Various Odds and Ends of Travel - Cambodia, part 1

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I've been really bad at blogging - I recently went paragliding in France and facilitated a "mock" exercise on a pandemic outbreak of Influenza in Benin (in French no less!), and I didn't even write about those... Blame it on the constant moving around, the house renovations and general laziness.

So let me catch you up on my most recent trip to Cambodia for work. I'll talk about the fun stuff only because if I talked about work, I'd have to kill you (sigh, just kidding... if only my work could be so exciting).

As you can imagine, Cambodia is very lusciously green. Awww, it felt good to be back in the near oppressive humidity of a tropical country...

Rural houses are funny little things, much like Dr. Seuss' dwellings, with a pointed roof, a second floor on stilts, and family life taking place underneath the raised floor of the house.

Humped cattle also benefit from the shade underneath the house

12-year old girl looming silk/cotton scarves - the amazing things is that my hometown (Lyon in France) was an old silk town, and we still see these looms in museums. I didn't know people actually still used these!

Close up of the complicated machinery of the looms

12-year old boys, of course, get to hang out and play, while their sister/cousin works up to 6 hours of day making the weave.

Upstairs

Sadly, I don't have a lot of pictures of the upstairs :/

Here's a friend in my room, helping to hang the curtain rods up. We didn't have a ladder so we used my (antique) dresser to hoist ourselves up. Also, my friend is, errrm, detail orientated (shall we say) and measured many times to make sure they were COMPLETELY straight. It took a long time.



My bro caulking the outside of the office windows. Sigh, I wish someone had mentioned that all the windows needed to be caulked before the torrential rains started falling. Also, I tried to do some windows myself, but I could tell from his "ya that's pretty good sis" that it was a poor attempt at best. Hey, I can't be good at everything!

Skylight in Upstairs Bathroom

While in mid-progress...


Friends admiring the finished product. It's a truly a thing of beauty. Must post actual pictures of it soon...

Living Room

Two views of the living room before I got that awesome blue sofa from Room and Board. Updated pictures coming soon I promise! See that lamp on the ceiling? Sadly it was the only original feature that was salvageable :(

The roomie cleaning the ceiling lamp parts. I've known him 5 years and I've never seen him so concentrated. By the way, this took hours. The grim was pretty thick.

Kitchen and Dining Room

Ugh, the kitchen and the dining room were pretty darn dingy before the renovation. Here they are now, without the old wall separating the two. I found a coin dating from 1928 in the dust of construction there.

Same picture, less crap on the surfaces. Nice kitchen island! Don't you love the bright yellow color? Well I do, and mom helped to pick it out, so be nice. The dangling pendant lamps came from my parents house and were part of a connected three-lamp pendant. Looks sleek and nice in this kitchen (not so much in theirs). There's deceptively little storage space in this kitchen, thus the need for the closet in the den...

Fridge, containing the essentials.

Friend, trying on a funky urchin-like lamp (made from recycled plastic bottles and bought off of Etsy) for size. It's still not yet hung. Ugh, I'm so lazy...

Roommate hanging some of his modern artwork on the wall. He's a whizz at hanging. He really is. Though I made him hang about 80% of the pieces on all our walls, so I'm sure he was cursing his special gift at some point.

Den

The den off of the kitchen was the only room where the wooden floor was not salvageable. A minor miracle given that all the floors were covered with: a layer of rotting carpet, a foamy cover, glue, and in some cases, dark brown paint. They had to add new wood, but the rest of the house is original. Since there's only two small closets in the house, I asked my dad to add a closet where you see the Dyson (not mine, though I wish it were) and other cleaning products.


Dad and I in the closet. Before you get the misconception I had anything to do with it, let me admit that I didn't help a bit. Also, please excuse the appearance of the workout clothes...

I also got a second bathroom built opposite the closet with the First-Time Homeowner credit President Obama gave me. Thanks Obama! The den in now considerably smaller than it was before, but the closet and the bathroom as so useful I don't regret building them.

