More Lessons From Life

Yanking off shingles this morning, I came across a strange metal patch on the wood...a beer can section, tidily nailed to cover a hole! The guy didn't waste the rest of the can, either -- two more patches showed up further down.

Hey, waste not, want not.

This must be the same moron who left empty Coors and Budweiser cans underneath the garage roof, as well as cigarette butts under the shingles. (He used Coors for the roof patches -- hey, only the best for quality repairs.)

He also scattergunned his nails at the roof peak of the house, making extra work for the Destructor duo. Unfortunately, he also used cheap nails -- and the heads often came off by themselves, leaving Daughter #1 and me thinking every creative word in the business. Ever try to pry out a headless nail? #@!!!$

The bottom layer shingles on the house are literally shredded. I've had to pull them off in bits and pieces. The good part in all this mess is that we are making progress; I am definitely getting back into shape; and we've spent more time with Daughter #1 (who comes down from college to help) than we have in months.

The folks are driving here from Michigan tomorrow to spend a few weeks. Mom said to leave the household chores --she'd do those while she's here. I feel guilty about it...but it will be a big help!


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Panic Moments. Ever made a mistake that you need to fix -- fast?

J.D. posts about this subject in his valuable "Get Rich Slowly" website:

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/03/28/dont-panic-coping-with-financial-mistakes-and-setbacks/

Most of the responses talk about stocks. My most recent just happened last night. It's been chilly and bleak here, so I built a roaring fire to welcome Dave home from work. I thought I'd gotten the dampers open. Well, I hadn't. Dave arrived just in time to see a huge wave of smoke billowing out of the fireplace, the phone ringing, and me frozen, trying to get the smoke detector to shut up. Fortunately, with all of the house windows open, the dampers adjusted, and ten minutes later, we were almost back to normal.

I still smell like smoke. A little. At least it's a change from roofing tar.