An unintended consequence

I mentioned in an earlier post about my having acquired a new job in my old line of work....which I thought I would never seen again given this country's propensity for shipping jobs off shore never to be seen again.  Out of the blue one day, a former coworker contacted me asking if I was looking for work.

Well, technically I wasn't but it would have been wholly irresponsible of me not to at least consider it.  After a discussion and because I could telecommute from the property here (they're 80miles away), I accepted their offer with the proviso I could start part-time for now keeping my other part time job at the big box home improvement store.  Later as my hands on work tapered down in favor of contracted out work and my free time increased, I could opt to go full time.

What does that have to do with anything in this post?  

Well, working both jobs has been taking up a lot of what otherwise would have been free time to focus on the house.  Mind you, I'm not complaining because in this day of a recession like economy and still high unemployment I'm grateful to be back in the old saddle making decent money again.   But it's had an unintended consequence; my efficiency at scheduling of tasks has been thrown off.

Cupola oops...

I had some pending work still to complete up in the cupola at the top of the house that I didn't quite get finished by the time the spray foam insulation installers arrived.   It's minor work; the install of a second bath exhaust duct, the attaching of both bath ducts to the exterior vents I had located in the cupola, and a power outlet for the planned exterior cupola lighting.  The install of the spray foam install and the time needed to air out the house delayed access for a bit, and then there were my two income producing jobs, all of which served as a distraction to getting the task done.  

Then before I knew it, the AC peeps had arrived and started their install.  Well, it wasn't until the duct work was nearly completed that I started to realize I might have a minor problem.  Before any work began I could easily stand up with my chest and head up in the cupola air space.  But now, between the AC unit and the placement of the supply and return air filter ducts, my ability to get back up in the cupola may have been unintentionally compromised.  

There's barely any room between the backside of the fireplace wall and the supply ducts to stand up.  And on the other side, the return duct and filter box appears to have cut off access to that side.  I'm going to have to venture up there and see if I can somehow squeeze up into those tight spaces to complete the remaining tasks.  The good thing is that once that work up there is done, I should never have to go up there again.  Oh well, sometimes you just gotta have some flexibility....., figuratively and perhaps in this case literally!

Somehow I have to squeeze up in there....

....and through there to get to the cupola.

In the meantime, it's on to the pending plumbing work, framing of the hallway ceilings, and a review of my electrical work.  All this has to be done before the next big milestone; sheetrock!  Because once the sheetrock is up, I'm screwed if I left anything amiss!