The whole condo process has been pretty long and drawn out: years in the making, really. As such, each time I reached a new milestone, as much as each was pretty cool, they didn’t really hype the excitement level by a particularly large amount. OK sure, settling on a mortgage was a big event in my life, but it doesn’t have that…punch. Know what I mean? Well, finally, something has come along that kind of has that big wow factor. This morning I went through my PDI (pre-delivery inspection). Prior to this date, I could only imagine how the condo would look. I knew the layout, and what finishes I chose. I had a nice image in my mind, but at the same time it was all rather nebulous. This PDI was my chance to take those images and crystallize them in my head.

I parked my car by the station and walked to the building. As I walked along side, I could see that there were people already living on the lower floors. Some of the windows already had blinds. Some suites had furniture. I don’t think I saw anyone in the units, but perhaps people living on the ground level have just gotten good at camouflage. Heh. Well, it’s not like I was staring in. Anyway, I felt rather dwarfed by the building. I usually just drive by it, so I never really had a chance to get a sense of the building’s size. It’s not so tall that the proportion of concrete and steel to human is overwhelming. See, the building is only a few floors high–it’s not overwhelming at all. The result is that…it’s like…the building is in the realm of stuff that I can still compare myself to. As a result, it feels massive. Did that make sense at all? It’s kind of hard to explain.

As I neared the front entrance, I saw a woman in a hardhat waiting by the front entrance. I presumed that she was the inspector that would be accompanying me. Indeed she was. I shook her hand and in we went. She told me that this would be more of an orientation than anything else. As I entered the lobby, that’s when it really started hitting me: wow…I’m going to be living here very shortly. HOLY CRAP. I had my bag with me. I was smart enough to carry my camera with me so I asked if I would start taking pictures. She obliged and let me start snapping at this and that. I was a freaking kid in a candy store. Look at that! What’s that over there? Oh! Oh! Oh! Really, can you blame me? She took me around the lobby area and showed me the mailboxes and the garbage area. The interior really felt spacious. I was expecting something a little bit more cramped, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was also kind of disoriented. My mind was overloaded, really. She took me to the basement to see my parking spot. It’s my luck that I got a great spot close to the elevator bay. Whoo! As much as the basements were interesting though, they weren’t the reason I came. Soon enough we were on our way to my suite.

When we got to my floor, the first thing I noticed was that the area by the elevators was spacious! No kidding. The ceilings were high and there was enough room to swing a cat if I wanted to. There I was still snapping photos of this and that when the inspector allowed me to be the one to open the door to my unit. I’d forgotten how I was in close proximity to the elevator. In my mind I imagined the hallways to be cramped, but no, this building is pretty decent. Anyway, as my hand reached for the knob, I could feel my heart beginning to race. With a good turn, I opened the door, and whoooooa. I was floored.

All of the imagined images were shattered at that moment. What I saw was a bright, spacious, and well-dressed unit. No kidding. The hardwood floors, the selections I made for the kitchen, the tiles, the countertop–it all just came together. Before I saw all of the upgrades as kind of just bits and pieces here and there. I made some damn good choices though. In the unit was one of the many tradespeople around the building site. He told me that everything looked really great. Sure, it’s sort of his job to say that, but the way he said it made me believe him. He said that it was a good size and good look for a single guy. I agree. The inspector said that the kitchen look was very masculine, and yet a woman could live there. Looks like I struck the perfect balance then.

She took me through the rooms and explained all of the controls in detail. I was listening intently, but to be honest there was just so much information that I couldn’t retain it all. Luckily she left me with enough reading material to last me a long while. I just couldn’t get over the fact that all of that would be mine in short time. According to that widget on the right: 6 days.

When it was all over, and all of the forms were signed, I left in a mild state of shock. I mean, I was still trying to process everything that I had seen. Really was a lot to take in in the span of an hour. This whole home-ownership thing is reality. There really is no question about it anymore. Seriously, next week is going to be one hell of a week.