Audience of Strangers

 (I grew up across the street from someone who started every conversation with "So otherwise then," as a preamble to the news of the day. I forget exactly which part of Europe/Eastern Europe his family's mother language had been, but it came out as "So odderwise den," which tickled my parents immensely.)

So otherwise then, the sewer repair man has rescheduled his estimate appointment from earlier this morning to a time which will be after the emergency drain cleaner person he located and scheduled for us will have cleaned the drain out so that the sewer repair man can tell us whether this will be a $4K, an $8K, or a $15K-$18K fix. (We knew a fix had to be done, and we can now handle paying for one, though of course it'd be preferable to have the lower cost option and be able to roll any extra money into the replacement of the fallen retaining wall and deteriorating front steps... which in any sensible plan is the order in which these things should be done.)

Anyhow, the sewer repair man is very helpful and we are grateful, and likewise to the emergency drain cleaner.

So that's our morning here at Lindenhaus. So how's by you, den?