Showing posts with label home ownership. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home ownership. Show all posts
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
House - maybe?
I'm wrestling with a very strange decision right now. We've been debating buying a newer house and moving for several years, since we retired. We even talked with a builder in 2008 about a new development he was starting. As it turned out, we shied away from that because we thought he was getting over-extended, and it was a good decision. The builder went bankrupt and the four houses he had started, along with the land for the development, went to the bank.
That bank still owns two of the houses which are pretty much complete, but sold the other two houses and the rest of the land to another builder. The bank's two houses are done on the inside but need everything outside: final grade on the lot, landscaping, sod, driveway, sidewalks, gutters. The bank has listed the two houses on MLS, even though they can't get a habitability permit now because the road has not been installed in the development (which will be done by the other builder that bought the rest of the land) and the sewer and water lines need to be backflushed and connected, which won't be done until the road is done. We were told that at least a hundred people had inquired about the houses but were scared away by the unknowns: when will the city services be available, what will be built on the rest of the land adjacent to these houses, etc. The up-side to the decision is that the houses are listed at about 60% of what they would have sold for had they been completed as originally planned, and are still well under actual value even though without the planned amenities from the original development they wouldn't be worth that much now.
This is what it looks like right now:
That bank still owns two of the houses which are pretty much complete, but sold the other two houses and the rest of the land to another builder. The bank's two houses are done on the inside but need everything outside: final grade on the lot, landscaping, sod, driveway, sidewalks, gutters. The bank has listed the two houses on MLS, even though they can't get a habitability permit now because the road has not been installed in the development (which will be done by the other builder that bought the rest of the land) and the sewer and water lines need to be backflushed and connected, which won't be done until the road is done. We were told that at least a hundred people had inquired about the houses but were scared away by the unknowns: when will the city services be available, what will be built on the rest of the land adjacent to these houses, etc. The up-side to the decision is that the houses are listed at about 60% of what they would have sold for had they been completed as originally planned, and are still well under actual value even though without the planned amenities from the original development they wouldn't be worth that much now.
This is what it looks like right now:
It's like a completed house sitting in the middle of a construction site. Since it's the first house on the street, on the corner of the main road, it is somewhat separated from the rest of the development and may not be as affected by what else is built as the other houses further up the street will be.
The inside is very cool, by the way. The kitchen is to die for - plenty of cherry cabinets, granite, the works. It doesn't have appliances yet but the realtor said to specify what we wanted in the contract and the bank would install them. There are build-ins in the living room, a sunroom, nice large baths, the works.
So our dilemma is this: this house is a good fit for what we have to have in a new home - slab construction with no steps, roomy, good use of space, well designed and constructed, attractive, small yard. But the downsides are almost too much to consider: Will the bank accept a contract that specifies that they must complete all the remaining work on the lot and house? How much of a pain will it be to get that work done correctly? When will the new builder put in the road (it's been delayed three or four times already this year)? How long will it take for the final city inspections and the habitability permit to be issued? What will be built on the rest of the land - will those houses affect the value of the ones already built? Could the builder put up apartments or something else instead (that's completely possible but not as likely)?
And - very important - will the new builder know what he's doing with respect to water control and drainage or will we have to worry about that too? That's a biggie because on our last house we had water issues in the basement when it rained hard due to the bad runoff control in the subdivision. This house is the first one on the road, and the land slopes uphill slightly from the main road to the back of the development. The original builder was very good at runoff control and we wouldn't have had a concern if he was still in the picture, but this area has become infamous in my eyes for builders that don't have a clue how to handle grading lots to avoid water issues. We have seen damp crawlspaces and basements and water problems everywhere we've looked.
That's a lot of issues to grapple with. Add to it the whole "Do we want another free-standing house with yard issues or should we just buy a condo and not have to take care of the outside?" and I'm in a complete tizzy. I'm good with problems where you solve for an answer and get THE answer - like math - but these fuzzy decisions completely stymie me.
Any thoughts?
Saturday, June 6, 2009
What a way to wake up!
I just got shook out of bed by the sound of a commercial chipper/shredder running on my neighbor's driveway - which, for the record, is on the other side of my fence, 25 feet from my bedroom window - my single-pane, non-noise-blocking bedroom window!
8 o'clock on a Saturday morning. It was closest to my house, but I doubt I'm the only one it woke up.
I had slept really badly and been up several times during the night, so after I fed the cat at 7 a.m. I decided to slip back into bed for a little more rest.
Well, no.
