Monday Miscellaneous

You know copying is the highest form of flattery. P., I've so enjoyed your Sunday Sundry posts, I decided to do one of my own. Of course, I didn't want it to be obvious that I copied your idea, hence the title Monday Miscellaneous. Subtle, eh?

Okay, so you'll all remember that anti-drug commercial using scrambled eggs with the advisement: "This is your brain on drugs"? Well, this is my brain on moving:

Between preparing our current house to sell, organizing a 1200 mile move, and buying house, trying to pin down exactly what is going to happen when, is like trying to herd cats. Just when we think we've about got everything in place, some new, squirmy cat shows up.

Here's the latest: Had the house we are intending to buy inspected last week (at our expense). The house was built in 2007, and so one would expect it to be relatively problem-free. Nope! The electrical wiring in the basement is "sub-standard", plugs not grounded. The working theory is that the owners finished the basement themselves. So now, our Realtor has formally contacted the owners' Realtor with the request that this problem be fixed. They can accept or counter-offer. Since it isn't a direct negotiation, with layers of Realtors (who have other clients) to go through, the process takes a bazillion times longer than it seems like it should. We're on pins and needles wondering if we'll be leaving by our scheduled departure date or not. Or if the whole darn thing will fall apart.

Then there is the issue of the irrigation system here at our own house. Since we did it ourselves, the irrigation system actually amounted to four different systems, added as needed. Worked for us, but it would be tough for anyone not living at the house to manage (like the caretaker we will probably hire until the house sells). So we hire an irrigation guy to attach our four irrigation systems to one central landscape timer. Piece of cake he tells us. Since he put it in last Wednesday, we haven't been able to use it. There have been two leaks, an electrical problem, and too much pressure in the system causing two of our irrigation tubes to "pop their corks" so to speak. I've been kicking myself for not pointing out that our primitive system had pressure reducers on them. But heck, I figured he was the expert. Stupid me. Now he's coming back on Tuesday to install said pressure reducers. I'm hoping the third fix is indeed the charm, because right now, I feel like we've gone nine steps back in that department.

Oh and here's a laugh. His card states "Work done right the first time."

I will say this, he is a nice guy, and it seems to me that part of the problem is that he's overworked.

Although the post is labeled "miscellaneous", it appears that I did stick to a theme, the adventures (or misadventures) of moving. So, maybe I'm a theme writer at heart, but at least the title allows me to pick an unrelated subject next week.