On Black Clouds

Funny thing about black clouds: they don't stay forever. When they've been hanging over your head for a long time, and then move away, albeit temporarily, sometimes you're left numb.
I haven't blogged in a while. I don't want to say it's because I haven't had much to complain about (with the exception of healthcare and politics, but who doesn't complain about those things?) I didn't want my blog to be one continuous complaint after another. I wanted to help. There's also the fact that I haven't made any major purchases due to healthcare cost issues. Unfortunately, I do know a few people who are going through life with my black clouds over their heads. They will get through it all too. I believe if the Lord takes you too it, the Lord will get you through it. I know things can always be worse, so I hoped I never came off as feeling sorry for myself. What I have experienced this time around- is that when the clouds moved away, I was left feeling empty. Somewhat defeated. I was not left in a place where I can experience joy either. But I guess "numb" is a safe place, so I must be here for a reason. Or can it be? Am I getting to old for all this?

Leaf Guard Gutters

I had Leaf Guard gutters installed last year. I thought they were a great idea....wrong...the birds think they are a great idea but that is about it. I was leary about having "open" gutters but anxious to get my old gutters replaced, not just anxious, desperate. The water pooring into my basement was getting scary. Replacing the gutters did fix the problem. This spring, I think just about every small bird on the east coast discovered that my gutter was the perfect place to build a nest a start a family. It is so bad that the bricks that make up my front steps are erroding due to the constant waterfall pouring onto them from the clogged gutters. As usual let the buyer beware...especially in times of desperation!

2007 Toyota Tacoma

We have a 2007 Toyota Tacoma. At 16,000 miles the clutch needs replaced. 16,000 miles.... not 50,000, not even 25,000 miles,...... 16,000. Toyota claims this is not covered by the warranty because it is normal "wear and tear". What is normal about needing a new clutch at 16,000? I say nothing. I think maybe Toyota is putting out defective vehicles with defective parts and claiming it is "normal wear and tear" if a clutch goes at 16,000 miles. Now I could see if there was a pile of metal sitting in my driveway from grinding the crap out of the gears, or if maybe.....a very slim maybe....if the driver of the vehicle was inexperienced at driving a stick, but neither of these are the case. Toyota headquarters is holding their ground about the normal wear and tear thing. Maybe, we, the taxpayers, should be helping to bail them out too if they can't afford to put decent parts on a $30,000 truck. Any body else want to stand in line with their hands out?

American Standard Toilets, Part 3

Just to keep you updated, I am on my 3rd flusher handle. The flushing mechanism appears too difficult/heavy to pull up without staining, so the handle keeps snapping off. The toilet continues to clog. I actually got a co-worker to return the one they purchased after hearing all the problems I have had.

College and the Middle Class

I could make this short and sweet and just say-forget about it! But if you have read other posts in my blog, you will know by now that I can't do that.
I can't say that when I graduated from high school that I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. Ah Contrare! I didn't have a clue. I knew I wasn't interested in college. I joined the ranks of the full time working world and carved my career plan for life. I didn't know it at the time but that is another story.
My son was lost and scared upon graduating high school. (Weren't we all?) We went to college fairs when he was in 7th or 8th grade, he was always interested in art. He decided to try a semester at community college, after graduation. It wasn't a good fit.
He started to puruse Art schools. Prefering a suburban area, we checked out the Art Institute of York, PA. We had compared several schools for programs and tuition costs, as well as pre-requisites for acceptance. To visit the school, I decided to follow the GPS directions. That will never happen again. The estimated 2 hour trip had crawled onto 3 hours in no time. We road on every off-the-beaten path that existed between Lancaster and York. We were placed behind several buggies, (cool, but I didn't want to be driving behind one) and even re-routed (due to either a fire or a truck driving into a house, I'm not clear on that one). I was suprised to see that AI of York, looked like a two story office building. It was very small. We came in the back way, past the Shoehouse, past several farms, by a row of townhouses and then entered a small industrial park. The program seemed to be a good fit. I wasn't sure about the rest of it. I did my financial aide preparation over the next week. I was disheartened to see that PA won't give NJ residents state aide and vice-versa. I am a middle class wage earner. I worked long and hard to repair my credit after a bad marriage. I worked even harder on earning more money. Sometimes, I worked several jobs at a time, mostly working from home. In the past two years, after taking a second job, I was doing better than I ever had. Of course, I sabatoged myself with that one. My parents didn't put me through college. It didn't work that way. I figured it out on my own over a span of 10 years, but at least I figured it out. Right? I thought he'd appreciate an education, if he had to work for it. We were not eligible for any free money and a very minimal Stafford loan. I was told there was a parent loan (PLUS) that I should apply for. They said everyone was being turned down for them, because of the economy, and if I wasn't approved, he would be entitled to more Stafford Loans. Of course, I was approved. Someone out there decided that I could afford to pay back $60,000 in principal and interest. I am supposed to come up with an extra $600 per month, if my son doesn't pay it. No wonder this economy is bad. They garnish your wages over these loans. Or, my son, would be paying more than that back over a 10 year period. With starting wages estimated to be about $35,000 per year, he would have to live with me until he was 30. So in conclusion, it seems to me that you have to be poverty stricken or extremely wealthy to go to college these days. If you're middle class, forget about it!