Oh, great, now there's chain saws too. They're cutting down a huge pine tree next door. I'll have to listen to this all day. Whine.
8 o'clock on a Saturday morning. It was closest to my house, but I doubt I'm the only one it woke up.
I had slept really badly and been up several times during the night, so after I fed the cat at 7 a.m. I decided to slip back into bed for a little more rest.
Well, no.
Oh, great, now there's chain saws too. They're cutting down a huge pine tree next door. I'll have to listen to this all day. Whine.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The joys of home ownership in the Spring!
I haven't even planted annuals yet and I am spending some part of every day outside, piddling around with the landscaping. Today I laid down grass seed and straw on a bare area next to the curb in the side yard where the raked leaves and trimmed branches lay for several months until the city decided to pick them up (supposed to be every month, but......).
When they finally picked up the leaves and clippings, they used the claw truck (exactly what you're picturing, a big motor operated articulated arm with a claw, mounted on a flat bed truck next to an enormous compactor bin for collecting the stuff) and took a sizeable portion of my yard away with the branches and leaves. They left a spot about 8 ft by 10 ft scraped clear to the dirt, so I had to try to get some grass started before it became too warm. There's always some bare areas to try to reseed, too, remnants of the pine trees I had removed years ago. The dirt is still too acid, I guess, from the pine needles. Anyway, the grass has a hard time there. So, I strewed seed and spread straw, and now I just have to hope it takes.
I have to keep weeding out daylily sprouts in my side yard landscaping, where they try to take over. Nearly every morning after I retrieve the newspaper from the driveway, I walk around to the side of the house and inspect the bed for weeds and unwanted stuff. This was previously a problematical stretch of roses, daylilies and various bushes that always looked scraggly. Last fall, I finally ripped out everything but the roses - at least as much as I could see at that time - and put in some low evergreens around them. The daylilies keep sprouting everywhere, and I keep grubbing them out when they make an appearance. If I keep at it, they won't get out of control, and I can pull the little seedlings out by the roots by hand. Since this photo, the iris between the roses have begun to bloom and the rosebushes are full of buds.
This little bed is doing well - there's a lot of new growth since this picture was taken.
I am the furthest thing from a gardener, but I do love to work outside in the spring! In a few weeks, it's time for annuals!
When they finally picked up the leaves and clippings, they used the claw truck (exactly what you're picturing, a big motor operated articulated arm with a claw, mounted on a flat bed truck next to an enormous compactor bin for collecting the stuff) and took a sizeable portion of my yard away with the branches and leaves. They left a spot about 8 ft by 10 ft scraped clear to the dirt, so I had to try to get some grass started before it became too warm. There's always some bare areas to try to reseed, too, remnants of the pine trees I had removed years ago. The dirt is still too acid, I guess, from the pine needles. Anyway, the grass has a hard time there. So, I strewed seed and spread straw, and now I just have to hope it takes.
I have to keep weeding out daylily sprouts in my side yard landscaping, where they try to take over. Nearly every morning after I retrieve the newspaper from the driveway, I walk around to the side of the house and inspect the bed for weeds and unwanted stuff. This was previously a problematical stretch of roses, daylilies and various bushes that always looked scraggly. Last fall, I finally ripped out everything but the roses - at least as much as I could see at that time - and put in some low evergreens around them. The daylilies keep sprouting everywhere, and I keep grubbing them out when they make an appearance. If I keep at it, they won't get out of control, and I can pull the little seedlings out by the roots by hand. Since this photo, the iris between the roses have begun to bloom and the rosebushes are full of buds. 
This little bed is doing well - there's a lot of new growth since this picture was taken.I am the furthest thing from a gardener, but I do love to work outside in the spring! In a few weeks, it's time for annuals!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Home Security
Several things have happened recently that make me think more about home security. Yesterday, my neighbor told me that when she let her dog out around midnight the night before, she saw a person she described as looking like a teenage boy run down the driveway of the house on the other side of hers, jump into a car waiting on the curb and speed away. She called the owners that morning, who reported that nothing seemed to be missing or disturbed. Needless to say, the thought of people poking around in the yard in the middle of the night, two doors up the street from me, caused me concern.
There have been more instances. The house four doors up the street was broken into on Christmas night, while the owner was at her relatives' house for dinner. Their security alarm went off just as we sat down to dinner ourselves. And last month, a light like a flashlight being turned on and off quickly was seen around 2 a.m. in the back yard of the house five doors up the street. My neighbor saw that too because she had to get up to let the dog out to go to the bathroom. (She's up at all hours with that silly dog, so she's the only one awake to see what happens around here at night.) The couple who lives in that house were awakened by their dog barking at the same time. It's a big dog, so the guy opened the back door and turned it out in the yard (good deterrent!). When they looked, there was no one outside.
