Work started early this morning, and no, nothing on the ponds. The living room carpet needed cleaned and definitely cleaned it. That and the rest of the living room. There is a love seat in there that is in great condition - but I haven't been able to sell OR trade it for anything. I'm thinking of giving it away to get it out of here. It is out of place and I can't envision ever finding a way to incorporate it.
In reality, I need new carpet and at least one new recliner would be nice. A pipe dream, perhaps, but it gives me reason to continue saving.
I apparently forgot to pay the water bill last month (I could have sworn I did and I'm going to go looking through my checking account for such) and have been slammed with 2 months of a huge bill. Bye bye to the bonus of it's true. And, bye bye to any idea of getting a new computer. Or not, who knows. Tenants are pretty much paying regularly now so it is feasible that I can still get ahead enough to get some of the stuff done that I need done.
I could also pay off the 401k loan and get another. It has around $600 left on it. Pay it off - have to wait 30 days to get another one but a couple of grand right now would be extremely helpful. At 4.25% interest it's the best deal around. Excepting, of course, compromising my retirement account. Haven't given any real thought to it, would rather not, don't know. Again, wait and see what happens with tenants and if the check from the insurance company comes in - even if only $400 or $500 - it will still be a big boost.
Electric use IS on the way down, hopefully it will really take a plunge with getting some of these people and using Ben's Laundromat far more than necessary for one person to either stay within my new limits or - pay for the excessive use above and beyond rent. I threw this idea around with several people I know and I continued to get the same answer: with the rent you're charging and the fact that you don't ask extra for utilities, yes, by all means, do charge extra for laundry. In fact, the consensus was to not give ANY freebies away. I DID stop saying in my ads that laundry was also included in the cost of rent because I was getting tired of footing that bill.
As for the house, I still have quite a lot to do, but I also have to get some stuff on the ponds done as well. I have to switch the 3 filters around and that will take at least an hour. I want to clean the carpet in the hallway and my bedroom and give my bathroom a spic and span cleaning as well as my bedroom.
Yes, it will be a full, long day to say the least. Gotta run up to the store and get some more paper towels, laundry detergent and softener..................and with that, I'm outta here.
Happy Sunday.
ben
3 comments:
We were just hit with a large water bill ($271) not sure for how many days though.
Yikes - that's a big bill. Mine was higher - but - it's my bad for forgetting. Thankfully they didn't shut it off! I'm sure THAT would go over well with tenants....
Monday
If weekends are supposed to be laid back, relaxing and a time of rejuvenation, then nix this last one. I spent all day Saturday getting the new pond up and dealing with other ponds and I spent all day Sunday cleaning and also moving pond filters around, plus cleaning them.
I am glad to have all that stuff done, yes, but wow, that was a lot of work. As for my dad's visit tomorrow, just a few more things I need to get done around the house and I will be finished with that. As for the ponds, I removed all fish from the turtle pond and put them in both the big pond and medium-sized one and am considering shutting the turtle pond down.
I just don't like these turtles. They are not friendly, they don't come up to you at all, like I have seen in other ponds, they are always hiding at the bottom, they are useless creatures as far as I'm concerned. I have seen a couple of ads on Craigslist from people wanting red earred slider turtles, I am teetering on giving them a call and seeing if they want to come get them.
That would knock it down to 2 ponds up and running and for now, that's all I want. The small feeder pond I was using up until I did the big switch I am considering just getting rid of it. It is in bad condition - I bought it from a family who had had small kids playing in it like it was a playground (fortunately I got it cheap and I DID get some use out of it) - they did some damage in terms of structural integrity and portions of it collapse when filled with water. It still holds water, yes, but I really don't think I want to continue using it. That would leave me with 4 ponds, 2 of them up and running. At max, now that I have a bit better grasp of what I am doing here, I want 3 ponds going. So, probably get rid of another one and be down to 3 of them.
I am in no hurry to figure that out right now, definitely NOT in a hurry to start trying to dig out another pond hole. Great exercise, sure, but I am not exactly motivated. I do want to put one out front - a small one but again, not high on my list of priorities. Have to figure out what to do with the dirt that is pulled out of the ground and THAT definitely poses a problem. I'll sit out there for a while and just look at the situation and try to figure out what my next move is.
Meanwhile, I need to get a power station going out there so, that is probably my next small project. The big pond isn't exactly "done" yet, but it is up and running, the intended result for this weekend's exertions.
They were saying on the news on the way into work this morning that there is rain coming. Perhaps, but from looking at the radar, it isn't that much rain. Still, I haven't been watering hardly at all lately - my plants that is - as long as they look okay, I am not watering them right now to get a bit of a reprieve from high water bills.
LOTS of work to do today in our truck routing system. In fact, it should take the entire day to finish all of that. Which is fine with me. If there is one thing I hate, it's starting a work week on a Monday with NOTHING to do.
With that, I'm outta here. Got a few minutes to take a look at the political bantering - apparently the Dems have conceded that they are going to lose at least a dozen seats and Obama is whining about how nobody listens to him......lol.
G'day.
ben
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