As I watched these weather related catastrophes I often
wondered how people started over. Where do you start when starting over? I guess
they start by rebuilding their homes. As I had a custom home built a number of
years ago, the devil is the details – all of the little things that make a
house a home. We rarely give any thought to the switch on the wall that turns
our lights on. Now you had better give it some thought as there are so many
styles to choose from and yes, even colors are important. See what I am talking
about?
Getting all this stuff is either fun or torture. As I walked
through Bed, Bath and Beyond I just went up and down the isles taking one of
each. I edited my purchases at the checkout counter when the clerk asked do I really
want these? “I have a coupon,” I told her! For 20% off how can I go wrong? You
can if you bought baby blankets – they were so much cheaper than the ones that
would fit on my bed! A thousand dollar worth of stuff with hand full of these
blue and white coupons the clerk put it all one bag. You see, a family of four
could live in that bag.
So, here I am putting away the pudding cups, the potato
peelers, the strainer, the vegetable steamer, the measuring cups and the meat
thermometer and realizing that I need pudding, meat and potatoes I headed off
to the supermarket! Eggs I bought at Costco because I always buy eggs at Costco
and tuna fish and liquor! I almost forgot, I bought a washer and dryer so detergent,
which I always buy at Costco, was on the list, too!
Recently, due a change in status I had to make these decisions
regarding rebuilding a home. I was sort of in a hurry to get started so I got
one of those ready-made homes that you read about in the Sunday newspaper –
heck, you may already live in one! It is hard to build just one townhome so I
bought one that was already built in the area that I wanted to live. Trauma of
building a pool, landscaping and all those details were attacked long before I
got here – thankfully! So, my ready-made came with a garage, three bedrooms and
2.5 baths (how do you take a half of a bath?) Add the living room, the dining
area, kitchen and the den; you have a pretty good ready-made! At this point the
ready-made has an echo as there is nothing in it to absorb sound.
Furniture! That will absorb sound. Furniture will also
provide something to sleep on, something to eat on something to store all the stuff
you need to yet get, something to sit and something just for show!
Also, if you are building an office in the ready-made you
will need office furniture. The office furniture is in your home so it has to
be on the same quality and styling as the rest of the furniture. But there is
an out. Be eclectic! That is what you
say when nothing matches – I am not eclectic, I am an independent.
Now the furniture comes like a tidal wave of deliveries. Put
that here, those over there, etc. And then there is the furniture that so supposed
to fill a room and comes in a very small box – with instructions, screws and an
allen wrench. All that stuff went back, when I buy furniture I want to use it
not have a hobby of putting it together – although I must admit that I did put
some things together. Power screw drivers help!
Now you need kitchen tools and utensils. I even bought pots
and pans like I was going to cook anything! Actually I do coo: toast, coffee, cantaloupe (oh, that you just
have cut up – so I need some sharp knives) and believe it or not some other not
so tasty dishes like left over Chinese food. That has to be reheated on a stove
that makes my computer look simple!
Getting all this stuff is either fun or torture. As I walked
through Bed, Bath and Beyond I just went up and down the isles taking one of
each. I edited my purchases at the checkout counter when the clerk asked do I really
want these? “I have a coupon,” I told her! For 20% off how can I go wrong? You
can if you bought baby blankets – they were so much cheaper than the ones that
would fit on my bed! A thousand dollar worth of stuff with hand full of these
blue and white coupons the clerk put it all one bag. You see, a family of four
could live in that bag.
So, here I am putting away the pudding cups, the potato
peelers, the strainer, the vegetable steamer, the measuring cups and the meat
thermometer and realizing that I need pudding, meat and potatoes I headed off
to the supermarket! Eggs I bought at Costco because I always buy eggs at Costco
and tuna fish and liquor! I almost forgot, I bought a washer and dryer so detergent,
which I always buy at Costco, was on the list, too!
I discovered a supermarket within three minutes driving time.
I became a member of their organization so I can reap the best prices and they
can track my spending habits. That is OK! When you are buying broccoli what are
you trying to hide? My supermarket has no idea that I bought liquor at Costco
and Costco doesn’t require a membership – oops!
Once again, it was down each isle taking one of everything –
almost everything as food items are much more familiar to me than utensils. As
I was pondering what to buy a little devil on my shoulder kept urging me on –
buy this, buy that it may not be good for you but it will be delicious. I resisted
the temptations in about 90%of the cases. I am only human!
Starting over is not fun – it is a challenge. I guess it
would have been more of a challenge had I not chosen to get a ready-made. Even
if you get a ready-made make sure you have a hammer, the power screw driver,
laser level, picture hanging stuff and enough liquor from Costco to get you
through it all!
That was and is my ongoing experience - NOTHING MORE TO DECIDE!
