August 16, 2009

Two weeks as a homeowner...

To say I've been busy is an understatement. When isn't it in all honesty? I mowed the lawn for the second time last week. To mow the three lots with a push mower takes a little over two hours, and about a tank and a half of fuel. I can probably take about 30 minutes off of that if I don't mulch the grass while I'm mowing. I have phone and electricity to the house; I had those the night I bought the house. I still need to have some account issues cleared up with the telephone company. I'll see if it was actually handled properly when the next billing cycle starts.

I stayed in the house the first night. I watched a DVD on my work computer with a friend in what will be the family room (where the TV would be put later). The reason I used my work computer was so that on the chance that work called because something was not working they wouldn't have to wait for me to get my computer running. Sure enough, the PD called about some software issues. I made my first batch of popcorn in the new microwave that night. 2:40 made a bag of popcorn with less than ten old maids. :)

I haven't really been able to stay at the house since because the septic still needs to be repaired. While I can flush the toilet and do things like that, I don't want to push my luck. I've spoken with Bruce (the septic repairman) about getting things ready. I'm essentially waiting for the check from the bank to get to him so that I can have him start the work. Once that is done I can start moving in a few more things. When the windows on the play room and the Florida room are complete then I'll be able to move in for real.

Grandpa and I have been doing work on the house on the weekends. Last weekend we worked on the yard a bit. Basically we were taking out Brazilian pepper, and potato vine. I want to say we ended up going to the transfer station two or three times that weekend. Yesterday we worked on the A/C and getting into the garage. The garage has two bay doors on it. One of the doors isn't on the track anymore and both springs are detached. The other bay door is still on the track and had only one spring attached. We were able to get the door to free up enough to get it open. Once it was open we attached the other spring and started going through the garage some more (contents to be covered in greater detail later).

Oh yeah, last weekend dad, Grandpa and I went over to another house where I bought some furniture. We moved the second half of that furniture to the house. The weekend I closed, Beth and I went over and picked up the first half of the furniture. When all was said and done I picked up:

  • a microfiber couch
  • two large, flat tube TVs
  • two TV stands
  • a night stand
  • two large bar stools
  • two small bar stools
  • a dining room table with leaf
  • three crates full of kitchenware (skillets, pots, pans, Corning ware, Pyrex, Chicago Cutlery knives, etc.)
  • dual cordless phones
  • an iron and ironing board
  • one of those Swiffer Sweeper power vacs
  • tile grout
  • four bags of red mulch
  • some sheets
  • two pillows
  • a clip light
  • picnic table
  • four folding picnic chairs
  • two folding camping chairs
  • shovel
  • garden rake
  • Dirt Devil corner vac
  • a One Sweep broom (as seen on TV)
  • audio amplifier
  • dubbing tape deck
  • turn table
  • and some canned groceries

All of the above was acquired for the low low price of $300.00. John said that for $300.00 I could have pretty much anything that wasn't bolted down, something that would be expected to come with a house (i.e. microwave, fridge, etc.) with the exception of a box of things in a corner, and the two cypress tables. I didn't completely clean out the house. There were still two queen size beds there. I already have on queen size bed and a twin bed for the guest room. That weekend I also brought some furniture down from Grandpa's house (two couches, the queen size bed, a dresser, two recliners, and a coffee table).

Unfortunately that's as far as I can go until I get the windows in the two rooms repaired. Those are set to be staging areas for the rest of the house. I am planning on taking off of work for the days that I'll contractors in the house (for obvious reasons). While they are there I will be working on clearing around the garage so that they can work on that when the work on the house is complete. With a little bit of luck they'll finish the work on the garage about the time I finish with moving the stuff that will be in the house to the house. At that point I can move the stuff that would normally go in a garage into the newly rebuilt garage.

Posted by Rob at August 16, 2009 12:33 PM
Comments

Wow!!!! Congratulations on the new house. Good luck and looks like you've already got a lot for it and a good plan to getting everything done the way you want it. Toss me a line sometime...who knows, I might get bored and come visit next year when I'm debt free (well except school loans...and my new car loan)!

Posted by: Elaine at August 26, 2009 08:16 PM