Gas and Commitment

With the arrival of the first heating bill, it seems something must be done about the Original Charming Thermostat and Furnace duo. $828 to fill the tank. We’ve had months without the iterative training cycle of positive and negative reinforcement made possible by regular heating bills – or that should be possible if we could only set the temperature. We clearly need a thermostat solution, and for that matter, perhaps a better furnace than our current 83% efficiency antique.

I placed a call to our local natural gas provider, Puget Sound Energy, and they were most helpful in running down what it would take, and what it would cost, to run a gas line to the house. Since our house is Just Large Enough, and there are no extra complications such as breaking up concrete or access fees to hook up to a newer gas line, PSE will run a gas line to the house for free (well, One Easy Payment of $14.95 really) provided I commit to installing both a natural gas furnace and hot water heater within one year.

Hmmm……can we commit to this? After all, we haven’t even managed to commit to getting married, even though Martin & I have lived together for 8 years now. And we could be moving to California any day now.

This will require some serious contemplation, a couple of bids, and perhaps a short midlife crisis. Fortunately, PSE even has a referral service for reputable contractors in my area. For the furnace and hot water heater that is, not the crisis.

Kitchen: Before & After Photos

I've finally finished the backsplash, except for the grout, but hey, the project is 95% done, so it's time to move on to something that's 0% done.

So let's compare the almost final product. Before:

After:

Total price tag for this minor facelift, including the carpenter, plumber, dishwasher, disposal, fridge, sink, faucet, tile, tile polishing, new knobs was a little under $4500. Time that this project took me, including shopping for materials (from appliances and fixtures to tile and grout), tiling the counter, grouting, attaching new knobs & pulls, and coordinating carpenter & plumber = 45 hours. How DO those Fix-n-Flip people do it???

Return to Good Karma?

We know Bad Things happen in threes. We’ve had a plumbing disaster and news of Impending Job Move. I’ve been anxiously awaiting Bad Thing #3, and am rather relieved that I just wrecked the car. $5000 in damage. I picked a fight with an F150 and I lost. What a shocker.

Recap: The Past 8 years

In 1999, Martin rented out his condo and I rented out my house, and we moved in to an apartment in Belltown together. I vaguely remember the Happy Carefree Lifestyle of being a renter.

7 months later, we purchased a condo in the same Vintage 1989 building. We scraped the popcorn ceiling and had it, and the cracked drywall, retextured while living there (at one point we were down to a 300 sq ft living area). We changed the outlets, light switches and heaters from icky yellowing almond to bright white. We replaced the carpet, linoleum, dishwasher, microwave, sink/faucet/disposal, tore out a kitchen closet to accommodate a larger fridge and plumbed it for filtered water and ice to accommodate our lifestyle.

Soon after closing on the Belltown condo, we learned that Martin’s Capitol Hill condo building had significant water damage and was scheduled to be shrouded in plastic for water damage repair. Shortly after the Building Condom went on, the tenant moved out. Imagine.

Being unable to afford the vacancy, we rented out our Belltown condo and moved to the Capitol Hill condo. Lucky us. Living under plastic wrap is quite depressing really, with no exterior view other than scaffolding and the occasional contractor. And believe me, these were not the contractors from the Diet Coke commercial.

Of course we could always walk outside, but when you can’t see what the weather looks like, you have absolutely no idea whether you want to.

During the 2.5 yrs we lived there, we replaced the fridge, added a wine rack above the fridge, and repainted. Lame, I know, but the Shrink Wrap Year took its toll on our initiative, and these were trying Job Years for me.

After 2.5 years, my house became vacant, and we moved to Ballardia Classic. And Classic it was. In 2 years, I tore out the kitchen and completely renovated it, finished the basement, added a second bathroom, replaced the galvanized plumbing, retiled the original bathroom and mudroom, expanded the patio, and installed a new lawn.

And now here we are in Ballardia II, and may have to move to Orange County. That will be 6 moves in 8 years! SIX!!!

I have this strong instinct to settle somewhere and nest. I mean build one, decorate it, and live in it, not populate it with Young.

Breaking News Flash

The company which employs Martin merged with another company a couple of months ago. Up until today, we thought Martin was going to work at an office across the street from his current location. Today, Martin’s boss pulled him into his office, and informed him of an “exciting new opportunity” for him – In Irvine. English Translation: “the merger has left the company overstaffed in Seattle, and you can remain employed if you move.”

My job is mobile, requiring only that I live in a major Metro area near a major airport, so we have no piddly excuses like ‘Rebecca can’t move because of her job’. And yes, I have a Day Job. Remodeling is but a Perverse Hobby.

On the plus side, most of our possessions are still in boxes since we just moved FIVE MINUTES AGO.

Injustice for All

After Mr Rooter fixed our side sewer, he informed me that sewer repairs required a permit, and I was supposed to file an emergency permit with the City of Seattle. There was what seemed to be a wink and an unspoken “but who’s to know if you just shovel the dirt back in” following his obligatory informational statement.

Because I have a folder full of Dorothy’s receipts, I happened to know that in January of 2003, Dorothy had an exterior sewer cleanout installed (instead of the prior one in the basement – again, ewwwww), which also required a side sewer permit, and for which the City of Seattle charged her $65 (and there’s no mention of a senior discount).

With this in mind, I decided to follow the law and marched myself down to the City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development for my side sewer permit. Only my permit was $280.

From 1/9/2003 until 12/18/2006, we apparently had 330% inflation in the cost of side sewer permits? And let me get this straight – for my entirely discretionary choice of upgrading my woefully inadequate electrical service, I had to pay a mere $239, but for ridding my neighborhood of a public health hazard I had to cough up $41 MORE?

A very long day spending quality time with bleach and rubber gloves.