Essential worker?

Last weekend I think people were getting fed up with no place to go. I wonder what this weekend will be like. Monday morning the tenant of the below house came out to meet me. "I know you are going to be angry" she said. That is never a good start to a conversation. First thought that goes through my mind is, I am getting no rent out of this house for April. No, that was not what she had to tell me. She said "Someone threw a brick through a window." OK not the worst news in the world, if it is a double hung window, both panes do come out and you just take it to Oskaloosa Glass and they order the new pane and it comes in about a week later. Yes, it was a double hung window. the bottom sash tilted out and the top sash which was broken came out. I took the window over to Oskaloosa Glass. I figured I could just leave it there while the new one was ordered and I would pick up a piece of insulation to keep out the rain and the cold. Doors were locked at Oskaloosa Glass. One of the guys was in the back and I did get in finally and handed him the window. He looked at it and said "I don't think this pane can be replaced." What, are you kidding me? They built the pane into the frame of the window. 

I drove down to Menards and bought a whole new replacement pocket window. My choice was one that was 3/8 inch too wide or one that was 3 and 1/2 inches too narrow. I went with the narrow one because I could fill in around the new window but cutting 3/8 inch off the stud or moving it over and redoing the sheet-rock and the siding was way more than I could even contemplate. 

Also had a mailbox get run over and smashed Sunday night on the opposite side of town as the smashed window. It did break my heart to see whoever ran over it, left a piece of their car behind. Yea, that nigh unto made me cry. I hope it cracked his front grill as well. I had a pole in storage and all I had to buy was the box. But I had to re-dig the hole.

See that range? tenant told me it was not working. The igniters would not work and the oven wouldn't lite either. I asked where it plugged in, so I could check the outlet for current. Yea, the plug for the gas stove was just hanging behind the stove. Don't know who decided a gas stove didn't need to be plugged in (it was plugged in and working when he moved in 2 month back). That was the easiest stove repair I have ever done.

This morning I received a call that a bath tub wasn't draining. This may look like a real mess of drain pipes, but it was done right. A lot of turn outs at the ends of the lines. I could turn out the ends and find the clog. Only took about 10 minutes. These are usually deals where first you try an industrial drain opener and then you get out the saws-all and start cutting the lines in pieces. Last year I had a kitchen line that was full of aquarium gravel. By the way, I found out drain cleaner doesn't work on gravel! That line had to be cut while it was full of drain water, in a finished basement. Oh, that was lovely. Tenant was hopping mad that all the dirty water she had backed up by filling both sides of the kitchen sink full came out in the basement and it did not all go into the bucket I had setting ready to catch it. I really had no sympathy when I found the line was full of gravel. The tenant assured me she had not put the gravel down the drain. She said she had lived there for 7 years (she was in the house when we bought it) and the drain had never been slow before so it was obvious she hadn't put the gravel down the drain. Yea, I didn't buy that reasoning, especially not when 3 months later the line was full of aquarium gravel again. Someone must be breaking into the house when she is gone just to plug up her kitchen drain. The first time I told her if she didn't put the gravel in the drain she had better find out who did and stop them from doing it again. Second time you just shrug and think, well I can't fix this one, stupid is as stupid does.

Received notification from the assessor's office today that they have put a new value on this house. It was in bad shape when we bought it, (Ok, we bought it for the value of the lot). The Assessor sent someone out to look at the house after the purchase to see why it had sold so low. He said he would be back in a year to revalue it. Well, the year is up and he came back.  the house's value on the tax roll was quadrupled. That means the taxes next year will quadruple. 

We did do a lot of work to the house but come on, value times 4?

Nice bathroom now though.

And a nice kitchen but it is the 2nd highest valued house we have and it is one of the older homes. I don't think I am going to file a protest as they might ask what I am basing my protest on, and it might be the wrong answer to say, "well we have a lot of houses worth more than this one and they are valued lower". They might ask for a list and raise the value on a lot more of them. No, the prudent course might be just to let it be.

Even though we do not have a project house right now, and I am social distancing, I did have some small projects to do this week. It was good to get out and do some work.

If we get a shelter in place order, I wonder if I would be classified as an essential worker. A house with a window broken out needs to be fixed to be able to heat the house. Smashed mailbox needs to be replaced so people can get mail. Stoves and other appliances need to be fixed. Drains need to keep running waste water out. To do these jobs I need supplies. If  stores only sell essential items, does caulk and paint count to seal up a house when a new window is installed? Is drain opener an essential item? Who makes the decisions here? 

It seems so simple on the surface. Sharon has been making face masks for the school and hospital. She is running out of supplies. Is that essential supplies? Cloth, ribbon and thread? If it isn't, tough luck to you health care workers. It is called unintended consequences or the butterfly effect. One decision impacts so many. I know a lot of people are loudly yelling we need a shelter in place here in Iowa. Yes, we do if we as a people are going to ignore the reality of this virus, but if we all act responsibly, we can keep the supply chain open and running and weather this storm without a lock down.

There will always be storms in life. It is how we deal with those storms that tell us what kind of a people we are. We are in the midst of a crisis and I am disappointed in those who refuse to pull together to a common goal. If all those who feel the need to say Its the Republicans or the Democrats fault would instead ask how can we solve this together we would be a lot better off. It used to be called compromise and was seen as a strength, now it is seen as a weakness. President Reagan and Tip O'Neill sat down and made deals in the early 80's. Today they would be called traitors. Come on people, encourage your politicians to sit down with those across the aisle and say, this is what I think we need , what do you think we need and how can we work it out so there is something for both of us.

Jesus said "a new command I give you, love one another." that has been missing from politics for 20 years now. Lets bring it back and have something good come out of this crisis.