Contractors said they’d show up yesterday, but didn’t. Apparently, they got stuck in Sacramento. They’re supposed to show up today. Hopefully, it won’t take much destruction to get to the root of the problem – but there will be some tearing off of drywall. Be interesting to see if they can actually pinpoint where the problem is, and how much drywall they’re going to have to remove…

Three points in the upstairs show water in the floor when it rains heavily. An additional point downstairs leaks, though there’s no dampness in the floor upstairs. Curious.

We’ll see, I guess.

Yeah, the house business is definitely causing some serious lack-of-sleep. Took ’till about 3-4ish to fall asleep last night – just so stressed about the rain, and the house. Contractors are showing up sometime this afternoon to start really examining where the leak is coming from, which sadly, means ripping out some of the upstairs drywall, and thus, creating a huge fucking mess. Here’s to hoping it’s relatively simple & quick.

So, turns out both the little roof ledge AND the windows are leaking. While the roof ledge is a bigger problem, because it’s leaking like a madman, and ruining the drywall, it’s actually much easier to fix, because it’s pretty clear where the leak is coming from. At least, I think it is. The bigger problem is actually that the windows which were leaking last year are leaking again. This is potentially a HUGE problem, because it would mean essentially that the whole front of the house is leaking, and that the windows are going to be impossible to seal, and that the whole front of the house will have to be torn off and rebuilt. Again. You want to talk pain in the ass, there you have it. So, the problem is that though the contractor for the roof issue is a major flake, and getting him to do anything is going to be a royal pain, the friendlier contractors are going to have a hell of a job sealing the house up, which they guaranteed they’d do (though that should have been done by pain-in-the-ass contractor properly in the first place.

*sigh*

I can’t say I’m not pretty worried. I am pretty worried. This has the potential to be a pretty serious mess.

Got engaged on the first. Good stuff!

Yes, I realize that post is about as detailed as … a really non-detailed sentence. But that’s really all you need to know. If you haven’t seen me in the last six years, you might not know who she is, but if I haven’t talked to you in the last six years, you’re not really up on the news anyway, eh?

So I was wrong about the house not leaking. Little mini-roof by the dining room that is above the downstairs bedroom leaked. Wrecked the drywall, but more importantly, basically requires the mini-roof to be redone. Getting the contractor to actually do it, I would guess, is going to be a nightmare. Alas. Still, it’s a relatively trivial problem, so no worries, I suppose – just irritating, and time consuming.

*sigh*

Better news soon.

So, our old housemate was over this afternoon, when the neighbors across the street came a-knockin’. Seems water was pouring out from our gutter, across the street (downhill slightly) and flooding their garage. Well, that was indeed the case. But our drain wasn’t visibly clogged by anything. There was just so much rain that the 6″ diameter PVC pipe that acts as the “drain” under our driveway, to the rest of the gutter, wasn’t large enough to accomodate THAT MUCH WATER. It was pretty crazy, really. So we tried to see if there were little barriers we could put together to keep their house from flooding further, and we were able to use some joist wood, and what have you, to block things up at least temporarily. But it was craziness. Our old housemate ended up having the brilliant idea to try to send a 2×4 through the 6″ drain to try to make sure the pathway really was clear. The board went through without a problem, and though nothing visibly dislodged, it definitely got water flowing through it faster. We ended up having to “plunge” our neighbor next door’s gutter by basically sweeping water into it cyclically to get enough water through *it*, as well, since it was then flowing over the street, into their cross-street neighbor’s garage.

It’s weird – it’s not something I’d have thought of at *all* when originally purchasing the house, but I’m really, really glad to be on the up-side of the street. Aside from some water pushing in to the front inch and a half of the garage, our house is bone-dry, even under really heavy rain. It wasn’t last year – the front of the house leaked like a madman. But this year, looks like we’re in the clear. Good news, for sure.

Now, if only we could get that downstairs finished.

Started a comic with a friend of mine from here. He’s writing, I’m drawing. The first page will be here. There’s a couple rough panels in there already, but man, drawing in this style is a slow, arduous process. Still, I think it’s the style for me, so it’s just a matter of sitting down and doing it.

