I Got Poor in a Hurry (Or, It Was "National Everything in the House Break Down At Once" Day)
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (61935)
United States
June 21, 2021 3:36pm CST
Just like car ownership, if you own a house you own trouble.
I just didn't expect everything to decide to gang up on me in one day.
Yesterday (Sunday) I heard a smoke alarm chirping. Ah, nearing the end of its life (it's one of those sealed, "no worry" ten-year smoke detectors). No problem.
Then another one of the smoke detectors started chirping.
There's a place on the back to write the date of purchase so you know when it's time to replace it. I looked at the date, expecting these things to be eleven years old or something.
Nope. I bought them in December 2016.
That's not ten years, except in dog years. And I didn't say any asterisk that said "*Snoopy rules apply."
Anyway, last night I noticed my toilet was running. Instead of chopping its legs off (it's obviously having side effects from that covid vaccine, too!), I called the plumber for a "gut replacement." That's all the plastic doo-hickey stuff in the bowl. The water in Louisville is so hard it could be registered as a deadly weapon, so the rubber will erode in 3-5 years.
Okay....add something ELSE to replace to the list.
This morning, about 2:45 AM my time, I decided to stop watching the coverage of the tornado that hit the western suburbs of Chicago on Sunday night. I turned it off and went to sleep. About 45 minutes after I went to sleep I was awakened by MORE chirping.
Dang, am I in a bird house or something????
No, this time it was the carbon monoxide detector, giving me the "end of life" chirp.
Between buying a new stack of smoke detectors and CO2 detectors and paying the plumber (even with a coupon for a discount) I spent a little over $300 today.
Talk about getting poor in a hurry!
Oh, well. As I told my brother, you can't rent anything for $300 a week, let alone $300 a month, so I'll just pay the bills and thank God that there's no mortgage to worry about!
To relieve the headaches of those who don't like country music, here's the Rosemary Clooney (George Clooney's aunt, if you didn't know) version of a great old country song:
This fun song made the No.1 spot in the UK chart on the 26th November 1954,but only managed 1 week there !
16 people like this
14 responses
@GardenGerty (157481)
• United States
21 Jun 21
I think I have a dying carbon monoxide detector. Everything here needs fixed, but as you say, there is no mortgage.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
21 Jun 21
The $1,400 a month it would cost to rent an apartment goes a long way toward those $300 nuisance issues, doesn’t it. 
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54413)
• United States
22 Jun 21
one of my laugh out loud favorite movies is The Money Pit.
at one point we had a boat, and a house. A boat, a pit on the water you throw money into. House, a pit on land you throw money into.
no boat now!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
22 Jun 21
I couldn’t have a boat, either. I can barely afford the two money pits I have (house and car).
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
22 Jun 21
@DocAndersen — you forgot the CAR???? Oh, man. Expect a major complaint from the car soon. 
(Doesn’t it always work that way?)
(Doesn’t it always work that way?)1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54413)
• United States
22 Jun 21
@FourWalls i forgot the car pit. i have to cover my kids cars short term. wow, it is just a vacuum sucking the money out of my wallet.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
22 Jun 21
It was. They have different chirps based on what's wrong. The new ones work just fine and quietly!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
22 Jun 21
@rebelann -- they're a good company. I've used them before and I'm pleased with what they've done before. And I find them honest and reasonable. Plus, they have $25 off any service coupons!!!
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
22 Jun 21
I spent $10,000 in two months last spring in Florida, (ac unit, hot water heaters, plumbing issues, and washing machine) when you own a home, you can get whacked just bout any time.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61047)
• United States
22 Jun 21
@FourWalls Yup I feel pretty much the same
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
22 Jun 21
Yep, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. How many months has the house cost me nothing. As I said, two bedroom apartment rent is at least $1300, so I spent $300 but still saved a thousand!
@LindaOHio (155469)
• United States
22 Jun 21
I feel your pain. As you know, if you've been following my Discussions, I know EXACTLY what you're going through. Hopefully that's it for now.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
22 Jun 21
Yeah, at least I’m only dealing with one house. 
