3 topics. We'll go shortest to longest: At this point, over halfway through the Biden Administration, I've just gotten used to not being able to buy whatever groceries I want--not just because everything's so expensive, but something will always be out of stock too. This week it was RC Cola. None to be had for any amount of money. I was about to settle for Dr. Pepper but changed my mind and got root beer. In "How I Met Your Mother," one of Ted's girlfriends, The Slutty Pumpkin (from a Halloween party) makes a drink she calls a Tootsie Roll (because it tastes like a Tootsie Roll): Root beer & Kahlua. So tonight I'm finally trying a Tootsie Roll. And yes, it does taste a bit like a Tootsie Roll. Mine probably needs more Kahlua (or less root beer).
My friend that I always bitch about here...he really doesn't understand me. Or he does, but he misses doing stuff together. Other night he left a message that he was coming down for the Indy 500. Indianapolis is about 90 minutes away from me (and about 7 hours from him). So I'm going over in my head the cool things to do in Louisville if he comes down to visit. When I finally get ahold of him, he's NOT coming down to Louisville. He was inviting me to come up for the Indy 500. Now, the Kentucky Derby is RIGHT in my home town. About 7 miles from my house, as a matter of fact. Been here for 6 years and still haven't been. Because I don't relish paying a lot of money to be packed into a place outdoors with a million drunks and having to deal with traffic and parking and such. So yeah, no. I'm not going to drive 90 minutes to a circus of drunk stupid people and spend the day in an outdoor stadium watching cars drive in circles. I don't have the time for it and I don't have the money. He said his tickets were hundreds of dollars and parking alone was something like $175. If you've ever read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad," I'm kind of Rich Dad and he's Poor Dad. He's worked for the same company for half his life. For what they've paid me as a flunkie when I was contracting for him, I don't even want to know what he makes. But he's got an expensive house with a mortgage and an expensive car with payments and a teenage kid who wants to go to MIT. Meanwhile, I live in a $150K house that I paid $75K for that I own outright. I also own 2 other houses of similar quality that I rent out and make a couple thousand bucks a month off of. No college debt. No credit card debt. Drive a 2009 car that I paid cash for when I bought it new. And I just bought another house that should make me around $1,500 a month once I get it fixed up. I was retired(?) for 7 months before taking a part time warehouse job just for some extra cushion on finances. I'll probably keep living cheaply so I can pay off the new house in 10 years or so so that I can keep all the money I make from it instead of giving it to the bank. Once the house is paid off I won't need a job. I won't need social security. I will probably be a millionaire. But a lot can happen in a very short time, so we'll burn that bridge when we get to it.
But yeah. The house. I don't even know where to begin. Just about done getting all the left behind junk into the garage for now. Got the carpets out. Did some necessary outdoor work. Probably should take the van tomorrow and mow the (tiny) lawn. I need to bring an extension ladder anyway. There's a vaulted ceiling in the living room that needs some plaster repairs at the peak. Then it's extensive cleaning time. Smokers. So everything has an oily toffee colored coating on it--including the windows. Threw out all the window treatments and anything else that could hold smoke. Then comes the TSP/detergent (and maybe a little bleach) mixture to scrub all surfaces down. After that, everything gets primed with KILLZ before being painted. Ceilings first, then walls, then trim. When all that's done, I can put in flooring. Gonna do all new light fixtures too. The ceiling fans are old and ugly and coated with tobacco. Better to just put in new. Probably have to do something with kitchen counters too. They're in OK shape, but the design has worn off in a few spots. I've replaced counters, glued on new laminate, and used an expoxy/enamel finish. So I kind of want to do tile. Tile counters are kind of out of style, but I kind of want to do one. Then there's a few other little odds and ends--the switch in 1 bedroom must go to an outlet because it doesn't control the light. And they've got this weird wall above the side of the tub that comes down to the top of the shower curtain and really makes an already small bathroom feel even smaller. And of course the padded toilet seats in both bathrooms. Then it is on to tackling the outside. That's a challenge with this house--the work it needs really isn't that sexy or rewarding. Painting walls is fun, because it makes a big difference in the look. Scrubbing walls so the paint adheres well, pulling nails and patching nail holes to get ready to paint is not fun. But it needs to be done. And you have to do it before you can paint. Then there's the exterior. I'm kind of leaning towards doing the interior first so my property manager can start showing it. But some outdoor stuff can't wait. Today I had to clean gutters. I knew I would have to and I was right. It was to the point that the leaves clogging them were decomposing into soil and all the weight was pulling the cutters off the eaves. Got to get the yard cleaned up enough to keep the code enforcement people off my back, the neighbors happy, and not attract squatter attention. Needs a new roof and a fair amount of tree trimming work. I might as well get that stuff rolling because I won't be doing it myself. But again, you want to handle it in the right order. Trees first, so if a limb falls on the roof, it wrecks the old roof, not the brand new roof. There may have been other stuff, but I'm starting to get tired and I should get some work done tomorrow. Oh, my job is being cool. They're only scheduling me when they absolutely need me to give me more time to work on the house.