You used to be with us...

Where am I?

Dave's inspirational video for the week

Boris the Spider

Here is a picture of Boris. Boris is a wolf spider. Dave discovered him on February 16th in the house. I arrived on the 21st. You would think that he would have been able to escort him outside in 5 days, but NO. Boris just hung out near on the ceiling while Dave slept a couple of rooms away, with no barriers protecting him. See that white light on his head? That's the flash reflecting in one of his eight eyes. That's right. Boris has the spider equivalent of "red eye." Notice the other normal sized spiders in webs above him?

A couple of days before I arrived, Dave decided that maybe Boris should leave before I, an arachnophobe, arrived. So out came a 5-gallon bucket and a broom. Do you know how fast a spider of this size can jump out of a 5-gallon bucket? Boris then ran under a large pile of broken-up tile, where he remained (supposedly) until I arrived.

The first night I was there, no mention was made of Boris, and I slept in peaceful innocence. The next day while I was beginning to move the tile pile to the dumpster, Dave confessed that there had been a rather large spider in the corner who ran under the pile, but he was sure that the spider had since left the house. I slept less peacefully that night. The third night our older daughter Laura arrived. Boris' name did come up a time or two, and although Dave assured me that the spider was long gone, my arachnoradar was still on high alert. That night when I went to bed, my gaze was drawn to the floor next to my suitcase. There he was, crouching menacingly, a couple of feet from my pillow. I left the room quickly. OK, there was some vocalization, arm flapping, etc. But I was trying to remain calm.

Dave went into the bedroom with a crowbar. Laura and I cringed as we heard "whacka whacka whacka whacka." Dave emerged from the bedroom, his head lowered in failure. Boris managed to go under the sheetrock and up inside the wall. We had removed the floor molding to prime the walls. I thought molding was just decorative. Now I know better.

My reaction was quick and decisive. I got online and began looking for a hotel room, which Dave and Laura felt was a bit extreme. What was my problem? Boris probably wouldn't bite, and would get out some other way. Right.

Not finding any hotel rooms, I thought of sleeping in the car. Instead, they brought the bed out of the bedroom and put it in the living room (Laura's "bedroom"). Laura had this idea that she should set a "trap" consisting of a crumpled up sheet in the bedroom corner where Boris was last seen. Spiders can't resist a crumpled sheet, right? We humored her. After the trap was set, the bedroom door was barricaded shut with duct tape and heavy boxes of tile. It was not a restful night.

The next morning, Dave took down the barricades went into the bedroom. After we heard a little commotion in the bedroom, Dave came out looking very proud of himself. He had killed Boris.

It seems that Laura's trap idea worked! When Dave picked up the sheet, there was Boris. Dave dropped the sheet and jumped on it. Laura forgave him for the arachnocide, thinking that the end was quick.

The next night we put the bed back in the bedroom. As I was getting into bed, a second spider ran across my path. He was only an inch or so long, and was easily disposed of. But I didn't get much rest in my remaining nights in Florida.

Hurricane awnings

Remember those beautiful clamshell things over the windows?  Linda may have taken them off, but I got rid of them.  One of Craigslist's friends took them away.  

Tile delivered

The six pallets of tile, mortar and grout are delivered.  You can see the 2 empty pallets leaning against the wall in the background.  The one pallet of mortar, half pallet of grout and half pallet of tile that I already moved into the house were not worth taking back out for the sake of the picture. At around 75 pounds per case of tile, 20 cases per pallet, I figure I moved about 4 1/2 tons.  I put 2 cases on a hand truck, moved it to various rooms, and unloaded it.   Same with the bags of mortar and grout.  Took me three hours and cost me 14 ibuprofen and the use of my back for 3 days.

Dave becomes suicidal.

The financial and physical stress of our Florida venture has become overwhelming for Dave. Here he looks for a quick solution to his troubles.

We Move In!

Put the computer up against the window so you can steal internet access from the unprotected network down the street, break out the lawn chairs and it's a home.  Add a little scrubbing, primer paint and a trash bag taped over the ex-window and you have a tidy little place for the airbed.  Luxury!

