Big thanks to everybody who posted their experiences and observations on pellet stoves. Good links, too. That was helpful & informative — and very nice to see so many new people commenting.<\/p>\n
Also thanks to everybody who congratulated me on the new house and wished me (and it) well. I almost<\/i> had to post to say the well wishes were premature. Just when it looked as if things were going really great, I got the first roofing bid.<\/p>\n
… After the dogs administered some quick CPR, I took a deep breath and hoped the bid for my roof work had merely been mixed up somehow with the bid for a sports stadium or one of Nicholas Cage’s European palaces. (That was at 4:00 a.m. yesterday; I advise you never to open construction bids until you’re well fortified with the caffeinated and\/or alcoholic beverage of your choice.)<\/p>\n
A few hours later I got the home inspection report. Leslie’s verbal<\/i> report on the scene had been cheery and positive. But do you know what it’s like to read 41 pages about all the bad<\/i> features of the 100-year-old house you’re about to invest your life in? Century-old houses have a lot<\/i> of bad features. The dogs stood by with defibrillator paddles in case I needed help again. Fortunately, I had been warned about the dangers of reading inspection reports. I survived.<\/p>\n
Then the second roofing estimate came in. From the guy known for doing the lowest-cost quality work. It was higher than the first. I vaguely recall something about rising out of my body and seeing a luminous figure at the end of a tunnel, but then the dogs were licking my face again and I was back in the real world.<\/p>\n
Anyhow, if I’ve been quiet since yesterday morning it’s because I’ve been scrambling to figure out some work-arounds.<\/p>\n
But I think I got it now. Part of the roof, which is cedar shake, can probably be rehabilitated for the time being, rather than completely replaced. There will be a roofly reckoning to come, but the worst of it might be delayed for a few years. In the meantime, I just have to fix about half of the roof\/gutter\/fascia problems to keep an insurance company happy.<\/p>\n
Tonight I emailed the real estate broker to say go ahead, accept the inspection report, and head straight on to closing. So I can safely accept all those good wishes.<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
Now the part about the small-world department (as promised all the way up there at the top).<\/p>\n
Turns out that the people I’m buying the house from are Backwoods Home<\/i> subscribers. Since there are only about 50,000 of those, that’s quite a coincidence. When the broker told them who I was (and even, embarrassingly, showed them my Wikipedia entry), they knew me.<\/p>\n
But it gets better. Leslie, the blessed friend who found the house and has been functioning as my eyes, ears, legs, and brain on the scene, ran into the sellers while supervising one of the roofing bidders yesterday. The husband beamingly told her he owns several of my books. (And I can assure you there are a lot fewer than 50,000 of those<\/i> people in the world. So how big a coincidence is that?)<\/p>\n
I’m not only blessed in my friend Leslie, who has made out-of-state-sight-unseen home buying almost fun (well, sometimes). I feel exceptionally blessed with these sellers — and not just because they think kind thoughts of me. Both Leslie and the broker have told me they’re delightful people. And I know that from my own experience by all that they’ve already given me.<\/p>\n
I’ll be bringing one 5 x 8 trailer with my possessions — and not one stick of furniture for this great big house. These people have a lot of stuff (as I could see in the photos Leslie took), and are making a terribly big multi-trip move to another state. So early on, I offered, via the broker, to haul away any of their unwanted junk if they would leave a few useful items for me in exchange — garden tools, area rugs, shop tools, and the like. I figured we’d benefit on both sides. I didn’t ask for any big items.<\/p>\n
Yet they’re leaving me, in addition to many of the things I requested, a beautiful sofa with a lounger, a bed, a roll-top desk, and a dining-room set. Yes, perhaps it benefits them not to have to move so many large things. But it benefits me more to have them. Since even half a roofing job will take all my furniture budget, an unexpectedly furnished house is a huge deal.<\/p>\n
The husband also told Leslie he was leaving a selection of things that he thought “Claire Wolfe would appreciate.”<\/p>\n
Can’t wait to see what those might be. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
And I really do have to meet these nice people one of these days. Being that it’s such a small world, I expect I’ll have that opportunity even though they’re already living a state or two away and told Leslie they hoped they were making their last moving trip.<\/p>\n
—–<\/p>\n
I hope I haven’t tried your patience with so much house stuff this week. Here’s a promise. I’m going away for the weekend to enjoy a couple of de-stressing days. I’ll come back with Something Brilliant to Say. Or as close to brilliant as I can get.<\/p>\n
Anyway, it won’t be about roofs or pellet stoves. :-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Big thanks to everybody who posted their experiences and observations on pellet stoves. Good links, too. That was helpful & informative — and very nice to see so many new people commenting. Also thanks to everybody who congratulated me on the new house and wished me (and it) well. I almost had to post to say the well wishes were premature. Just when it looked as if things were going really great, I got the first roofing bid. … After the dogs administered some quick CPR, I took a deep breath and hoped the bid for my roof work had…<\/p>\n