And so it begins. The college bills are done and now we are embarking on home repairs and maintenance. Because it our house was relatively new when we moved in, we could ignore it for a while, but now the cows have come home to roost, the bagpiper needs to be paid and we need to break some legs and bark up the right tree. (see squirrel)
This is a tricky part of marriage for us – managing home repairs, but I think we can do it – after 25 years, I think we won’t get divorced over it, but it is tricky territory for us. Jeremy and I like each other very much and respect each other’s opinion, but we approach problems in very different ways which boil down to: Jeremy is a theorist and loves possibility. I’m an experimentalist and I love final decisions and closure. Therefore, Jeremy wants to run through all the possibilities and voice them (for a long time), but hesitates to take action because he doesn’t know which one of his thousand ideas are the best and I get exasperated and want to narrow to a final decision quickly and get it done, but hesitate to get it done because I hate spending the money. Jeremy has a done a lot of research and looks to innovation. I’m a late adopter with lots of hands-on home repair experience. Neither of us particularly like calling the home repair professionals.
So today the electrician is here installing high voltage outlets for a non existent EV car and also for an induction stove that Jeremy has wanted for years. So he’s banging away in the garage right now. But while he’s removing some drywall – he noticed leaking pipes including the water main that brings water in from the street! The water main! Yikes. So now we have to find a nice plumber who will save us from our leaky water pipes. I hope the entire house doesn’t have leaky pipes, but we can’t really tell that unless we rip out all the drywall. Which we aren’t going to do. Yet.
You didn’t ask for my advice but I do have some…….🤣.
It is wonderful that Jeremy leans towards the innovative. And also wonderful that you are very thrifty.
Ask yourself how much longer will you live in that house? Prioritize the work that must be done as opposed to the work you want to do.
Always lean towards safety. Old wiring, leaky pipes, tripping hazards, any outdated infrastructure in your home must come first. You’ve gotta have good interior bones before you can do the fun things like EV outlets or new flooring.
If you’re gonna stay in your home, you’ve gotta pay the two dollars Roger. While it seems overwhelming. It really isn’t. You and Jeremy are both brilliant and so many different ways. This is just a problem to figure out and not overthink. You get the walls checked for moisture, and you replace all the pipes if you have to. (We’ve done it inside our walls and underneath our house). But the house was built in 1964 and we’re dealing with 1964 pipes, it was time. The same went for our HVAC system. And other big repairs in our house. It’s just a problem to face and deal with.
Priortize the issues that can create much bigger problems down the road. Start with the biggest issues or problems and work your way down to the smallest. That’s my advice, even though you didn’t ask for it. Call me if you have any questions or need some moral support.🤣🤣