Every so often, it strikes me that I own a house, and that the repair costs on this thing are astronomical. And that I’m basically in debt for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and at the moment, have an income of $0.

It’s a bit … frightening.

In the grand scheme of things, I realize, eventually, that it’s no worse than renting a place, that the value for the money is a lot higher, and that I’m living in a place that I’ve now invested a lot of myself into, and that it’s growing better with time. Still, it freaks me out.

The downstairs is looking really nice – the floor’s in, and though parts of it are not level (there’s a corner in the bedroom that’s clearly lower than the rest of the floor, for instance, and the lead in to the downstairs bathroom is practically a small ramp), it’s looking really nice. The boards could be fit tighter, and such, but I think overall, it looks pretty darned good. I was a bit stressed a couple minutes ago (about 3am), and walked around downstairs in the dark, just to see how it “felt” without being able to see it, and it felt great. Seeing it reveals some small gaps between the boards, but I’m hoping that’ll eventually all settle in.

Whoo. Expensive. Gonna move downstairs when it’s done, and probably rent out another room upstairs to one of the housemates. Hopefully. Or begin to really start ripping shit up upstairs. Depends, I guess, on a few things. We’ll see.

The annual game sales have come and gone, and for about $15 each, I picked up … lessee… Super Monkey Ball 2 (for the GF), Sonic Mega Collection, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, XIII, a couple of gifts for friends, and eventually, Beyond Good and Evil (it’s not here yet). I’m psyched for BG&E, XIII is better than I’d thought it would be (as is Billy Hatcher – simple, but fun). SMB2 is what I expected – simple, sometimes frustrating, and I have yet to try BoF. Also got Max Payne 2 from my old housemate and lifelong friend, and it’s pretty damned awesome. One of those games that just kinda sticks with you – the atmosphere’s so great.

Anyhow. Gotta swing in to work tomorrow for a potluck and gift exchange, then hoof it back up home to hang out with one of my best friends, who’s in from outta town. Like a complete jackass, I forgot I had to go to work this morning when I originally made plans, so I’ve gotta call and postpone ’till the afternoon. I’m a twit. *sigh*. Maybe catch Return of the King again tonight. Phenomenal movie, incidentally, and really raises the bar for what one imagines can be put to screen. Any “epic” battle now has the battle of Pelennor Fields to live up to, and that’s gonna be a rough challenge. I loved the Dock battle in Matrix Revolutions – I thought *it* raised the bar pretty darned high. But RoTK lept over it like a tall man at the high jump in the midget olympics. Crazy. A tall man who can jump. Yeah, I know tall people aren’t necessarily good high jumpers. Just imagine they are.

Wow. The downstairs is looking phenomenal. Now that I’ve got my digital camera back, I’ll take some pix of the place when it’s light out, and put ’em up. Next up’s probably the wiring of the outlets & light switches & stuff. Basically simple stuff, but the only trick is getting the breakers installed on the breaker panel – something that will require power to the whole house to be shut down for. Whee! Fun. And by fun, I mean, mostly, not fun. But hell, it’s so close to being done, I can actually *taste* it, and I don’t think it’s just the paint vapor.

Picked up a couple games last week on the cheap, despite really needing to “tighten the belt” financially – as part of the payment for a bet, I picked up Karaoke Revolution, which is mad fun, and for a total of $40, I picked up Tenchu: The Wrath of Heaven, Alter Echo, and Zone of the Enders 2: The Second Runner. All three games are good fun – not really groundbreaking, awesome games, say, but solid, 7-8/10 games. Stealth action, action/rhythm, and sci-fi TPS action. Great stuff, and cheep! like the budgie.

‘Bout that time, then, eh?

Right-o.

Check out www.flobots.com – great stuff. Socially conscious and musically interesting hip hop. What could be better?

Went on a run with a couple guys from MOASF, the Mini Owners of America, SF chapter, from North Livermore road up to Walnut Creek. Lots of windy one-lane roads, fun as hell. The Mini ran, again, like a champ, but I’ve really gotta fix the shift linkage on that guy – there’s a kludged part in the shift linkage, that’s definitely … delicate.

But man, fun stuff. Driving the Mini’s like having a go-kart you can drive anywhere.

Well, anywhere there are roads, mostly.