Home Ownership

I follow a blog which I truly enjoy. I read an entry which talked about my friends needing a new furnace system. So I left a reply with some of our own homeownership "drama". We moved on November 1st and are getting to know our home. It comes with it's ups and dramas.
I think my reply to my friends blog actually makes an appropriate post...And don't get me wrong. We LOVE our home. It's just like we've been "house sitting" for someone else and as we move along we get better acquainted. Notice that we've named our "river" Copper Creek.

Ahhh Home Ownership, Ain't it the truth? Gotta minute?

#1 I spent hours with a plunger trying to clear the drains after the garbage disposal wouldn't process the potato peels. (on Christmas)

#2 Rain? The guy who upgraded our deck before we moved in threw all the old deck wood under the deck which is where the natural flow of our "Copper
Creek" goes into the storm drain under the house, got CLOGGED. M was out of town. Water rerouted and we had " Copper Creek" going over our yard, not under. Fortunately I was able to move the wood, clear a couple of animal/nature made dams and get the creek headed in the right direction again. Whew! Relief! Sigh! Wine!

#3 We initially trimmed some bushes and that then had left bits and pieces which had clogged our gutters. I used garbage cans to catch the water coming over the drain gutters so it wouldn't flood the garage. I was sucking up the water with a steam cleaner in the garage and moving things until I figured it out. (Yes,same day earlier than the creek issue) Solution- I was able to use J's pirate sword to shimmy down into the drain elbow and clear the block. Yeah. Whew!

#4 Water was dripping into our furnace during the heavy rain. This coincided with our wet storm and Copper Creek incident. So I put some plates to catch the water where it was leaking before it got into the furnace. We were cold for a couple days when it wasn't working but it kicked in. Luckily it works now. After M got home, M put a thing on the roof to keep the rain out. Yeah Mel!

#5 Our water heater stopped working. It was brand new, but a lemon. Long story. So cha ching, we got a new one, nice to meet you Ideal Plumbing.

#6 I need repeated lessons on our two sprinkler systems and their timers from the gardener. He's fixed several broken sprinklers.

#7 I just recently acquired the master code on our alarm system which has gone off a couple times. Yeah! Necessary!

#8 Chain link fence, gates, and clearing the wild grasses and brush in our gigantic yard for the DOG!!! Ouchly expensive, we really love our DOG and we're glad to keep fire hazzards to a minimum.

#9 I couldn't get the lights to work. Solution? J showed me the other switch that it collaborates with. Smart kid. Thanks J.

#10 Possums poop on our roof. They shimmy up and live inside the junipers by the pool. More animal stories to come....

I was saving these stories for in person , but you inspired my response. Hope you get a chuckle).

January 21, 2009 12:23 PM