A daily, weekly, or whenever the desire hits me, account to share my adventures in being a landlord and being retired, well, semi...anyway.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Sunday, May 21, 2006
New washers and dryers
Yesterday we went to Sears to purchase a new washer and dryer. Diane met us at the store and Lynne and her ended up buying the same washer and dryer. It's a new model called the Oasis.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Diane's Birthday
Monday, May 15, 2006
Of Mice and Men
Saturday, May 13, 2006
The new tenant????
We just rented the studio at 181 over a month before the present tenant is planning on vacating, a first ever for us. It was Lynne's idea to place the ad so early. I thought it would just be a waste of time. The problem is that his application wasn't filled out completely so we couldn't verify his employment. He passed the credit check with a very high score and we're sure everything's going to be OK, but the problem is we can't find him. He has no cell phone or local phone number and he lives in Illinois. We even tried emailing him but so far he has not responded. We have turned away two other interested people and now we are trying to contact them back again. The crazy thing about this is that he gave us a $300 deposit.
- UPDATE! The tenant finally called and everything's OK...
- I fell asleep and missed 45 minutes of the movie. It was just OK, and kind of hard to follow...Three stars***
- I fell asleep in this movie too. I couldn't stand the intense music at times and I felt it was about camera shots and images more than substance...Two stars**
- Not bad...A good twist ending...Three stars***
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Outbid...
Today we found out that we were outbid in purchasing the new home. We're used to this so we'll just have to keep on trying.
I got the truck and came down to Glenarm to fix and relocate a rainbird sprinkler. It was a dirty job.
Then I went back up to Hudson and trimmed the vines and sawed out the plant next to the front porch of the front house. It was always tacky looking at best. I started to do the usual trimming of the plant and then finally I just had to remove it. I think the porch area looks so much better now.
I got the truck and came down to Glenarm to fix and relocate a rainbird sprinkler. It was a dirty job.
Then I went back up to Hudson and trimmed the vines and sawed out the plant next to the front porch of the front house. It was always tacky looking at best. I started to do the usual trimming of the plant and then finally I just had to remove it. I think the porch area looks so much better now.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
The competition
We made an offer on the San Miguel house and had to wait till after five o'clock to find out the results. They had seven offers but two were dropped due to contingencies. The remaining five, of which we are one, have to do the following things to stay in the bidding. First, they have to make one final increased bid, then they have to let the sellers live rent free in the house for one month after escrow closes, and, lastly, they have to pay any difference in the appraisal of the house not included in the loan. After careful consideration, we have decided to push onward and make a final bid. We really don't think our chances are good because we're not going to bid as high as we think it will finally sell for....but who really knows?
Monday, May 08, 2006
Buca's for lunch
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Finally...a plumbing problem
It's been awhile, but I new it was due...
1262 informed me that the bathroom faucets and shower were very slow running so I went in to check it out. The faucet aerator was full of rocks so I cleaned it out. The shower had other problems besides being slow. Both packing nuts were loose causing water to run down from the handles, creating a stream of rust on the tile in the process. I got the cold handle off and tightened the packing nut but the other two handles will have to be drilled out because the screws are rusted too badly to unscrew. When I tried to put the cold handle back it wouldn't hold the stem, I guess I must have accidently stipped the threads of the handle, so I stuck a Vise-Grip on the stem so the tenant would be able to temporarilly take a shower. Today I will get new handles, but first I'll have to remove at least one stem to take it to the hardware store to find the correct handles. Taking in a stripped old handle to match will not work.
The problem with the slow running shower, I concluded, was the fault of the shower massage unit that the tenant had installed. I unscrewed the handle and the water came out very strong. Not immediately finding a way to clean out the shower head and not wanting to damage it, I left it for the tenant to try. Maybe today I will be able to figure it out.
I started trying to remove the rusted handle with a drill. When that didn't work I used a hacksaw which didn't work either. I ended up with a sharper drill bit which did the job.
I should have taken a photo of that, it was a real mess too.
I have to finish by 1 p.m. because there is a house we want to look at and maybe purchase. Here's a picture...
1262 informed me that the bathroom faucets and shower were very slow running so I went in to check it out. The faucet aerator was full of rocks so I cleaned it out. The shower had other problems besides being slow. Both packing nuts were loose causing water to run down from the handles, creating a stream of rust on the tile in the process. I got the cold handle off and tightened the packing nut but the other two handles will have to be drilled out because the screws are rusted too badly to unscrew. When I tried to put the cold handle back it wouldn't hold the stem, I guess I must have accidently stipped the threads of the handle, so I stuck a Vise-Grip on the stem so the tenant would be able to temporarilly take a shower. Today I will get new handles, but first I'll have to remove at least one stem to take it to the hardware store to find the correct handles. Taking in a stripped old handle to match will not work.
The problem with the slow running shower, I concluded, was the fault of the shower massage unit that the tenant had installed. I unscrewed the handle and the water came out very strong. Not immediately finding a way to clean out the shower head and not wanting to damage it, I left it for the tenant to try. Maybe today I will be able to figure it out.
Here's the way it looked before...
I started trying to remove the rusted handle with a drill. When that didn't work I used a hacksaw which didn't work either. I ended up with a sharper drill bit which did the job.
I should have taken a photo of that, it was a real mess too.
Here's the after...
Crown City Hardware was surprised that the stem that I brought in fit their sample shank but did not fit the new handles they had. It's a good thing anyway because I forgot to bring my wallet and had no I.D., money, or credit cards with me. The next place I went was True Value Hardware where they concluded I had cheap import valves and sold me two new
Price Pfister ones to replace them and also two new handles. The prices here were about half of what they were at Crown City...I'll make a note to remember that the next time.
Price Pfister ones to replace them and also two new handles. The prices here were about half of what they were at Crown City...I'll make a note to remember that the next time.
I have to finish by 1 p.m. because there is a house we want to look at and maybe purchase. Here's a picture...
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Another lousy movie
I gave this movie only two stars. Even though it had a bunch of great actors, I wasn't entertained at all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)