House, Insurance, Trip, Plans
Home news:
We've gotten the dryer fixed. Jake installed the new garbage disposal, but forgot to knock out a plug that leads to the dishwasher drain, so we're lucky it didn't leak on us. He fixed that last night.
After the big storm we had on Friday where we discovered leaking, Jake called our homeowner's insurance (thank goodness we got that) and also the home warranty people to see what they could do about it. The whole downstairs is basically one big mold pit, so we got even luckier when we found out we'd purchased insurance from the only company in SE Michigan that offers mold coverage. They sent out an assessor yesterday to look at our claim (basically we discovered the leak during the severe storm last Friday but we hypothesize that it's been going on for a while and no one has been living there to see it). They seemed pretty confident that they'd be able to cover ripping out all the carpet and clearing out the mold on the floor as well as checking the walls surrounding and if they're mold-ridden, replacing those. We have to pay a $1000 premium and then we're covered for an extra $10,000 of work. The assessor was telling us about 2-3 weeks we'll have to wait before they start working, but I figure if it gets done before Christmas we'll be ok.
The insurance company also sent out a guy to look at our chimney, which is where we thought the leak was coming from. He found out that the chimney itself is fine, but the wood surrounding is rotted away, so that's how the water was getting in. We're not sure right now if all the chimney ductwork and vents inside the house will need to be replaced, but I'm hoping not just yet because we don't have any money to do that. We'll have to replace the chimney before we sell, but every improvement we make to this house will mean extra money in our pocket when we go to sell (and we won't sell for several years, hopefully after the market has improved). The chimney guy also wrapped the rotted outer surface of the chimney with some kind of plastic covering (almost like bubble wrap, but a lot more durable) and then tarred all the edges to keep it sealed. He got done just as another severe thunderstorm was heading in, so when the sirens started blaring again Jake and I took our dinner to the basement. We heard water coming in the vent still, but none came into the basement again, although we had the bucket out just in case.
After the storm and a game of pool, we brought our dresser drawers downstairs to fix them on Jake's workbench in the mechanics room. We glued them back together and left them to dry overnight.
Our kitchen is completely unpacked, so are the 2 full baths. Our bedroom is mostly there, minus the dresser drawers missing (which means the contents of those drawers are on the floor) and the closet still hasn't been completely unpacked. You can close the closet doors, though, which is an improvement.
I've been taking the trash we've managed to make while moving in back to Ann Arbor every day and dumping it in the dumpsters at Shoreview. It's only semi-illegal to dump trash when you're not living in a place, but we may have to pay rent for Sept, so I figure I use it until I'm not paying them anymore. :-) I'm a very naughty person.
The office is a disaster area, it needs several days of me sitting in there and plugging away at where I want everything to go. Part of the problem is that when we moved in, for the sake of having space to drop things, Kit moved boxes and boxes of stuff into the closets around the kitchen and in the office. While I've cleared out the kitchen and put things where I want them, the office still has bits and pieces of everything in it. It's crazy.
The guest bedroom is going to remain pretty much empty. We still have to vacuum the mattress to my antique bed to remove any dust mites before we bring it into the house. We need to buy an egg crate for said mattress so that it's marginally comfortable, and then we need to make up the bed. Eventually we'll have to buy a dresser and some nightstands for that room, but that will have to wait until we find a really good sale or an estate sale/moving sale and we have some $$ to spend. That room is going to be painted anyway, so it's probably better to leave it pretty much empty.
The living room is not the way I want it yet, I've got to figure out where I want the furniture. The whole problem is that we have a TV from 2002 that is big and bulky and the only place I can think of to put it is in the corner. Then we'd have to move the futon and chair to be able to see the TV about halfway into the room but angled in such a way as to still be able to see the lake. That leaves the second half of the room EMPTY, which will be great at X-Mas because we'll be able to put a tree up over there, but until then it's going to be empty.
We're leaving for NY tonight when Jake gets home from his open house. He'll be home about 730, we'll leave at 8, I'll drive through Toronto or for the first 4 hours, then Jake will take over for the second 4, hopefully we'll be in Carthage by 4 AM. Jake is planning on getting a haircut tomorrow, I plan on going to my parent's house to do some cleaning for Mom, laundry etc because she's been driving back and forth to Syracuse every day and David's been busy with soccer. I think the plan is for Sam's birthday party Fri night at the lake, so we'll be able to see the family. Saturday is down to Syracuse to see Dad, hopefully stay for a long while or go back and forth for a couple visits. Stay with G&G overnight Saturday, drive back to Michigan Sunday, use Monday (Labor Day!) for at-house work. We need to mow and I plan on ripping up all the weed beds out front in preparation for planting bulbs for the springtime. Then hopefully we'll get the mattress done and finish the laundry and go grocery shopping (because we both should have been paid) and get ready for school to start.
I can't believe I'm starting my 2nd year of graduate school. I feel just as nervous and apprehensive as I did last year. This time I know where all the rooms are and where I'm going, but I feel that I have a lot more pressure on me this year because I've declared a lab and I've got to give a presentation on my results in the spring and I have PRELIMS in June. I mean, it's a long way away, but everything I do from here on out is going to be part of my success or failure at graduate school. I sometimes wonder if I'm in over my head, if this is really what I want to do, if I shouldn't have just taken a job at a pharmaceutical company right out of school... Rambling thoughts inside my head all the time. I'm such a self-doubter.
I really want to be taking more pictures as we unpack the house, but there just doesn't seem to be the time. I really want to upload the pictures I've already taken, blah blah blah. Someday. Eventually.
