The House Is Breaking The Bank...

...and I mean that almost literally since it sure is breaking my bank account. First it was the water heater that went on the fritz. That went for about $1325, plus $150 for the permit (can you imagine the politicians eating steak on my dime, I can), plus another $25 for the inspections. Then it was an air conditioner that went kaflooey. Another $110 for a new one, yeah we got a special on some off name brand (if it lasts three years it will have been well worth it). Then the upstairs toilet had to be replaced. About $180 for the toilet and installation kit; then the friggin plumber had the nerve to charge $225, use my tools to install it, and not even set it level. They sent someone today to tell me how they think it will be okay not levelled. I think I may have to contest that charge with Amex. Finally, well for expenses of the last month up through today, I shelled out another $1,195 to have an oak tree chopped down and removed from my property. That was the best offer from over 8 tree service places (well I had an estimate of $675, but that guy just seemingly fell off the face of the earth once he came to give me an estimate). I waited about 3 weeks for him and said fuggedaboudit, and got the next lowest priced guy to do it. He sent a bunch of illegal aliens nice guys to my house to cut it down today.

That of course was enough, but not for my black cloud. Nope, my personal black cloud dumps on me even after it has covered me from head to foot. You see, now the side door needs replacement. A year or a couple of years back, the door jamb cracked, right at the bottom hinge. Good old Stanley Doors, they used the softest wood I have ever seen for a door frame. Well once it cracked, the crack found its way right through the screw holes of the hinge. The screws wobbled and flexed, and ate those screw holes bigger and bigger until now they will not hold at all. I had some contractors who were here for other work, over the past 2 years, look at it. They told me the same thing, it would cost as much or more than getting a whole new door installed to fix it. So now I am off to Lowes to look for a steel door, with steel frame - no more wood, unless they have some with hardwood frames. My best guesstimate is at least another $500 to replace the door.

There I was a few weeks back thinking I would be buying us a new barbecue grill, a nice one, a stainless steel one, for this season - since the old one is literally rusting through and falling apart. I guess that just isn't gonna happen any time soon. As a matter of fact, it looks as if my annual road trip with Brendan may be off this year, or certainly curtailed what with all these unexpected expenses and the cost of gasoline. He is graduating high school, his prom is tomorrow, and I thought for sure we would have a special road trip this year. Maybe we can get away with a camping trip within a hundred miles or so of home. That shouldn't be too expensive, I mean what is a couple of hundred bucks added onto about $3,700 of unexpected expenses in a month. Yikes I hope nothing else goes wrong with this gosh darned money pit or we may not be able to eat except for every other day!

If anything else goes wrong I seriously may have to consider selling some of the boomers; and heck I don't have that many to sell in the first place. I would sure miss em if I have to resort to that. Then again, if gold peaks near a grand per ounce, I do have a 14K white gold college ring I can sell, and one other small gold nugget ring I would be happy to get rid of. Maybe I could get a few hundred for both of them. Other than that, there isn't a thing in my house worth all that much. Heck, I just thought, I may have to stay on my job more than another year if things keep going down financially, that is a truly scary thought, but at least I have a job. Oh well, enough b-ing and moaning; I am off to Lowes to go door shopping to see how much I have to add to the approximately.

In the meantime if any of you can think of any legitimate and reasonable ways for me to earn some quick cash - let me know.

All the best,
Glenn B

Home Repairs - Nothing Is Easy When You Have My Luck

So I finally got the spare bedroom painted. Took about 4 weekends of my spare time. That is okay - no hurry here. It looks pretty good. I also took up the old carpet today, and when I saw the old floor underneath, I figured I'll have to sand it, then refinish it. That will not be the easiest thing to do, but not too hard.

Of course, with a house it is one thing after another. About a week or so ago, I tried to change the handle on the upstairs throne. As my luck and ineptness would have it, I broke the side of the toilet tank doing so. Luckily for me above the water line; but it is ruined. It needs replacing, but it is so old I cannot find a match. So after a week or week and a half of it being usable but broken, I took off the tank and tried to line up a new one. No go. So that left me with needing to replace the whole toilet and tank. Okay, I took off the old toilet too. Then there it was a major problem, at least for me who am no plumber. The brass flange to which the base of the throne attaches is cracked. It seems the knuckleheads who put in my new bathroom 14 years ago placed the tile floor atop the old tile floor. When they left the hole for the toilet, they made it too wide. Instead of the flange having floor under it to support it, they attached the flange to the drain pipe and left the edges of it in thin air. Well the toilet and floor must have settled causing the brass flange to crack. I imagine I could just put everything back atop it, but all the books I've read and advice I have been given is to have a new flange installed. While I am sure this would be a major job for me, I am hopeful it will be easy for the plumber I am calling on Monday. My guess though is it will be a major job for him just to remove the old one without cracking the drain pipe. I can only hope they get it done easily and inexpensively. Then I can put in the new toilet myself, or maybe may as well have them do it since that job will take all of a half hour more at most.

I have to say, it really sucks because all was going well, in fact better than I had expected, until I saw the crack. I had thought it would be tougher to do under normal circumstances, but replacing the loo would actually have been an easy job if there were no surprise problems like the cracked flange. Oh well, a house is, I suppose, a pit into which to throw money. I just wish I had the money. If it was not for my own personal black cloud following me around, maybe it would be less expensive. As it is though, I really am getting better at doing things around the homestead despite this most recent screwup.

I had other things to keep me busy today too, like moving the paving stones from under my oak tree. The tree is coming down next Wednesday. I was supposed to have it down weeks ago but the tree service guy never showed up. I got a new guy, at almost double the price, and he still is less than all the others I have called except for the bum guy who did not show. Then I did some spraying for ants/termites. Hopefully I don't have any in the house, but I sprayed all around it for a protective barrier. Those carpenter ants and termites can be nasty even in a brick house to what wood there is, especially the beams.

Now I am going to go out and do some gardening. The broccoli is coming in nicely, the lettuce has been unused and thus wasted by the wife, the cabbage looks good, and the tomato plants have been better in previous years. If I am lucky I'll find some ripe strawberries. Only had a few last year, but this year they are coming in strong. As for the pepper plants Mimi, the latest mutt in the house, dug em all up. I am learning, sprayed some hot pepper sauce in the garden and the digging sure has subsided. Next time though only on the soil as it really ruined some of the leaves on some of the plants.

Later for you.

All the best,
GB