Never thought retirement would be like this

I grew up in the suburbs of an industrial city in northern Ohio. There were hundreds of houses there we called "basement houses." I think they were also called "hope houses." As a kid I just assumed that was the way they were supposed to be made, but I've never seen any since. These from Utah are the only pictures I could find [and why I love Google]:

Click on pic to enlarge

Some of these houses started just before the depression and some just after WWII. Evidently folks just ran out of money to finish. Kind of sad. My aunt and my great uncle each lived in one of these houses, but I think theirs were bought second hand. They both came from W.Va., along with thousands of others from nearby states, to work in the factories when the war started.

I don't know why stuff like this interests me so much. Finding out can certainly be a time consumer. Maybe I just don't want to do housework? :p
 

I had to make a very serious decision Friday night.:rolleyes: I belong to a puzzle-solving website and the last round of a tournament was scheduled at 7pm---same time as NYPD Blue reruns.:eewwk: The chances of changing my final ranking on the contest among US members was zero. Worldwide all I could hope for was not dropping lower. NYPD Blue reruns re-rerun on Sunday night, so I chose the puzzles. Final ranking in US was 4th. At first this may sound impressive but there are only about 25 US folks participating. Ha! Many are seniors, and some of the top players, too. Maybe not enough fast action?
 
Thanks for telling us about those houses and sharing the pictures Nancy, interesting.
 

Drifter, the type of puzzles are called nonograms.

Outhouse update...

Yesterday I hauled in those 3 panels (4x8) of siding. Everything but the base is now in my basement. Can do most preliminary stuff down there. The metal roofing/siding made now is so thin, it needs a solid backing, imo. The door would have to have a solid back anyway. It would be stupid to lug home 4 new pieces of heavy siding panels just to cut them up again and cover them in metal (to squirrel proof). I can cut the rotted bottoms off (~8"), cut what's left in half, leave an 8" gap in the middle and the 2 pieces will then be light enough for one person to handle. I have some scraps of the same stuff to patch the front and the door, and maybe even the 8" gap.

The bench needs repainted. Looking for leftover exterior paint in the basement, and all I have is one quart of good quality red bought by mistake. Guess I'll go with it.:eek:mg1: I'll never use it for anything else. So the only expense will be the new metal siding, which, btw, is not easy to find. I don't want silver metallic. It will glow in the sun so that folks in small airplanes and helicopters will see it. :eewwk:
 
Thanks, Drifter. It appears the vertigo problem is solved. It went away overnight after doing some head and body contortion exercises. Hate to dwell on illness type stuff so I didn't update here.

Latest puzzle. Washing machine has started overflowing the drain pipe in the basement, I think.

My washer drains into the backyard. It was that way when I bought the house 33 years ago. Basement was unfinished dirt floor. There was a garden hose running from the washer under the door outside. (I know this sounds really bad but I bought the house only for the location). Sometimes when you used too much detergent, this gigantic pile of foam would appear in the back yard.:eewwk: I've since made some improvements---concrete floor in the basement, 4" drain pipe running into a large catch basin buried underground. Probably illegal, but I don't want to know right now. Maybe later.

I've never actually witnessed what happens, so I have to sit down the basement, run a load of laundry and be there when it overflows so I can at least get a clue. Probably will require some digging. I own an electrician's fish tape gadget.:cool:

Always something...
 
Hi Nancy, I'm glad you are recovering from the big "V"! I don't have much to add, but I do remember a time when you were allowed to built your basement, cover the top and live in it while finishing construction over time. That was in the 60's and no longer allowed. I am reading and enjoying your posts very much. I also like to see your thought processes raise up solutions out of your brain and watch them take shape. Light, strong material is the best, and you can never go wrong with red paint. I remember an episode of "The Aldridge Family" on the radio, when Henry and his pals had the job of painting the garage red. They had the brilliant idea of writing all sorts of things on the walls & drawing graffiti on the siding, before painting. They"knew they would be covering it up"...well for some reason, they had to delay the "covering up" and his Mom was in a tizzie over the "appearance" that the neighbors would see! I still have it on cassette. ...a simpler time.:) Keep taking care of yourself and keep writing! - Jim
https://archive.org/details/TheAldrichFamily
 
Meanderer, I get carried away in those reasoning processes, ad nauseam! It is a character flaw, imo. I will find that episode of the Aldridge Family from your list.

So red paint it is! And now it's your fault if I don't like it (just kidding).

Update on washer:

The problem was the connection between the hose coming from the washer and the hose that runs to the drain. It just needed redone. No digging. No new washer. Not only that, now I'm caught up on laundry and the basement air, which gets very dry in the winter, has been humidified.
How could it get any better than that!?!:woohoo::banana: It takes so little to make me happy.
 
Not much happening since last post but will put it down anyway:
:zz:

I've become so cynical... Got a letter saying that my mom's supplemental health insurance premium will go down by about 10% due to "benefit changes." Uh oh....! Called the company and they said nothing has changed, the premium just went down. I asked, "Are you sure?" and he said yes. I still don't believe it. We'll see....