on Windowizards

Even though the housing market has become a little (and I mean a LITTLE) more reasonable, I think houses are still overpriced. I wanted to move to a little "more house" now that my kids are out of school, but six months later and the economy being as scary as it is, I realized I can't afford "more house" even in townships with less-than-desirable school districts. I feel sorry for all the people that got suckered into overpriced houses with interest-only mortgages that they would never be able to pay when the principal payments became do. Greedy banks/mortgage companies and home owners put a hefty nail in the coffin of the American dream, not the President or the government (but that is another rant). So before I get off the subject, I decided to make the unusable spaces in my house, more usable. I had useless enclosed porch. (I don't understand why people do that.) This porch had custom made windows. Well not really windows, more like an outer single pain storm window and a custom built interior storm window with nothing in between. The whole room is on a slant. There is a good 2" difference from where the side wall touches the house and the front exterior wall. A challenge for any window installer. The front door was not the standard 80" door and the framework between the sidelites and the door where very thin. My brother used "Castle Windows" and was very unhappy. They put the wrong windows on his enclosed porch on the back of his house- but he learned to live with it. I researched Windowizards and read a lot of good feedback on them. The salesman came out and we discussed the pros and cons of replacing the doors and windows vs. turning it back into an open porch. I decided to go with the replacements. The windows were very nice and I very reasonably priced. I got 2 large sliders for the front of the house (at the salesman's suggestion)and decided to go with 2 regular pane windows on each side so I could put in a window air conditioner. I need to seriously think about the front door though with the 2 sidelites. I was expecting $1500 and it was really more like $3000. I decided to go for it, albeit painfully, but I thought realized I was putting these beautiful windows in with this old, drafty, wood/glass door in desperate need of TLC with a non-working lock. The carpenter was out about a week later measuring so everything could be ordered. After the carpenters visit, the salesman called to tell me since the framework around the door was not standard size, he wanted an extra $500. I said I didn't want the door then because it was so much anyway. We argued and guess what-I didn't pay the extra $500. The order arrived and was installed 2 weeks before the ETA. That was great. They did a beautiful job and the windows and the door look great. The space is now usable living space. Yea!! There was one set back. Two days after the door was installed I noticed all the wood on the base of the door jam was breaking off. Was this the result of the carpenter not getting his $500?? I sent the salesman a picture on a Saturday and Monday morning they said their service department would be out on Thursday to do the repairs. They were and I am quite happy with the finished product and my "new" room.

on Irish's Concrete

I wanted to put a deck on my house and I actually know a very good builder. He's just a little slow on getting back to me. I wanted a fairly large size deck, 20x18. I was going back and forth between using pre-treated wood or composite materials. I like to consider myself enviromentally conscientious, but this is a very controversal subject. On one hand, wood will decompose quickly and on its own. It would involve alot of painting and up keep. On the other hand, composite materials are basically plastic, they will be around for a long-long time, longer than us. They will scratch and fade and emit posionous gases/carcinogens that we are not aware of (look what has been discovered about water bottles and #5 plastics). The house will fall down before the deck will. Did I really want to spend 3x as much for this kind of deck? When the estimate came in at $12, ooo for regular wood, I decided to pursue other options. My builder suggested concrete. I went on line and found I liked stamped concrete. I called a few contractors and settled on a company called "Irish's Concrete". Joe Irish answered the phone right away. He was at my house the next day with a book that had a variety of styles and colors to choose from. It was March, so there season hadn't quite begun. I ordered a stone path stamp and the colors I wanted. Joe suggested a curved style to add character, in leiu of a rectangle. In a matter of a few days, I had a beautiful 20x18 patio and front walkway and they removed the "sidewalk to nowhere" that stopped about 6 feet short of the road in front of my house(?). All this in the neighborhood of about $3500. They were efficient and professional and very reasonable. I highly recommend them!!!! Five stars! I think there is a picture of my patio on his website gallery but it just shows the stamp and color not the whole patio. http://www.irishsconcrete.com/