Captured Critter

Our raccoon problem is a real pain in the butt. The attic is full of raccoon poop. The animal removal company won't go in the attic until the raccoon are out. They caught one and it fought so hard it got loose and broke the cage. A couple days later they caught this little guy. I was hoping that there was only one. Hope didn't get me far. George stuffed newspaper in the holes where the raccoon were entering and the paper got pushed out. It cost 199. for the traps to be set for a month and then 95. for every raccoon they catch. The raccoon have to be destroyed after the catch them.

My fence is a great example of getting what you pay for. I found a guy through home depot. He installed the fence for a great price. His parting words to Don were "don't move the fence until the cement is dry." That was two weeks ago. This weekend we were doing yard work and Don kept hearing a squeaking. It's the fence blowing in the wind. You don't have to wait very long for non existent cement to dry. They poured a little cement that just pulled right out of the ground. Now we are going to have to get a real fence company to fix the crappy installation. The guys that tore the shed down worked fast but they broke the windows instead of removing them intact. I've spent a long time picking up broken glass. I'm going to quit giving good Internet reviews for these workers until a week after the job is done so I know what they screwed up!

Don said those cement blocks that the addition was on are about three feet deep. We are going to have to figure out what to do about them,

Critters and demolition

Two or three years ago Laura called and said there was something in the attic. I called a critter control company and they said they would go out that afternoon. I called Laura and she said she wouldn't be home so they'd have to come another time. I gave her their number and told her to call them. I never heard about it again so I assumed that the critters were gone. Well assuming makes me an ass. We called an animal control company and they came out and said they thought there were raccoon in the attic. I told Brian and he said "Oh, I saw them, a mom and 3 babies." What the heck!
There is a bad addition in the back of the house and we thought that the raccoon were getting in the attic through the back of the addition. We decided it was best to take it down so we could deal with the critter problem completely. 

Good bye little rooms.

While the demolition crew was there we had them tear down the shed in the back yard as well. It was a potential critter home as well. Don said "if we were in Africa we could live in here." I told him it was a good thing we weren't in Africa.

The shed was full of garbage. When the demolition crew came out they were throwing everything away. Brian was there and he was running around yelling "that's mine." It's the only time I've ever seen him hurry.

They filled their garbage truck up twice.

I had put a request in for a demolition crew on a website called Thumbtack. I posted it at 8:30 at night. Within 30 seconds I had a phone call. I made an appointment to meet with him at 10 the next morning. I got another half dozen text within a few minutes. I made two more appointments. The first guy I met with was disorganized and over priced. The second guy (who was the first guy) gave a good bid. I asked him when he could start and he said "now." He left got his crew and dump truck and by 6 p.m. the demolition was complete. 

Getting started with the clean up

I arranged for the carpet to be cleaned and the plumbing fixed on the 11th. I didn't know until the 11th that there was no gas. I'd already had the power turned back on. I had to pay $300 in back gas bills. It took the plumber about 45 minutes to fix the water pipe from the water heater to the kitchen sink. The toilet in bedroom bathroom hardly flushed, It was disgusting. A couple of years ago Laura told us there was a problem with the toilet. Don asked if they wanted him to replace the toilet. Brian said he would replace it. We bought a new toilet for the house. I don't know what they did with that toilet. Good grief. We called roter rooter because we thought maybe the drain was clogged. He said the drain worked just fine it was the toilet. Seriously! They just let a toilet swirl for years. I don't know if they returned the toilet we bought to Home Depot for the money.

The fence had blown down in a wind storm a couple of years ago. 

I had a new fence put in that matched the neighbors fence. The fence now matches across the back of the yard. The side yards have two separate types of fences. The Lindsey's on the north is brick and the one of the right is wood. I had this great plan that we were going to have this house turned around and ready to rent by March 1st. For awhile I was on a roll. When I came back in to the house after I had the carpet cleaned and found that the neighbor (according to Brian) had let the cat back in. This lead to an argument between me and Brian. I told him I was going to take the cat to the pound and he said "don't make me call my attorney." Ha, that made me crazy and I told him to please call his attorney and to give me his attorney's name so I would no where to have him served.

