Monday, January 30, 2006 

a whole new light



...during their week-long visit in dec, my brother-in-law installed the lanterns snuffy sent me last august. now my tiny hallway really does light up...!

Sunday, January 29, 2006 

part of the problems solved...

so the toilet is fixed at a cost of $135 (called handyman connection). The $5 extra was for the master bath toilet that took forever to flush (new flapper installed). Not a bad deal but the sink is still leaking and the reason isn't the trap or a broken gasket like i suspected but rather the faucet. the plumber thinks that i could replace the faucet myself. the retailer (local and very good) would surely replace the defective merchandise but i am very wary of attempting the job by myself. if i had someone to hold my hand, (figuratively speaking of course because i would need both hands to work with) perhaps i would dare to try. but on my own? plumbing and electricity are two areas that i need to be comfortable with in my new role of (young, unprepared) "homeowner". i know that, and like the kind plumber suggests ("you can't have someone come over to fix a clog or change a faucet every time"), but it's easier said than done.
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**note: those mr.rooter guys are crooks (although they did give me a free estimate). for the problem of the long-flushing toilet, they quoted me a whopping $385 for the fix. can't believe how deceitful that was now that it took $5 to fix.

Sunday, January 22, 2006 

full house (and consequences)




...first of
gas bill for dec 05: $118.
well,i was prepared for worse or so i keep
telling myself for solace...



for the most part of december, i had a full house. my most cherished guest, my nephew, was here. so all the hassle of keeping house was finally worth it.
i have not had much time to blog, because right after the guests left, i myself had to be in boston for a conference, etc. anyhoo, now i am back and hopefully will be regular here once again.
my house had to go through rather a demanding test run while the guests were here. and i must say, it did not hold up very well. it acted quite unprepared for the onslaught. i am one who lives (or takes up room) in this house rather sparingly. when you have people visiting, they are not that gentle on most occasions. first of, some of them are not home owners, so they don't know a lot of the issues (the terror of heating bills, for instance). you can't expect it i suppose. but long story short, on wednesday, i have a plumber coming in to fix two problems at a cost of $130 (+, if i am unlucky). the toilet in the guest bath has sprouted a leak. also, after i came back from boston, i found a mess of water under the sink. although, since then, i have kept a close watch and there hasn't been a recurrence. we will still need to figure out what happened there though. my house guest left only a day ahead of my own flight out to boston, so i am not sure if it was human error or a mechanical leak.
the second problem is actually the legacy of my handy man from hell. the sink in the remodelled bath is leaking. water drips down the trap in slow but steady flow whenever the sink is used. actually the leaky toilet is also most likely his handiwork, if it's the wax ring that's cracked. we will find out on wednesday for sure.
but one thing is for certain, no matter what happens, i am not having him re-enter my house. not even to get him to fix his own mistakes. and i will have to pay big bucks to keep it that way it seems. tough luck.





...

my 3-yr old nephew tries to move a biga$$ snowball. he was trying to build a snowman on my driveway.

who am i

  • you can call me sam i am
  • location mountain west

whys and wherefores

  • this blogs is intended to be a resource for the newbie homeowner.
  • by sharing my stories of trivial joys and easy frustrations in this unpedictable adventure of homeownership, i hope i can provide some service/support to others who are going through similar experiences

one-way street

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