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (155469)
• United States
23 Jun 21
@FourWalls Now we are dealing with getting the waterproofing and foundation work done quickly enough to still sell the house this summer. They high-pressured us to sign right away because there were going to be crews in the area. Called yesterday and found out they have us scheduled for NOVEMBER 8. I called and pitched a fit. Got it changed to September 13. We hope to still get a cancellation sooner. What a pain!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
23 Jun 21
@LindaOHio — wow, I’d use the 72-hour cancellation law and get out of that sucker. Jerks. 
1 person likes this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
22 Jun 21
When it rains it pours. I even look at tapping into savings like this. As soon as you loosen the reigns and take a few bucks for some fun, it's like you have opened up a floodgate and then for a little while money just pours out for this thing and that thing.
I guess the silver lining is that at least its there to blow.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
22 Jun 21
My house was built in 1950, so I know there are going to be issues. I need to replace the roof (not an “emergency” replacement, but the “it’s getting time” replacement), and I’d like to replace the siding (which is at least 32 years old, because I’ve never replaced it) while I’m at it. I have an old cardboard box in the garage that I’ll use to make my sign: “NOT homeless, that’s why I need money for repairs.” 
First world problem, isn’t it. I hope the humor in the discussion proves I wasn’t really complaining. In fact, the biggest gripe about it all was the dang CO2 detector waking me up in the middle of the night.
First world problem, isn’t it. I hope the humor in the discussion proves I wasn’t really complaining. In fact, the biggest gripe about it all was the dang CO2 detector waking me up in the middle of the night. 1 person likes this
@porwest (78761)
• United States
23 Jun 21
@FourWalls You always have to see the lighter side of things in life. Stuff happens, of course, and it is what it is. We can always laugh about it later when the pain goes away. lol
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (45433)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
22 Jun 21
The plumber didn't try talking you into replacing the entire toilet?
1 person likes this
@BarBaraPrz (45433)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
22 Jun 21
@FourWalls Yes, and coincidently, I have the same problem. I just turned the water feed off for now and bucket flush.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (57354)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
21 Jun 21
What's that saying? Everything happens in threes? Well, at least you had the money. I'll be happy when I'm no longer paying a mortage.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
21 Jun 21
I’ve lived here 32 years, so it’s all mine now.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (86485)
• United States
22 Jun 21
I do recall this one as well Four Walls,
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (94747)
• Marion, Ohio
22 Jun 21
Thats not too bad in the huge picture
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (73201)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 Jun 21
Hope you can get everything fixed up. I should have sung that song in my house in Latvia, I was luck to sell it for when I left there was no water and the electric was failing,
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
21 Jun 21
Absolutely. All part of the joys of home ownership.
Thankfully, I did have an umbrella, figuratively speaking (as Kayla mentioned).
Thankfully, I did have an umbrella, figuratively speaking (as Kayla mentioned).
@Dena91 (15844)
• United States
21 Jun 21
Mike's moms CO2 detector started beeping the other week. We were at church so she had her neighbor replace the batteries.
$300 isn't too bad, but bad enough. We got our two big bills today home and car insurance $1,000.00 (a little bit over) Yay!!!
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (61935)
• United States
22 Jun 21
OUCH! Insurance should be named after Lou Reed, 'cause "everybody had to pay and pay."
I got two new CO2 detectors: one is a combo smoke detector/CO2 detector that runs on batteries, and the other is a plug-in with battery backup. What I found interesting in looking at the detectors is that make hard-wired detectors???? I guess those are for those all-over-the house security systems that are all wired together into one system.
I got two new CO2 detectors: one is a combo smoke detector/CO2 detector that runs on batteries, and the other is a plug-in with battery backup. What I found interesting in looking at the detectors is that make hard-wired detectors???? I guess those are for those all-over-the house security systems that are all wired together into one system.1 person likes this
