October, 2020

God's mercies are new every morning. That is what I keep telling myself. Challenges follow everyone and they have followed us (my son and me) as well. After nearly 5 years living in a tiny apartment that we disliked immensely, we purchased a manufactured home in a 55 and over community. My son and I were so excited to move in and settle down in a friendly clean community in the center of the little "village" where we have always wanted to live.

So eager we were to move from the apartment that we made some major mistakes. Mistake number 1: When we went to view the prospective new home we were so conscious of the owners privacy and "covid" that we didn't really look. We didn't open closet doors or kitchen cupboards. We tried to stay in the home as short a time as possible, so we just glanced around. It "looked" great. It looked clean. It had the right amount of bedrooms and bathrooms to accommodate us. We didn't measure, but they looked at least as big as we had at the apartment. There was an eyesore of a giant rock fireplace right in the tiny front yard, but we were assured it could be removed. There was a garden shed, but it had a lock on it and there was no available key. Still, it was so much nicer than where we were.

 We made an offer. It was countered and we accepted the counter offer. The financing took longer than anticipated, due to misinformation from the realtor to the financial people. The next step was an appraisal. Great, it appraised at $10,000 more than we agreed to pay. The realtor talked us into getting a home warranty instead of an inspection. That was mistake number 2. We contacted the home warranty company they suggested and bought the best plan offered and paid cash up front for it.  We turned over our down payment. Everything went fine at that point. We signed all the final papers, the owner was funded and the home was ours. 

At that point we were told the owner couldn't be completely out for two more weeks. That was irritating, but we needed the time to finish packing and cleaning. We were told the owner hired a professional home cleaner after she was out. NOT!! Finally, we got our keys. We finally were able to open all the doors and drawers and see what kind of cupboards and closets we were dealing with. So excited and happy were we to finally be in our own home again............WAIT..........mouse droppings in the kitchen drawers. Clean, bleach, set traps, bleach, put everything in freezer or air tight containers. 

Strange noises at night were waking me up. I started sleeping with a pile of shoes on my bed to throw at whatever was making the noise. More mouse droppings everywhere. I contacted the realtor and wanted to know why I wasn't informed there was a mouse problem. "We had no idea." says she, but this innocent realtor offered to pay for an exterminator to come and assess the problem. Hmmmmm. After paying $272 for an assessment we were told that we not only had a mouse problem, but a rat problem and a serious one that had to have been known to the previous owner due to the length of time they problem apparently existed. I signed up to have it taken care of and monitored every two months. Rats have been caught, but the scratching under my bedroom has continued.

Week two the hot water heater died and we no long had water for showers or dishes or laundry. We contacted the home warranty company and for $60 they would send someone out to assess the problem. That was OK; I agreed to the deductible when I bought the plan. After assessment I was informed the hot water heater was indeed dead and I needed a new one. The heater was covered and the labor was covered the the things that were not covered (drains, fittings, earthquake straps, removing the door and frame the heater was housed in) would cost me $677. Wait, what? I agreed to remove the door and door frame and that saved me over $300. After another week and a half and $299 later I had a new water heater and could finally shower without heating water on the stove. It took me 25 minutes to remove the door and door frame, another 30 minutes to reinstall it after the workmen left.

Yesterday I moved the two chairs that had been sitting in the living room since we moved in and what do you think I found? So many mouse and rat droppings that I immediately put on a mask to clean it up. Sweep, mop, bleach, shampoo the chairs, mop, bleach, move everything else in the living room, sweep, mop, bleach. Right now we are hoping that mouse droppings happened before the pest control company had plugged holes and set traps. None of the traps set inside the house have been tripped, so maybe the plugged holes did the trick.

One of the things I was  determined to do was be a good neighbor and enjoy my new neighborhood and my new neighbors.

We didn't have Internet, cable or a land line for three weeks, delays due to corona virus. When my Internet was finally restored I had an email from the neighborhood manager. (It's our home, but we rent the space it sits on and there is a neighborhood manager and there are neighborhood rules). The email said that someone complained that I have minors on the premises. Did I have children living with me? I did indeed have my two little grandsons spending two nights with me on two different occasions. They are the best two little boys ever. They never went outside to play, they were in my home at all times. They watch TV, play on their tablets, we sit at the table and have meals and visit and laugh. They did walk to the store with their uncle. Who in the world would complain about that?

My neighbor on one side has two medium sized dogs he lets out without leashes and lets them do their business in my yard. He claims he had an agreement with the previous owner and she said his dogs could use her yard to poop and he would clean it up. He hoped I would agree to the same arrangement. I did not answer. I have had to clean up after his dogs twice a day since then. My own little dogs are always on a leash and i walk with a pet waste bag on my hand at all times. I finally told him I going to eventually fence my area. He hoped I would put a gate. :-(

My neighbor on the other side told me that MY car sticks out too far and she can't get to her mailbox. She gets in her car, backs up to the mailbox, grabs her mail and pulls back into her driveway. On other days, when she leaves to shop or whatever she comes home and drives up the sidewalk on the wrong side of the road so she can pull up right next to her mailbox. Therefore she tells me it is against the rules for me to park on the street in front of my house. Bottom line is that she doesn't want me to park in my driveway and she says it violates park rules to park in the street in front of my house. So..........where am I supposed to park my car? She complained to the post office and they put a note in my box that I am blocking the mailbox. I spoke with the mail carrier and she apologized for having to put that note in my box and didn't know what to tell me. For now I am parking back in the street in front of my house. Now I'm being asked by the neighborhood manager to either get rid of one of my cars or downsize my outdoor deck by about 5 feet at my own expense, of course.

 November 7, 2020

Slowly we began to unpack and settle in. We tried to convince ourselves that our home was indeed a house (manufactured home) and not a trailer. We've modified that now. It's a glorified trailer, but when we have had time to make it a home it will again seem like a house. 

My son has been in the hospital twice in the two months since we moved in. Once he was found sitting on his mobility scooter on the sidewalk leading to his daughter's home, unresponsive. A good Samaritan called 911 and got him help. The other time he passed out and fell at home and I couldn't lift him. He is 53. 

Most of the people I have met in my new neighborhood have been very nice. Even though this is a senior community, I am absolutely allowed to have my grandchildren spend the night occasionally. I got a loan to buy a new washer and dryer, as the ones left in the house are on their last legs and totally inadequate for our needs. We won't get our new set until next year sometime due to Covid and back orders. We still haven't been able to put up a fence, so I walk the three little dogs, one at a time, on a leash three times a day. We stay in our own yard. We haven't decided what to do about our deck. We need the little pickup to bring things from storage until we can empty the units out. It will all work out in time. 

It sounds like I'm doing nothing but complaining, but I know in time we will be very comfortable and happy here. It's going to be a warm, cozy inviting cottage; just what I've always wanted.