Buy a house, they said. It’ll be fun. I think I’ve been had.
We’ve been living in our home for 17 years. Prior to that we rented. If something broke, we were dependent on our landlord to get someone out to look at it and wait for her to decide what to do about it. We had no say in repair vs. replacing anything. We thought it would be so much better if we owned our own home and didn’t have to deal with a middle man. Boy were we stupid!
In just the last couple of months I’ve had to bring a plumber out to look at the master bathroom toilet, our fridge, and our disposal. Last week the garage door jumped the track (again). Then the washing machine started giving error messages and holding our laundry hostage. The toilet in the kids’ bathroom started leaking from the back of the tank. And Tuesday night water started dripping from the ceiling in the living room. It was the AC. Yesterday an AC guy came and informed me that the AC is a disgrace and doesn’t meet code. We had the option of getting it up to code and maybe getting a few more years out of it or replacing the whole thing. We decided to get financing and replace it. A plumber looked at the leaking toilet immediately after the AC guy (actually, their visits overlapped). The toilet needs to be replaced.
I was able to set up both replacements for today. And thankfully my husband said he could work from home so that I could go to work as planned and he would take care of anything the workers needed. I left this morning at 9:15, right after the AC crew arrived and the plumber said they were on their way. At 2:30 when I was done with work and simply visiting to kill time the AC guys were still there. The toilet, however, was done. Unfortunately, it cost extra because he discovered that a tree root was growing through the flange and he was surprised we could flush! Not only that, but we had to schedule someone to come out again tomorrow to fix an outdoor spigot that is leaking.
My husband told me that it was hotter in the house than outside (and it’s in the 90s outside!) and recommended I find somewhere else to be until it had cooled down. It’s almost 6:00 and last I heard it was only down to 85* in the house. I don’t know how much longer I can kill time at the library. At least today it’s not crowded and I got a spot in the quiet room! I may just have to go home anyway.
Needless to say, home ownership SUCKS. It seems that one thing after another is breaking and it’s all up to us to contact people, make decisions, and PAY for everything. I am not a fan. Especially since 90% of it falls to me and I have to make phone calls and talk to people. And when yesterday the AC guy and plumber were very talkative. The AC guy and I had a 10 minute conversation about Bluey and the plumber and I had a 20 minute conversation about gaming and streaming.
Why do I look like someone that wants to have conversations? The whole time all I can think is “Why are you telling me these things? Can we just stick to the job here?” But my anxiety about how people perceive me insists that I can’t be rude and I have to act like I’m interested and keep saying things that keep the conversation going even longer! Why can’t I have the kind of social anxiety that makes people think I’m rude or a snob or something because I only give one word answers and give off a resting bitch face or something? No, I’ve got the babbling on and on kind of social anxiety!
Okay, I’m going to go brave the house. I need to learn how to use our new thermostat before my husband leaves for his improv class!
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