I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm an Extroverted Self-Knowing Money Manager.
Well DUH.
More interestingly - at least to me - was this snippet:
"0.59% of the 88914 people who have taken this quiz are like you."
I'm just over a half of a percent of that population. Kind of like my Myers-Briggs results, where my type falls into less than 2% of the population.
Thank goodness.
It's no secret that I'm not very happy with the home we're renting at present. The best I can say is that it's adequate. I do like the size of the rooms; having a basement for storage and a screened porch for relaxing - but the home is 30 years old and poorly maintained.
Concerns with the current property:
1) The front (outside) stairs feel like a hazard. They're uneven within the treads and from step to step; the staircase doesn't feel sturdy; and the transition from the stairs to the cement steps to the driveway is especially bad. The landing looks like it is pulling away from the house; the flaking paint on the handrail embeds in the hand if you try to use it and the rail wobbles anyhow. You can't turn on the front porch light without it fizzing and crackling (loose wire? you can smell ozone if you turn it on, so we just don't use it), which means you're going in and out in the dark half the time. The exposed foam, where the siding board is missing under the front door (from the original move in list), isn't causing any problems to me - but it's not good for the house and it looks trashy.
2) The basement stairs are better - but the light at the top of the stairs turns on and off without using the switch (loose wire somewhere).
3)The yard is full of large & small sink holes - I've stepped in them & fallen (once right in front of the gardener - I nearly flashed his whole yard crew, to my embarassment!) - and so I'm reluctant to traipse around to use the nice sturdy back porch stairs.
4) The basement still leaks when it rains, and even regular, professional pest control can't keep the bugs out - there's still a gap somewhere. It doesn't leak nearly as much as it used to - but it does still leak.
5) If you try to run two vacuum cleaners in the basement at the same time, it trips the circuit breaker (I have a pair of cleaning ladies and they like to work together to finish faster). Basically, the wiring overall just isn't up to speed.
6) The oven and cooktop don't cook evenly - the cooktop isn't level, and the oven seems as though it is plain worn out.
7) The whole house - inside & out - really could use a good coat of paint.
8) The airducts are just coated with years of dust - and the HVAC is very old; the insulation isn't great - it literally costs as much (or more) to heat and cool this place as it did my old 4,000 sq. ft. 3 story house.
I called the property manager / landlord yesterday, to let them know we are looking for another place. I also sent him the above list of the things that need to be fixed with this home.
He’s going to take a look at his other inventory, and also keep an eye out for places we might like better. In the meantime, he’ll look over the “fix it” list and see if the homeowner is willing to address any of it. If they do (and if I don’t find a great place soon) we might stay another few months.
I’d really like to find a great place, and not have to move again for several years. The economy and political climate mean I won't be purchasing for a long time. A great rental, though, would tremendously help my sense of "home".
I'll add, though, that my husband doesn't want to move. He raised the good point that moving is expensive; at least we know what's wrong with this place rather than taking a chance on another that may not turn out to suit either. I agree that there's no point in moving unless it truly is an upgrade. So we'll see what transpires...
I've set aside my plans to purchase a home for the time being. Frankly, the current economic situation is too volatile on a global level. The nationalization of Fannie/Freddie; the failure of several and rumored insolvency of many financial institutions, which appears to challenge the very FDIC itself; the proposed bailout plan that, if passed as written, doesn't solve the underlying problems .... it's a very uncertain time. I believe retaining liquidity is the safest course until things settle a bit.
Things aren't very settled in my personal environment, either. While my job seemed as though it were steady, the company was just acquired by an Indian firm - and there's no telling what may happen. I may need to move; I may need to find another job - or both. It just makes more sense, end to end, to be liquid and mobile - no matter HOW much I wish I could put down roots into a home again.
The recent descent into quasi-socialism , coupled with our current overall political trends, has me wondering if we're heading past the next Great Depression and straight back to the Dark Ages.
Atlanta is out of gas in many places right now. Food prices are continuing to skyrocket.
I swear, I'm halfway considering stocking up on non-perishables / building a pseudo-bunker of supplies... if I were in a home I planned to stay in for more than six months, I believe I actually would.
Does anyone have a fiddle? Because we've got the modern day equivalent of Rome burning over here...
I'm off to meet our new overlords, errr, ah, heading to company HQ for the same week our company's acquisition just so happens to be occurring...
I still haven't finished unpacking from DragonCon. Need to get that done today, unless, of course, I think our new owners would be impressed with my costumes :/
If all goes well, I'll return on 9/13. There's a distinct possibility, though, that it may extend another week.
Type A and an unabashed achievement worshiper...
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