Lace Curtains

Here I am at the end of January, making lace for the new curtains.  You can tell how much fun it is to scrape wet popcorn texture off the ceiling by the fact that I'm wearing my favorite shirt.  Linda and I had to work together to get the wallpaper border off.  No one person has the patience to do it all.  At least, neither of us do.  We are trying to get one room habitable, even if there is a great big hole in the wall.  We have to move in on Feb 1, when we have to be out of the apartment.

Teachers at Play

If their students knew what their teachers did on the weekend, they'd behave better.  Erin and Angela leave me with the mess, just like the kids do to them.

Cleaning the toilet

Friday  1/23

I clean the master bath MY WAY.  Removed walls, toilet and vanity, sealed off the plumbing and went to get a washing machine we bought off Craig's List.  I really hate this shirt, so I wear it for all the worst jobs, but it won't die!

Sneaky Barrs

First, the bottom row. Imagine: drive 1200 miles with a packed car, roof carrier and trailer w/flat tire.  Unpack the car and find these bizarre little ceramic fruit things and have no idea how or why they are in our stuff.  After a week or so, Linda opens them and finds a note.  The back story is that years ago, Phil and Julie used to be reverse house thieves.  They would break into our house when we were gone and leave a very ugly vase hidden somewhere.  Of course, the reason they had it was because we had left it in their house when they went on vacation, but since this is MY BLOG, I blame them.  How they managed to now invade my house from over a thousand miles away is beyond me. But I am impressed.  The upper row is ruled by the Papa Bear Construction Icon, a Christmas gift from daughter Erin.  Daughter Laura was more practical, or possibly more sarcastic, with a gift of a first aid kit.  The other items were found in the new house: little pickup truck, pokiemon disc and, appropriately, dice (okay, one die).

1/17 Saturday
Linda’s brother, Peter, and his marvelously talented wife, Jan, come down and straighten us out. Peter knows all the nuts and bolts about sanitation and health (like killing mold and cleaning air conditioning and wells) and Jan could redecorate GITMO so all the prisoners would want to stay. We (she) picked colors, designs and went over kitchen plans and we ordered the tile for the entire house.

Too busy to write!

With intermittent Internet connections and a bottomless pit of projects, it has been hard to keep up this blog.  We keep plugging along.  I actually got one of the beds planted yesterday, and Dave and I have been working to get the blue bedroom livable.  Tonight is our last night in Erin's apartment, as her lease is up on Saturday.  Tomorrow we go to St. Augustine for a couple of nights to celebrate our 31st anniversary.  When we return, we'll be living at the house. 

Our septic system backed up yesterday and we thought we were doomed.  After getting it pumped and inspected today, it was discovered that the problem was debris in the line.  Seems that when the master bathroom was demolished (pics to come soon, promise), some pieces of tile and sheet rock went down the hole where the toilet used to be.  All is well now.

We have pictures of all kinds of stuff and will post them when we get packed up and out of Erin's.  

Number 8

Can you guess where Linda spray painted the toilet seat?  Crazy eights, anyone?

The house front

This is the great gray beast.  Still think it's a good idea?  I love the aluminum clamshell awning/hurricane shutters.  They are no longer legal to install, since they tend to land somewhere in the mid-Atlantic during hurricanes.  We still have them because of their inherent beauty and style.  Actually, we are opting to SPEND MORE MONEY (our new mantra) and install impact resistant glass (like windshields in a car) that are tested by ramming a 2x4 into them at 35 mph, followed by 2 hours of 140 mph wind.  If they hold, even though cracked by the 2x4, they pass.  With them, we don't need shutters.  We think that will be a big benefit to any prospective buyers and will, hopefully, increase the selling price by more than their cost.

No more sledgehammer!

Here's a tip for all you enthusiastic "git-er-dun" types: no matter how much fun it seems or how much you really want to get something tangible accomplished, before swinging a sledgehammer into a wall, check for plumbing.  I missed this stack by a couple of inches and it goes directly to the septic tank.  I'd really prefer that the pipe continues to vent out the roof instead of into the living room.

Bedroom passthrough

This is bedroom number #2 in the house.  My favorite feature is the window to bedroom #3. When bedroom #3 was added to the rear of the house, they moved the outside window from #2, where it was no longer needed, to #3, where it has a fine view of the back yard.  That makes sense. However, instead of closing off the old window hole, someone thought it was a better idea to put adjustable shelves in the gap.  That way, the occupants of 2 different bedrooms can enjoy the same knick-knacks.  Maybe they won a doubles tournament together and this way they could share the trophy.  Nice paint job, too.

