Looming Deadlines, Lack of Sleep, Too Much Coffee...  All add up to...

...you got it!  Procrastination Time!

I looked back at my last post (ahem, June?) and realized that I've been putting off posting anything new for fear that I'd crash the server with the novel that has become my summer.  So, without further ado...

The Move:

July 4th weekend, we got everything into the house.  Problem was, not everything was ready IN the house to get into it.  I'm a fan of spending money locally since we live in a suburb of San Francisco and most of the revenue base gets sucked up outside of the community.  That's why we decided to hire a local carpet place to do the install for our carpet upstairs.  We thought for a second we could just clean it, but then noticed the huge black stain in the hallway and some dried white substance splattered (don't go there, folks) in one corner of the master bedroom and opted to change it out. 

Well, long story short, it took the carpet folks a month longer than they thought to get the carpet completed.  They misscheduled the install date and then had an emergency with their crew and couldn't spring a crew free to complete our install.  So we had 3 bedrooms and no hall or stairs completed.  When they did get back a couple of days later, they told us they hadn't measured properly and were short carpet for the stairs.  Once that came in (2 weeks later) they did the install, but neglected to finish the stairs in the same way.  It was like pulling teeth to get the installer to rework the top step in order for it to match the rest of the stairs...

All this took place after Katie had a complete meltdown in the store.  Mind you that we had been calling the store forever to get an update and they kept pushing us off.  So, Katie decided that we needed to speak with the owner of the business.  When we got there, the clerk informed us that the owner wasn't available.  Problem was, the jerk was sitting in his office in plain view of us behind the counter.  We persisted and finally had it out with the owner, who refused to look us in the eye, and did nothing but blame us for the problems that had occured.  Talk about insulting.  So, that business is now off our list.

Pool:

We inherited an in-ground pool with this house.  According to the pool service who had been contracted to keep the pool working over the past 5 years, the former owners had stopped paying for services last winter.  Since then, the cover had pulled out of its tracks and fallen into the pool, the filter hasn't run in over 6 months, and the service assured me that the tadpoles taking up residence in the green slimy water was not a normal occurance.

Unfortunately, two months later, the pool was still murky, and unusable, so we fired the old pool service, brought in another one highly recommended by some friends and we now have a functioning pool.  If anyone tells you that a pool is a huge hole in the ground that you just throw money into, believe them.  We had to replace the cover (unrepairable), put a smaller impeller on the pump (oversized for the pool), installed a new filter (undersized for the pool), and will have a new heater (burned out from rats eating through the wiring) next week.  So, all new equipment.  Getting the water back to clear and swimmable has cost us an additional $400/mo in electric bills (running the pump 24/7 for 2 months straight) plus the cost of chemicals and equipment.  But, at the end of next week, we'll have an operable hot tub and will be planning for solar pool heating for next summer.

HOA:

This house is in a Home Owners Association, so we have a set of Covenents, Rules & Restrictions (CR&R's) to abide by.  But, according to the property management that is contracted to manage the HOA, WE didn't follow the rules when we bought the house.  SCUZE ME?  Apparently, there are requirements and fees that were to be paid out of escrow by the title company we used for purchase of the house, and they didn't follow those requirements nor paid the fees.  The Property Management has been less than forgiving in helping us to sort this out, and I have got nothing but lip from them about how WE caused them extra work, etc.  Sorry, lady, but you know, we didn't ASK for this title company.  As a bank forecloser purchase, we were forced to use the bank's title company, some discount joint that was definitely the most difficult place I've ever worked with (aside from the carpet store, that is).  Here we are three months later and we've still not received the CR&R's nor the association pool keys.  But, we have had the landscape committee knock on our door and request we start pouring water on our dead grass in the front yard.  LOL.  Looks like I'll have the opportunity to put my Landscape Architecture skills to work sooner than anticipated.
Well, that's enough blab for now.  I want to catch you all up on the rest of the summer, although it sure seems to me (as well as to the boys) that this summer was nothing about anything else but this damned house move.  You know, I almost agree with them too.