Warranty Schmorranty

Why is it that nothing is ever free? You'd think if you have a warranty for something, they replace that item for free, and that's that.

Nope.

So, we have this homeowners warranty for the bungalow, which luckily we had added to the contract by the sellers. The company makes it sound wonderful... Buy this warranty, and if anything ever goes wrong, you simply pay the $60 service call fee, and they replace or fix the broken item. Sounds easy, right?

Buried in the small print, is a heck of a lot of small print. One item being, if something breaks, they'll replace it, but they won't take the broken item away. If we want them to, we have to pay. $50. Um, no. I have faith in the Chicago junk guys that someone will be our junk fairy this week, and haul it away. But that meant Mike had to carry it out to the alley. We'll see if someone takes it, or the city may be charging us a nice fee for the fact we just left it in the alley.

Another item in the small print... they'll replace a covered item, but if the water/gas/whatever line they are connecting to is not up to Chicago's code, they can not do the work until they bring those items up to code, for which we have to pay for. Yea, the gas and water line weren't up to code, shocking huh?

All in all, it wasn't too expensive. Less expensive than if we didn't have the warranty, but more than we wanted to pay. But, we do have hot water now.

One of the things we knew about the house when we bought it was the first thing we needed to do was replace the hot water heater. We applied to get the bungalow certified, which did happen, and one of the perks is we get access to grant money. So, we were planning to get a tankless hot water system. But, the city of Chicago struck again, and they ran out of grant money... hence, the old water heater exploded since we never replaced it.

I'll let Michael blog about the bungalow certification later. Fun stuff...

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii

So as I was scouring all of the ads looking for a water heater sale at 5am, I couldn't help but notice all of the advertisements for the Wii. There were Wii systems, Wii fit, Wii games, Wii accessories, Wii wii wii.

I've actually been wanting the Wii system for while, because I want to get the Wii fit. I've heard it's fun, and really works as a good exercise program.

So, once I realized the warranty would cover the water heater, I took off in my car to go buy us our early holiday present, the Wii.

I got the last system at the store I went to at 7am, but they didn't have any Wii fit. That's ok, we found it last night not too far from us, and I have to say, this thing is FUN!

Mike kept saying it was way more fun than he ever thought it would be. It's true. It's awesome.
The last gaming system I had was the Atari. That was a looooong time ago.

Anyway, here's a video of Mike taking the Baseball training.




After playing some of the sports games , we installed the Wii fit, which is a balance board. They give you all of these tests to check your "Wii fit age", Mike is 53, and I'm 57! Which, is actually better than the score I got for my "Wii sports age", which was 75! LOL! Ok, granted, I've never been good at sports, but 75?!

So, after taking the tests, Wii told me I'm very unbalanced, and asked me if a trip alot when I walk. Why, yes I do...

So, I will have to work on my balance, which it will help me do. They also have strength training, aerobics, yoga, and some other fitness regimes. We played til about 1 last night, and I have to say, I'm sore this morning!

The game is a blast, I'd recommend it to anyone, and I can't wait to improve my wii age!

Um, what part of "The bungalow is not a boat!" don't you understand?

I'm asking that question to the bungalow gods on this bright and early morning at 4:30am on Black Friday.

There we were, sleeping peacefully when I realized I was in a half asleep, half awake state. Yes, there's a new noise in the bungalow, but I'm kind of dreaming so not paying much attention. I know it can't be the cat, since he's next to me... Yea, I'll investigate later. I'm tired.

Later came when Mike popped out of bed, and ran out of the room. The noise? That would be the noise of a sump pump, which I guess he thought odd since it wasn't raining.

He comes back, and there's a sigh as he gets back in bed. Well, the water heater just exploded. I love our basement drainage. Good night. Um... what?!?!?

Yep, water heater exploded, and granted, while that sucks Sucks SUCKS, it could have been OH so much worse. The unit is right next to the sump pump, and a couple feet away is the drain I mentioned in the previous post about water. So, all the water was pouring down the drain. None of our boxes got wet, none of the music equipment got wet, no floating organ playing that horrible Celene Dion song as it sinks, just the laundry room soaked, with the water flowing down the drain. I guess we really should consider ourselves lucky in that respect.

I guess I can list the positive aspects of this:
We're surviving our first major bungalow crisis...
We no longer need to worry about what to get each other for Christmas/Hanukkah...
We don't have to worry about throwing out all our boxes of crap in the basement... (wait, is this a good thing?)...

Now, I sit here and search all the black friday adds from the paper, hoping to find the deal of the century on water heaters... so far, that search is not looking good. We'll keep you posted...


UPDATE 6AM:
I was talking to my mom, since I knew she'd be up at this early hour... and she said "Shouldn't the home warranty you have cover that "? Ha. That's right. The sellers gave us a year home warranty on all appliances. Mom, you're the BEST! Guess we're kind of forgetful at 4am. Now we get to see what exactly happens we you activate the warranty. Yay!

Advil is my friend...

Yep, that can only mean one thing... Beth came into town yesterday.

Woke up this morning, and my head HURTS... I'm sure Beth is sleeping in, nice and cozy, unaware of the light snowfall we have covering our beautiful city.

Yesterday, we had a luncheon at Wildfire for cousins Alan and Page, who recently got married. It was a lot of fun, great to see the family.

