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Parting blows / smells like José
May. 19th, 2014 11:55 amI’m at work all giddy wondering what is going on in my stupid house. I did yard work! I did yard work and was told by a Latino I did a terrible job! This makes me so bubbly.
No really, I showed up to a) sell the a/c units, b) clean up and cart stuff off to get out of the demolishing range of fire, and c) move plants that survived this long to try and keep them alive generally.
Stuff - I moved some and piled the rest into a room; not much of a story.
(laundry - I did laundry for the last time, and really prefer my downtown old machine to the front loaders in my condo).
A/C, sold in less than an hour on craigslist for the discounted price of $200 for one guy (each came to $250). Earlier I sold 2 at a discount to a friend, and in so doing learned quickly how to pull them from the windows (and discovered one of the biggest heaviest windows in the house is broken so you bear the full weight of it when you open it AND it could easily fall out as the rail doesn’t hold the bottom in - I put warning signs on it for the workers). So the things were in the living room next to a plug and easy to test and move. I am stunned at how much more light the non-ac’d windows provide. Decision to pay a bazillion for central a/c: affirmed.
Gardening? Isn’t my name José? So I learned the quick oops that even shoveling up quickly planted plants is not just a measure of strength. Strength will not put a wood and metal shovel through a rock; rather the converse is a possibility. Up front I easily-ish dug up plants from one place and moved them to the other. Out back, that’s where the weeds had really started to spider-web through the flowers. I did a half-assed job of weeding the yard proper and the invaded flowerbeds. I pulled out ivy, and discovered I have one sad little rose in the corner of the yard - I didn’t dare try to move it but am not sure it’s going to survive the work. A bit of digging and I took my shirt off - honest truth I saw my reflection and kinda really liked it, more truth I started to sweat in the sun and it was a nice smell. I’m totally a me fetishist!
However trying to plough through rocks and then being assaulted by skeeters eroded my patience. I poorly replanted the flowers along the fence, though I have little confidence they’ll make it. I watered front and back, and later ran into Jorge who told me point blank the things were going to die, noting some were too high up (I put the first ones too deep and overcompensated). I started to reach down to “fix them,” and he waved me off, telling me he’d fix them later. I’m going to owe my new neighbor so much!
Cruising open houses:
As noted in fb, I cruised good and bad open houses and they filled me mostly with confidence. A nearby 13th street home was selling for only $550, but had loose bricks and a giant crack running up the front of the property - and the yankee candle hardly masked the smell. Nobody can explain to me why someone replaced all the doors with $37 hollow-core home depo doors and painted a place when the floors were hidden by recent bottom-tier carpet and a liberty bell crack was so obvious. On the plus side, I really understand why wood doors are worth the money. I also hit a rental property with poor layout and no parking - standing room only there were so many interested in the renovation nightmare in the 600s. The nearly-a-million listing I checked out was likely comparable to my place when completed, only tackier. Do you really need speakers in every room, why is the kitchen in 3 parts, and did you think a giant nice feature might perhaps match anything else in the house?
So now what?
I live a very frugal lifestyle by some measures, but lately while blowing 5 and 6 figures every other month, I feel a tad silly to be clipping coupons and microwaving old spaghetti to save $2-5 at the expense of my own time. I’m still doing it, but for the first time since I acquired an expensive restaurant and bar habit, I’m less wedded to my beans and rice retirement philosophy.
I’m looking forward to the stupid luxury the place will be. If I still gaze lovingly at the stupid toilet I installed, imagine when I can do cartwheels from the kitchen to the living room or swing my arms in the air light by 5 windows in 2 levels of the master bedroom? Le sigh.
No really, I showed up to a) sell the a/c units, b) clean up and cart stuff off to get out of the demolishing range of fire, and c) move plants that survived this long to try and keep them alive generally.
Stuff - I moved some and piled the rest into a room; not much of a story.
(laundry - I did laundry for the last time, and really prefer my downtown old machine to the front loaders in my condo).
A/C, sold in less than an hour on craigslist for the discounted price of $200 for one guy (each came to $250). Earlier I sold 2 at a discount to a friend, and in so doing learned quickly how to pull them from the windows (and discovered one of the biggest heaviest windows in the house is broken so you bear the full weight of it when you open it AND it could easily fall out as the rail doesn’t hold the bottom in - I put warning signs on it for the workers). So the things were in the living room next to a plug and easy to test and move. I am stunned at how much more light the non-ac’d windows provide. Decision to pay a bazillion for central a/c: affirmed.
Gardening? Isn’t my name José? So I learned the quick oops that even shoveling up quickly planted plants is not just a measure of strength. Strength will not put a wood and metal shovel through a rock; rather the converse is a possibility. Up front I easily-ish dug up plants from one place and moved them to the other. Out back, that’s where the weeds had really started to spider-web through the flowers. I did a half-assed job of weeding the yard proper and the invaded flowerbeds. I pulled out ivy, and discovered I have one sad little rose in the corner of the yard - I didn’t dare try to move it but am not sure it’s going to survive the work. A bit of digging and I took my shirt off - honest truth I saw my reflection and kinda really liked it, more truth I started to sweat in the sun and it was a nice smell. I’m totally a me fetishist!
However trying to plough through rocks and then being assaulted by skeeters eroded my patience. I poorly replanted the flowers along the fence, though I have little confidence they’ll make it. I watered front and back, and later ran into Jorge who told me point blank the things were going to die, noting some were too high up (I put the first ones too deep and overcompensated). I started to reach down to “fix them,” and he waved me off, telling me he’d fix them later. I’m going to owe my new neighbor so much!
Cruising open houses:
As noted in fb, I cruised good and bad open houses and they filled me mostly with confidence. A nearby 13th street home was selling for only $550, but had loose bricks and a giant crack running up the front of the property - and the yankee candle hardly masked the smell. Nobody can explain to me why someone replaced all the doors with $37 hollow-core home depo doors and painted a place when the floors were hidden by recent bottom-tier carpet and a liberty bell crack was so obvious. On the plus side, I really understand why wood doors are worth the money. I also hit a rental property with poor layout and no parking - standing room only there were so many interested in the renovation nightmare in the 600s. The nearly-a-million listing I checked out was likely comparable to my place when completed, only tackier. Do you really need speakers in every room, why is the kitchen in 3 parts, and did you think a giant nice feature might perhaps match anything else in the house?
So now what?
I live a very frugal lifestyle by some measures, but lately while blowing 5 and 6 figures every other month, I feel a tad silly to be clipping coupons and microwaving old spaghetti to save $2-5 at the expense of my own time. I’m still doing it, but for the first time since I acquired an expensive restaurant and bar habit, I’m less wedded to my beans and rice retirement philosophy.
I’m looking forward to the stupid luxury the place will be. If I still gaze lovingly at the stupid toilet I installed, imagine when I can do cartwheels from the kitchen to the living room or swing my arms in the air light by 5 windows in 2 levels of the master bedroom? Le sigh.
