Broke And Broken

Lots of extra work is bad, but having some extra money is good.

speaking of good, I finally rented out my garage! yup, it's been vacant
since the incident with the homeless tweeker (who decided to store himself
in there.) I'm renting it for $75 a month with a $75 deposit, the guy who
came by last night is really cool and he had cash in hand and signed
everything without any craziness. then, just to make things more gooder, he
even bought some of my dads old tools that I was storing in the garage. so
with that and the money I made working for my dad this weekend I've got a
good sized deposit going into the bank today.

with the extra money I'm tempted, sooooo tempted, to buy fun stuff instead
of being responsible (like Red Vs Blue, the Blood Gulch Chronicles, The
Complete Series). but alas, I must be responsible because I'm an adult and
being an adult means that you can't do anything fun. (being an adult sucks).
so I decided to break out my "broken" list.

the broken list is a running tab I keep in my mind of all the things I need
to fix as soon as I have the money to do so... needless to say the list has
gotten long.


The Broken List

THE CONDO
-the couch has a tear in the back rest and is missing a cushion
-the blinds in the living room were broken by my ex-roommates booty call (he
was either going out for a smoke or contemplating jumping from the balcony,
neither would surprise me.)
-the AC unit needs to be recharged, also, the dick holes who painted the
complex painted the AC unit too. so the thing is running at 1/3 capacity.
-the front window has detached from the frame, so the lock is the only thing
holding it together.
-the washing machine has a leak somewhere under the drum. it randomly starts
to leak
-from numerous burger nights my carpet has gone Dalmatian on me.
-the toilet seat in my bathroom is all "bumpy" from water damage from the
previous owner/renter


THE TRUCK
-it needs a wash. either I pay someone else to do it, or I need to go buy
new supplies.
-my check engine light has been on for nearly five months. I know it's just
the O2 sensor in the exhaust system, but those little bastards are $90
minimum.
-there is a rip in my fill hose (the hose that goes from the gas cap to the
tank). I won't blow up or anything (I hope) but if I fill all the way up it
leaks gas and I think it's evaporating out of the tank quicker.
-the door won't open all the way. my truck has been making that "old man
truck" noise when I open the door. this weekend the pin fell half way out
and the door wouldn't close. I knocked it back into place and this morning
the door wouldn't open all the way.
-I'm still missing the front license plate off my truck. oddly enough while
I was at the gas station I saw a guy with a corvette and asked him if cops
harassed him for not having a plate, he said no one has ever said a word
about it.
-it just dawned on me that I don't remember the last time I paid my
registration on my truck.
-it need the air filter replaced, fluids filled, and some other stuff that
will probably break on my way to work in the morning
-the ignition switch (the thingy you put your key in) is broken, well after
the key is out I have to fondle my thingy to stop it from chiming.


with all that, we haven't even touched on my debts.
$3000 on the American Express
$4000 on the Chiropractor
$400 on the Best Buy Card (for the PS3)
$1 for Daniel at work (I wanted a bag of Fritos)

oh, damn near forgot about my Mortgage, Association dues, Gas, Water,
Electric, Cable/Internet, Gasoline, Cell Bill, Toll Road, life insurance,
and two automated savings accounts...

welp, there when that "whoo-who" I was feeling over my so-called extra
money. I think I'm going to go clip some coupons now.




exile

Fingering My Wet Hole

I've been busy lately, stressed mostly

as you may recall from a previous Haiku Friday Post, I've run into a bit of trouble with my condo.

it started with a knock on my door, my neighbor from down stairs (who i had never seen until this moment) asked me if i had a water leak.

my eyebrow was raised

he told me that was a problem in his bathroom and it appeared to be related to my unit. seeing as though the floor plans are identical i worried that the problem in his bathroom was a problem in mine.

OK, now, before i get into this too far, this is what i saw in my bathroom...


hmmmmm.... a bubble, that's not a good thing

here's what i found in his:




can you believe that? Tinkerbell stickers on the mirror!

oh, and a large chunk of the ceiling collapsed with a sprinkling of black mold (for flavor)

i guess MR. Bubble was hiding a secret



now, as you can imagine, I'm in complete joyous rapture over this. i mean, i can barely pay my mortgage on my condo and now it looks like it's literally falling out from under me. (irony has that effect on me)

So, my pop came over and "took a look" at the problem...



this is what we found. now, for those of you who are not familiar with plumbing and how it works, pipes only work when they're connected. you can see by the calcium build up on the pipe, this "connection" let go some time ago. the pipe off to the left is the one that connects the sink drain to the sewer pipe (where the poo poo goes.)

here's the real pisser. see the rubber coupling there? that's not supposed to be there. you only use those things in "emergency" repairs.

"so why is a temporary pipe thingy sealed away inside a wall behind your toilet" you ask? simple, it's cheaper than doing it the right way.

the funny thing is that no one has been using this bathroom since October of last year (save for the occasional guest), so for the amount of damage that was done this had to be going on for years... and that's just about the time frame that the unit below me has been vacant.

yup, for nearly two years, every time someone has washed their hands or poured something down the drain this pipe has dumped the water right into the wall filling the ceiling of the unit below me. (always wanted an indoor pool).

my first reaction was to do what any sound minded homeowner would do, i called "my insurance company". allow me to tell you what they said about my policy:

Mr. Exile, you policy does not cover the following:
-Water Damage
-water damage to other Units resulting from your unit
-repairs
-parts
-mold or mold removal
Your policy does cover:
-hiring a Leak Detection
-damages done while detecting the leak
Oh, and Mr. Exile, you also have a $1,000 deductible

when i asked what my policy did in fact over he told me it was "slip and fall" protection and "fire damage". (mental note, buy better insurance)

there is one stroke of luck to this tail of woe, my dad was/is a general contractor and "Mr. Fix-it Extraordinaire". he was so enthralled with fixing this problem that he made it a daily routine to come over and tinker on my condo. he'd call me and tell me he wanted me to come over an help, but by the time i got home from work he was already done for the day.

i think his rational for tackling this project were that:
1. he was helping his family, and that makes anyone feel ten feet tall
2. it got him out of the house and away from my mother
3. it's been a long time since he did work like this and was so appreciate for it.
4. because he knew he could (between the cancer, radiation, and Kemo, i think he needed to do stuff to feel like his old self again.)

as usual my dad came through will flying colors. he...
-fixed the pipe,
-patched up the wall,
-killed the mold
-patched up downstairs
-and reinstalled the toilet (after i couldn't do it. the flange broke...)

of course this beast of a project still won't die, with all the commotion, the toilet is now leaking from the tank. this looks like something i can fix, i just have to replace the bolts, re secure a pipe fitting, sacrifice a goat, and so one (typical toilet fixing stuff.) between this and the stress at work (bleck). I've been too pooped to do anything (which is ironic seeing as through I've been without that toilet, yet pooped. oh the funniness)

so thanks to my dads awesomeness, this has only cost me $50 bucks in parts, and a few weekends doing yard work at my parents house. needless to say it's a small price to pay for it all.

*sigh* I've been living in this condo for three years (this September) and it's been nothing but heartache and woe. an uphill battle scraping together what little i can to feed this place.
-I've had homeless guys living in my garage-I've had a roommate try to steal $3,000 dollars from me
-I'm paying $1400 a month on my condo (that's just mortgage and association) and the condos my grandma owns in this complex are renting for just $950. (i love the housing market! don't you?)
-and now I'm sinking so deep into debt so deep that when i finally unload this place I'll be lucky to break even


the only way i can see to pull my self out of this hole is to get a roommate and a second job... so much for my PS3 Trophies.




Exile