Backyard

This is what my backyard looked like while the contractors did their 2 months of renovation (bordering on a gut job). Except the pile was usually three times as high, and full of errand cats. Thank God the neighbors never complained of it. A ridiculously small open-back van hauled the trash during many trips to clear the backyard. It was almost comical to see the towering Pile O' Stuff it could drive away with.

My friend courageously came to visit when he was in DC (he lives in NY) to see the progress of the house. Though the picture is very dark since it was taken from the basement, you can see the bright sun shining on the trash in the backyard, and my friend valiantly showing enthusiasm in taking pictures of the progress.

Aaaaah! Much better! The grass was almost completely dead from not seeing the sun in 2 months. Fortunately it all grew back very quickly... And it's now 100% crab grass and dandelions.

My Bad

I've been embarrassingly remiss in posting new pictures of my place... Here are some for y'all to enjoy. **Eventually** if I get my act together, I will post before and after pictures. Sorry, my bad.

Enjoy this renovation of a Petworth, DC home...

Just for the sake of posting...

Alright, thanks Steve in Wisc. for your email - I have been completely remiss in posting on this blog.

Mostly because I don't get excited about news things + I'm tired after a long day at work + my small camera got stolen in Croatia so I can't post pictures as easily as before + I'm still working on my house.

But, just for the sake of posting, here's what I got in preparation for the fall:

Ben Simon Tennis Lacet Gris Foncé

They're French shoes we used to wear in my International School about 14 years ago. And they're just now starting to be cool in the States. Pretty neat huh?

Beauty and the Geek

As you may know, my sister is a super star. She's a medical student at the University of Sydney, she does research on the side, and researches and helps to produce a weekly science radio show called Diffusion Science Radio.

Last week, the cast did a very interesting piece on the TV show called Beauty and the Geek dispelling the myth that geeky guys are socially inept and whimpy, and pretty girls are dumb and superficial. This is what they had to say about it.

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This Explains So Much!

I'm moving to Iowa City!

Timeline of a Dryer

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You'd be surprised how useful a dryer is. Sure, you may fancy yourself a new-age hippy of sorts, but let's be honest: a dryer is much more useful than a cloth line when you have few clothes, need them unwrinkled for the next work day, and have a damp basement.

Well, when I bought the house, the inspector told me the dryer was working fine (and that the roof was sound, ya right). It took my roommate about 2 weeks to convince me that it actually wasn't drying at all, another 2 weeks for me to test it out, and 1 week to order it at Home Depot.

When it came to the house, 1 full month after we'd moved in, the Home Depot guys took a quick look at my basement, and announced that I needed a GAS dryer, not the ELECTRIC dryer I ordered. Oh boy. I didn't even know gas dryer existed.

Took me another 1 week to go to Home Depot to ask for a reimbursement, and figure out how to order a new one. 1 more week for me to get my money back, and finally order a new gas dryer. I was extremely meticulous in the online purchase, making sure that it was gas, I got the extra cord and duct, asked for removal of the old machine and installation of the new one.

So, almost 2 months after moving in, we should have a dryer on Tuesday! Wish me luck!

I'm staying cool and calm, because things could be worse, way worse. Case in point: the story of a woman who went 2 weeks without a toilet (read on to see what she did in her apartment to compensate), and 1 month without a shower.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/garden/15remodel.html?pagewanted=2&hpw

Miracle!

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I am very happy to report that, after much plunging, squeamish high-pitched screaming, laughing from roommate downstairs, poking with an opened hanger, and gritting of teeth, the toilet finally got unclogged.

The house is no longer on the market.

Oh the Joys of Home Ownership

Yesterday, my upstairs toilet backed up.

So I did what any self-respecting owner would do: I called my roommate and asked him if he had been having trouble with the toilet. Perhaps he threw a condom in there? Or his girlfriend tried to flush down a tampon? Alas, I had only myself to blame for it.

