The Wants and Want-Nots

Last week was a short work week made even shorter by taking two sick days.  I feel better now but fear it has moved into my sinuses.  Hopefully, it will go away on its own without antibiotics.  On Saturday, a contractor came over to look at the work that I need to get done in the laundry, bathroom, kitchen, and carport.  He hasn't sent a quote yet and I am very anxious to see it because I want to know if my plans are realistic or not.  I have planned out my kitchen renovations more and it seems like if I can find cabinets on Craigslist it won't cost as much as I thought.  Most of the cost will be in upgrading the electrical panel to add electricity to the Arizona room/carport area.  Maybe I will be able to afford a mini-split A/C for this summer.  I am not looking forward to another summer with only an evaporative cooler.  If I can't afford a mini-split, I'll get one of those mobile units that use an exhaust hose out of a window.

Also, before Christmas, I bought, on impulse, a motorized bicycle.  I had been looking at them for a while and was hoping to buy one when I moved back out to my property for short trips to the store up and down the big hill.  A friend was selling one for $250, typical price for a used one is $400.  I jumped on the deal but after I got it home I realized that:

  A) I didn't need it right now.

  B) I didn't want to mess with a noisy motor and the gas/oil mix that it requires.

  C) It was taking up space and I would rather have $250.

Last Saturday, I took it to my co-worker's house for repair.  He loves bikes and has all of the tools, tires, patches, you name it.  He got it working and is going to see if he can sell it for me.  When I do move out to my property, I hope to buy an electric bike instead.  We shall see.

Anyway, this week is plodding along.  I took Jimmy-dog to the vet for his 8 hour Low dose Dexamethasone Suppression test.  I'll get the results next week.  This should tell us if he has Cushing's Syndrome or not.  The 4 hour test was negative but this test is supposed to be better.  I hope he does have Cushing's.  Then we can stop the guessing and go ahead with the treatment.

Today was payday so December's credit card bill has been paid.  This month's bill is adding up with Jimmy-dog's test costing $520.  The good news is that the Tiny House people are staying another month so that's $350 from them, and my tenant out at my property paid me $400.  That sounds like a lot of money but my tenant at the property has been living there for free since July because I told him I would wait for his social security payments to start up and they finally did in December.  $400 doesn't quite cover 6 months of free electricity, water, internet, and trash but if he keeps paying me I'll be able to building up my reserves again.  If I had the chance, would I offer to rent out my mobile home to a homeless stranger on the word of a friend of a friend again?  No.  It has been a learning experience and it has turned out ok so far and I am glad that the mouse problem is under control (thanks to his cats) but I should have moved all of my stuff out first.  But it was so hot in July and the mice were just making themselves at home and it was very overwhelming.  Most of my stuff is out now but it is all jumbled in the barn-shed.  The organization that I had last year is gone and I just need to put it out of my mind until I am ready to move out there again.