Monday, September 28, 2015

Problems, Problems?

I swear, it's like we've been living in an episode of "This Old House" lately, only our show would be called "This Damn House" - in the last week we've had to have a plumber, a roofer, and an air conditioning repairman come out.  Now, our house is 15 years old and I understand that things are starting to wear out, but ugh, all of this at once is not fun.  A pipe near the kitchen sink had cracked due to the house settling (which is really common in Texas - well, the settling, not particularly the pipe cracking).  Naturally, it was in the wall, which meant the plumber had to cut a hole there to repair it:
Ya think anyone will notice this?  

Then our A/C went out - on a Friday night, of course.  Our trusted repairman was out of town until Monday morning, so we got to enjoy the 96 degree days full on.  It doesn't really cool down here at night (yet); needless to say, neither of us slept very well for three nights.  I was so happy to see our repairman at my door on Monday morning that I didn't care what was wrong, I just wanted it fixed.  Turns out the condenser fan motor was shot.  Easy replacement, but another hit on the checkbook.

On Thursday, roofers were here, replacing damaged tiles from our trees and other weather-related damage, plus they fixed the flashing around the chimney that had never been properly done.  I got to escape the noise for several house as it was my day to volunteer at the hospital, but poor Paco must have been traumatized by all the banging, as he stuck like glue to my legs once I came home.  There was all kinds of stuff being tossed off the roof:
I bet it's kind of fun to throw things off the roof once you're finished with them...

I had a little bit of money set aside and we planned on putting in some much-needed new carpet and flooring, but I'm not sure there's going to be enough left to do that now.  However, I can't help but be reminded of something a friend of mine used to say whenever anyone would gripe about a car repair, or having to mow their lawn, or deal with home repairs...he'd say "You have a CAR?"  or "You have a HOUSE?" - and it was a reminder of how lucky we were to have these issues; due to some poor choices in his younger years, my friend spent many years living in a men's shelter, before turning his life around and becoming a homeowner.  He always said things like "I GET to mow my lawn" in an awestruck way, and that has stayed with me.  So I got to have my leaky pipe repaired, and I got to have my A/C fixed, and I got to have my roof repaired, and I know that I'm lucky that these are my problems. 

30 comments:

  1. That last line is so true.

    I know what you mean when everything comes at the same time. We had that this Summer too when our fridge quitted and we had a leak/power error shortly after that. We always have some money set away too for if something breaks down or needs to be repaired.

    Yes, the money can be better spend on other things but this is our home and we are lucky to have it.

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    1. Oh I forgot: we need Lori as a neighbour, she would fix it all for us.

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    2. No kidding! We could pay her in plants and cupcakes... ;)

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  2. I bought my house 15 years ago and can remember having this almost giddy feeling when I was mowing MY lawn. I'm a homeowner! I wondered how long the giddiness would last. There are times I'm not thrilled to do it, but I can still find those feeling of honor that I have a yard to maintain. Congrats on your new pipe, it's a beauty;)

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    1. LOL, thanks for the pipe congrats!

      I remember when we bought our first house, how giddy we were when we got to buy a weed wacker. We had our very own weeds! :)

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  3. Sorry about your home problems :) Our water heater is leaking as we speak...but like you said....we HAVE a water heater. :) Great reminder :)

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    1. Oh yeah, you just reminded me that we got to replace our water heater earlier this year...

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  4. Sorry to hear its the season of home repairs. I guess its the price we pay
    for living in our homes things wear out and we have to fix them. I'm lucky that
    my husband is very handy with home repairs and car repairs.

    I noticed you added the yarn harlot I like her blog too! Have you knitted any of Wendy's socks? I think her blog is Wendy knits. I also love Ann Budd with my sweater knitting
    obsession of course she has some popular books on knitting socks out too! I like Tanis Gray too I could go on and on so many awesome
    knit bloggers out there!

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    1. I've read Yarn Harlot for a few years now and love her blog - I'm getting to take a couple of classes from her in November and am so excited! Haven't knitted any of Wendy's socks but I do have some of her patterns in my Ravelry library. I bought Ann Budd's basic sock book and that has helped me a lot with learning about socks.

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  5. I feel like houses save everything up and then explode. Seriously, we have had years just like you described, the worst being the year Mr. Helen was mowing the lawn and "noticed" that the retaining wall was falling down into the yard below us. That was a $5,000 problem. OY. Mr. Helen and I have been talking about this a lot lately because we've been in our house 9 years and have no idea how old some of the larger appliances are... they feel like ticking time bombs.