Let me say that I don't live in a dodgy neighborhood. True, it's an older one, but still very respectable. However, there have been indications that this part of the city may have problems in the future.
A little history: my house was built in 1968. It's around 7 miles as the crow flies from the city center. At that time, it was waaaaay outside of town! This was part of a farm that was subdivided and sold for lots. Now of course, the city has grown out to meet and then pass us for miles and we are inside city limits. There's a large elemetary school across the street. Since it's an older area with mostly ranch style houses, it's not so popular with home buyers anymore. Many of the occupants have been here since the 1970's. Nearly all of them are older than we are. My neighbor is 85. The couple across the street are 87 or 88. The lady on the other side of my neighbor is in her 60's. And so on. The lady who lives around the corner from us is around our age, and the house behind us, built on a long-vacant lot around 5 years ago, is owned by a family with two small children. But, mostly, it's retirees here.
That in itself can be a danger. A thief, driving around during the day to survey the area, will see only old people outside, and no children playing. That makes these houses an easier mark. And, there have been disturbing news items reported about the adjoining area just a few miles closer to town. Shootings, burglaries, assaults. True, it's a much older area, and has been going downhill, but it's not that far away. It's also getting a reputation as a less safe part of town. That's why home sales are drying up here and everyone is moving/building further east or north outside town. (Well, that and they don't want to pay both city and county taxes.)
What to do? We tried without luck to find a house last year. This has been a fear of mine, that it will become less safe to live here. And, that we wouldn't be able to sell the place. It's all very worrisome.
Well, on a lighter note, let me tell you a story about my lawn guy. He mowed yesterday for me, my neighbor, and the newer house behind me. (He's got quite a business.) Since the people in the newer house have small children, the yard is always cluttered with toys, soccer nets and swing sets for him to contend with. There are also an enormous number, at least a dozen, play balls and soccer balls always scattered about. I told him if they don't clean up their yard he is going to have to mount a cow catcher on the front of his riding mower. Anyway, yesterday I watched him driving the riding mower around the back yard with what looked like a golf club in his hand, batting the balls out of the way as he worked. Mower polo!
There have been more instances. The house four doors up the street was broken into on Christmas night, while the owner was at her relatives' house for dinner. Their security alarm went off just as we sat down to dinner ourselves. And last month, a light like a flashlight being turned on and off quickly was seen around 2 a.m. in the back yard of the house five doors up the street. My neighbor saw that too because she had to get up to let the dog out to go to the bathroom. (She's up at all hours with that silly dog, so she's the only one awake to see what happens around here at night.) The couple who lives in that house were awakened by their dog barking at the same time. It's a big dog, so the guy opened the back door and turned it out in the yard (good deterrent!). When they looked, there was no one outside.
Let me say that I don't live in a dodgy neighborhood. True, it's an older one, but still very respectable. However, there have been indications that this part of the city may have problems in the future.
A little history: my house was built in 1968. It's around 7 miles as the crow flies from the city center. At that time, it was waaaaay outside of town! This was part of a farm that was subdivided and sold for lots. Now of course, the city has grown out to meet and then pass us for miles and we are inside city limits. There's a large elemetary school across the street. Since it's an older area with mostly ranch style houses, it's not so popular with home buyers anymore. Many of the occupants have been here since the 1970's. Nearly all of them are older than we are. My neighbor is 85. The couple across the street are 87 or 88. The lady on the other side of my neighbor is in her 60's. And so on. The lady who lives around the corner from us is around our age, and the house behind us, built on a long-vacant lot around 5 years ago, is owned by a family with two small children. But, mostly, it's retirees here.
That in itself can be a danger. A thief, driving around during the day to survey the area, will see only old people outside, and no children playing. That makes these houses an easier mark. And, there have been disturbing news items reported about the adjoining area just a few miles closer to town. Shootings, burglaries, assaults. True, it's a much older area, and has been going downhill, but it's not that far away. It's also getting a reputation as a less safe part of town. That's why home sales are drying up here and everyone is moving/building further east or north outside town. (Well, that and they don't want to pay both city and county taxes.)
What to do? We tried without luck to find a house last year. This has been a fear of mine, that it will become less safe to live here. And, that we wouldn't be able to sell the place. It's all very worrisome.