Steps for Unsuccessfully Clearing a Toilet Bowl:

1 - So imagine if you will, me trying to flush the toilet, but the water coming perilously close to the edge of the bowl.

2 - Run downstairs to get a bucket and a plastic container to scoop out the water progressively and dump it in the downstairs bathroom. Repeat 5 times trying not to leave droplets on the floor. While you are visualising the scene, please keep this in mind: the bowl is not, err hum, clear (if you know what I mean).

3- Thoroughly disinfect bowl, bucket, container, hands and nails, floor and anything you may have come in contact with, or breathed on.

4 - Take a long shower to ensure extra cleanliness.

5 - Go on the internet and search for astute and innovative ways to clear clogs.

6- Try the dishwashing liquid and hot water trick.

7 - Wake up the next day to note with satisfaction that the liquid has spontaneously dropped back down.

8 - Flush toilet and note with disappointement that the toilet is indeed still clogged.

9 - Call roommate again. Finally capitulate to plunging the toilet.

So I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow, when said roommie brings home a new plunger. He has heroically stated that he will stay in the doorway (within hearing distance of the toilet, but not within seeing distance) to encourage me while I plunge away.

I am thinking about reselling already. Anybody interested?

Doormat

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I love being in my new house, but man, it really takes a long time to put everything together. Did you realize for example that the following items are essential:

- a thick marker for marking your garbage can and recycling bin (which finally arrived after ordering them a month ago) so your neighbor's don't steal your shit
- 6 placemats and assorted napkins, in case you are planning on inviting people over for dinner
- a tray for your dishrack to prevent water from constantly trickling down your cupboards
- bamboo skewers for your tomato plants (ok so I grew tomato plants from seed, yay, and they have gotten so big they're flopping over. I tried to find a trellis for them, but no luck. Instead, I placed three bamboo skewers at the base of most plants, in a teepee-like contraption, and tied the stem to the "teepee" with thick string)

And that's only the stuff I bought today! That's not even including the big things like a bookshelf for my bedroom, a proper bedframe, a dining room sideboard, etc.

My housemate also mentioned that we need a doormat, and went in excruciating detail about the importance of a doormat (mainly to prevent dirt from tracking into the house). So when I was in Target today, I saw a bunch of doormats, and quite liked the look of a green one. I thought about it for a bit, felt its consistency, judged the price, thought about it some more, and decided not to buy it, because walking home with it would be cumbersome.

I get home after walking in the heat for 40 minutes... And what do I see? The green placemat on my doorstep! My housemate had picked it up just 1 hour before!

I (heart with an arrow through it) Pepco

OK, so rereading my posts again, I really don't want to give the impression that all went according to plan. It didn't and I tried to keep my cool throughout but sometimes it took superhuman strength not to loose it.

A really distressing incident was when the electricians did a heavy up (increased the power going to the house) on the electricity.

Usually, what happens is this:

1 – Contractor hires electricians
2 - Electricians apply for a permit with D.C.R.A. (D.C. Regulatory agency) to do the work on this specific house
3 – Electricians complete the work
3 - Pepco does an inspection of the site to confirm that the project was well done
4 - Pepco either a) turns on the power if it was off or 2) increases the power to the house if the power was on during the entire upgrade

What actually happened was this:

1- Contractor hired electricians
2 – Electricians applied for a permit with DCRA
3 - Electricians took their sweet-ass time upgrading the electricity, especially in the light of my contractor being away for training for a week.
4 – Just before the inspection is due, boom! Pepco decides to turn off the electricity. I call a few times on the first day (Thursday), and am promised that it will be turned on the next day
5 – It doesn’t turn on the next day. I call 8 different people, at least 15 different times. DRCA and Pepco blame each other and Pepco gives the following excuses for the electricity being turned off:
- your name’s not on the bill (not true)
- you did an illegal heavy up (nope, all the permits are there, and DCRA verified they were all legit)
- DCRA didn’t send us the inspection documents (well that’s because the work just got finished and we haven’t called them
for the inspection)
- Well we need the inspection paperwork (ok, but this doesn’t explain why you cut off the electricity – but DCRA peeps were
amazing and came to do an inspection on Sunday! Thank you DCRA, this is above and beyond the call of duty!)
- We don’t have the right equipment to reconnect you
- We don’t have the right people to come reconnect you
- The owner had an illegal hookup since October 2008 (try calmly explaining 4 times in a row that you bought the house in
end of February 2010 and had no clue, and you shouldn’t have to suffer for someone else doing something illegal on your
property way before you bought it)

