Not so much.

So I was told that these little tabs on my windows were there to keep the windows from being opened all the way, so you could leave them about 3” open for air, but nobody could open them all the way to get in the house.

I found out today that’s not true, as a matter of fact, they just assist the burglar in getting in the house.

See, I went down to Price to visit a friend today, had a wonderful day but came home to this:

My house was broken into.  They cut the screen and then popped the window out.   I didn’t get cleaned out, they didn’t take any of the three televisions, the computer, my tablet or even the liquor in the fridge.  They did get all the change out of my change bucket and a couple antique cameras.  That’s all – but still enough to piss me off and creep me out that some jackass was in my house going through my stuff.

What I did find out, and what you need to be aware of, is that those little tabs are there to hold down the window rails so that you can lift up and pop out the window.  As soon as I realized that, it was simple to get the window back in.  I also felt real stupid for making it so easy to get into my house.

Domicile Colonoscopy.

My house had a colonoscopy tonight.

Well, what else would you call it when some professional runs a camera down the poop chute looking for unwanted growths.  So what if it’s the sewer line and the growths are tree roots?

The good news is that my pipes look pretty good.  Almost all the roots were hair sized and just growing through the joints.  No damage.  So, it looks like I’m not going to have to do the $9,000 replacement, he just got out his other machine and cut out most of the roots.  He’ll be coming back later in the week to treat the lines with root killer, and he says that if I kill the roots every 2 years or so I should be fine for years to come.

The only thing I find weird is that the camera has a microphone.  I mean, what would you have to listen to down a sewer line?

Oy Vey!

For the last 2 days I’ve been without a bathroom.  Thursday morning I flushed the toilet and it backed up into the tub.

Friday I went through a ton of Liquid Plumber and then bought a drain snake and tried to snake out the drain.  To no avail.

Today the plumber came and cleared it out.  For a while at least, because I have roots growing into the sewer line that goes right under the house.

Monday or Tuesday he’s coming back with his drain camera to see how bad the damage is.

Best case scenario, which he says has a 75% chance, is that they can salvage the pipes and just power flush and root kill the drains.  Cost: $1,500.

Worst case scenario is the pipes are not salvageable and they’ll have to break up the concrete in the basement and replace the pipes.  Estimated cost: $9,000.  Right now, I wish I was a renter.

If I ever needed to inherit some money from a long-lost relative, this is the time.

Cat on a hot [tin] roof.

So Friday I rented a kick-ass tiller so that I could finish the ramp in the back yard so I could park two of my old Fords back there. 

A friend of mine and I had plans to get together that evening and when she called I told her “I just need to rearrange the cars and clean up.  then I’ll head right over.”

She just started to laugh.  “I’ve never heard that before: rearranging the cars.”

Anyhow, they’re all rearranged.  Now the area between the house and the garage is obstruction free, and I can get any one of the cars out with moving at most one other vehicle.  And that block is just the Jeep, which is easy to get out of the way.

Tonight, when I was up on the roof getting that last picture, first I noticed the sunset.

And then I had a visitor.  Here’s Denny, right at the peak of my house’s roof, just looking like he wanted to ask “Whatcha doin’”

Yeah, the crazy cat climbed up on the roof just to see what I was doing.  And he’s running around on the roof like it’s solid ground.  Cats.  Go figure.

But, at least I got one project done this summer.  And with only 24 days left until teachers are back at school, my next project had better go quickly.

Revived for 2012

The “Obamacon”.  You can make your own here.

New smoke detectors, maybe?

… Seems I left a little mess at the bottom of the oven last time I used it.  I was cooking up a casserole this morning and smoke started pouring out of the oven.  As you can see, it filled the house.   No big deal, it didn’t smell up the house, and it’s already clearing out.  Except for one thing.  Neither of my smoke alarms went off, and I just changed the batteries when we went off daylight savings time.  Not the one on the kitchen ceiling, not the one in the bedroom.  I even did the little “weekly test” on them, while the house was full of smoke, and both tested out fine.  Yeah, they work, they just can’t smell smoke.  Hmmm, just a wee bit scary.

… Guess where I’m going before work today?  Yup.  Home Depot.  To  get 2 brand new smoke detectors.  The wiring in my house is only about 5 years old, but I did it myself and the house is almost 100 years old.  My biggest fear, other than the inevitable earthquake, is an electrical fire.  Which, until today, was comforted by the fact that I had 2 smoke alarms in a 1100 sq ft home.  Tonight I’ll sleep fine, with 2 brand new ones.

More on the house

The beginning of this week I spent tiling the back step. The tiles came right up to the level of the cement threshold I build, so I had to add a metal one - which meant cutting down the door so it would fit under.