Well, on a lighter note, let me tell you a story about my lawn guy. He mowed yesterday for me, my neighbor, and the newer house behind me. (He's got quite a business.) Since the people in the newer house have small children, the yard is always cluttered with toys, soccer nets and swing sets for him to contend with. There are also an enormous number, at least a dozen, play balls and soccer balls always scattered about. I told him if they don't clean up their yard he is going to have to mount a cow catcher on the front of his riding mower. Anyway, yesterday I watched him driving the riding mower around the back yard with what looked like a golf club in his hand, batting the balls out of the way as he worked. Mower polo!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
If you're a homeowner, water is the enemy
I looked at a few houses today, and the theme seemed to be "control water runoff before it gets under your house". The first was a lovely stucco and stone house in a golfcourse community. The house was situated on a corner lot, where the side yard unfortunately sloped up to the street, which was higher than the foundation. The front yard had a beautiful planting bed ringed with stone. A path of irregular fieldstone wound from the planting bed across the side yard into the back. It looked like decorative landscaping at first. When I walked over the property, I realized that it was a gravel-filled french drain trench topped with the fieldstone pieces to disguise it. The owner had laid the drain trench to try to catch runoff before it got to his house. It might work, it might not, but I wouldn't want to trust it. If the curb is higher than your foundation, the water is going to run downhill, come what may, and you're in its path. He also had a crawlspace exhaust fan and had put pea gravel over the dirt in his whole crawlspace, so I have suspicions that the plan wasn't working.
At the second house we saw something of the same situation - corner lot, side road higher than the yard, sloping side yard. This guy was in the process of installing a french drain around his house and had back-filled and seeded the recently installed trench, which was strewn with straw to protect the grass seed. It was all too obvious that there was a problem he was trying to correct so he could unload his house. Pity the poor buyer who doesn't understand what he's seeing. Let's hope he has a good house inspector.
All this can be eliminated of course if the builder understands how to grade off the lot to control the water flow. I've had two houses that could have had water problems if the builders weren't smart. I live in a hilly area of the country, and elevation changes are par for the course in subdivisions. You don't find much very flat land around here, and if you do, it might be swampy. If you lay out the lot around the house site to allow the water to funnel away from the foundation there's not a problem. Where I live now drainage control is effected by crowning the lot at the house site, letting the elevation roll down slightly toward the property lines away from the foundation, and sculpting a slight dip along each property line to channel the water away from the houses and out to the street. It works wonderfully. There is also a small dip in my back yard that allows the gutter downspout discharge to run away from the house, since they don't go to buried french drains. (It's fine with me, because those drains just silt up and clog anyway, and this method always works. Buried drains may be prettier, but not when you're digging up your lawn to clean them out -- and you always have to, sooner or later.) The street in front of my house goes up a hill, and each lot up the street is slightly higher than the one before it. Everybody's house would be catching the runoff from the house above him on the hill, and the guy at the bottom - i.e., me - would have a terrible mess if this wasn't done right. But in the 60's when these houses were built, the builders were smart about it.
This is just one more example of the axiom - the newer the house, the more careful the buyer has to be. At least in my city. By the late 80's, houses were springing up like mushrooms and had all kinds of problems. The houses built nowadays may be showy, with their granite countertops and such, but if you look at a house that's been there a few years, it will declare its problems. If it's just been there a few months, who knows what you really have?
At the second house we saw something of the same situation - corner lot, side road higher than the yard, sloping side yard. This guy was in the process of installing a french drain around his house and had back-filled and seeded the recently installed trench, which was strewn with straw to protect the grass seed. It was all too obvious that there was a problem he was trying to correct so he could unload his house. Pity the poor buyer who doesn't understand what he's seeing. Let's hope he has a good house inspector.
All this can be eliminated of course if the builder understands how to grade off the lot to control the water flow. I've had two houses that could have had water problems if the builders weren't smart. I live in a hilly area of the country, and elevation changes are par for the course in subdivisions. You don't find much very flat land around here, and if you do, it might be swampy. If you lay out the lot around the house site to allow the water to funnel away from the foundation there's not a problem. Where I live now drainage control is effected by crowning the lot at the house site, letting the elevation roll down slightly toward the property lines away from the foundation, and sculpting a slight dip along each property line to channel the water away from the houses and out to the street. It works wonderfully. There is also a small dip in my back yard that allows the gutter downspout discharge to run away from the house, since they don't go to buried french drains. (It's fine with me, because those drains just silt up and clog anyway, and this method always works. Buried drains may be prettier, but not when you're digging up your lawn to clean them out -- and you always have to, sooner or later.) The street in front of my house goes up a hill, and each lot up the street is slightly higher than the one before it. Everybody's house would be catching the runoff from the house above him on the hill, and the guy at the bottom - i.e., me - would have a terrible mess if this wasn't done right. But in the 60's when these houses were built, the builders were smart about it.
