Thwarted, sort of
I've been having really weird, complicated dreams lately. They fade quickly after I wake up, but it's disconcerting.
Still twiddling my thumbs waiting for Mom's non-existent creditors to make any claims against her estate that there may be. The only thing I've gotten since January is a bill for three dollars, because I accidentally wrote the wrong amount on one of the checks I wrote out the week after Mom died. The last day of the waiting period is May 31, so I'm hoping we can wrap this whole probate thing up ASAP after that.
Back when I realized that we would be inheriting some money from Mom, I made a list of Serious Home Repair Projects that we could use it for. One of them, and the most expensive, was to enclose the back porch and make a storeroom of it. Sadly, that idea has been scuppered, as we've discovered that due to the weird way our house is placed on our lot, the house runs too close to the property line offset on that corner to extend it any. While I'm disappointed, that means we can use the money for several smaller projects instead -- replace the crappy old chain link fence around the back yard with a block wall, lay a real driveway where Kathy parks her car, and maybe finally tile the floor in the living room and bedrooms. I called a couple of places that do fences last week, and they're supposed to send someone out around the middle of May to do an estimate. In the meantime, I need to see about finding out exactly where our property line is, because I'm pretty certain that our existing fence is a couple of feet inside it, and I'd like to enclose those few extra feet if at all possible.
We've wanted to get rid of that chain link fence for so long -- we installed it ourselves, and we did an ok job for amateurs, but it's got some quirks. The back gate is on the street rather than on the alley (our house is on a corner). Some time back a drunk driver rammed into the street side of the fence, and the guy who fixed it cut corners, unbeknownst to us until it was too late to do anything about it. (Amateurs or not, we could have fixed it better ourselves.) A couple of the poles on that side are actually sheared off at ground level and are being gradually pushed down by the bougainvilla bush. And the stretch along the alley, while still in good condition, gives us a lovely view of the giant trash receptacle that serves the three or four houses on this end of the alley. I'm hoping we can do something a little more visually appealing than the bog standard grey cinder block, and maybe incorporate the Cool Iron Thing we acquired last year.
We went to the Ren Faire today -- I got a puffy shirt, and ordered some custom boots, which are going to be the one frivolous thing I'm getting with my inheritance money. We watched the falconry demonstration and Kathy did a dance thing (I watched) and we ate Faux Medieval Fair Food, and listened to the carillon and bagpipe players (not at the same time.) We didn't see the joust this time, which I kind of regret, but it's always difficult to get a seat for it unless you stake it out an hour a head of time, so oh well.
I've got to rethink the costume I wore, though. It's one of my steampunk ones, and it's OK, but A) it's really difficult to manage bathroom-wise, and B) the shirt and jacket have three-quarter sleeves, which drive me nuts. Have to see what I can do about that.
Rants Talk to me
Still twiddling my thumbs waiting for Mom's non-existent creditors to make any claims against her estate that there may be. The only thing I've gotten since January is a bill for three dollars, because I accidentally wrote the wrong amount on one of the checks I wrote out the week after Mom died. The last day of the waiting period is May 31, so I'm hoping we can wrap this whole probate thing up ASAP after that.
Back when I realized that we would be inheriting some money from Mom, I made a list of Serious Home Repair Projects that we could use it for. One of them, and the most expensive, was to enclose the back porch and make a storeroom of it. Sadly, that idea has been scuppered, as we've discovered that due to the weird way our house is placed on our lot, the house runs too close to the property line offset on that corner to extend it any. While I'm disappointed, that means we can use the money for several smaller projects instead -- replace the crappy old chain link fence around the back yard with a block wall, lay a real driveway where Kathy parks her car, and maybe finally tile the floor in the living room and bedrooms. I called a couple of places that do fences last week, and they're supposed to send someone out around the middle of May to do an estimate. In the meantime, I need to see about finding out exactly where our property line is, because I'm pretty certain that our existing fence is a couple of feet inside it, and I'd like to enclose those few extra feet if at all possible.
We've wanted to get rid of that chain link fence for so long -- we installed it ourselves, and we did an ok job for amateurs, but it's got some quirks. The back gate is on the street rather than on the alley (our house is on a corner). Some time back a drunk driver rammed into the street side of the fence, and the guy who fixed it cut corners, unbeknownst to us until it was too late to do anything about it. (Amateurs or not, we could have fixed it better ourselves.) A couple of the poles on that side are actually sheared off at ground level and are being gradually pushed down by the bougainvilla bush. And the stretch along the alley, while still in good condition, gives us a lovely view of the giant trash receptacle that serves the three or four houses on this end of the alley. I'm hoping we can do something a little more visually appealing than the bog standard grey cinder block, and maybe incorporate the Cool Iron Thing we acquired last year.
We went to the Ren Faire today -- I got a puffy shirt, and ordered some custom boots, which are going to be the one frivolous thing I'm getting with my inheritance money. We watched the falconry demonstration and Kathy did a dance thing (I watched) and we ate Faux Medieval Fair Food, and listened to the carillon and bagpipe players (not at the same time.) We didn't see the joust this time, which I kind of regret, but it's always difficult to get a seat for it unless you stake it out an hour a head of time, so oh well.
I've got to rethink the costume I wore, though. It's one of my steampunk ones, and it's OK, but A) it's really difficult to manage bathroom-wise, and B) the shirt and jacket have three-quarter sleeves, which drive me nuts. Have to see what I can do about that.
Rants Talk to me