    I do have to say that as I've aged (and my house has aged too - it's 95 this year), I have thought that maybe I'd prefer to be back in a rental where I could call the landlord and say, "the roof is leaking..."

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    1. Heh, you are right about houses seemingly saving everything up for one grand fix-it session. And we knew our water heater was beyond its last legs, but were we preemptive about replacing it? Heck no. We never have enough money to feel like we can do an outlay like that unless it's absolutely necessary.

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  6. Yeah, houses can be a money pit. After 100 years, it gets even worse LOL! I still have absolutely no problem loving owning a house. The repairs can suck, especially if it takes money away from something more fun - like carpet (or a vacation), but the place where you live should be in the best condition it can be. A smaller repair now saves a lot of time and money in the future.

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    1. Here's hoping our "small" roof repair will hold a replacement off for many many years!

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  7. It's a great way to look at it but very difficult to see while you're writing those checks.

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  8. I know how you feel...but I sure do love your friend's attitude and I'd like to strive to be more like that. My husband tends to be the whiner in the family and often times it rubs off on me and I find myself parroting his complaints (also concerning our house) to others. I imagine it really come across as us being super negative people and ungrateful for what we have :(. I think I'm going to start thinking like your friend and hope it rubs off on my husband :P

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    1. Even if it doesn't completely rub off on your husband, you'll be modeling that kind of attitude for your daughter - win-win, right?

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  9. In the spirit of your blog today I am excited to have the plumber come and replace all the tub/shower fixtures tomorrow, and I recently was ecstatic to have the leak in my basement wall repaired, and downright overjoyed last month to have the septic tank pumped. I'm also really looking forward to paying my property taxes next week. :) It really is true that maintenance and repairs come in batches. Maybe it's better this way, I can look forward to some stress free period ahead. I do love my house and will take the opportunity to count my blessings. Hope you have seen the end of the issues you GET to deal with Shelley.

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    1. LOL @ downright overjoyed to have the septic tank pumped. I actually woke up this morning wondering if that might be needed in the near future.

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    2. Jeannie, you win the comment page today! :)

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  10. I LOVE the story of your friend, and his take on home ownership. Yes, as someone who rented for a big part of her adult life, actually owning my home is a blast. But I do the same complaining, almost a despairing feeling, when all the repairs clump up on one another.

    I've got new gutters being placed this week, and MLG reminded me that I need to have my chimney cleaned out before winter arrives...

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  11. It's all about perspective, isn't it? If I ever one feel sorry for myself about anything, I stop and think to myself that someone would be HAPPY to have my problems!

    It's funny but my boss came in one day a few months ago and was "late" coming in - it's the owner of the firms wife, so she really can come and go as she pleases. But she came in all flustered and I asked what was wrong. She said "you wouldn't believe my morning! The window washers came, the house keeper came and the gardener all came to the house this morning so the dogs wouldn't go out because of all the commotion, and then I didn't have time to go the barn to see my horse." OMG, the horrors of all the help showing up at the same time! :P

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  12. Sometimes it really helps to put things into perspective! And good for your friend to turn things around for himself, that’s truly a wonderful story. As for all the home repair, no fun when it all happens at once but that’s always how it goes, right? Hope things settle down for you soon.

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    1. Thanks, yes, he had a good run after his turnaround. :)

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  13. I feel your pain...We started doing some work on our bathroom with the intention to replace drywall and have a new floor put it. It has snow balled into replacing toilet, sink, tub, lights, mirror AND we had to wait 3 weeks for our new tub and shower surround - after the renovations had already been started, and the heater was pulled out - only to find out that they lost the shower surround somehow during the shipping process, so now we have to wait again. I won't say I'm not frustrated, but I am cognizant of the fact that we are fortunate to at least still have a functioning bathroom...even if it is getting a bit chilly in there as the weather turns toward fall.

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  14. Having to do all that home repair sucks. Good job on looking on the positive side - and it's still okay to feel frustrated - it's a valid and normal reaction! Hope no more repairs are needed for a while. :-)

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  15. Your friend has gained such a positive outlook on life! That being said, I JUST had a fridge repair man come to my house today to fix a problem that HE broke earlier this summer! Fun times being a home owner!

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  16. When I read your post, I remembered about the termite issue I have been facing...YES I forgot...need to work on it.
    Wish you good luck ...it will be fine soon :))

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