Tub Probs

Hi folks.

Well, once again, something is messed up with our house. Since we moved in, we've endured several setbacks with appliances, services, and the like - some of which I've disclosed before in previous posts. Some of these were minor, and some were somewhat of a big deal.

The most recent dilemma to befall the Hough clan, alas, is somewhat of a big deal. The bathtub in our guest/kids' bathroom, for whatever reason, had a leak in it (or something, I don't know - I'm not a plumber). We only used it a few times before we started noticing that something was wrong. Whenever we'd drain the tub after bathing the Cannonball, the floor near the entry way of the Man Room would get wet. At first, I thought I spilled a drink on my way in/out of my hallowed sanctuary (crazier things have happened, for sure), but soon enough we managed to put two and two together and realize - with no small degree of horror - that the two occurrences were directly related to one another.

Here's what happened: whenever the tub would drain, water would seep into the floor in the adjoining hall linen closet and soak into the carpet of the Man Room. As mold has long been a scourge of mine - a vehement tormentor of mine for years - we knew that we couldn't let this disaster to continue. When we had a maintenance wiz (and I use this term with no small dose of sarcasm) come out and evaluate the situation for us, he concluded (over the course of a week or so) that he had to remove a crapload of tile and strip out the carpet in the Man Room in order to eleviate the problem.

Well, we did the ol' 'leave a door key under the welcome mat' thing for about a week and a half, and gave this guy and his unknown colleague(s) free run of our house in order to fix the problem. Eventually, after I had moved out half of my Man Room and we abandoned that bathroom completely for over a week, we were finally able to bathe our kid without bathing my carpet. Which was nice.

So... to date, we have had fixed or replaced: dryer ducts in the attic, several window blinds, a few window screens, a dryer, a fence, practically every light bulb in the house, a toilet, a refrigerator, and a bathtub.

...man, houses rule.

- Brian

Battling Through the Homestead

Hey players...

I'm beginning to appreciate the trials and tribulations of America's house dweller.

Over the course of the last week or so, we've slowly but surely moved in all of our belongings and begun the after-work/weekend process of moving, unpacking, cleaning, hanging up, consolidating, and rearranging.

This process is oodles of fun.*

Fortunately, Dad and Cindy flew down and were able to help us out a ton (which was nice of them, seeing how when they bought their tickets initially, they had do so under the pretense that they would be enjoying a peaceful, low-key weekend with the grandkid in our old place - apologies have since been widely distributed).

Again, the Voigts were also able to help us out a ton, which was also nice of them. Adam spent an afternoon in our attic in an attempt to remedy our dryer dilemma (yes, we can't dry clothes for whatever reason - good times, but to no avail.

Aside from repeatedly borrowing his tools and manual labor, we've had to purchase all sorts of new home/lawn pleasantries - all kinds of crap for the place, as well as a lawnmower, weed wacker, tools, fertilizers, pesticides, and everything else one could think of - in order to turn three years of negligence into awesomeness.

That's been met, thus far, with moderate success.

Part of our rental agreement was that we'd pay less in rent each month if we put some work and 'love' into the place, so we knew going in that we'd have odd jobs around the place to keep busy. Making the place livable from the get-go, however, definitely proved harder than we once had anticipated.

Again, it was because of others that we can really claim victory, here. My folks and the Voigts were invaluable over the last week or so, and now that we've got most of the big stuff out of the way, there's some breathing room. Breathing room, folks, means we can now turn our attention towards work (hooray), grad school (double hooray), and bills (mega hooray).

Cheers,

- Brian

* I wanted to try using this word in a sentence. Having done so, and not feeling great abou it, this will mark the only time in this blog's existence that I do so.

The Move

I'm sore.

Moving is not fun, folks. I hate it, and try to only do it once in a great while. This marks the fifth time we've moved during the past five years since I returned from Africa, so I'd like to think I'm pretty good at it by now. I'm really, really good at packing boxes.

Tell your friends.

Anyway, we were able to get into our place over the weekend, a few days before the official beginning of our lease (which was nice), so we got ourselves a U-Haul and went to war. Having the weekend open for moving also meant that we were able to recruit the Voigts and Clint to lend us a hand (which was very much appreciated). Unfortunately, we couldn't do all that much with the truck, as it had to be returned by five and we didn't get it until late in the morning, so there's a still a few van loads over at the apartment that I'll have to whittle away at after work over the course of the next couple weeks (we have to be out of that apartment by March 1st, I think).

The move itself wasn't nearly as bad as the last one, when we had to move everything up a horrid flight of stairs. This time around it was only a matter of moving everything down the stairs and into a first-floor house, so we didn't suffer the blows to morale that we did last time. We didn't break anything, either... which is always nice.

I took today off of work, actually. We've got crap everywhere, and I doubt I'd be able to focus on anything at work knowing what awaited me upon my return home. I hate feeling unsettled, so I'm devoting my energies today towards the putting-away of all things stowed in cardboard.

Not sure as to the size of the dent I'm going to be able to put into this mess, but I don't think I can relax until this house resembles, to any small degree, a livable domicile.

Wish me luck...

- Brian

House

Everybody loves a cantankerous, self-absorbed blowhard, but we're not going to divulge into that show at present (we don't really watch that show - I think the guy's a prick). Nay, readers, we're writing to update cyberspace on the epic Hough House Mega-Quest.



We got one.



Once again, we're not buying - at this point in time, both Preggosaurus and myself are not inclined to stick it out in Florida for a long duration of time, and we definitely do not want to get stuck with a chunk or real estate we can't get rid of. Therefore, once again, we're going the rental route and, this time around, getting a house.

We found a place that's actually about three blocks away from our current residency, and therefore we don't have to change churches, barbers, or gamestops. Its a 3 Bed/2 Bath single-family unit in a great neighborhood that has a solid reputation for being quiet and safe (which was a huge selling point for us).

The place itself was actually over our price range, but we managed to negotiate the sale due to our willingness to paint a few rooms and fix the backyard fence (which needs to be reset in a few spots). The kitchen cupboards need to be re-varnished, and the stove's questionable, but for $300 less a month in rent, those are handyman expenses we're willing to suffer.

This recent house venture also means we're going to have to use some tax money (of which we're netting considerably more than usual, thank God) on 'big person' expenses, such as the purchasing of a lawnmower, weed-wacker, and other such yard tools. I'm looking forward to this, as I learned a lot in my summer working in the Lowe's Garden Center, and haven't been able to employ them in my own backyward (due to my lack of one). This summer should be a lot of fun.

So there you have it - we got ourselves a modest, little fix-er-up-er (I don't know how to spell that), and, after we dump a few buckets of paint into the sum'bitch, it should be a pretty sweet set-up.


...Now all we have to do is birth that second kid out and we'll be all set.


Slainte,

- Brian