Do I whine very much on my blog? I don’t think I’ve spouted off a real zinger yet but I’m about to - prompted by changing a friggin’ pot light. Or trying to.
And please keep in mind, I am not bemoaning the lack of a man. (Although a resident handyman would be nice.) I am griping about my house (old) and my half-assed repair skills.
I am so very tired of things falling apart in this house – things both large and small. I’m tired of trying to fix them myself with initial enthusiasm for the task but (usually) with only a minimal degree of success. Or none at all. And I’m tired of asking others for help. “Others” includes my sons who do their very best.
I’m tired of adding to the list of repair jobs I’m eventually going to have to hire someone to do.
I’m tired of forking over money (big bucks) for the major repairs that have had to be done these past few years.
So why don’t I just shut up and move? I can’t. I cannot move until legal matters are settled.
And then, when I contemplate that particular moment in time, I do an about-face and think – maybe I won’t move right away, maybe I’ll give myself some breathing space, a time–out before tackling yet another major change in my life. And a move would be a tremendous change. I’ve lived in this house for 22 years.
But if I stay, I’ll still be dealing with a falling apart house. A Catch-22.
When you’re changing a pot light (located in a very high ceiling) and the new light does not work after all your effort and you feel a momentary urge to cry (or smash the damned pot light or faulty receptacle), you know things are not going swimmingly. You know you have reached a low point in your coping abilities.
Do not mistake this post as an invitation to a pity party. I HATE pity. A whine is a momentary get-it-off-your chest kind of thing. When you put it out there – whooshh!!! – you feel a little better. You rebound from a good whine. Pity (particularly self-pity) destroys the soul.
My soul is still kickin’. Maybe a wishful thinking kind of kicking in terms of kicking/smashing a pot light, a gate, a broken door handle, windows that won’t stay open, etc., but nevertheless, still kicking.
Note to self: Get a grip. Knock off the bloody whining and call (yet another) repairman. Or take a course in home repairs. Even if I fail miserably, at least I’ll have met a reputable repairman/woman. I can hire the teacher!
photo credit: www.flickr.com/photos/rbarenblat/1241392269/in/set-72157601679569377/
21 comments:
I always feel after I've had a good whine that the next step is to have ANOTHER good WINE...red usually does it, but white will do just fine...after that, I generally don't care about the first WHINE at all!! :)
I agree with Sherry Lee. And both wines/whines are best with very good friends!
Having a resident repairman would be nice for you. I don't believe you have ever had one...
You WILL take on that move when you are ready. NEW house, new life...you are getting closer, honest. I'll help you look and pack!
a man is no guarantee of getting things done around the house. so disabuse yourself of that myth.
unless you're looking for a "handy" handyman. (^^)
so at the end of your whine, you provided the perfect answer: take a home repair class. lowes and home depot both offer free classes.
and and and... their sales people will even tell you what you need to do if you ask them.
let your friends know you're struggling with repairs. no, i don't mean a pity plea. ask them if they know a good handyman who doesn't charge a charm and an egg. almost everyone has a brother-in-law or cousin who does electrical work or windows.
and, as sherry and deidra say, a glass of wine with some friends solves a lot of anxiety.
I'm finally getting a bunch of those repairs taken care of. Incredible how much it all costs! In my next life, a guy will have to pass a handyman test before I marry him. Hey, I just thought of that!! Maybe it's not a bad idea at all. :) Oh, oh, oh and I could come up with a whole bunch of tests. Of course, probably any potential spouse would look at the list of tests and run away! So, agreeing to take the tests is a test too! Ha!
I so agree with you about falling apart houses...grrrr....I won't go into that whole saga that we are also dealing with...
I may know a good handyman though, if you want I'll give you the info....
sherry lee:
A glass or a bottle?
deidra:
And thank God for those friends.
msb:
I won't hold you to that promise to help pack - the task is formidable!
seraphine:
thank you...reading your comment was like listening to a friend...
barrie:
They'd either run away or prepare their own tests. ;)
oreneta:
It would be great to have the name of a handyman with a reference - one I could trust.
I'll email you - thanks.
Bitching and moaning is an essential part of life. Especially when it comes to home improvement.
I must say - I was thinking that you had a lot of repairs in your house -- so I think your whining is justified...
For whatever it's worth...
I think a good whine is always needed from time to time. House repairs kill me. My husband always wants to do it himself, thus the 16 unfinished projects all around the house. Not to mention that he is not the handyman he thinks he is. Unless watching HG TV makes you an expert.
I hope this latest problem gets fixed soon. It is tough when you feel stuck. I do know that this will pass, you will be able to move forward and your spirit will be even stronger.
XXXXXX
congrats!
Hey a good-ass rant is great for cleaning the pipes once in awhile. LOL
I agree with the others...a good WINE is always a nice thing to ahve.
and a course in home repair might not be a bad idea...or at least a book about home repair! ;)
You can do it!
I so agree with you about pity. It's a wet, smelly blanket I'd rather do without. A nice, relieving gripe session, though, is another matter.
Home repairs, hmmm, maybe you can schedule a nice visit to the spa for yourself after you get all the repairs done? A little reward always keeps me going.
of course, beth, you're probably using the damaged house as a kind of metaphor for how you feel.
in which case, simply cleaning the chimney might be enough.
:\
Well, I hope that photo isn't a shot of your house or else you need to do more than whine. Some days it's just like that. No matter what you try to accomplish. Sometimes you just need to walk away from it for a while. Unless, of course, that pot light is essential. As nice as they are, I don't like them because they require me to teeter on a ladder and I've never been comfortable with that. The other repairs - I don't know what to say other than those things seem to come in bunches and as soon as you sell the house, the new owners will be repair-free for years (kind of like an old car, as soon as you sell it it stops breaking down). I'm all for keeping the house for a while and trying to learn some basic stuff. There are some good books out there - one classic is a (believe it or not) Reader's Digest home fix-it manual - it has saved my bank account any number of times.
I get this. I can barely do a light bulb, let alone the handy man stuff. You need someone like that handy man who lived in or near the hotel that Bob Newhart had! Remember that?
Golly, that house looks it needs a touch of paint lol
as for the whining . . .No pity parties here either but I am a big proponent of the "Whining Allowance" it really does wonders for clearing the fog of frustrations.
House repairs are just like paperwork in my mind: a necessary evil that I have to be in the right frame of mind to cope with. Fullest empathy from me on this whine.
Oh, yikes, good luck with that.
If the house is in such poor condition, though, don't you worry you'll have trouble selling it when the time comes.
Oh, a good WINE always helps now and again.... =)
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