Three guesses, first two don’t count
Guess where I ran to during my 15-minute running allotment today?
Although we live in a VERY desirable neighborhood, our house is OLD. (It’s so old, Willard Scott keeps calling to interview it). We hope to eventually tear it down and rebuild — given the cost of housing in Seattle, this would be the least expensive option — but for now we’re maintaining status quo. We’ve done some small remodeling projects — built a patio in back, painted and re-floored the kitchen — but we’d rather save our money for a major remodel/rebuild. However, we don’t always have a choice.
Earlier this year I was forced to buy a brand new oven when the one we received for free went tits up. I know what you’re thinking: “You’re a chef, Betsy. Why didn’t you ALREADY have a new oven?” Well, I don’t cook for my clients in my own home (the health department would not be amused), and again, we wanted to save money. But when our old oven would refuse to light (permeating the house with gas fumes), we knew it was time for me to get a big girl’s oven.
Lately our house has been showing its age more frequently. We’ve put up with wonky wiring for quite some time (whenever we run our dishwasher and toaster oven at the same time, it trips the circuit breaker), but when things started sparking we knew we could no longer avoid it. Risking life and limb through electrocution my darling switched out the breaker a couple of weeks ago.
He then noticed the toilet leak on Tuesday. Fortunately he had a light week in terms of photo assignments, so he spent the entire day fixing the problem. Knowing it wouldn’t be an easy task, he recommended I use my client’s facilities as much as possible. But being the good girl I am — I try to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day — by the time I got home I had to go potty. Fortunately there’s a public restroom at Greenlake, so that’s where I ran to.
(Shhhh… don’t tell my physical therapist: although I’m only to run 15 minutes — 1 min. walk/3 min. run — the potty break was a 25 minute round trip.)
October 26th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
That picture really was worth a thousand words. It sounds like you had plenty of motivation today. I really wanted to get out in the sun today but my job conspired against me. I’m hoping to get out tomorrow.
October 30th, 2007 at 6:20 am
omg. you never cease to crack me the hell up. i LOVE this! mostly, i love knowing we are not the only ones with wonky wiring/household appliances. we had to get a new stove a few months back when i created a veritable mouse waco by cooking the family of mice that had a compound in the insulation under the range. we only just put a doorknob in the basement door – using a steak knife to open & close door was getting tiresome. and our dishwasher? haven’t been able to use it in a year … spent the money we could have used on a new one on new fuses for it & having repair men take a whack at fixing it. i love how stuff breaks the day after the warranty is null & void. this just cracks me up … looks like you got yourself a project there!
October 30th, 2007 at 7:45 am
Fortunately for me my dear husband did all the work (I mopped the floor after he was done and treated him to our favorite Chinese restaurant).
When we bought the place in 1997 we figured we’d either move or do a major remodel within 5 years. HA! However, I think we’re finally getting serious about doing something since we’re not sure how much longer it’ll stand! Next week our neighborhood center hosting a design forum featuring local architects. So we may be getting the ball rolling! (If we do, it may postpone my Boston dreams for a year).