512

Our renters at 512 moved out after 8 years. They have been really long term renters but they have also really been a pain in the butt. The church paid their rent most of those 8 years and they were late 98% of the time. Really late, like a month most of the time. I should have evicted their butts years ago. We probably gave them at least six, three day notice to evict letters. They would always say "didn't the church pay you?" They couldn't understand that our lease was with them not the church. Since Christmas I noticed that there were hardly ever any cars in the driveway. On February 1st Laura texted me and said she would be out by February 10th. They hadn't paid rent for January. I went to the house. The power and gas have been shut off and they left a cat. She moved to Park City a month before. About 6 weeks ago the police were at the house. There is a restraining order against Brian and just a a crap load of drama that I don't care about. I just wanted them to not trash the house and pay their rent. Laura quit moving stuff on the 10th. She just left everything she didn't want. She looked me in the eyes and told me the bishop was paying their rent for January. Liar! I'm guessing the bishop told her he wasn't paying their bills anymore and that's why she left. If no one will pay their rent, gas or electric it's time to move on. When she left, she left her cat. Seriously, who does that. She said Brian would come after she was gone because they couldn't be in the same place at the same time.

Happy Chinese New Year

 

The school had their Chinese New Year program at the Davis County Conference Center this year. It was a great venue and it was the first time (since we've been going) that they had enough seating. Every year they've added a new grade of immersion. This was the first year they had grades K-6 in immersion classes. The first group of immersion students will leave elementary school and go into immersion at the Jr high. It's nice that Sean is 4 years behind that group. Hopefully they will have all the kinks worked out of the Jr High and High School program by the time he starts. There is all sorts of confusion about how the program will work for the bigger kids. They are being required to give up an elective to be in the program and that elective for most kids in Davis County is seminary. This is upsetting a lot of parents. I think it would be a bummer if Sean couldn't take drama or band (or whatever elective he is interested in.)

Sean wants to be a professional You Tuber. Yesterday we figured out how to screen capture video of him playing games along with his web cam commentary. He wants to take a class in computers to learn how to make computer music and create animations.

Flats, crafts and skiing

I was driving to work last Saturday. It was the first day of a weekend class. I got to about 4700 South and my car was making a funny noise. I rolled down he window and klunk, burning rubber, my tire had blown. I've had problems with my tire sensors coming on and I've taken it in to the Tire Factory a couple of times. They told me my stems were bad and changed a few, then they told me the sensors were bad. Last time they told me the lights was on because my tires were cold. Hmm, I'm thinking the lights were on because there was something wrong with my tire. Now I have 4 new tires and new wheels. There was rust inside the wheels which probably contributed to the problem with my sensors. While I was waiting for Don to come rescue me and nice man in an Army uniform and Wyoming plates stopped to help. I thought that was nice. Don and Sean came and got me and drove me to work and I wasn't even late!

Sean's art class at school drew self portraits. Pretty good!

Don and Sean started making a paper mache Freddy Fazz bear. It took the better part of the week and all of our efforts but Sean was pleased with his mask.

We added some net behind the eyes.

Week 2 of ski lessons. After lessons were over Sean and Don were going fast down the big hill and they both wiped out. Sean was tearful. I have him Advil and today he's fine.

Snow

Snow caves and night skiing. When we got back from Hawaii we had some decent snow. Don and Sean spent an entire Saturday building a snow cave. Three weeks later and it's still standing. It's supposed to get warm next week so I think the snow cave may be seeing it's last days. Sean started ski lessons on the 5th. Last year the first day of ski lessons and the snow was as bad as it usually is on the last day. This year the snow was really good and all the lifts were open.