AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

If I have learned anything in the last two weeks, it is this...

Don't buy a house.

We have, in the last two weeks, discovered mold in one wall of a room we won't be able to go into for at least two more weeks. While trying to get mold out of the ductwork, we have discovered that it is made of a mesh material wrapped in insulation that was sold for about a year in the late 70's, and all of it must be completely replaced, and the removed material has to be bagged in place in the attic or crawlspace. As such, we can't run the HVAC system until the ducting has been replaced, or face the possibility of remediating the entire house. Right now that looks like five days, and we may have to stay at a motel with the dogs during that time.

The painting crew not only failed to tape adequately, but left a horrendous mess that our drywaller (who contracted the painting out) has spent all day fixing with the help of five other guys. Our inspectors were idiots, and missed not only the duct issue but also a leak in the eaves, insufficient ventilation from the master bathroom, and rotting deck railing. We may sue, and I have never sued anyone in my life. Because they missed the ducting, we are likely to be out an extra $3000 that we could have gotten from the sellers, but without a civil suit we'll be stuck with getting our $435 inspection fee back. We are likely to report them to the contractor's board in Portland, not to mention Angie's List and the Better Business Bureau.

And, it took the cable installer four hours (no lie) to figure out that the wall plug was hooked up to a TV antenna in the attic, then repair water damage in the access box and replace the cable that ran up there. And the Dish Network guy is currently running cable under the house, but we just learned that they no longer have a single dish solution for HD programming so we have two sitting on our courtyard deck.

Oh, and I have no functioning toilets right now because the painters put them back so poorly that they are all leaking.

As a final insult, the stacking trays I ordered that are to hold wargames in progress were misordered and I only got half of them.

On the plus side, we seem to have finally gotten ahold of all of the existing and known problems, and I'm seriously considering hiring electrical and plumbing professionals to inspect those systems as I have zero confidence that any of them are in good shape, and my previous inspectors almost certainly missed a few things we *haven't* noticed. And all my stuff shows up today, so that's good.

Gotta go, my handyman just told me one toilet works. What a month. It has to get better. Right? Right?

Right?

At least we'll have TV to freeze by...