Inauguration Day

What a great day!!  Erin invited us to her school assembly in the church where they had a big screen set up for everyone to watch.  There was a strings mini-concert, speeches by students, and then we watched Biden and Obama get sworn in (Dave made too loud of a "hooray" when Biden officially replaced Chaney).  After that, we went to Lowes and Home Depot again and picked out our cabinets for the kitchen and bought some faucets and a vanity top for the master bath (granite! and only $199 for a 49" top!).  I am definitely sick of shopping, but all of this is necessary to find out what's what down here.  We have to compare all of the special deals that everyone is offering during this economic slump.  Home Depot gives us 12 months no interest and no payments!!  That gives them the edge.  Tomorrow Dave has an appointment with the building permit people in St. Lucie County at 8AM, and then we go to Home Depot to slap down our card and get the kitchen stuff settled.  Then we can get down to some real work, like ripping out the icky bathroom and killing mold.  I may kill a fire ant or two (sorry, Laura).

Week 1

Tuesday 1/6/09
Although I knew it from when I stayed with Erin in November, I had forgotten the reality of living a couple of hundred yards from a freight train yard. Did you know that they work at night? And that it sounds like they are in bed with you? Why do the back up alarms on trucks have to be so loud? Do I need to know that a truck is backing up a quarter of a mile away? How much danger am I really in? Am I asking too many pointless questions? Do I care what you think? Yes.

Both Linda and I are awake around 4 am because the airbed is too soft and we keep crashing in the middle. She wears earplugs, so has missed much of the auditory entertainment of the night, but gets to be launched in the air every time I flop around to change position. We should have remembered the bouncing/wave-action problem from our ill-fated waterbed experience of a quarter of a century ago, but one of the great benefits of a bad memory is that you forget bad things as well as good. From 4 until 7, we both lay still and quiet in order to not disturb the other’s sleep. That way, neither of us sleep nor accomplish anything else, yet we both get to spend all day feeling that the other owes us for the sacrifice we made. Lack of sleep is becoming a theme.

We finally get up and Linda makes a nice breakfast from the 144-egg carton we got at Costco. As someone who HAS a job, Linda points out that she has a lot of work to do for her business, and needs to spend a few hours on the computer. That leaves it to me to hook up that evil trailer again and drag it out to the house we bought that Linda has still never seen. I get to the house, back the trailer in and notice that the spare tire is also now flat. I don’t think this trailer is ever leaving this spot.  

After unloading the trailer, I find that some boxes did not survive the journey and everything inside them is soaked. I end up just dumping the contents on the floor, so they can dry out. The good news is that the guy from the power company is here to turn on the power! We have power! I can hear the refrigerator come on! I look inside and find salad dressing, jelly, some unknown items and a bottle of Amoxicillin dated 3/31/05. And quite a bit of various microbial growth. I try all the other electrical devices but remain in the dark with the ONE operational light bulb. I know what to do. Water! The circuit breakers have a switch marked “pump”, so I flip it on and go outside to watch the pump start sending water to both bathrooms and the kitchen. Let the cleaning begin. Five seconds of a weird electrical hum and then, silence. No water. I turn off the breaker and organize tools until hunger makes me drive back to the apartment for some food. I stop at Home Depot and buy light bulbs. When I get to the apartment, it’s 82 degrees and Linda, realizing a cold front is coming through tomorrow, insists we go to the beach. We pack up some snacks, wine and beach chairs and head to the beach. We are alone. The wind is picking up and it’s a little chillier at the water. I go in up to my knees. Linda goes deeper, but we wrap it up pretty quickly. No food, no wine. Instead we go to Archie’s beach bar for burgers and a brew. Worst waitress ever. Didn’t even know what beers were on tap. There were only 6 and I still remember them: Bud, Bud Light, Yuengling, Miller, Fosters and Samuel Adams American ALE. She said she was sorry, but they didn’t have any ales on draft. We left to get to bed early when Erin called to say that she and Angela and Angela’s father, who was leaving tomorrow to go back home to Kentucky, were going to Archie’s and could we join them? A quick u-turn led us back to the same table and waitress we had just left. She didn’t remember us, but managed to screw up their orders as well. Sometimes it’s hard to remember to bring the fries with a burger, even when asked 3 times. I guess it’s just such an unusual request. We had a good time, but are starting to become a little anxious to get to work and accomplish something.

