As a homeowner I do feel a certain amount of pride in the place I call home. It’s not an extravagant home, just a little under 1,200 square feet. Three bedrooms, two baths, with a living and dining room plus a kitchen. Not quite enough closets, and just a couple square feet short in the living room to make it “spacious”. Single story, but a full basement which is 3/4 finished.
It’s not a big house, but it’s a comfy home. It’s a place we raised three kids in, as well as three dogs. Fish, too.
While you take pride in your home, you also have the upkeep of a home as well. Painting walls, replacing carpet and furniture when it’s time. Not to mention just the weekly task of cleaning inside, and yard work outside. But then there’s the deeper levels of upkeep. The expensive stuff; new roof, furnace, A/C, water heater, fridge, oven, garage doors, garage door openers, water softeners, well, and septic if you’re not in town. Oh, and toilets.
Last Tuesday after getting home from a 5 mile walk I went in to take a shower in the master bath. When I got out I noticed a small puddle of water on the floor behind the toilet. At first I thought it was maybe from wet hands reaching for the hand towel as it hangs above the toilet. But after further inspection I saw it was dripping from the bottom of the toilet tank. It was where a screw was coming out, possibly to attach the top of the toilet with the base. I touched the nut that was on the screw and it moved, like it was loosened. As I turned it the drip turned into a stream.
I quickly turned off the water that leads into the toilet, only to have that “ahhh” moment when I realized that wouldn’t affect the water already in the tank. I had to get the water out of that tank or it wouldn’t stop. We grabbed the bucket and siphon the kids use to clean the water tank and quickly avoided some severe water damage.
THAT crisis was averted.
I called our plumber and left a voicemail and said we needed someone to come out first thing in the morning as our toilet had a leak that was temporarily fixed but needed permanently repaired. They called me at work first thing Wednesday morning and by 9 am were at the house. My wife called to tell me it was either a $500 rebuild to the old tank, a $900 new toilet installed, or we go buy a toilet and they install it for $400. We went with option 2 as we didn’t have time to go shop for a toilet, nor did we see it being a financially smart decision to rebuild a nearly 30 year old toilet tank.
Yay, home ownership!
A new toilet was installed Thursday morning, just in time for us to relieve ourselves in a brand new crapper for an extended weekend.
With Thursday, Friday, and Monday off, a five day weekend was just what the figurative doctor ordered. Friday afternoon the wife and I headed over to Goshen where I bought two pairs of shoes, some Brooks walking shoes and some Hoka everyday shoes. After we grabbed the shoes we hit The Chief, our favorite ice cream shop, and grabbed some pints for home. Dinner was chicken tacos and we watched some TV. I think we were in bed by 9(real party animals.)
Saturday morning I went over to my parents house. While we were in Goshen Friday a pop up storm hit our county and we were hit with torrential downpours and straight line winds that got up to 80 miles per hour. We were incredibly lucky as all we had to pick up was pine needles and leaves which covered the whole yard and roof. My parents lucked out as well with getting the same thing. There were some people on Chapman Lake just a couple miles away that had their pontoons sitting in their back yards, having been yanked from the water like toys.
My dad is 78 and has no business on the roof, so I went over and cleaned the roof off as well as their gutter guards. Then I cleaned up the back porch and front yard. We had some coffee and then I was back home getting cleaned up for the day’s big trip.
Big trip? Yep, the wife and I drove 4 1/2 hours to Cuyahoga Falls, OH to the Blossom Music Center to see The War On Drugs and The National on their Ven Diagram Tour. Our original idea was to get a room and stay in Cuyahoga Falls that night, then head home the next day. Then it turned into staying Friday night and doing something Friday and Saturday, then going to the show and driving home that night. But then we landed on leave early, check out some stained glass places nearby, eat, then go to the show. Afterwards we’d make the long trek home saving a couple hundred bucks in sleeping accommodations. Turns out the extra dough was better used for a new toilet and some shoes.
We made it to the stained glass place around 4:15pm. My wife was hoping to buy some supplies so she could get started making stained glass pieces again. Unfortunately this wasn’t that kind of place. They do teach stained glass classes, and sell quite a few of their own pieces, but they didn’t have much of what the wife was looking for. Still, it was a pleasant shop and the house cat Harry was super friendly.
We left and got a couple burgers before heading to Blossom Music Center. This was the place my son and I saw Nine Inch Nails two years ago, so I knew what to expect. It’s a wonderful spot to see live music, and you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere(I mean, you kind of are.) We paid extra for premier parking, too. When my son and I were there we were in general parking which is a massive field. When the show was over I thought we’d be there for two hours trying to find the car, so I didn’t want that to happen again. It was a great choice, the premier parking. Highly recommend it.
The show was great. The band Lucius opened the show at 6:30pm. They were a great indie pop band with two female lead vocalists(they sing back up on the new War On Drugs album, too.) Adam Granduciel(War On Drugs’ singer/guitarist) came out and performed a track with them as well. They played for 30-40 minutes. Then at 7:30pm on the nose War On Drugs came out. This is the third time we’ve seen them and they just get better. If you don’t really like them, then seeing them live probably won’t change your mind. But if you do like them seeing them live is a must. One of the best bands in America, and I just love seeing Adam Granduciel play guitar. He’s one of those understated players. Not a shredder, but so melodic and at times teeters on chaotic.
They finished right at 8:30pm. The wife and I had to go to the bathroom, so we left our seats. Getting out of the amphitheater we realized just how hot it was in there. The open air felt great. She looked at me and said, “You know, if you want to leave I’d be fine with that. But if you want to stay for The National that’s fine, too.” I’d thought about staying just for a bit to see some of their set then heading out early, but I saw an opportunity to hit the road early and took it. It was 9pm, and we had 4 1/2 hours to go to get home.
We made it home just before 2am. The dog was happy to see us, and after a couple treats we all hit the hay.
I got up around 9am and went out to clean up the yard. I had a good couple hours of work ahead of me, cleaning the roof and gutters and then the front and backyard. I think I was done around 12:30pm. I got cleaned up and my wife and I headed into town to grab a few things. As we were heading into the store my back was barking at me. The 9 hours in the car the day before, as well as the yard work was catching up with me. We got home and I took some Ibuprofen. Got dinner around and we spent the evening watching the movie Paul with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Seth Rogan as an alien. It was okay.
On my final day off I headed downstairs to do some reconfiguring to make a creative space where I can write and record. It’s taken a couple weeks to get it together, but I’m happy to report it’s finally there. I’ve got a spot to write, plus the keyboards are setup, as is the digital 8-track recorder. I’ve got my 60-watt Orange amp, some pedals, and the little Fender practice bass amp. I’ve got a 120-watt Peavey bass amp, but honestly I like the sound of the tiny 25-watt Fender better. I bought it for my son for his 18th birthday, along with a Fender Squier Jazz bass. He doesn’t use the amp much, so I’ve “borrowed” it for my own use.
Got some work done on a song as well.
It was a nice time away from work. Much nicer than our actual, “official” vacation in Colorado back in July. Next vacation is at the end of October when we see The Beat Tour with Adrian Belew, Steve Vai, Tony Levin, and Danny Carey performing 80s King Crimson. I’ll be off Oct 31st and November 1st. Then after that Thanksgiving week.
How was your weekend?
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