Moving along

(Random studio pictures)

Sometimes I think I am being tested, then other times I think no, it's just life, and life can be tricky any time at all.

A few months ago, we had a huge wind storm, and there was a lot of banging on my roof.  Apparently, the cap on the chimney came apart.

In addition, I started having  this issue in my upstairs hallway, with creosote stains coming down the walls.  I knew it was a chimney issue, and I assumed it was related to the chimney cap.

So I called in the chimney people.  They were quick to respond, and very pleasant, but their news was so not good.

First of all, the person I trusted to put the chimney cap on, L's brother in fact, did the worst, and cheapest, job possible.  So far, the chimney people, and a roof contractor have seen it, and were both blown away, that anyone would do that.

Secondly, the ridge cap, put on years back by another contractor, was not a real ridge cap at all, and thus leaking, as was the crappy flashing job around the chimney.

The bottom line is:   

The chimney is over 200 years old, dangerous, and cannot be used at all, ever.

The chimney needs to be repointed, and permanently capped, the roof ridge cap and flashing etcetera all needs fixing.

To vent my oil furnace out the wall requires something called a side slip vent that is very pricey.

My plumbing and heating guy, who has not steered me wrong in 20 years, suggests ditching the oil furnace, and for $4400 getting a new gas furnace that can vent out the wall, is cleaner, more efficient, and will save me lots of $ in fuel in the long run.

So furnace is coming tomorrow.

Got the quotes from the roof guy, and while I am sure they are fair, they stopped me in my tracks.

$8000 for all the roof work.

And I didn't mention the plaster damage in the upstairs hall......from the water pouring down.....that's another $1900...

Don''t bother adding it all up....it's nauseating.

Then yesterday I had no water.  I panicked thinking I needing a new well pump, since mine is about 44 years old.   That would be a $2000+ price tag, and I am hemorrhaging money at this point.   But the well people came yesterday, and it was not the pump, but a pressure switch on the side of my water tank in the basement.  $278.

The upside of that is that after years of having crappy water pressure in this old house, I now have incredible water pressure, which I am thoroughly enjoying.

Then the other night, the hose that connects the toilet upstairs, to the water line, sprung a huge leak, and water was spraying everywhere.

It just never ends.

All this has been overwhelming, but I realized, doable.  The hardest part is not having Bill here to do it all with me.  That is so true about problem being half as bad when you have someone to share it with.  It sounds cliche, but in reality, it has a bite.

As I sit here bemoaning the bad things that have

befallen me, once again, the little voice in my head, tells me to stop.

It reminds me of ALL the things I have to be thankful for.

My personal opinion, which I have probably shared with you all before, is that we Americans are spoiled.

Spoiled rotten.

For the most part.

We have so much, and yet it is never enough.  

We spend our lives acquiring money, and property and 

STUFF.

We forget what is important.

I know all these problems won't last, and I know that they really aren't 

tragic.  I just have to muddle through them as best I can, and I have to look around me, and practice gratitude for all the amazing things in my life.

Above all, I am grateful for my serenity, an inner strength, that I believe we all have, that gets me up every morning, and pushes me into the new day.

Onward!