Our New Friend, Brandy

Brandy is our furnace/AC repair person. She has come out 3 or 4 times to tend our investment properties.

She introduced us to an interest of hers this week. She is a sushi -aholic. We ate at Fugi in Westport last night. It was the first time I had a dinner so good that I was thinking about it all the next day. It's affecting my purchasing choices at the job site. I kept doing the math to try to figure out how many sushi treats various projects cost.

We got to know our HVAC girl a little better over the soy sauce. She has decided that her government-provided high school education was a little spotty here and there, so she is shoring up the weak areas with some History studies. Now, who does that? Most of us just sigh and say, "I guess I missed out."... contented with our ignorance. Not Brandy. Along with studying History and just doing more reading in general, she is taking guitar classes. Aren't you impressed? Don't you feel like going out and learning something? I know I'm inspired.

My Prejudiced Uncle

My 80-year-old Uncle Bill was a cop in the 60's and 70's. He served during the night shift along Paseo. He rarely met the nice black people there, only the bad ones. My strongest memory of his home during my childhood was his display case of big knives he took from the people he arrested.

Every time we go over to his house, he starts complaining about black people. This time was no different. He calls them the, "N" word. He complained that they steal, kill, don't clean their stoves, but that they can't help it because it's their race. He hated Emanuel Cleaver, and says that the Mayor, "Just handed that whole town over to them niggers." He bragged about his buddy who disowned his own daughter because she was dating a black man.

Other than that, Uncle Bill is super guy. Really! He's cool! You'd like him!

But why does he keep going back to that subject? I don't much like certain groups of people, (like the ACLU for example,) but I don't make comments about them every time I have guests. And how can a cop work with a people if he hates them? And how can he go to church all his life and not realize that blacks are made, "in God's image," just like whites?

There are lots of wayward whites. I would hate to be catagorized right out there with Lizzi Borden and Madonna.

I felt foolish sitting there listening silently while my husband and Father knew how much I disapproved. So I made some little comment about not judging anyone until you meet them, blah, blah, blah. I knew it couldn't change anybody's mind. My purpose was just to refuse to take part in such a horrible conversation. Not to mention unfashionable!

And furthermore, I don't like calling them, "African Americans." It sounds like a euphemism. If I'm WHITE then they are BLACK. Maybe we could call us, "UV-Ray-Challenged." Then we'll all have a euphemism.

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and Yellow, Black and White,
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world

Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Orange and Purple, Blue and Green
Strangest kids I've ever seen,
Jesus loves the little children of the world

Natural Gas is Scary

Okay, this was a cool trick. I NEVER would have thought to try this!

The natural gas man came by to replace a broken valve. He decided to just unhook parts with the gas still turned on! He let it hiss for a moment, and then stopped it off by sticking his finger in the pipe! In just a few seconds, he one-handedly greased up the replacement part and slapped it on.

I decided to try it this new trick when another valve broke. But I was too scared to do it by myself. Jeremy corked the gas off with a finger while I twisted in the fresh part. It worked! And we didn't die even once! It smelled like we did for awhile. Natural gas is stinky.

Pork Gravy in the Trick or Treat Sack

We gave the trick-or-treaters a choice between candy or a commercial sized can of pork gravy that we got on sale for a dollar. One lanky teenager in the back of the first group of ding-dongers shouted, "Really? Can I have it? Can I really have it? I want the pork gravy! Wow!" Even though he was from just across the street, he didn't stop back home to drop it off. He proudly carried it the rest of the evening.

First Week as a Full Time Renovator

Bathtub

Bathtub after tear-out

Bathroom

Bathroom after tear-out

Kitchen

Kitchen after tear-out

Boom! We are blastin' through this cute little house.

We only worked for 4 days officially this week. First day didn't really count, because on that day we bought the house, and spent the afternoon making phone calls for utilities and such. Didn't change the property very much.

This is what we did in 4 days: Tore out the kitchen and bath, tore out bathroom drywall, tore out the carpets, removed zillions of carpets tacks, cleared the brush from the yard, trimmed the trees as high as the ladder would reach, put in a water heater, put in a bath tub, cleaned the gutters, changed the locks, took off the doors and knobs in preparation for painting, scraped the porch and window trim, painted the porch railings, put up a sheetrock on half the bath, prepped the basement walls for paint. Plus, I went for about 6 loads of supplies.

We had a helper from the day-labor pool for the tear-out day.

Now I am dreaming of how we can add the little touches that make a house just cuddle up to a potential owner. My secret plan is to add 3 eye-catchers to every room. Ceiling fans? Curtains? Curly millwork? Nickel light switch covers? Bookcase shelves? Tiled entry? Cool doorknobs? Can't spend lots of money, because this house is tiny and the neighborhood is not wealthy. But it's got to SPEAK to the home buyer. It must say, "What a JEWEL I am!"