Wednesday 1/7/09
Today we get something done! It’s our 31st anniversary and we figure we can work until 6pm, the wedding time, when we’ll celebrate. The pump is a priority and Linda suggests that it needs to be primed. Of course! The house has been vacant for over a year. Linda has to do some work for her JOB before we go, so I research how to prime the pump. Piece of cake. First stop is for cleaning supplies: gloves, bleach, cleaner, lime-away, water, and, of course, diet Mountain Dew. Try priming, water runs out where the pipe is cut. We decide that the pump can wait. Since the trash is picked up on Thursdays and Mondays, we have to start ripping out that stinking carpet. I should have gotten in better shape before starting all this work. I would have, except that I wasn’t in good enough shape to go to the gym. Exhausted and sore, we didn’t go out on our anniversary, although Linda did make a delicious chicken Parmesan and broccoli dinner.

Thursday 1/8/09
Research pumps online, spend hours at Home Depot looking at pumps and talking to salespeople who know nothing about pumps. Realize cut pipe is because holding tank is missing. Must have been attached to that cut pipe! Buy a pump and tank and miscellaneous piping. Remove the wheels from the trailer; go to Discount tire. They laugh. “Try K-mart.” I buy ink for Erin’s printer. Still sore from yesterday, I decide to show Linda properties that we didn’t buy. Somebody has painted the pink house! Erin and Angela come over for jar spaghetti, salad and Grandma’s brownies. Not quite what they served us, although the brownies are always a big hit.

Friday 1/9/09
Went shopping for more pump parts and a new mailbox. We had filled out the “don’t cancel the mail at this address, anymore” card and put in the old busted-up rural mailbox, but the flag wouldn’t stay up, so they mail carrier never picked it up. Got the tires fixed at St. Lucie tire, where they didn’t laugh. Worked on hooking up the pump. Trying to just hook into what is already there, since the exterior sheathing is going to be ripped off later and I’ll have to redo the pump plumbing then, anyway. Linda spent most of the day getting parts for me. It was like a Nextel commercial. “Beep – need a ¾ inch copper elbow. Beep - how many? Beep – better make it 2.” And, of course, I need 3. At 4:00, we go to watch a girls basketball game at a nearby school that Erin’s school is playing. Angela is the coach. The gym is carpeted, but inside. Most of the gyms are outside, often with roofs for shade and night game lighting, but no walls. Erin treats us to dinner at Hurricane Grille. Gotta stop eating out and having fun. Get something done!

Saturday 1/10/09
Went to the Fort Pierce farmers market for breakfast and veggies for the week. I had a Caribbean burrito and Linda had a smoothie and a Mexican egg sandwich. Live music was enjoyable and made me feel young. It was oldies from my elementary school years! Went up to Orlando to go to the only Costco that had any of the refrigerators (3) left that were only available until tomorrow – no rain checks. It was too good a deal to pass up, so another day the pump is not fixed – must have water for bathrooms and cleaning!
Big fresh veggie salad for dinner. Needed the veggies. Can’t live on turkey sandwiches.

Week 2

Sunday 1/11/09
Work on the pump and have everything fitted, but not soldered. Last day in the 80s for a while - TO THE BEACH! Beached myself while belly surfing, but managed to get up before Greenpeace dragged me back out to sea.

Monday 1/12/09
Spent the morning doing tax stuff before the 15th, then on to the pump. Got everything soldered and turned it on. WE HAVE WATER! Couple of small leaks, but it’s outside and I’ll fix it tomorrow. Hot water tank works, too. Armed with Lime-away, degreaser, bleach, and running water, Linda attacks the bathroom.

Tuesday 1/13/09
Linda cleaned the fridge!!!! Can’t fix the pump easily because the drain valve is higher than the point where the water enters the house! Very difficult to solder when there’s water cooling the pipe from the inside. I didn’t design it, but I should have fixed it instead of just hooking up to the old system. Decide to live with the leak until I rip out the wall and have to redo everything again, anyway.

