home woes

Alright, so here is what I am thinking. Since we got a really nice camera for Christmas, I think I have decided to use it to take photos of things that I think represent my life right now. Then I will dedicate each post to that subject as in introduction to me and how it affects my life. A little photobloggin' from me to you. I think that would be a more fun way to tell you who I am, without the ol "Im Ashley, a twenty-three year old career student. This is who I date, this is where I work/live/play and these are my hobbies/friends/dreams. Photos make everything better, eh? That way, I can learn the camera and my blog flow all at once. Jah!

I did want to write about, tonight, my latest luck with our shitty, but lovely little home.

We are renting a modular in Placerville, really close to my school, and very near the town of El Dorado. The property is beautiful, considering, and we actually get a lot of peace and quiet out here. It is, however, a modular, and we are slowly finding the cheap breakable bits of the home the longer we stay here. The first month we were here, the shower nob broke off in my hand as I was turning the water off, exiting the shower. water everywhere. I didnt know where to shut it off. Didn't have the landlords' number. I had to drive up the road to thier home, dripping wet in and in a panic while the house slowly flooded. Aya! The landlords are sweet people though, and got it repaired within a few days.

Recently, however, as the rain came, we noticed the floor beginning to bubble. We honestly didn't think much of it at first, because our doors are warping too. There is a lot of condensation on the windows when we wake up- some cracks appearing at the seams. I just thought, cold weather, cheap house- it's just expanding. But then it kept expanding. And  getting taller in some areas- sinking in others. Getting spongy to step on. It  looks like a graboid might have went straight from the carport and under the bathroom, right off the canyon. The landlords came and checked it out- said it might be a pipe. It wasn't until a couple of nights later that Eric heard water flowing underneath the house, and saw steam coming from the vents. We discovered that a hot water pipe had burst! We got the water shut off- it ended up being off for a few days. During that time, we discovered that our propane we had just spent $300 bucks on had also drained as quickly as the water flowed.

Fast forward to the landlord actually fixing the pipe after a lot of empty promises (we didn't think he was capable of fixing a copper pipe considering he had never hung curtains before, and actually took money off of our rent if we would!). Eric thanked him for getting it all back and running, and convinced them to cover the cost of the propane lost because of their pipe breaking. He also reminded them that the floor wasn't getting any better, and if not for our safety, then at least for their own investment, they should get a contractor over to look at it and see what needs to happen.

a perfect size 10

Two weeks had gone by, with noting but empty promises from the homeowners. Until this past Friday night when I made shit happen. We were eating dinner- some tasty tacos we had just cooked up at home. Eric took a bite and his face got all scrunched up with pain. He walked back into the bathroom and asked for tweezers. I followed him in there, where he pointed to a splinter sticking into his gums on his bottom row of teeth. He was wincing, so I was riffling quickly through all the cupboards and compartments as fast as I could. It finally occurred to me that I had left them in the living room, so I excitedly announced  "I KNOW WHERE THEY ARE! HOLD ON BABE!" and went to run off toward tweezer-town. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground, my elbow is bruising, my shin is scraped and my foot is out of sight. I'll never forget looking up to Eric. We must have had the same facial expression, except his mouth was still hanging open to avoid the shard of wood. It was actually hilarious, until I pulled my foot out of the whole and discovered what was below. (Sorry- this picture is actually pretty gross- still giving me heebee jeebees. But I was wearing slippers, so it could have been worse.)

i still cant shake this yuck feeling. asdnsjdnsfnds!

So it took me falling through the floor into wet rat poop to get some action around here. I really go above and beyond, huh? We actually have it all patched up now, with plywood, until the contractor gets here tomorrow for a bid. WE are going to stay with my brother for a few days as it gets repaired. I got most of my homework done tonight so I don't have to stress about it this week while I'm away from 'home'.


Until next time, wish me luck!