Cut my hair. Perm had grown out. Now it's very short (in order to get all the old perm off). Will let it grow a few weeks until I get bored with it, then another perm. This cycle will continue unless they quit making home perms. Then I'm screwed.

Fan on furnace air handler has started vibrating. I'm clueless about furnaces. Right now I've got outhouse pieces all over the basement.:eewwk: If furnace goes out, will have to clear a path to the furnace. I'll cover the seat and probably they won't figure out what it is.

Outhouse: Not much time to work this week. Hauled 8 buckets of dirt to the site and removed a pine log in the way. There are 7 bags of Quikrete concrete mix in the basement that have been there for years. They are probably set up by now, but maybe not all the way through. Mixing up whatever's in the bags will be a better foundation than just dirt for those concrete blocks. Plus I needed to get rid of them anyway. Two birds killed with one stone.:cool:

The two most important things out at my mom's place are 1) the EZGO, and 2) my little trimming saw. The EZGO is useless if a tree falls across the road, so the most important thing is the saw. It is just a baby chain saw, but you can cut a pretty large log in two if you work at it. Isn't it cute!:love_heart:

trimsaw_zpsa1f56268.gif
 
Story of the little chain saw reminded me of an incident, a friend worked as a floor salesman at a local Sears catalog store. They had a few appliances and whatnot. In walks a man who then grabbed a chain saw from the shelf and paid for it without too much conversation. An hour or so later he returned saying he's a little embarrassed and needs to make a trade. Evidently he was heading for the woods and decided to stop for a cheap saw. Grabbed the first one and headed out only to discover when he opened the box it was electric.
 
Son_of_Perdition said:
Story of the little chain saw reminded me of an incident, a friend worked as a floor salesman at a local Sears catalog store. They had a few appliances and whatnot. In walks a man who then grabbed a chain saw from the shelf and paid for it without too much conversation. An hour or so later he returned saying he's a little embarrassed and needs to make a trade. Evidently he was heading for the woods and decided to stop for a cheap saw. Grabbed the first one and headed out only to discover when he opened the box it was electric.
Click to expand...

A sharp salesman would have sold him a "small generator"!:)
 
Meanderer you will note I said 'a friend' not 'my smartest friend'. That sales job was the highlight of his career. Sorry Nancy sometimes me and Meanderer get a little off track. Please keep posting.
 
NancyNGA said:
More interesting than what I have to say.:)
Click to expand...
I think your posts are refreshing, it always intrigues me when I meet a female that will tackle something that you wouldn't think a woman would do. My wife has learned to change light fixtures, install laminate flooring, hang a door and this summer she built a 8 X 20 covered porch complete with awning, DIY rails and balusters, and all the while maintaining her femininity. The only things that chafes her hide is when someone gives me the credit and I accept quietly with a smile.
 
That is impressive, Son. Good for her!
Hanging a door is really hard. I did one once and had "beginner's luck," I think. Will try to avoid doing it again.
 
NancyNGA said:
That is impressive, Son. Good for her!
Hanging a door is really hard. I did one once and had "beginner's luck," I think. Will try to avoid doing it again.
Click to expand...
In all honesty, I have limited construction experience but because of a case of childhood polio I walk on egg shells fearful of an injury from lifting or straining my back. The wife has been through too many convalescing bouts with me. She has clamped down on my activities so she does all the heavy lifting, hammering, climbing ladders and other physical labor involved in our projects. I can still use a power saw and a drill if the target is in the strike zone and I do get around physically. I sit in the shade and guide her if she has a question, she's getting a lot more independent and resourceful. I'm not fooling anyone when I accept congrats for a project, it's become a standing joke. I just wish my wife had a better sense of humor about it, but then again maybe I push the envelope too far.


The secret to hanging doors is patience, correct tools and enough shims.
 
Nancy, I admire you so much and love to hear about your projects and your precious animals! I live in the city. Have never lived in the country and never even attempted the things you do. But, I love to read about your life there. Do you ever look at the recent reality shows about living in rural Alaska? I am fascinated by them and I always learn something. So keep telling me what you're doing! I have a small garden and I grow herbs in pots, as well as tomatoes. That is the extent of my outdoor adventures; but gardening is something I love to do and since I retired, I add or try something new out there every season.
 
Crochet lady, since you mentioned tomatoes... In a previous post I talked about a pile of dirt on our property that nothing would grow on, but easy digging. One spring we used that dirt to plant tomato plants in big pots. This is the way they looked all summer. The tips just got twisted and gnarled. Never got more than about 2 feet high. I asked everyone that came by what was wrong with them and they all just shook their heads and said they'd never seen anything like that before. :)

tomato_twisted_zpsf7eef764.gif


About the DIY stuff. I have the advantage (?) of living in a 100 year old house. It's built like a fort and nothing you can do seems to hurt it. And it needs so much done. So I've practiced a lot on it. Ha! You could do it, too. Just takes patience and watching lots of Youtube videos.
 
Something is always torn up in my house. I have a growing list of people to hire for odd jobs. Son-in-law helps when he can, but I hate to take him away from his office. When I awake every morning, I check the freezer, water, etc to make sure they are OK. I have nightmares about losing water and electricity. Even with the worries, I will always want to live in my house.
 

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