Wednesday 1/14/09
Spent the morning doing the rest of the tax stuff due tomorrow and paying the government the money we didn’t pay earlier in the year because I just KNEW business would have to get better and then I would pay them. The realization that bad planning causes bad results make us decide to spend the rest of the day planning. We go to the house and write down all the things that need to be bought.
While there, our Realtor stopped by to see how we’re doing and remind us to call him when we’re ready to sell. Now he follows up. Did he ever respond to let me know that he received the various paperwork and money I FEDEXed to him as we were buying the house? No. Could anyone, including the lawyer handling the transaction, find him the day of the closing? No. Did he pick up the keys that he said he would get during the 2 weeks between the closing and our arrival? No. But he’s ready to list it again. Some of us like to be treated well by people even after they get our money. Give me a hug, I’m feeling vulnerable. Even though I’m not using his name, I do have to say that he was very helpful in finding what I was looking for and patient with me as we looked at garbage house after garbage house. I learned a lot from him about the market here. But I still want a hug.
The afternoon was spent pricing everything at Home Depot for a budgeting basis. Now we can put together a real budget and not keep saying, “I think another thousand should cover it.” Dropped Linda back at the apartment to make dinner while I went out to the house to put the last rolls of carpet out for the trash! Still have foam padding left and many bags of trash.

1/15
I do a bunch of figuring in the morning and then meet with the permit people at the county. I feel like I’m not getting anything done, but am really climbing the learning curve. This whole hurricane thing has definitely sunk into their consciousness. While waiting for my turn in the permit office, I get to overhear a lot of conversations between the building department people and the good people of the county. I actually got to feel sorry for the government employees! Apparently they get to spend most of their time explaining to angry morons what they can’t do. They have to justify why it’s the case that even though their brother-in-law’s roof stayed on during the last hurricane using only bungy cords and his wife’s old girdle, that won’t pass inspection. I learn about impact windows and out-swing doors and drywall inspections and way too much about roofs. I come back to the apartment and try to figure all this out while Linda shops for vegetation. When she finishes, we go get the trailer, with its new $180 bearings, stop by Al’s for some incredible unpastuerized, fresh-squeezed orange juice and dump the plants at the house. Back to the apartment, where Erin and Angela stop by and we have dinner together and, once again, have fun instead of getting our work done. I was going to get all this stuff posted, but it will have to wait until some other time.

1/16
Another morning spent learning. Lowes and Home Depot figuring out impact-resistant windows, doors and and French doors. A little bathrooms fixtures and kitchen cabinet investigation thrown in. Lunch at the house and I ripped all the nasty out of bedroom #2 while Linda did her magic to the kitchen. The stove and exhaust hood I was going to chuck out have been cleaned to the point of becoming a Craig’s List bargain! Linda’s spray painting of the toilet seat is an even greater success. I like the artwork she left behind! Comcast is down, so maybe I can get this posted tomorrow.

The Drive

I guess its time to get all the stuff I've written when we had no internet connection onto the blog. Here's the story so far....
Saturday 1/3/09
Planned to leave at 7am, lunch with Linda’s mother and brother’s family for a couple of hours, continue to Calhoun, Ga to stay with Linda’s college roommate and maid of honor at our wedding. Left at noon and spent the night with Linda’s brother, David, and his family in Lexington. Their 7-year-old daughter, Lizzie, drew pictures of us. Linda’s picture showed severe nasal drippage, while mine actually had me with more hair on my head than I do in reality and beautiful long eyelashes I didn’t realize were so lovely. I like that girl. They allowed us to park our soaking wet trailer in their garage.
Sunday 1/4/09
Got up around 7 and went to Linda’s mother’s place for breakfast. Bacon and eggs and brownies to go. 10 o’ clock departure, rainy all the way to Calhoun. Got there around 4 and Nancy had to leave to return to North Carolina at 6. Too brief a visit, but very enjoyable while it lasted and she let us crash there for the night.

