’s observations on USA
1st September Thoughts on Grey Squirrels
6th October Subdivisions
13th October Flags in America
27th October The Confederate flag
10th November Groundhogs and A relentless hunt for bargains
17th November The American Mailbox and American meat
24th November Georgia Public Television and TV scheduling
1st December Serviceable roads and Awesome
8th December Wines from Georgia and Blue laws
22nd December Licence plates and Polystyrene plates
4th January Pressure balanced valves and Knocking Copy