And this goes on and on, and on, in the summer heat (no lights, no air conditioner, everything in the fridge rots and reeks) for SIX DAYS.

SIX DAYS of calling 15 times a day, of talking to different people who don't talk to each other, of hearing a million different excuses, of complying with their requirements and getting nothing is return. SIX DAYS of not being able to concentrating on your day job because you're worried your food will attract rats, and your roommate will move out, and your contractor should be doing this, and etc, etc, etc...

At the end of the six days, I got everybody to call both Pepco and DCRA (contractor, roommate, ANC commissioner), I begged, pleaded, got mad, stayed calm, tried reasoning with them, tried acting stupid, all to no avail.

A lady from Pepco finally came to the house (when only my roommate was around) called a large number of people in the upper chain of command in Pepco demanding answers. She relayed to him a story of a couple with small children, who went without electricity and was given the same run around, for 90 DAYS!!

The next day, she convinced the higher powers-that-be-in-Pepco to send an emergency crew to my house to reconnect it. I could have kissed the guy who reconnected me on the mouth, with tongue and all, since I was so relieved.

But seriously, I hate you Pepco.

[Disclaimer: I really hope Pepco doesn’t know where I live. Please don’t disconnect me again for no reason and without warning again. It was a hellish experience, and I don’t ever ever ever want to deal with you again – I will be paying my bills when they are due, and hope to keep our interactions to this strict minimum.]

I can’t wait to get solar panels.

It Takes a Village: Siblings

My brother offered to help me work on the remaining items around my house, after his trip to China and France. Little did he know that he unleashed a floodgate of requests. Here's what I emailed:

I was thinking about the items that I still need help on in my house, since you so kindly offered :) None of them are particularly glamorous, but here goes:

- I have this lightbulb that got stuck in my fan and broke off. I need someone with muscles to use plier to remove the bottom part

- The front and back gardens are a mess. I'd love some help leveling the back garden, adding a couple of layers of dirt, building a tiny patio made from flagstone paving, and creating some rows for herbs and plants on the side. The problem is that it will be in mid-August, so not sure what we can do in the heat, but perhaps we can prepare the garden for the fall? I'll make sure to get a garden hose and pick up the millions of shards of glass before then

- The machine room is disgusting, and so I haven't yet done my laundry there. Mom was super sweet and sweated over it for a long time removing layers and layers of dust, old hangers, bricks etc. But it still looks like a bomb exploded in there. If you are willing, I'd love some help adding linoleum or tile sto the floor. The good thing is that it doesn't matter if it's messed up, so perhaps it'll be a good learning experience for the both of us in term of adding tile :) We could also install a couple of pegboards with metal holders to create a nice space for all the cleaning supplies

- I need a mega huge shelving unit for my basement so all the boxes are off the floor and don't get damp. I could get a unit for IKEA, or you could help me build one

- Apparently, my dryer isn't working. I'll be scouring Craigslist to find a new one. Could you help me connect it to hoses etc, if I haven't done it by August?

That didn't seem to discourage him, so I sent a subsequent email:

- Also, deck needs to be stained :)

It Takes a Village: Nosey Neighbor

My neighbor told me that he disapproved of a woman mowing the lawn in the afternoon after work, and proceeded to engage me on the topic for about 10 minutes... in a very animated manner... while I was cutting my front lawn.

