|
To all of my friends and family, at home and abroad, October is four weeks gone and I am only just now getting to this news letter (Thanks for the gentle nudge Jo). The good news is that you get November as well. Mylinda and I closed on our house on the 16th of October and have been busy ever since. I consulted some friends of mine who have been through the home buying process and they recommended that I have the home inspected, electrical, mechanical, structural etc. So, on their recommendation I had inspectors come in. 600 dollars later, I was disappointed with the service. The only thing these guys were proficient at was taking my cash. The inspectors did nothing different than I did or could have done. The structural engineer's assessment was less thorough than my own. The guy took all of about five minutes. I mean come on, at least dance for your pay. With the exception of the septic inspection, I think I really got soaked on the deal. I had no intention of finding or digging up the septic to inspect it, much less opening it. It seems as though everyone had their hand out for some sort of fee. Of course the government was in line for theirs too. Fees from all of the utilities for changing our address, fees from the jerks at the closing office, who's function I'm still not clear on, hidden fees, expected fees, fees for paying fees. Several thousand dollars and 26 truck loads later, Mylinda, Lauren and I are moved in to our new home. The cat liked the fireplace immediately. I knew this because she rolled in the ash, turning from a soft, pleasant to pet, black and grey cat to a light grey icky cat. That was a jerk move on her part. I refused to pet her for two days. You may be wondering why I didn't give her a bath. Two reasons; one, cats are self cleaning, and two, I'd sooner shove my hand into a running table saw. When we call her a jerk, we don't use the term lightly. The Jerk has a fascination with the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy. She has conducted hundreds of small experiments on said energy conversion over the past two years. She methodically seeks out small items that have been placed near the edge of a dresser, desk, shelf, etc. and knocks them to the floor. She watches with great interest until the object comes to a rest and then retreats to a quiet corner to lick her but and contemplate her findings. Also, her feline hunting instinct is severely lacking. When she heard mice in the cupboard at our previous home, she jumped up on the bed and looked at me as if to say, "Are you going to check that out?" What a jerk. After moving in to the home, I tore out all of the old carpet. Judging by the smell of it, the previous occupants were lovers of animals and filth. We are now saving to get new carpet. Meanwhile, we are trying to patch and paint the walls before we get the carpet in. It is going well, however there is an amalgam of wall paper, spackle and paint that are proving quite difficult to remove from some of the walls. I used over a pound of mud on one wall in the office. Hopefully before to long we will be ready for carpet. The home has a fire place. I decided to install a wood burning stove, using the existing chimney to run the stove pipe. So far it is working great except that it doesn't work without fire wood. I cut about half a rick from deadfall and dead limbs on the property but that only lasted about a week. I guess it's time to start burning furniture. Thanksgiving was nice, My mom came out from Missouri and we went to a friends house to have dinner. It was a Puerto Rican feast, complete with turkey, fried plantains and flan. Thanks Jose and Nicole. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving too and that this letter finds you fat and happy. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Zeke |