Monday 1/5/09
I woke up during the thunderstorms at 2am and finally got up and watched TV at 4:30. Early morning news began at 5 and I discovered that the Georgia happy-face morning news crews are just as annoying as the Michigan happy-face morning crews. I woke Linda at 5:30 to try to beat the Atlanta rush hour traffic, while dodging downpours in the dark with no breakfast. Dragging the trailer beast around Atlanta during the first day back for all those poor employed people was not fun. I was a target for every carpetbagger yuppie intent on cutting in line to cut 15 seconds off his commute time. I called on all my knowledge of Zen Buddhism to remain calm. I believe it has something to do with motorcycles.
Finally past Atlanta, we stop at a Waffle House around 9 o’clock, starving. Truly deep south, with its plusses and minuses. With our car and trailer stacked up like the Beverly Hillbillies, we fit right in.  It seems as if everyone else in there has been coming there since the 60’s. Food is excellent and Linda orders grits, which are so good, even I like them. As all the old Georgia folk leave, they call out to the veteran waitress and cook, “See you tomorra, Debbie. Great job, Jimmy.” The pink-uniformed white Debbie hollers, “See y’all later. Take care.” The ageless black cook says, “Good day to you, Mister Jenkins. And to you, Miss Jenkins.” Not everything changed with Obama’s election.
Back on the road, everything goes so well, we decide to stop at Costco in Orlando, two hours from our destination. We stock up on supplies we’ll need the next week. A little while later, I have to slow down because the trailer is fishtailing a lot. I explain it as a result of the construction zone we’re in: grooves worn in the road and all. I eventually decide that it could also have been caused by losing air pressure in one of the trailer tires when it proceeds to shred itself on I-95, an hour north of our destination. Luckily, it happened right before an exit and I got right off and pulled to the side. So did a young guy in a new Ford F-150. As we stopped, he ran up to find out what had come out of my trailer and destroyed his brand new truck. He said, and I’m not kidding, that it was like bowling balls were hitting his truck and he wanted to know what I was carrying. He looked under the tarp, said he was calling the police and claimed that his brand new truck was wrecked. I said “OK.” Because that’s the kind of relaxed Zen-kinda guy I am. Or maybe I was really tired and a little more focused on what I was going to do with a busted trailer full of tools on the shoulder of an exit ramp from I-95 at 7:30 at night in the middle of Florida. I was also kind of amazed that I had managed to destroy the only new vehicle bought in the US in the last month. What are the odds?
Luckily, the crazed Ford owner had a passenger who asked if we had a flashlight. We did, and they couldn’t find any damage on the mighty Ford. They left and we limped the trailer around the corner to a gas station. There, two unusual occurrences and one normal one took place. On the bizarre side, we not only had a wrench that fit the lug nuts, the spare tire had air in it. And as usual, a drunk passenger in an SUV filling up with gas yelled questions and advice to me while I changed the tire. Although I never asked, I now know that he’s from Poughkeepsie, NY and moved to Florida 16 years ago. And there’s no work here, but, apparently, plenty of beer. Works for me. I actually prefer beer to work.
Tire changed, we arrived safely in Fort Pierce. I have to explain that our daughter Erin had given Linda and I a Christmas/Anniversary/I-don’t-want-you-living-with-me gift of her apartment for the month of January. Two of her fellow first-year teachers, Angela and Gregg, had shared a house and Gregg decided to move into his own apartment. Erin moved in with Angela, but since the lease on her apartment ran until February first, she gave it to us for the month. She left the couch, but took the bed. I’d rather she took the couch, but we’ll make do with the airbed we brought. “It’ll be fun! Like camping!”
Anyway, hungry, tired and with 15 hours of car-seat-butt, we arrived at the apartment, dropped the devil-trailer, and went to Angela/Erin’s house, where they had made us a delicious spaghetti dinner with salad and garlic bread. The spaghetti sauce was a famous sauce that Angela had brought back from a restaurant in Huntington, West Virginia and was delicious. Oh, and some Bud Light to wash away the drive and an excellent Pinot Noir with dinner. Also got to spend a little time with Sammy, Erin’s deaf cat. As if any cat listens.
Back to the apartment, inflate the bed, sleep.

Buying the house

November/December

I spend a week with Erin in Fort Pierce to look at houses with a realtor.  The housing market in Florida is among the worst in the nation.  No one would speculate in real estate here.  Unless you're from Michigan, where it is worser and colder.  I look at dozens of amazing "fixer uppers."  Some gave me interior decorating ideas.  One was a mess of a chalet idea.  Didn't these people know that the steep roof is for snow?