Actually, I could probably do without that one.

It Takes a Village: Friends and Roomates

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Friends have also being encouraging along the way, lifting my spirits when I felt like I was making the biggest mistake in the world.

As my brother says, “sure it’s a negative on the balance sheet. But as we Economists would say, it’s not an expense, it’s an investment”, which oddly, makes me feel a lot better.

I've received a number of nice offers for help repainting walls, removing wooden panels, and working on the garden.

A German friend came to the house, bearing bread and salt, two traditional items to welcome someone home. He also brought white wine, which we promptly drank for good measure.

Another friend dug up some flower buds from her garden and planted them in my flower bed in front.

A friend, knowing my fondness for his yellow Blenko pitcher, brought me an identical one for my kitchen.

My old roommate bought me a small lavender plants after hearing me talk for months about how excited I was to be able to plant rosemary and lavender in my front yard.

My ex-boyfriend helped me, in his very logical and mathematical way, to install an air conditioning unit in my bedroom window, and helped me navigate my mattress through the narrow hallways from my basement to my bedroom so I could have a place to sleep for the night.

My current roommate has done more than his fair share of the cleaning, and installed internet and cable in the house.

Thank you all for your invaluable help (and moral support)!

It Takes a Village: Parents

My parents have really helped, each in their own way. Dad was very supportive of me buying a rundown house, confident in my ability to turn things around. In hindsight, maybe his trust was a tad optimistic, but it seems that it turned out alright in the end. He has promised to build me a supersized closet for all my cleaning product and food storage, something that I plan to remind him of on a regular basis until it's completed! The house has practically no storage space, so it really requires coming up with some innovative storage solutions.

Mom was very cautionary from the start and at times downright disapproving, but once she saw the finished product, she came to help me do:
- Deep and energetic cleaning of windows,
- Removal of inches of dust from various surfaces including an old fan in my room (that I was reluctant to turn on in the heat, less it spread the dust evenly on my furniture and bedroom floor),
- Sweeping and resweeping the muddy/dusty/moldy basement area
- She also got me some pretty sweet pieces of furniture, and donated some kitchen items that are proving to be really useful (apparently a pot is pretty instrumental to heating water for my morning tea)

It Takes a Village: Contractor

My contractor hired some people who did a very good, though not perfect, job on the house. They essentially took a rundown, heavily water-damaged house, and:

- Created/modified all walls in the house
- Knocked down the wall between the tiny kitchen and the dining room, moved electrical wiring and piping back against the wall
- Put in a completely new kitchen
- Put in a completely new bathroom upstairs
- Transformed a weird den into a hallway and second bathroom
- Changed all windows in the den
- Removed all the dropped ceilings and leveled the plaster
- Sanded down the dubious wood underneath the carpets, and restored them to gleaming, shiny floors
- Completely redid the rotting roof (which the contractor couldn’t check due to the many layers of ceiling layers preventing access to the roof)
- Replaced rotting wood on the back porch
- Installed a kitchen island
- Added wood beams where the floor rotted out
- Replaced all light fixtures
- Did a heavy-up on the electricity (essential giving me more power than the previous owners had, since nowadays, people want to put in window air conditioners, have computers/ipods/blackberries which requires a lot more electricity)
- Roughed-in the old bathroom in the basement (which means removing the dirty toilet but replacing the pipes and preparing them so that if I want to recreate a bathroom, I can just add the toilet and shower without having to redivert piping and dig new holes in the floor)
- Restored a beautiful Petworth skylight in the bathroom
- Repaired two closets
- Painted all walls, front porch, and wooden balustrade
- Added carpet in the basement
- Replaced all appliances except the dryer

The work they performed was very good quality, and they rarely cut corners or used materials of inferior quality. I consider myself lucky, though I did significantly go over budget (mainly due to the addition of a second bathroom and the new roof).

