Closed

Well, I closed today on my new Apache home. Per habit, the bank didn't get the figures to the lawyer until the very last minute. But they did, papers signed and checked passed around.

Straight out of the lawyers office, and I beelined to the furniture store. I have been thinking about that bar / island ever since I saw it. The store was a furniture clearance center for Home Comfort, a local furniture chain. The leaf doesn't fit properly, so it was clearanced. Fine, the leaf makes it too big for me, plus it's easily fixed. It was even delivered today. Here it is in it's new home.

Spending so many hours in the house with nothing set to do, I got to explore every part of the place. Crawling underneath in the crawlspace, and it's surprisingly free of spiders and bugs. Went into the attic, which is a real attic with a plywood floor along the entire length. Lots of storage up there. Tore out where a wisteria bush was starting to get a hold onto the fence. Those things will tear down a fence over the years.

So what was the first utility I had started? Not power or gas. Cable modem internet, of course. Which means I now have phone too. Because the cable in the house was so old, they had to run new cable from the pole to the house, and in side the house. But that also means that the big work is done if I decide on cable versus satellite high-def.

The cable guy was a little late, but that's because there was a main gas line break at the loop, and all exit traffic was canceled and even some home / businesses were evacuated. It snarled that whole area up for hours

One problem with older houses is that they are smaller. Everything was smaller back then, including refrigerators. Mine will not fit into it's spot by 1/4" ! So I am going to have an alcove put in for it. Do you see the blank wall on the right behind the bar in the pic? I am going to have an opening put into that wall and push the refrigerator through it so only the doors stick out. It will be recessed into the wall (I've measures. it'll easily fit). Once in place, I'll have the traditional 3-point kitchen triangle of sink-stove-fridge.

I need something done fairly quickly, and there were 2 guys cleaning out the house next door, so I went and asked them. They said they could do carpentry and the one guy asked all the right questions, so they are coming by on Friday to put it in for me. Tonight I called the owner of the house to get a reference, and she is an attorney who represented him in court. But she was generally supportive of him, so we will give this a go. The rule of course is to pay 1/2 up front to cover materials, then the rest when it is completed successfully.