Humpday Happenings...
OK, so we had one helluva storm yesterday in our city that took down trees, power lines, and otherwise made life a lot more interesting than usual.
Still, it could have been worse.
Take our neighborhood for example (please...take it very far away from us)...
Whenever it DOES rain in significant amounts, you CAN be sure of one thing: Boomcars will NOT be out in it. In fact, all the ghetto-sleds we see daily (and the police can't seem to get off the streets) are nowhere to be found. So we have peace and quiet at last...well, except for the thunder from the storms, that is.
And although the rain does a respectable job of clearing most of the curbs of all the accumulated litter tossed from the paws of our local sub-human population, it doesn't do the job I really want it to do, and that is (in the words of Travis from Taxi Driver) "Wash all the scum off the streets".
Yeah, another BIG dream of mine...kicked in the bollocks.
But when it does rain as hard as it did yesterday, it's a reminder of another aspect of home ownership - HOME REPAIR. Yes, we DO need a new roof on the garage (badly, as the buckets on the floor will attest to). And, we could use some new doors front and back (storm doors really), as the current ones are out of square, letting in rain. We could use some new windows too (the old aluminum boys just ain't cutting it anymore). Then, there's the furnace, A/C, (on the short list) and finally the aesthetics such as bathroom remodeling, kitchen updating, carpeting...well, you get the idea. It's our little "work in progress" (for the remainder of MY life anyway).
Now I entered a contest on the WANE website for a $25K remodel for our windows from BEE windows. And yesterday was the day they sent out a "rep". I hated to chase this guy out after some wild geese, as I only want my chance to WIN that contest drawing, but I did want to find out prices.
Well, I got my answers...and I didn't really like ANY of them.
BEE charges $900 (and change) PER DOOR (storm door), and about $2K per entry door! Just for $hits & grins, I asked about changing out all FOURTEEN windows in our house (I already did the measurements a few years ago).
Hope you're all SITTING DOWN (and holding onto something steady)...
The total was approximately TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!
(Yeah...that's what I said too)
Don't get me wrong, they make a quality product and do EVERYTHING involved., but c'mon now...we're NOT all made of money (though the city thinks a lot of us ARE).
Now forgive me for any naivete on my part, but who the hell could afford to replace a south side house's windows at THAT price, when the HOUSE ITSELF costs about the same amount? I mean, that would take our house worth well into the $80K region, and I know that the city would just LOVE to tax us at a higher rate (*see today's paper as our new mayor, "King Henry" tries to repeal the HOMESTEAD CREDIT) .
And new windows in my house don't mean a damn if some piece of human vermin wants us out of the area (and there are some) by doing a "Phil Marx" on us by tossing a firebomb (or several) through one of those nice new expensive windows, do they?
You find yourself in a really BAD conundrum (like there are any GOOD ones?) when making ANY decision about the house. You weigh both side of the decision...a lot.
Do you spend the money to make any upgrades in the "hope" that someday, that house will be worth it's REAL value once again, and that the neighborhood will manage to re-RE-gentrify again into something normal people would flock to, or do you only do what you NEED to do (when required) to maintain the integrity of the house so you can dump it ASAP when something better comes along, and you can get your family's ass the hell out of the ghetto? That's a lot to think about.
For all it's worth, I really like this house.
It's the house my wife grew up in, and looks somewhat like the one pictured here, so there's history here. And it's not all that bad as Cape Cod's go, structurally.
Sure it needs work...don't they all eventually? Fact is, I'm not "Spiderman" anymore.
I'm soon to be 56 years old, and cannot just jump up onto a 60 degree pitched roof to tear off some old shingles and place new ones on. Nor can I rely on my neighbors to assist with that, or with window or door replacement. Why, you ask? Well, see...THEY all moved away...it's the "Last Man Standing" thing I spoke of a few weeks back.
I think of this house as a "preservation" of sorts...of a more civil time when people in general cared a LOT more than what I see today.
The house was built in 1945 when this part of town was basically RURAL (our street wasn't even paved or made of gravel). And I'm sure that those who once lived here NEVER could envision what this area would become in 60 years.
Well, the windows and doors are "on hold" for now. We NEED roof work, so we have a few people coming by this week for the FREE (with no obligation or sales pitch, kapesh?) estimate. And yes, I'm already braced for "sticker shock" regarding THAT as well.
And I do not want to go into hock (all that much anyway) if I don;t have to for the sake of living in a big of ethnic diversity replete with assorted crime.
That would make no sense at all.
Not to mention that since the house is free and clear, we don't want to lose the house when some loan payment gets screwed up because of the economy. We like to play things safe when it comes certain aspects of our lives, and I think caution is the best advisor in matters like this.
And one can never predict when the "unexpected" will occur, like major CAR repair, an APPLIANCE repair or replacement, a FAMILY issue, or even a personal HEALTH issue. Those are ALL unknown variables we have to consider with every decision weighed.
We're not going to bet the farm whenever we get dealt a crap hand, hoping to play the bluff and walk away with the "kitty". That rarely happens, even with the best card players. We'll just play it close to the vest, and take the calculated risks when we feel the timing is right. And if that means we fold a hand or two...so be it.
Home ownership is never JUST about fixing things, or even replacing things.
In many ways, like the military, it IS all about LOGISTICS and PRIORITIES.
It's not always about the WHATS, but more about the WHYS, WHERES, and HOWS.
When you come to understand THAT, it makes things a little bit easier to cope with.
I did say EASIER...and NOT easy. It's never easy, just less difficult most days.
And THAT...you CAN take to the bank.