Breaking rules

I think things should work a certain way. There are rules of how life should work. When a tenant moves out of a property, I expect them to leave it cleaned out.

Had a tenant move this week. I tried to cut him as much slack as I could. He is a single man who found another job after he lost the one he had when he moved in. That cut his income in half and then child support caught up with him leaving him with more bills than income. He had not paid his rent for May and there was no hope of payment in sight. I agreed to give him 3 extra days in June to move (had his deposit to cover May rent). He did move without an eviction so that was good but he left a lot of junk.

He texted me Monday night that he did not have time to get the place cleaned up. Really?  He knew for the last 2 weeks this day was coming but he preferred to not face the facts. I found it hard to feel sorry for the man. He broke the rules I live by. He has several children and failed to support those children until the court system caught up with him. He also broke the rules by leaving me a bunch of garbage to haul away after I did what I could to help him. I hope he doesn't want references any time soon, because I will be honest.

I don't know if you can see the robin sitting on the top of the electric mast. (notice the maple seedlings growing in the eves? We cleaned them out a month back. We have a lot of eves that need to be cleaned again this year) Anyway I was attacked by robins on Friday morning. I knew there were several male robins flying around making a lot of noise but I did not expect them to actually start hitting me by flying into my back. I later saw there were a couple of fledgling robins on the ground and the adults were protecting the young. Still. I don't bother robins. I knew they had a nest on a light I was going to take off the garage and I left the nest till the young were ready to leave, and why were several male robins involved? Shouldn't there have been a male and a female? These robins were breaking the rules. I left them alone they should leave me alone.

Micah and I hung the top cupboards Friday afternoon. The cupboards on this side were hung on a wall we had put in. The studs are 16 inches apart and the cupboards are fastened securely to the studs.

The cupboards on this side are fastened (and I use the word fastened loosely at this point) to an original wall. I still need to find a stud behind the ones on the far side of the window. I did not have a stud finder (probably would not have worked anyway with a plaster and lathe wall). I started on the right side of the cupboard and put a screw every 2 inches. It is a 30 inch cupboard. If the studs are on 24 inch centers (I am assuming they are not 16 inch centers in exterior walls in a house this age) there has to be a stud behind that cupboard. Well I did not find one. I found a stud behind the 12 inch cupboard on the other side of the window. Someone was not building by the rules.

Have a good start on getting this house resided. Our insurance company would not insure the siding. They were concerned that it is asbestos siding. I said "I think it is slate", but you do not win arguments with insurance companies.  The city wanted the siding replaced anyway. 

There is a moisture barrier behind the old siding so we are going right over the old with the new. No landfill fees for asbestos (if it happens to be asbestos) siding if you just cover it up. Also no particles floating in the air. 

It took me a long time to find the studs to nail the new siding to on this house also. They were random widths. Some 16 inches some 18 inches and a few 20 inch centers. What did the builder do, just put in studs where ever he felt like? There is a reason there are rules when building a house.

I remember when I was in grade school, there was a test that had the question, When are you the most free from the law? I tried to think of every possibility. Maybe stranded on an island or some other place where there was little government. The correct answer was when you obey the law. 

Too often we don't want rules. We want freedom. I see too many people who don't want to live by the rules. They seem to always be in troubled relationships or lonely. They seem to always be in financial duress. Rules are there for a reason. 

Years ago someone asked a member of my church "what are you not allowed to do if you go to your church." That really is the wrong question isn't it? That question makes it sound like we have rules to make life difficult. God's law does not make life difficult, it allows us to live in relationship with our "neighbors". It seems to get easier to see the benefits of the law and the rules as I get older may be that is because breaking the rules isn't so enticing anymore. That path just leads to unhappiness. Don't get me wrong, I am still breaking God's law, but now I know that is a bad thing not just because God says "don't do that", but it also makes my life worse.

Ending on a much better note here. We had a tenant make a rock bed for the water from the eves to run away from the house. Great job Jared and Samantha. I love it when a tenant makes a place better.