It Takes a Village: Realtor

I started off with a realtor who didn’t know D.C. very well, was frequently one hour late to our appointment, and needed a GPS to get from one block to the next. She was hard to pin down, and I felt like I was asking to much by requesting to see houses once a week. She would reluctantly show me houses in neighborhoods that she didn’t approve of. She never knew if the house she proposed were anywhere near a metro, or what amenities were available in the neigborhood.

On every trip, she would spend 20 min on the phone with her 4-year old daughter while driving, gushing “yes moooommy luuuurrrves you. Oh yes you are such a sweetie pie. What did you do today? Oh wow and after the painting? Oh great and what was in your lunch? And how about after playtime? Did you have a great little nap? Mommy loves her little sweetings”.

It was cute and terribly distracting at the same time, and made me feel like she didn’t really have the time to dedicate to helping me. Every trip was exhausting.

I then worked with a great realtor who lived in DC, so straight from the beginning; I knew she was knowledgeable about city and she wasn’t scared or biased towards certain neighborhood. She had a great sense of direction, and very quickly sensed what places I liked. She was understanding when I hesitated, and would recommend we continue searching.

She was encouraging when my three first contracts feel through, sensing my deep sense of disappointment and letting me know there were other places out there for me to see. She always took my phone call and was hyperflexible about dates and timing to see houses.

It takes a village…

… to build a house (sorry Hillary Clinton)

I haven’t given many updates on the house, mainly because it’s been a whirlwind of activities in the last 2 months. Here’s a brief list of people who have helped me through this house buying and renovation process:

- Realtor

- Contractors

- Parents

- Friends and Roomate

- Nosey Neighbor

- Siblings

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Farmer's Market in My Work Place

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I just got an email this morning from work, telling me about a weekly Farmer's Market in the great hall of my building. I can't believe how cool and innovative this is, and I had to email the organizer to thank her and congratulate her on this great new initiative. Here's what the email said:

Join Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
on Wednesday, June 2nd, at 2:30 p.m.
for the Opening Ceremony of the
FRESHFARM Market at HHS

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and FedStrive are sponsoring a farmers’ market each Wednesday afternoon from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. outside on the XXX Building.

In support of President Obama’s Federal Employee Worksite Wellness Initiative, and following in our First Lady’s lead to emphasize the importance of good nutrition, HHS has brought FRESHFARM Market to our front door!

FRESHFARM Market will offer locally grown:
Fruits
Vegetables
Fish
Flowers
Plants

Over 20 farmers from FRESHFARM Markets will sell produce each Wednesday afternoon beginning June 2nd through October 27th on the XXX Plaza of the XXX Building.

FRESHFARM Markets is a nonprofit organization that supports our region’s farmers, protects threatened farmlands and connects city dwellers with local farmers. This farmers’ market guarantees that producers grow, raise, catch, produce and hand-craft what they bring to market.

Invite community members! All are welcome each Wednesday! Food stamps and WIC/Senior coupons will be accepted. For more information, please visit FRESHFARM Markets at www.freshfarmmarkets.org.

For questions, contact Agency Point of Contact XXX.

Go Green Get Healthy HHS

I can't wait to get some good food on Wednesdays on my way back to the house!

Murals in DC

I've been noticing a lot of amazing graffiti and paint murals in DC lately. Here's a BBCNews piece about how and why these are springing up everywhere: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8635639.stm

Sigh, I love DC.

Major Whoopsie!

When looking for a house all of last year, I had only three items that were definite no-nos on my list:

- Termites (I had to leave some wicker furniture behind in Congo as it had termites - I am still now terrified of them)

- Bad pipes (I remember my parents spending thousands of dollars on a bathroom leak into the living room that never got fixed quite right)

- Bad roof (forget it, I can't afford it)

When I bought this house, I made sure the inspector looked carefully at the roof. The problem was that the old owner would patch up a leak by putting more layers up on the ceiling. An inspector, by law, is not allow to damage a house when doing his/her inspection. So the inspector went on the roof, jump around on the (very sloped) roof to see if it felt weak, but was unable to see the original ceiling in the rooms, or find the roof access from the den (which had been completely covered up).

