When we moved to China almost 3 years years ago we decided to sell all our vehicles but keep our house. We did not rent it out but kept it unoccupied and full of our stuff. We hired someone to clean for an hour once a month. Others were hired to clean the gutters and cut the grass, and 2 sets of terrific neighbors periodically checked on things.
The house is 25 years old and beginning to show its age. Some of the appliances and systems are also 25 years old. Since we came back to the USA, the work on it has been almost constant.
It's been quite an adjustment for me. In China, I hardly did anything that could be called house work or yard work or home maintenance. We lived in apartments in a city with very cheap labor. I guess I did hang a picture or two but nothing else.
Now Sun-Ling and I are tackling a 5-year - we lived in Florida for two years before going to China - backlog of home maintenance projects on an aging house. I won't bore you with the list, but the amount of work is significant both in time and in money. I began to thing that it was a bad decision to leave the house unattended for so long.
However, after a few days of stewing on this thought, I've moved on. Lots of work means lots of accomplishments; lots of items crossed off the to-do list; and the physical nature of many of the jobs is good for the body and mind.
After a few more months the house will be ready for another 5 years of minimal maintenance. :-)
Borax.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Most Recent Post
Sydney: Blue Mountains
The Blue Mountains to the west of Sydney are on the UNESCO heritage list. It is so named because of the blue haze produced by the Eucalyptus...
Most Popular Posts of Last 30 Days
-
In order to guarantee a hassle-free speedy trip from from St Ignacio, Belize to Tikal in Guatemala we eschewed public transport and paid for...
-
When Indigo airlines canceled our Colombo-Hyderabad flight, we took India and Pakistan off our itinerary. Considering we are in the 10th yea...
-
Our very first day in Argentina, we noticed that everyone seems to have some strange looking drinking apparatus that they are always fooling...
-
When we were in Bosnia, a good friend wrote, "You All are BRAVE! To be going to the places that you are. Mostar, etc. Not brave in ...
-
We took the Navimag ferry Evangelistas south 1000 kilometers from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales. Since this is a working ferry instead of ...
-
On our way from Brisbane to Sydney by train, we skirted the Gold Coast and made a side trip to Byron Bay. We had a walk to the cape, the mos...
-
Just two weeks after the Easter holiday weekend comes the May 1st 4-day weekend (as May 1st falls on a Thursday this year). So again we chan...
1 comment:
The house looked great when we had meeting in August, as usual. I always enjoyed the atmosphere and especially the art works you two brought back from all over the world.
Mei
Post a Comment