Random Thoughts On A Thorsday

Boy, I've had a lot to say lately. Anyway...

The weather hasn't been the greatest since I returned home from Coachella Valley. An atmospheric river has lashed us off and on, bringing little rain but a lot of uncertainty. Walks around the neighborhood require up to the minute radar on my phone app so I don't get caught soaking wet out there.

I'm not the only one in a rush when I'm on my walks. The Bose earbuds come in handy to drown out the chorus of hammers in surround sound. They're not just a nuisance but a harbinger of bad things to come. 

Once those hammers cease in roughly eight weeks, one or more Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) not meant to house an extended family member will dot the landscape and make street parking a bigger challenge.

***

If I only need one reason to move away from America's Costliest City, there's this. It's an extreme case of cashing in with your unused backyard, or as I call it the next Get Rich Quick scheme. 

I'm just going to smile smugly when greedy homeowners learn that rental income often must be reinvested into repairs every time a tenant moves out. I had my father sell all of his rental properties after he spent $40k to fix the damage from a tenant that lived in one property for only a year! 

That's in 2004 dollars, so you know he took the L on that lease.

I hope those greedy homeowners paid their contractors in cash, but I'll bet ten bucks the neighbor nearby that put up three ADU's is mortgaged up to his eyeballs. Even worse for them, both real estate and rents are stagnating in most neighborhoods.

***

Le Crash Pad was immune to repairs until this week. I have a kitchen issue that will be addressed next week. I'm lucky I can still use one of the twin kitchen sinks and not pay a rush fee for the plumber to fix things pronto.

I could fix it myself with help from Google and Lowe's, but this is where I need to educate the single women out there who ask, "Where are all the masculine men that can fix things?"

When we're broke, we fix them ourselves. When we have money, we pay someone else to bust their knuckles with a wrench and swear like a sailor. The same applies for oil changes.