This is just one more example of the axiom - the newer the house, the more careful the buyer has to be. At least in my city. By the late 80's, houses were springing up like mushrooms and had all kinds of problems. The houses built nowadays may be showy, with their granite countertops and such, but if you look at a house that's been there a few years, it will declare its problems. If it's just been there a few months, who knows what you really have?
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The holiday homeowner curse
Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone (and left a pound or two behind, soon to be joined by its Christmas cousins) and, as night follows day, I didn't get through the holiday without something trying to break at the house.
You see, I have a curse on my household. If something is going to break, it will only do it on a national holiday. This curse has followed me through three houses. Septic tank backs up? On December 23, of course. Refrigerator dies? December 24. Washer drain floods the crawlspace? Thanksgiving day. Heat pump dies? New Year's day. Flooded basement? Martin Luther King Day. Air conditioner bites the dust? Labor Day (an anomoly -- the curse likes cold holidays). I have had roof leaks, plumbing leaks, dead cars, dead appliances. This of course in addition to the other annoyances like being sick as a dog with the flu or something very like it the last two Christmases running. Some years I just want to jump straight from Columbus Day to Fat Tuesday and skip all the winter holidays entirely.
I didn't move the car out of the garage from Wednesday morning (turkey pick-up) until Saturday afternoon. We were having Thanksgiving at home and I'm not a crazy woman. By Wednesday afternoon the local talk radio station was reporting two mile long traffic backups on the interstate through town. I was snug at home and very happy to be there. But by Saturday I hoped that the road madness had subsided and needed to run a few errands. So, I loaded my car and hit the garage door opener button. The door glided open smoothly. I pulled out of the garage, fastened my seat belt and tapped the door opener button again.
Nothing.
Irritated, I pushed it again. Maybe the battery was getting weak. The door did a little jerk-jerk-shudder and the light on the front of the opener responded, with its three-quick-blinks signal, meaning that something was keeping the door from closing. Grumbling, I put the car in park, unfastened the seat belt and jumped out of the car to check whether a leaf had blown in and blocked the path of the safety cutoffs at the bottom of the door.
They were clean. Nothing was on the threshold in the path of the beam. The stupid thing just wouldn't work. I hit the button on the wall. Jerk-jerk-shudder-blink. Then nothing. Well, this is just peachy, I thought. I was dressed to go out and wasn't in the mood to drag out the stepladder and diagnose a cranky Sears garage door opener. (And, did I mention that the ceiling in the garage is almost ten feet tall? So it's WAAAAY up there.)
I'll deal with it later, I decided. I'll just unlatch the door from the traveler, lower it by hand, and lock it -- OH RATS! Why won't the garage door lock? The old wooden door had undergone some warping / shrinkage / sagging / whatever and now the lock bars won't align with the holes in the latch. A quick check revealed that the bars are guided at each side by a bracket attached to the door with two screws, one in a hole and the other in a slot. If I take out the screw in the hole, I can slide the bracket on the slotted screw until the bar will align with the latch. A quick trip to the tool box for a screwdriver, and the door is locked. Finally, I'm on my way.
Two hours of TREMENDOUSLY HORRIBLE traffic later, I returned home. So much for subsided road madness. Time to dig out my work clothes and tackle the garage door opener. I cleaned, I lubricated, I dusted, I poked and prodded. Nothing. Jerk-jerk-shudder-blink. This opener is DOA. I decided to at least fix the lock properly, so I got the drill and reinstalled the screws into the guide brackets on each side.
I stared malevolently at the frozen traveler on the overhead bar and pecked petulantly at the control button. Didn't help, just made me feel better. Well, at least the door was disconnected and locked. I could use the side door to go in and out, and leave the car in the driveway until Sears sent a repairman. . .
Suddenly, the opener shuddered to life and the traveler glided down the rail and clicked into the catch on the door. What the heck? I knew it was nothing I had done, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth etc. etc., so I unlocked the door and grabbed my car keys so I could put the Subaru safely in the garage. Except now it won't work again.
