(no subject)
I am trying to begin again on making my life and that of my husband and children healthier. I want to start living a life that has less impact on our world. I want to use less power, lock in to television, computers and video games a bit less, and start spending more time with the kids. Perhaps this will stop them from fighting as much as they do. One can only hope.
This means that I'm going to have some things around here - move to safer cleaning products (which is good, as I'm having a LOT of issues with the cleaning products we have anyway), cook less from the box and more of the fresh ingredients I was taught to use, build my garden beds and get the garden planted (Which means cleaning up that pitiful excuse for a backyard that I have), building and using a small composter, and start making some improvements around here.
As for the improvements, I know that the landlord should be doing those, but he won't. There's a leak in my roof that he just dumps more tar on when I complain long enough. It's been there since I moved in a year ago this past February. It hasn't actually been repaired, I've had to put down a container to catch the water every time it rains, and frankly it's time to take matters into my own hands.
The list of things to be done in the apartment:
Kitchen and bathroom faucet replacement. This also means the bathtub faucet/knobs - the neighbor's are badly broken and I'm sure they were installed at the same time. Being me, I want the replacement sink faucets to actually be useful, so I'm going for high-arc ones.
Bathroom sink drain repair - I'm pretty sure it's the pop-up mechanism that needs work. Easy fix, will take about $20 and ten minutes, if I have to replace the pop up mechanism. Might go to a grid drain in the bathroom. Cheaper and nicer-looking.
Enamel repair on the bathroom tub and sink
Drain clearing in the bathroom - the tub sometimes takes hours to drain.
Front and back door replacement, with added screens. The front door is in by far the worst shape, cracks in the door you can see through, an obviously broken doorframe...weatherstripping and wood putty just isn't going to cover it. I've got plastic on the back of the door at the moment to try to cover the cracks, but it doesn't do a whole lot. The back door is in okay shape, but isn't weatherproof in the slightest...and the screen is broken badly, needs replacement. There's no screen on the front door at all...that's where the doorframe is broken.
Caulking all windows and ant holes. Our windows are in MUCH better shape than the neighbor's, looking at her place I can see just how badly the landlord takes care of this place. If I were ambitious I'd replace the windows, but really? Not -that- ambitious, can always plastic them in the winter and the caulking will be good enough.
Build window screens and install them.
Get that damned roof checked out. I -think- it can be spot repaired, but I'm not 100% sure. All that tar...ugh. It'll be a pain.
Replace my bedroom's interior door and frame. The doorframe is cracked where the door hinges screw in.
Pick up a dual-flush conversion kit for the toilet and install it. I've already done the water-saving measures everywhere else.
Anyone willing to help me once I get up the stuff to do this? I'm probably going to be checking out Habitat for Humanity's Re-Store for most of this, I'm not looking to break the bank. I know, I should be -making- the landlord do this, but considering that the celing fan is actually dangerous to use (another thing needing fixing) because he decided to balance it with a bunch of washers? Yeah, not counting on him for proper repairs. As I don't see us getting out of here anytime soon...it may benefit the landlord, but I'll be able to enjoy the improvements while I'm here.
At the moment though, I'm looking to clean things out here. I have a huge amount of stuff scattered everywhere, and this really needs to change. I'm debating weeding out the books (Yay, a trip to Powell's!), clearing closets (meaning that I get rid of what I don't need, not a lot to do there, and clear out all the girls' clothes, start fresh with a trip to Goodwill and maybe Wal-mart), going through the cupboards and just generally getting rid of all the crap we don't need. That alone is going to be a few weeks worth of work. It's work that needs to be done before anything else can be...
I think, though, that this will be worth it. Once we pare things down and get things taken care of, we can look at other things. Maybe, with enough work, we can make those dreams I'm clinging to come true. A good, healthy, happy life for all of us.
This means that I'm going to have some things around here - move to safer cleaning products (which is good, as I'm having a LOT of issues with the cleaning products we have anyway), cook less from the box and more of the fresh ingredients I was taught to use, build my garden beds and get the garden planted (Which means cleaning up that pitiful excuse for a backyard that I have), building and using a small composter, and start making some improvements around here.
As for the improvements, I know that the landlord should be doing those, but he won't. There's a leak in my roof that he just dumps more tar on when I complain long enough. It's been there since I moved in a year ago this past February. It hasn't actually been repaired, I've had to put down a container to catch the water every time it rains, and frankly it's time to take matters into my own hands.
The list of things to be done in the apartment:
Kitchen and bathroom faucet replacement. This also means the bathtub faucet/knobs - the neighbor's are badly broken and I'm sure they were installed at the same time. Being me, I want the replacement sink faucets to actually be useful, so I'm going for high-arc ones.
Bathroom sink drain repair - I'm pretty sure it's the pop-up mechanism that needs work. Easy fix, will take about $20 and ten minutes, if I have to replace the pop up mechanism. Might go to a grid drain in the bathroom. Cheaper and nicer-looking.
Enamel repair on the bathroom tub and sink
Drain clearing in the bathroom - the tub sometimes takes hours to drain.
Front and back door replacement, with added screens. The front door is in by far the worst shape, cracks in the door you can see through, an obviously broken doorframe...weatherstripping and wood putty just isn't going to cover it. I've got plastic on the back of the door at the moment to try to cover the cracks, but it doesn't do a whole lot. The back door is in okay shape, but isn't weatherproof in the slightest...and the screen is broken badly, needs replacement. There's no screen on the front door at all...that's where the doorframe is broken.
Caulking all windows and ant holes. Our windows are in MUCH better shape than the neighbor's, looking at her place I can see just how badly the landlord takes care of this place. If I were ambitious I'd replace the windows, but really? Not -that- ambitious, can always plastic them in the winter and the caulking will be good enough.
Build window screens and install them.
Get that damned roof checked out. I -think- it can be spot repaired, but I'm not 100% sure. All that tar...ugh. It'll be a pain.
Replace my bedroom's interior door and frame. The doorframe is cracked where the door hinges screw in.
Pick up a dual-flush conversion kit for the toilet and install it. I've already done the water-saving measures everywhere else.
Anyone willing to help me once I get up the stuff to do this? I'm probably going to be checking out Habitat for Humanity's Re-Store for most of this, I'm not looking to break the bank. I know, I should be -making- the landlord do this, but considering that the celing fan is actually dangerous to use (another thing needing fixing) because he decided to balance it with a bunch of washers? Yeah, not counting on him for proper repairs. As I don't see us getting out of here anytime soon...it may benefit the landlord, but I'll be able to enjoy the improvements while I'm here.
At the moment though, I'm looking to clean things out here. I have a huge amount of stuff scattered everywhere, and this really needs to change. I'm debating weeding out the books (Yay, a trip to Powell's!), clearing closets (meaning that I get rid of what I don't need, not a lot to do there, and clear out all the girls' clothes, start fresh with a trip to Goodwill and maybe Wal-mart), going through the cupboards and just generally getting rid of all the crap we don't need. That alone is going to be a few weeks worth of work. It's work that needs to be done before anything else can be...
I think, though, that this will be worth it. Once we pare things down and get things taken care of, we can look at other things. Maybe, with enough work, we can make those dreams I'm clinging to come true. A good, healthy, happy life for all of us.