When I asked the contractors to remove the drop ceiling from the second, small bedroom, here's what they found underneath (there was a drop ceiling covering chicken wire and plaster, covering insulation on old wooden slates):

Dropped Ceiling (March 7, 2010)

Chicken wire, plaster, insulation, wooden slats... (March 17, 2010)

And rotted joists/beams (March 17, 2010). Crap, crap, crap.

All patched up (April 15, 2010) (there is an intermediary picture with the new joists, that I will post as soon as I get it)

But Some Parts Improve...

Remember the old skylight? The owner thought he was being particularly thrifty and inventive by sealing up the skylight, added a fluorescent light across it, and covering it with a plastic cover:

Skylight upon purchase (March 7, 2010)

Beauty is only skin deep... (March 16, 2010)

And then there was LIGHT! (April 11, 2010)

Alright, contain your enthusiasm, the bathroom is still ugly (April 11, 2010)

Could it Possible Get Worse?

On April 11, 2010, I discover that it is possible for the kitchen to look worse than when it started off:

Should I keep the quaint pink paper with drawings of olive oil and other cooking ingredients? I think that's what they call a house with "character"

The lovely sink area.

At least the electricity is upgraded (note that yellow coil between two wooden beams).

The Three-Layer Dip

By March 16, 2010, they attempted to find the wood underneath the vinyl kitchen floor, and find several confounding factors:

First layer: vinyl with old design containing orange circles

Second layer: cardboard flooring

Third layer (on the very bottom): vinyl with old brown pattern

Fourth layer: who knows? It's a mystery within an enigma!

Is this going to be super fun like the 7-layer party dip?

Seven Layer Dip

Second Round of Pictures from my Palace

Those first pictures were taken on March 7, 2010. By March 16, 2010, this is what the house looked like, once the contractors started working on it. This is the point when I mentally started ventilating and started to think that I made the biggest mistake in my life. But it has potential right?

Kitchen

They knocked down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room to consolidate the cooking appliances in one room and give it an open, airy feeling. The cords and black box are the electric wiring and old light switch.

Hallway into the Kitchen

They selectively removed some of the old plaster from the walls that were really damaged and patched the holes up with drywall. The thin slates of wood and plaster in the interweaving grooves date from 1923 (or 1928), when the house was first built.

Hallway Leading to the Upstairs

Argh! No comment. So much work to do here.

Guest Bedroom

Without the granny curtains and the vinyl patch up on the floor, this room is almost palatable.

Upstairs Den

Can you please put the wood paneling back? I think I'd rather live with wood walls than this.

Bathroom

Aaaahh! What the eff is this room? Turns out it's my bathroom. Weirdly, it looks tiny without the tub, sink and toilet. Yes, there is a hole that goes straight threw the living room. I can't even bare to look at the wall and the plumbing.

Ultimate House Buying Irony

Growing up, my brother and I had to mow our rather large front and backyards. We had a drawing (not drawn to scale) depicting his assigned plot, and mine, and we use to bicker, fight and scream over who didn't mow the inch separating our plotted chores. I can swear, even to this day, that my plot was unfairly larger than his.

I use to hate, hate, hate mowing the lawn: having to pull the cord 10 times to get it started until the cord frayed, filling it up with gas that make my hands stink, pushing its heavy carcass along the steep sides, developing calluses and then blisters from the intense shaking of the misaligned wheels, and walking in the heat and sun for hours - enough for some good ol' fashioned dehydration and violent headaches to set in. And of course, the exaggerated drama of complaining each and every week.

Well the ultimate irony is that I went to pick up a reel mower from a guy in Virginia who posted it on craigslist. By myself. My parents didn't even make me do it! And this machine doesn't even have a friggin' motor!

What's gotten into me? Have I (perish the thought) become mature?

I can't wait to have kids to inflict this nightmare on them...