Time to take a break. I went into the kitchen and got a Diet Rite, my drug of choice. Leaning on the counter, I considered what could be wrong. Whatever it was, I probably couldn't fix it. I returned to the garage, deciding to disconnect the door again, hoist it by hand and put the car in from the impending rain. Just for giggles, I gave the opener another push. AND IT OPENED. And closed again. And opened again. Just like it should. Just like it had never stopped working.
It's now Monday and the garage door opener is still fine. It's just playing with my head.
To quote Charlie Brown, "I can't stand it. I just can't stand it."
You see, I have a curse on my household. If something is going to break, it will only do it on a national holiday. This curse has followed me through three houses. Septic tank backs up? On December 23, of course. Refrigerator dies? December 24. Washer drain floods the crawlspace? Thanksgiving day. Heat pump dies? New Year's day. Flooded basement? Martin Luther King Day. Air conditioner bites the dust? Labor Day (an anomoly -- the curse likes cold holidays). I have had roof leaks, plumbing leaks, dead cars, dead appliances. This of course in addition to the other annoyances like being sick as a dog with the flu or something very like it the last two Christmases running. Some years I just want to jump straight from Columbus Day to Fat Tuesday and skip all the winter holidays entirely.
I didn't move the car out of the garage from Wednesday morning (turkey pick-up) until Saturday afternoon. We were having Thanksgiving at home and I'm not a crazy woman. By Wednesday afternoon the local talk radio station was reporting two mile long traffic backups on the interstate through town. I was snug at home and very happy to be there. But by Saturday I hoped that the road madness had subsided and needed to run a few errands. So, I loaded my car and hit the garage door opener button. The door glided open smoothly. I pulled out of the garage, fastened my seat belt and tapped the door opener button again.
Nothing.
Irritated, I pushed it again. Maybe the battery was getting weak. The door did a little jerk-jerk-shudder and the light on the front of the opener responded, with its three-quick-blinks signal, meaning that something was keeping the door from closing. Grumbling, I put the car in park, unfastened the seat belt and jumped out of the car to check whether a leaf had blown in and blocked the path of the safety cutoffs at the bottom of the door.
They were clean. Nothing was on the threshold in the path of the beam. The stupid thing just wouldn't work. I hit the button on the wall. Jerk-jerk-shudder-blink. Then nothing. Well, this is just peachy, I thought. I was dressed to go out and wasn't in the mood to drag out the stepladder and diagnose a cranky Sears garage door opener. (And, did I mention that the ceiling in the garage is almost ten feet tall? So it's WAAAAY up there.)
I'll deal with it later, I decided. I'll just unlatch the door from the traveler, lower it by hand, and lock it -- OH RATS! Why won't the garage door lock? The old wooden door had undergone some warping / shrinkage / sagging / whatever and now the lock bars won't align with the holes in the latch. A quick check revealed that the bars are guided at each side by a bracket attached to the door with two screws, one in a hole and the other in a slot. If I take out the screw in the hole, I can slide the bracket on the slotted screw until the bar will align with the latch. A quick trip to the tool box for a screwdriver, and the door is locked. Finally, I'm on my way.
Two hours of TREMENDOUSLY HORRIBLE traffic later, I returned home. So much for subsided road madness. Time to dig out my work clothes and tackle the garage door opener. I cleaned, I lubricated, I dusted, I poked and prodded. Nothing. Jerk-jerk-shudder-blink. This opener is DOA. I decided to at least fix the lock properly, so I got the drill and reinstalled the screws into the guide brackets on each side.
I stared malevolently at the frozen traveler on the overhead bar and pecked petulantly at the control button. Didn't help, just made me feel better. Well, at least the door was disconnected and locked. I could use the side door to go in and out, and leave the car in the driveway until Sears sent a repairman. . .
Suddenly, the opener shuddered to life and the traveler glided down the rail and clicked into the catch on the door. What the heck? I knew it was nothing I had done, but don't look a gift horse in the mouth etc. etc., so I unlocked the door and grabbed my car keys so I could put the Subaru safely in the garage. Except now it won't work again.
Time to take a break. I went into the kitchen and got a Diet Rite, my drug of choice. Leaning on the counter, I considered what could be wrong. Whatever it was, I probably couldn't fix it. I returned to the garage, deciding to disconnect the door again, hoist it by hand and put the car in from the impending rain. Just for giggles, I gave the opener another push. AND IT OPENED. And closed again. And opened again. Just like it should. Just like it had never stopped working.
It's now Monday and the garage door opener is still fine. It's just playing with my head.
To quote Charlie Brown, "I can't stand it. I just can't stand it."
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