$3k-$5k is what I was expecting; I did price things out when I moved in two years ago and the estimate I got then was around $3k. I suspect the firm I got the quote from pushes higher prices for their financing options, since those were listed front and center on the price sheet they gave me.

My family has been helping organize my basement for the last week and a half. The new racking I ordered for the tubs should be arrive in a couple days, and at this point I’m starting to think about paint colors for the walls.

I’ve also had three electricians out this week to give me quotes on replacing the breaker box and upgrading my electrical service to 200 amps; I got the first quote yesterday and it was $6,700 (including running a circuit 20 feet and adding a couple outlets in a half-finished storage room), which seems pretty steep. Hopefully the others aren’t as high.

Depends on where you are.

I’m in the Midwestern United States now, where summer is often pretty frustrating due to the high humidity. But I’m originally from Phoenix, where I really enjoyed summer (in the shade), because I love the feeling of warmth soaking into my bones, and I never got sweaty.

I run those calls through my own phone system, which I host on a system in my basement. There are a couple main options out there, I used FreePBX for a while but now I’m using 3CX. They don’t require a ton of computing power-- mine runs on a virtual server inside a larger system, but you could run one off of an inexpensive thin client from eBay if you wanted to.

I get my phone number from VoIP.ms, which is pretty inexpensive and has worked well for me for years.

For a phone, you can either use a soft phone (an app on your computer or smartphone), or use an older IP phone off eBay (which is what I do since I also have a Plantronics wireless headset that connects to it).

It’s pretty easy to get started, but you do need to make sure you’re configuring everything correctly since selfhosted services can open up security holes in your network if you don’t know what you’re doing.

This is why I always record calls with major corporations when I’m talking about money. I’ve never had to actually resort to sending them recordings, but I have used the “Well, every call made from this phone is recorded, so I can go back and pull the recording of what I’ve been told if you don’t have it in your system” line a couple times.