We've gotten the dryer fixed. Jake installed the new garbage disposal, but forgot to knock out a plug that leads to the dishwasher drain, so we're lucky it didn't leak on us. He fixed that last night.
After the big storm we had on Friday where we discovered leaking, Jake called our homeowner's insurance (thank goodness we got that) and also the home warranty people to see what they could do about it. The whole downstairs is basically one big mold pit, so we got even luckier when we found out we'd purchased insurance from the only company in SE Michigan that offers mold coverage. They sent out an assessor yesterday to look at our claim (basically we discovered the leak during the severe storm last Friday but we hypothesize that it's been going on for a while and no one has been living there to see it). They seemed pretty confident that they'd be able to cover ripping out all the carpet and clearing out the mold on the floor as well as checking the walls surrounding and if they're mold-ridden, replacing those. We have to pay a $1000 premium and then we're covered for an extra $10,000 of work. The assessor was telling us about 2-3 weeks we'll have to wait before they start working, but I figure if it gets done before Christmas we'll be ok.
The insurance company also sent out a guy to look at our chimney, which is where we thought the leak was coming from. He found out that the chimney itself is fine, but the wood surrounding is rotted away, so that's how the water was getting in. We're not sure right now if all the chimney ductwork and vents inside the house will need to be replaced, but I'm hoping not just yet because we don't have any money to do that. We'll have to replace the chimney before we sell, but every improvement we make to this house will mean extra money in our pocket when we go to sell (and we won't sell for several years, hopefully after the market has improved). The chimney guy also wrapped the rotted outer surface of the chimney with some kind of plastic covering (almost like bubble wrap, but a lot more durable) and then tarred all the edges to keep it sealed. He got done just as another severe thunderstorm was heading in, so when the sirens started blaring again Jake and I took our dinner to the basement. We heard water coming in the vent still, but none came into the basement again, although we had the bucket out just in case.
After the storm and a game of pool, we brought our dresser drawers downstairs to fix them on Jake's workbench in the mechanics room. We glued them back together and left them to dry overnight.
Our kitchen is completely unpacked, so are the 2 full baths. Our bedroom is mostly there, minus the dresser drawers missing (which means the contents of those drawers are on the floor) and the closet still hasn't been completely unpacked. You can close the closet doors, though, which is an improvement.
I've been taking the trash we've managed to make while moving in back to Ann Arbor every day and dumping it in the dumpsters at Shoreview. It's only semi-illegal to dump trash when you're not living in a place, but we may have to pay rent for Sept, so I figure I use it until I'm not paying them anymore. :-) I'm a very naughty person.
The office is a disaster area, it needs several days of me sitting in there and plugging away at where I want everything to go. Part of the problem is that when we moved in, for the sake of having space to drop things, Kit moved boxes and boxes of stuff into the closets around the kitchen and in the office. While I've cleared out the kitchen and put things where I want them, the office still has bits and pieces of everything in it. It's crazy.
The guest bedroom is going to remain pretty much empty. We still have to vacuum the mattress to my antique bed to remove any dust mites before we bring it into the house. We need to buy an egg crate for said mattress so that it's marginally comfortable, and then we need to make up the bed. Eventually we'll have to buy a dresser and some nightstands for that room, but that will have to wait until we find a really good sale or an estate sale/moving sale and we have some $$ to spend. That room is going to be painted anyway, so it's probably better to leave it pretty much empty.
The living room is not the way I want it yet, I've got to figure out where I want the furniture. The whole problem is that we have a TV from 2002 that is big and bulky and the only place I can think of to put it is in the corner. Then we'd have to move the futon and chair to be able to see the TV about halfway into the room but angled in such a way as to still be able to see the lake. That leaves the second half of the room EMPTY, which will be great at X-Mas because we'll be able to put a tree up over there, but until then it's going to be empty.
We're leaving for NY tonight when Jake gets home from his open house. He'll be home about 730, we'll leave at 8, I'll drive through Toronto or for the first 4 hours, then Jake will take over for the second 4, hopefully we'll be in Carthage by 4 AM. Jake is planning on getting a haircut tomorrow, I plan on going to my parent's house to do some cleaning for Mom, laundry etc because she's been driving back and forth to Syracuse every day and David's been busy with soccer. I think the plan is for Sam's birthday party Fri night at the lake, so we'll be able to see the family. Saturday is down to Syracuse to see Dad, hopefully stay for a long while or go back and forth for a couple visits. Stay with G&G overnight Saturday, drive back to Michigan Sunday, use Monday (Labor Day!) for at-house work. We need to mow and I plan on ripping up all the weed beds out front in preparation for planting bulbs for the springtime. Then hopefully we'll get the mattress done and finish the laundry and go grocery shopping (because we both should have been paid) and get ready for school to start.
I can't believe I'm starting my 2nd year of graduate school. I feel just as nervous and apprehensive as I did last year. This time I know where all the rooms are and where I'm going, but I feel that I have a lot more pressure on me this year because I've declared a lab and I've got to give a presentation on my results in the spring and I have PRELIMS in June. I mean, it's a long way away, but everything I do from here on out is going to be part of my success or failure at graduate school. I sometimes wonder if I'm in over my head, if this is really what I want to do, if I shouldn't have just taken a job at a pharmaceutical company right out of school... Rambling thoughts inside my head all the time. I'm such a self-doubter.
I really want to be taking more pictures as we unpack the house, but there just doesn't seem to be the time. I really want to upload the pictures I've already taken, blah blah blah. Someday. Eventually.