You're a regular decorated emergency.
Our whole house is falling down around us. Every day, something new breaks down, it seems. I suppose that this is to be expected considering that this house is sixty years old and we're the third owners. It was originally owned by the military during the Korean War, after that, an extremely eccentric couple owned it. I'm assuming the military couple kept it up fairly well. As for the eccentrics, well, we know they were less than stellar homeowners because my mom grew up next-door to this house. They used to bury their garbage in the backyard. I'm not talking like an environmentally-friendly compost-heap; I'm talking like toys, bottles, money, appliances, you-name-it. Every time I start a new garden back there, I keep expecting to exhume a body, I swear. Their choice of colors was not great either. Every time we strip down the wallpaper in the kitchen, we're reminded that it used to be painted a very ugly violet, which I suppose is better than the original color of the living room: puke green. When they installed a water softener, they crossed the pipes backwards, and that's only the beginning of the mess that is this house. The only reason we live here is because when the eccentrics decided to move to Florida to retire about a year before I was born, my maternal grandpa put a down payment on the house for my parents. Otherwise, my parents would probably still be living in an apartment by the railroad tracks and I probably wouldn't have two little brothers. But I digress.
Everything in the kitchen went haywire in the past four months. We've replaced everything in there, but now the bathroom is staging a revolt of its own. We basically don't have a shower. You would probably have better luck taking shampoo and soap out in the rain to get clean. That's about what the water pressure feels like. The tub takes an eon to fill up. Considering that we only have one bathroom in this house, this poses a slight problem. We had a plumber out here a couple of weeks ago. He claimed it was the cartridge filter and he replaced it, but that didn't work. I say it's the supply valve. After all, it's the supply of water that's the problem. Besides, those things from the '50s usually have rubber washers and rubber disintegrates, so it probably did and is blocking the flow. My dad doesn't believe me though and won't let me open up the faucet to take a look. I'm really getting annoyed with this sexist shit.
On top of that, our garage door, which is a good forty years old and made of wood, has finally decided that it's no longer going to maintain its shape. So, depending on the amount of moisture in the air, it either will or won't open. This poses a slight problem when you're heading to work in the morning and your car is the one in the garage.
Additionally, my parents have finally decided to replace all of their old living room furniture from the stone age. It's being delivered in three weeks. My mom wants to paint the living room and kitchen before then, but she works part-time overnight, and my dad and I work full-time. When this is supposed to get done, I have no idea.
The thing is, I owe my dad some money from when he paid the down payment on my car before I started my job. I have the money to pay him back right now, but I don't just want to write him a check, because I know he'll just waste the money on eating out or shopping or something. I want him to use the money toward the house or to pay off debt. I've offered to hire painters in lieu of payment, but he turned me down, saying that it's not worth it to hire someone to paint such a small house. I've offered to buy a new garage door in lieu of payment, but he claims a door would be too expensive. I keep telling him that it doesn't matter; I have the money and I don't mind helping out, but he just can't seem to see that I'm not destitute anymore. Or maybe it's male pride that's getting in the way. I don't know.
It would be nice to be able to take a shower in the morning and be able to get my car out of the garage though, I tell you that.
Also, I've been horribly sick for most of last week. I even had to take 1.5 sick days. With the sick days and the company holiday, I was only at work for 2.5 days last week, but I did more work in those days than I normally do in a whole week. The VPs weren't kidding when they said that 2007 was going to be the busiest yet. At least I got to spend some time with my brothers before they went home. We played Scrabble, ate cheese and crackers, and watched movies. It was wicked.
Everything in the kitchen went haywire in the past four months. We've replaced everything in there, but now the bathroom is staging a revolt of its own. We basically don't have a shower. You would probably have better luck taking shampoo and soap out in the rain to get clean. That's about what the water pressure feels like. The tub takes an eon to fill up. Considering that we only have one bathroom in this house, this poses a slight problem. We had a plumber out here a couple of weeks ago. He claimed it was the cartridge filter and he replaced it, but that didn't work. I say it's the supply valve. After all, it's the supply of water that's the problem. Besides, those things from the '50s usually have rubber washers and rubber disintegrates, so it probably did and is blocking the flow. My dad doesn't believe me though and won't let me open up the faucet to take a look. I'm really getting annoyed with this sexist shit.
On top of that, our garage door, which is a good forty years old and made of wood, has finally decided that it's no longer going to maintain its shape. So, depending on the amount of moisture in the air, it either will or won't open. This poses a slight problem when you're heading to work in the morning and your car is the one in the garage.
Additionally, my parents have finally decided to replace all of their old living room furniture from the stone age. It's being delivered in three weeks. My mom wants to paint the living room and kitchen before then, but she works part-time overnight, and my dad and I work full-time. When this is supposed to get done, I have no idea.
The thing is, I owe my dad some money from when he paid the down payment on my car before I started my job. I have the money to pay him back right now, but I don't just want to write him a check, because I know he'll just waste the money on eating out or shopping or something. I want him to use the money toward the house or to pay off debt. I've offered to hire painters in lieu of payment, but he turned me down, saying that it's not worth it to hire someone to paint such a small house. I've offered to buy a new garage door in lieu of payment, but he claims a door would be too expensive. I keep telling him that it doesn't matter; I have the money and I don't mind helping out, but he just can't seem to see that I'm not destitute anymore. Or maybe it's male pride that's getting in the way. I don't know.
It would be nice to be able to take a shower in the morning and be able to get my car out of the garage though, I tell you that.
Also, I've been horribly sick for most of last week. I even had to take 1.5 sick days. With the sick days and the company holiday, I was only at work for 2.5 days last week, but I did more work in those days than I normally do in a whole week. The VPs weren't kidding when they said that 2007 was going to be the busiest yet. At least I got to spend some time with my brothers before they went home. We played Scrabble, ate cheese and crackers, and watched movies. It was wicked.