We're still trying to get used to the idea that this will be "home" for the next couple of years. As part of our relocation package, we're required to rent a house rather than buy, but the upside is the company pays all of our expenses, including rent so it's a great deal. The house is quite large - 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, with a hot tub, pool table and a fire pit, so we'll have plenty of things to do to pass the time during the long winter and plenty of room for visitors. We're also in the same neighborhood as many other Cat families, which will be really handy. It's been awhile since I've had a landlord, but he seems pretty accommodating. He was kind enough to make some requested updates to the house, although they've turned out to be more trouble than they're worth. The water has been shut off all week while someone installed new counter tops and new fixtures in the kitchen and all of the bathrooms. The water maid from the city came by yesterday and turned the water back on once the work was complete. The gurgling and thumping in the pipes confirmed that the water was making it's way back up through the plumbing. When I went into the kitchen to check it out, I was shocked to see water flowing out from under the sink. A quick peek in the cabinet and I was met with water spewing in all directions. I madly raced down to the basement to find the main water shutoff value and called the plumber who had installed the new fixtures to come back and find out what went wrong. He was here until 9pm last night (I even served him a PB&J for dinner) with his head under the sink, banging and grunting, while we took turns going down to turn on the water to see if the leaks had stopped. When it finally appeared to be working, he exclaimed to no one in particular "Wow! I can't believe I fixed it. Man, I'm so proud of myself!" Never a good sign. Unfortunately there were similar crisis in all the bathrooms so he's coming back tonight to "fix" them.
Other than mopping up floods in various parts of the house, we've been spending our time cleaning, painting and getting the house ready so that when the truck arrives, we're ready to unpack. This is my least favorite part about moving into a previously occupied house. Although the most recent tenants (also a Cat family) were very tidy, after sitting empty for a few months and a work crew traipsing through doing various projects, the house really needs a good once over. I really prefer not to think about what may have gone on in a house before I lived there, particularly the toilet violations. Dayven and I were thinking of donning HAZMAT suits and spraying them down with sulphuric acid, but that seemed a little extreme. There is really something to be said for a virgin toilet seat and carpet that hasn't been sullied by someone else's stinky feet, but what can you do? By the time the truck arrives, we'll be ready to hit the ground running. We won't have Internet until next week so I'm "going dark" for a while (I'm currently stealing bandwidth from my neighbor). I promise I'll be back online as soon as possible so stay tuned, faithful blog readers.
We're still trying to get used to the idea that this will be "home" for the next couple of years. As part of our relocation package, we're required to rent a house rather than buy, but the upside is the company pays all of our expenses, including rent so it's a great deal. The house is quite large - 5 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, with a hot tub, pool table and a fire pit, so we'll have plenty of things to do to pass the time during the long winter and plenty of room for visitors. We're also in the same neighborhood as many other Cat families, which will be really handy. It's been awhile since I've had a landlord, but he seems pretty accommodating. He was kind enough to make some requested updates to the house, although they've turned out to be more trouble than they're worth. The water has been shut off all week while someone installed new counter tops and new fixtures in the kitchen and all of the bathrooms. The water maid from the city came by yesterday and turned the water back on once the work was complete. The gurgling and thumping in the pipes confirmed that the water was making it's way back up through the plumbing. When I went into the kitchen to check it out, I was shocked to see water flowing out from under the sink. A quick peek in the cabinet and I was met with water spewing in all directions. I madly raced down to the basement to find the main water shutoff value and called the plumber who had installed the new fixtures to come back and find out what went wrong. He was here until 9pm last night (I even served him a PB&J for dinner) with his head under the sink, banging and grunting, while we took turns going down to turn on the water to see if the leaks had stopped. When it finally appeared to be working, he exclaimed to no one in particular "Wow! I can't believe I fixed it. Man, I'm so proud of myself!" Never a good sign. Unfortunately there were similar crisis in all the bathrooms so he's coming back tonight to "fix" them.
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