I narrow it down to 2: a pink house that has a living room with a door in the middle of each of its 4 walls and a gray house with ugly aluminum clamshell awning/shutters on the windows.  Since I couldn't figure out where to put the TV and couch in "Pinkie", we went with"The Clam".  It is in Lakewood Park, which reminds me of Lyon Estates from the "Back to the Future" movies.  It also needs more work than a paint job and has some serious mold issues.  I like the neighborhood it's in.  Mostly well-kept 30 year old houses with a few neglected ones here and there.  Ours is definately the worst house on the block, which is what I claimed to be looking for.

Back in Michigan, we make an offer.  The bank counters and we accept.  We close on December 23rd and begin to prepare to go down there after the holidays.

Why "we can sew"

July/August, 2008

Our younger daughter, Erin, got a job teaching PE and Health in Fort Pierce, FL.  For the first time, both of our daughters are gainfully employed and succeeding on their own.  Now we can relax our parenting and enjoy the fruits of our labors.  My business of producing and directing communication videos for the automotive industry, especially Chrysler, is slow, but it has always been cyclical.

September/October, 2008

The realization that my business is not in a slump, but is, at best, in a coma, fully sinks in.  The auto companies, especially Chrysler, aren't producing many videos for their employees and dealers.  "You're fired." can be done by email.  The odds of me making any money over the winter seem close to zero.  Desperation leads us to look elsewhere for inspiration about what to do in faced with seemingly insurmountable difficulties.  The best place for that kind of information is, of course, the movies.  When the infamous El Guapo threatened the good people of Santa Poco, "The Three Amigos" asked them what it was that they were good at.  They answered, "We can sew!"  They applied their skills to the problem and the town was saved.  It seemed like a better approach for us than Dirty Harry's solution, "Feel lucky, punk?"

For us, the answer to the question was, "We can fix houses."  We looked around where we live in Michigan and couldn't find anything that we could afford that seemed like it would sell when we finished fixing it up.  We thought of looking where our daughters live, in order to have a base of operations.  Laura lives in Massachusetts; Erin in Florida.  Winter's coming.  We love you, Laura, but I'm off to Fort Pierce.

You gotta have music!

Before leaving Michigan, I downloaded my iTunes library to Dave's laptop and packed my portable speakers. Sometimes we even get internet access, thanks to a neighbor who doesn't password protect his wireless!

Refrigerator shelf cleaning system

This is a two-stage system for cleaning refrigerator shelves and drawers. The left tub has warm water and antibacterial soap. The right tub has a bleach and water rinse. The hose is hooked up to the hot water heater inside.

Eeuuuuww

OK. This is gross. We're actually going to keep this toilet - now that it is clean.

Dave and his sledgehammer

Dave takes a crack at the living room wall. Note mold along the bottom. All of the sheet rock below the line had to be removed to get rid of the mold from the AC drain clogging and overflowing in the summer of 2007.

Carpet gone

Dave got all the carpet out in four hours ("and then two days to recover").

Living room - before

Here is a shot of the living room before we started ripping things out.

Whakkins!!

Whakkins!!!  We stopped here for the night on 1/3.

Icky bathroom

This is the bathroom that I won't bother to clean. We'll just sledge it. I've seen cleaner bathrooms at ferry docks in Honduras.

A big refrigerator

Here is Dave trying to move a very large refrigerator in through the front door. The neighbors saw us and gave us a hand after I took this.

Moonrise

This doesn't have anything to do with the project, except that it is one of the reasons we're down here! This is the moonrise over the Indian River.

Getting Started

It has been really hard to get started on this blog. I've decided to just dive in at the present, and then back up to what's happened this past week when I have time. Dave has written tons, but not posted yet.

Yesterday was the first day of real progress. We haven't had running water at the house - the well pump was broken and the storage tank stolen. Dave bought a new system, and has been trying to get it hooked up for several days (first he had to figure it all out). I did my usual stalling yesterday morning since it is hard to get ramped up to go out to a place with a bathroom that is beyond description (more on that later). But by early afternoon we were out there. Dave got the water running in about an hour, and forgiving a few leaks, it works. I got to work on the bathroom. Pics will follow, since we left the camera out there. By 6:30PM I had the bathroom sterilized (a 5 hour job), Dave discovered the AC and heat (yes, we have heat!!) to be working well, the hot water heater was heating water and the stove got hot. I also was able to pick up the necessary soil conditioners to get started on the landscaping.

What have we done????

We just spent our 31st anniversary ripping up moldy carpet in our "project".