Old Houses

For quite some time, the water pressure in the bathroom has not been what it should be. I decided to get it repaired. My "handyperson" thought it would be a fairly simple fix. Replace the old galvanized horizontal pipes with some nice shiny copper ones. Not so fast here! Those were replaced with little improvement - in fact no improvement. It got worse! So now, it is time to try to replace the vertical water lines that run up to the second floor. Part of a wall in the basement stairway has been removed along with some pipes. Part of the kitchen ceiling will most likely have to be removed to make the necessary turns and fittings. As it stands right now, I have no water in the bathroom!

Good thing I have plenty of buckets. Water to flush the stool sits in buckets close by. I will have to carry hot water from the kitchen sink for a bath. No such thing as a shower tonight or in the morning. I do not like washing my hair in the kitchen sink, but I will make an exception until I have running water in the bathroom.

The handyperson and the assistant handyperson will be here tomorrow after work. Hopefully they make good progress.
Demolition is underway!

Just never know what you will find when you try to make repairs to an old house.

Random Ramblings

Peoria Public Schools - District #150: Please re-open Woodruff High School as Would Be Rough Alternative School. Select the most difficult students from the remaining high school and the upper middle school grades, about 150 to 200 from each school. Staff Would Be Rough appropriately with qualified Behavioral Disorder and other special education teachers. Design a highly structured, well supervised, secure in-school suspension room so that suspension or expulsion is no longer a treat. The remaining students at the "Home Schools" would actually have an opportunity to learn without threat and the students at Would Be Rough might actually modify some destructive behavior and be educated in spite of themselves.

Peoria Landlords - Please treat every property you own as an important business in the neighborhood in which it is located. Everything you do, from selecting your tenants to improving your property increases the value (or decrease its' value) of that business. If the neighborhood improves because of your property, the value of your business also goes up. There is more to consider than move 'em in - move 'em out - get the check - keep the deposit! There are good landlords, don't get me wrong, but the others..... If your business is the worst house on the block, you should be ashamed and be put out of business.

Respect - Treat others the same as you want to be treated. If you do not want to hear my classical music or country music at full blast, please don't play your Hip Hop so loud that it rattles my windows. Do not walk through my yard if you would not want me walking through yours. Do not damage my property if you don't want me damaging yours - even if it is just breaking off my flowers or littering my yard.

Parenting - There is more to being a parent than producing offspring. The inner city is victimized by Urban Terrorists - unsupervised youth of various ages that think nothing of threatening adults, carrying weapons, robbing individuals / businesses or bullying other youths. As much as I want to blame the youth, it is their parents who are really at fault. Not that every little Urban Terrorist is the result of bad parenting, but many are. Parents should know what their kids are doing, supervise their activities, be involved in their education, know who their friends are and enforce discipline. Be a parent not just a hatchery.

Look for the positives - As difficult as it is sometimes, look for what is positive and try to make it even better. There are good parents, there are good kids, there are good landlords and there are good schools. I try to recognize these facts and not get so caught up in the negatives that I fail to see the good things. It is just hard sometimes.