Here’s a recent update of the recent things that have been going on recently:
1. Chocoholic‘s house is officially on the market! The agents-only open house was last Friday. Between 20 and 30 agents came through, including one who brought their client along. (That is rare, I’m told.) There were a few private showings on Saturday, and a public open houses on Sunday, which saw about 20 parties wander through, and a couple more private showings Monday and yesterday. As of last night, there were no offers. It’s still early in the game and we’re hopeful the process won’t take too long. I’d post a link to the MLS listing, but paranoia and privacy prevent me from doing so. If you really want to see the wonderful little house, or better still BUY it, send me an e-mail privately and I’ll pass on the information to you!
2. I’m about to pour about $1,000 down the drain, almost literally. Xoozland is “stinky-poo” since I discovered the drains have once again become plugged with tree roots! Back in 2001, I spent $5,000 to replace a major portion of the drain system. At the time, the section of drain between the street and the work I had done was clear, and didn’t need to be done. Like I could afford to do it at the time, right? Well, here we are about three years later, and the little feeder roots (very tiny things) have inflitrated the old clay pipe again.
Two options are available. First, I can spend $800 to have the system cleaned out with high-pressure water. This will get the drains flowing again, almost as new. But it is really only a temporary solution, since eventually, the feeder roots will find their way back in.
Second, I can spend $3,000 to excavate and replace the remaining 16 feet of drain pipe. This would be a permanent solution, complete with a lifetime warranty. (There’s a 20-year warranty on the work done in 2001.)
However, since Chocoholic and I are expecting to be in THIS house for only the next year, I don’t see much point in the extra cost. I’ll just leave the next owners with the legacy of the drains, as the previous owners did with me!!
3. I’ve got computer problems at home! First, my router died last week. I went to the linksys website and ordered a replacement unit. I came today, so I have to set it up and make sure it’s working, then ship the faulty unit back to them. If I do all that, the only cost will be for the return shipping.
Second, I’ve been having problems booting my P-4 Windows XP machine. A mysterious message “Press F1 to resume” keeps showing up during the boot, before the operating system starts to load. No other information. Really helpful, eh? Well, a search on the usenet points towards a faulty hard drive. So I download and install Active SMART to help diagnose the problem. The first thing it tells me is that the hard drive is having “spin up” faults, and “a hard drive failure is imminent. Back up data and replace the drive as soon as possible!” Oh, great. Well, since I recently purchased a new Seagate 120 Gb hard drive from Tiger Direct, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Instead of installing it as a second hard drive, I’ll just configure it as my primary hard drive and swap out the faulty one. I don’t think the original Maxtor drive is still under warranty, so maybe I’ll have some more material for the Junk Computer Sculpture. Actually, I think if I tried to do something like that, Chocoholic would kill me!
4. Chocoholic and I are going to the baseball game tonight at SkyDome. The Blue Jays are playing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Perhaps that will help take our mind off these stressful issues? But then again, how much fun can it be going to a ball game with a Preachy Loud-mouthed Vegetarian who insists on bringing her own picnic lunch? After all, isn’t part of the fun to pig out on beer and food that isn’t supposed to be good for you???
That is all for today. (The client boss is on vacation this week. Can you tell?)
