Well, it seems we are going to have the house painted before i expected. My goal was to gradually work thru it this year. Now it seems we are going to hire it done.
We have long intended to have someone texture the ceiling with a deeper texture to hide the uneven places where it has been patched. Now all of a sudden Luke has decided that he is tired of looking it, and we are going to have not only the ceiling textured and painted, we are going to have the walls painted as well, right now.
I did not understand the sudden rush, and was a little dissappointed, actually, that i would not have this year to do it myself, but now i understand the rush.
We may be moving to Midland. As you all know i am not exactly delighted at the prospect of this move. I, who have always considered moving an adventure, have no desire to move to Midland, but we have talked and I now understand the main reason Luke is pursuing this job.
He cannot know, but he thinks that the job in Midland will last longer than the job here. He says that there is an engineering rush in Houston right now and not only are companies hiring, they are doing their best to steal engineers from each other. Luke has had several feelers from other companies here. But, he says, in another 2 or 3 years this boom will be over and engineers will be laid off. He will be 60 in 2 or 3 years. He says it is almost guaranteed that he will be laid off then and it is very difficult for a 60 year old engineer to find an engineering job.
The job in Midland is not at an engineering firm; it is at a plant. He says that he believes a 60 year old plant engineer is less likely to be laid off and that the job is less likely to be affected by the fluxuations in the engineering market.
Sad as it is, i suppose a job that will last years longer, even if it will only “probably” last longer, trumps living close to my grandbaby (and my dislike of living in a west texas oil town, and all the other reasons i want to stay right where i am.).
So… now i understand the sudden rush on beautifying the house. We are not fixing it primarily because he is sick and tired of looking at it and i am too slow; we are fixing it because we are preparing to sell.
There are so many things that we have long intended to fix…. The cabinets in the kitchen need to be refinished. I would like to have that done for myself, and i think it would make the house more attractive to a buyer, but i am not sure that it would be a selling point or stay done if we sold the place. So many new buyers are painting the paneling and the cabinets. The paneling is attractive to me; even the kitchen cabinets in their present state are attractive to me, but paint is what most people seem to want these days.
I just thought of the hole in the paneling beind the desk… it is the size of a chair wheel. I don’t think that can even be repaired except in preparation to paint. The man i had here to quote work today told me i should just put a blank plate over it, but that is the solution i proposed and it didn’t fly. I will ask the guy coming Monday to quote the paint and cabinets, as well.
There is also the kitchen counter top. It is 30+ years old, after all. It is stained and bleach no longer removes the stains… at least cleanser with bleach which used to work, doesn’t. I suppose i need to try straight bleach, again, and leave it longer before i decide it doesn’t work at all. The sink and stovetop are in bad shape too.
And there is the carpet. Oh my. Bad bad carpet.
And the kitchen floor tile….
The main issue is the outside, though, in my opinion. The paint is obviously in need, but less obviously, Luke tells me there is rotton wood that needs to be replaced. We have a man coming to give an estimate on that job this weekend.
It may seem to be a shame that we fix the place up just to sell it, but… i have enjoyed this house, as is. I always liked the floor plan. The only things i would have changed are that i would have screened in the back porch, added a fireplace and made the closets a little bigger. All in all, it has been a very nice house.
Oh! one thing we are going to finally get finished is the new bathroom. Maybe i will actually soak in my soaker tub before we move!
Well – mixed feelings about the possible move, mirroring your own mixed feelings.
But maybe you’ll get the house fixed and and get to stay for a while 🙂
there are so many reasons i do not want to go… But income… an engineering job that will last longer… That wins out. He actually wants to go. He wants to move, and not just for the job.
The most terrible thing that could happen is he takes the job, we move, and then when he is 60 they lay him off.
The best…. i don’t know. I do not wish he is not hired… I almost wish that, but not quite. I don’t think there is a best.
He has an interview. They are flying him there next weekend.
Trip is going to come paint. I think. I don’t know why i did not think of “hiring” her before. She says i do not have to pay her, but i want to… i at least want to spend money on her to say thank you.
Job security/longevity is an important consideration.
Also… what are home prices like in midland? Would it be possible to sell the Rosenberg house and buy a house in midland outright?
Would be nice if midland’s housing market was lower priced than Houston… always fun to sell a house, buy a new one with proceeds, and have money left over.
Just don’t try doing that when moving into Austin; most places around here are insane, price wise.
Prices in Midland seem to be close to what they are here. We would have to pay quite a bit more than we paid for this house, but i think we will sell this house for more than we paid for it too.
I think it would be nice if we could find a place with a little land… ideally not in a community of houses, but something like Dad had. Maybe if we were out of town we would be able to see the stars at night and feel the cool night breezes. I wonder if that is even possible. Midland may throw off so much light that even out of town the stars are faded out like they are here.