The Periphery of the Mind

In December it was the water line in the yard. It had leaked before, and when we had it repaired we were told it would leak again. And again. And again, until it was replaced. It was cheap, and when the house was being built it was a way for somebody to cut a corner and save themselves $50. That somebody wasn't me, since I know better than to save $50 now and have to spend $900 down the line. So we called Rocky the Plumber out, and he was able to work with us to get it fixed. We did 95% of the digging (saving $700 in the process), and he replaced the line. Of course, after figuring out the time we spent and the fact we paid a friend (hi Peltablo!) to help us, and then had chiro and massage visits afterwards.... We should have just paid the man the extra money.

Then in January we had the ice storm. A downed power line ripped the power box off the side of our house, and along with it tore the mastehead through the roof, which in turn also knocked the gutter down. It still isn't fixed. We're in a race to see who'll come out first, our insurance agent or the Professor's dad (who's offered to fix it for us for free, because he's nice like that and I suspect secretly longs to use his all skill and knowledge to work in carpentry). The electrical line, power box, and masthead are all repaired however, with a non-exempt donation of $417 to Mike Simpson with Big Red Electric.

Then in February the furnance began to die. As I sit here typing this, we have a nice new furnace and a nice new (and actually pretty small) $1000 bill. And Jeff Dawson Construction to thank for both. I'm really impressed by this guy.

So, to some extent I'm whining here. "My house is falling apart." On the flip side I realize I have a house, I expect to have the house next year, and we can afford to repair and maintain it. And that's saying something in this day and age. Also, hopefully, this'll serve as a record for when I or somebody know needs a good plumber, or a good electrician, or a good HVAC tech, I can refer them to these three.

The carpenter is ours and ours alone though, sorry.

Labels: whine

I'm tired, and possibly getting sick.

The storm blew off the siding on the house. Called my insurance company and reported it, and then called the woman who is likely to by my claims adjuster (I work with her husband). Had a contractor come out and take photos. No ETA as to when the insurance company will get in touch with us again. I may call them by noon if I don't hear anything sooner.

Saw my Grandma at the hospital Saturday. Brought her flowers. High point was getting to run around with Shanna.

Went to work in the garage on a shoe rack. Discovered Aslan had gnawed through about 16 inches, up and down, on the table saw's power cord. And then he gnawed through the three wires inside of that in places. It wasn't plugged in at the time; kind of wished it had been. Yes, it'll be sad when he dies, but at this rate we're lucky when he just ruins stuff. Eventually he'll burn the house down. It's not "funny" anymore. Wrapped the exposed wires in electrical tape, then wrapped those wires up in more electric tape, and the saw seems fine.

Dogs are still all upset and agitated after the storm, the neighbors' even worse than ours I think. And they now have another over protective barking dog they ignore all the time.

I'm really getting sick of the house, sick of the neighborhood, and almost sick enough of all the animals to do something about it.

Labels: General, whine