Grandma's Pearls

Second cup of coffee and....

OK, I'm on my 2nd cup of coffee and my daughter calls. Just to keep me updated on the B.S. with her husbands ex internet girlfriend and the dna test for paternity of the baby that her husband and the internet chick had together. Also, to let me know that her oldest daughter's biological sperm donor has been asking questions about her and wanting to know how she is doing. Guess he is through pondering the fatherhood aspect and now he wants to try to be one. Well, 13 years later is a little too late to try to become her dad. My daughter didn't have 13 years to decide if she wanted to be her mother and she has had a dad since she was just a few months old. My daughter wants him to sign away his rights so her husband can legally adopt her daughter. I think that is a good idea, since the man she is married to has been her father since she was a baby. He has been there for her 1st steps, 1st tooth, 1st shots, 1st everything. Her biological donor didn't even acknowledge her existence when we took her to show him his daughter. He wanted nothing to do with her and my daughter wanted nothing from him after the way he reacted to having become a father. It is a little to late for him to try to make amends now! While I am on the phone with my daughter, my other daughter calls, I still have to call her back. Then, before I can hang up with one kid to call the other, their dad calls, so I have to answer that one. He just calls to BS and then he hangs up. So, now I have to call my other daughter, who I am sure called just to be calling. She does this everyday. What can I say, my kids love their Mom and I love it!!!

Like any parent, it can be annoying sometimes but I wouldn't have it any other way. They make me feel needed, sometimes just because they can and sometimes because they really do need me for something. I makes me feel good. OK, on to something completely different, sort of anyway.

I got a letter in the mail the other day, it was informing us that we have a new property manager for the rental house that we are in now. We have lived in this house for the last 15 years and it has been sold (within the family) about 3 times since we have been in it. At this point, it is obvious that the owners are just in the rental house business for the money. The house needs so much work on it that it would be considered a slum house. My husband and I have tried to maintain the house as much as we can without spending a small fortune, but, to no avail. The plywood is coming off of the side of the garage, it is warped and coming off from the bottom up, the window that was in it has fallen out, into the garage years ago, but, when they put the new roof on the house, they put one on the garage too. Even though it is in the condition that it is in. The roof on the house still leaks, the house is slowly sliding off of the foundation. It is raised up off of the ground about 3 feet, with a double row of brick for the foundation. We had a pipe break a few years ago, under the house. The property manager at the time, would only send someone for maintenance if it was an emergency situation and it was. The man he sent to fix the broken pipe, didn't want to climb under the house, so, he busted out a hole in the brick. The hole is about 4 ft around, maybe, and ever since then, the house has slowly moved. Just the slightest bit, but it is noticable inside the house. I can put a marble at one end of the living room and it will roll to the other side of the room, without any help at all. Yes, just like the commercial, I have doors that won't shut. The ceiling tiles in the dining room/den, are acoustic tiles. They were measured wrong when they were put up there and so they tend to fall out. We probably have about 15 of them that we can't put back because they broke when they fell out. Those cost too much money for us to buy them and try to replace them. The manager knew about them, but did nothing. He knew about the roof leak for years and just kept sending someone to patch it instead of fixing it the right way. The bedroom where the leak originated, is totally un-usable. The ceiling fell in and ruined the waterbed that I had, did we get reimbursed for it or get credited for it, NO! We spent most of the winter freezing our butts off because the heater went out. They came and gave us a wall heater that uses gas and has an electric fan. I still had to use the oven for heat just to keep it somewhat comfortable in the house. I also have little electric heaters that I would move from room to room. It just gets better and better. It feels like the house is out to get me because it knows that I don't want to be here anymore. I want to move back home, yesterday! But, that is going to be a few months down the road. I have to figure out how to save some money so that we can move by the summer time. If I have to stay in this state too much longer, I'll go absolutely CRAZY!!!!

But, enough of that. I have to go to the bank and make a deposit and then go pay the water bill which is $175.00. Yes, there is a water leak and we haven't been able to find it so the water bill is outrageous. I told the property manager and he said for me to turn the water off at the meter. Make sure everything is off, if the little dial is still moving, there is a leak. DUH! Did he say he would send someone to find it and fix it, NO! Are they going to put a clean-out trap for the plumbing, supposed to, but haven't seen anyone show up to do that yet either. Don't really expect them too. They are just in it for the money. Too bad I don't have the money to move right now. If I did, I would turn them into the housing people for being a slum lord and not maintaining the property. They tried to get us to buy this house last year for $60,000.00 I just laughed and said No, thank you but NO! There is a house around the corner from us that is selling for under $30,000.00 There is no way this house is worth that much money. It would take at least $20,000. to fix it up. Then it might be worth that kind of money. They would have to add a dishwasher, garbage disposal, central air and heat and carpeting throughout the house instead of just in the bedrooms. The kitchen cabinets would have to be replaced, a sheetrock ceiling is needed in the dining room/den and new floor tile is needed in one of the bathrooms. There are light fixtures that need to be repaired and or replaced, celing fans that need to be replaced, wiring that needs to be checked, repaired and or replaced, plumbing that needs to be repaired and or replaced, not to mention the foundation that needs to be checked, repaired, whatever they do for that. This house needs a major overhaul. Anyway, I've got things to do, so I better stop for now. I should be back tomorrow but it is Saturday and there is a Barrett Jackson auction on tv, so my husband will be up before noon. I might not be able to log in again until Monday. So, Have a Good Weekend!!!!