Afterward, we took Beth over the the house to hang out. It wasn't long before we thought we should venture out for a cozy dinner at Fiddlehead. Before we knew it, they were closing, so we ordered one more round before driving Beth back to her neighborhood. Once we were down on Rush and State, it was decided there should be one more round. So over to the new Dana Hotel. Stayed awhile, and whoops, they were closing. Ok, back to dropping off the Bethster, but wait... one more round. We're walking down Walton, and Mike says, hey, isn't the Underground Wonderbar on Walton. Look up dear... yes, we're 2 steps from walking in the UW, where more drinks and fun was had by all. We almost went for some Tiki drinks, but decided since some people had to work the next morning, that may be a very bad idea. See, sometimes we can be smart.

Turns out, if you don't use the flash in a dark bar, you don't get very good pictures.









But that's ok. We have another month of fun before Beth departs back to the wonderful land of Maui. Which gives us time to stock up on the Advil...

Executive Decisions...

Well, today I made an executive decision. Since Michael was at work, and we were unable to hold a bungalow meeting, I made the decision to hire a landscaping service.

This Sunday, Cat came over to once again help us rake up all the leaves. OK, she did all the raking (she claimed she wanted the exercise, yes, she's nuts! But seriously, THANK YOU!) but after 5 hours, with only 1/4 of the leaves bagged, and piles of leaves still laying around, and as the temperature dipped in the low 30's, and the snow began to fall, I realized these leaves were going to be in piles for a long long time.

Today I was watching the landscapers work on our neighbors lawns, cleaning up all the leaves, plus doing the gutters, and I decided to venture outside in the freezing cold to inquire about their rates.

Wow. Way cheaper than I could have imagined. Hence, the executive decision.

So, now our gutters are fresh and clean, which is a good thing since we don't have a ladder big enough to reach the damn gutters, and those piles and piles of leaves are history. And we're no longer the sore spot on the block.

All in all, I'd say it was a job well done.

The bungalow is not a boat...

Shortly after we closed on the house, the area had some of the worst storms and flooding ever. Luckily, our house survived without any water at all.

It wasn't so lucky with Hurricane Michael and Heather.

First came Hurricane Michael, and my Sophies Choice moment. I heard Michael calling "Help... Help!" from the basement. I ran downstairs to discover the basement flooding in the laundry room. Water was gushing everywhere. I thought that's what the call for help was for, but no, Michael was trying to move a huge TV, by himself, and while he was carrying it, his shirt got stuck on something, and he was left holding the TV, while stuck. I stood there, pivoting from foot to foot, unsure what to do first. But we're flooding! I yelled. He had no idea what I was talking about, so I made the wise choice, help Mike, so he can take care of the flooding. Luckily, we have a drain in the laundry room, and most of the water had run down the drain.

Turns out, when the washer empties into the utility sink, it would be unwise to leave clothes in the sink, to stop up the drain. Lesson learned.

Next came Hurricane Heather. I've been recovering from being sick, so it's really the only explanation I can offer for my stupidity. So, I stop up the kitchen sink to do some dishes, you know, let them soak a bit. So, I leave the water running, and walk away. And forget. And get sidetracked. And, again, I was SICK! Wasn't thinking straight.

So, I come back awhile later, and all the water is rushing onto the counter, to the side of the cabinet and wall. CRAP. Turn off the water, clean up the mess, and hope it doesn't get moldy behind the cabinet.

About 1/2 hour later, I'm telling Mike what had happened, and his response was, "Any water in the basement?" Hmmm... water in the basement? Didn't check.

Open the basement door to find the stairs are soaked. And a nice big puddle on the floor... with all the water.... running into the laundry room drain. It didn't get any of the boxes, that were a mere couple feet away. I LOVE the laundry room drain.

Lesson learned on this one? I'm banned from doing dishes when I'm sick (Ok, I banned myself, Mike doesn't know yet).

Last note, sitting on the couch watching the snow fall outside. Amazing how much more you like snow when you know you won't have to dig out your car the next day.

A present for the bungalow

Today we woke up early to drive out to Ikea. We wanted to buy a bench for the den, and a cabinet for the bathroom. Here's the picture...

Oh, right, we didn't get either of those two things. Instead, we found this wine cabinet, on clearance at Pier 1.

Let me tell you how fun it was to drive this back from Schaumburg to the city. I'm still not sure how we got it in the car, and me along with it... it was a pretty uncomfortable ride home. The end of the cabinet kept hitting the window button, so every bump, the window would go down, not that I felt it being crunched in the trunk...

But, our bungalow got a present, and we love it!

.

Michael's First Official Post

OK....everyone has been requesting that I post and I agree, I should...so here it is!!

Well, I love this Bungalow, I always wanted a Bungalow and the more Bungalow-ey I found Bungalows to be, the more I liked them. I think that I drove our Real Estate agent to tears trying to find this one but it's finally ours and I couldn't be happier about it. Especially because it happens to be my dream house, plus, I have Heather running around inside of it, so that just makes it extra incredible.

So, that's a good start. Everyone should know that I am a huge fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and that the Prairie Style of Architecture is something that I have always thought was classic as well as classy as well as really practical.

So this Bungalow, as well as thousands of others is not perfect, but that does not detract from it's Bungalowly Goodness. In a sense, it's imperfections are homey and charming and with a building that was erected in 1922; to be expected. That's the whole point of buying the vintage stock of Chicago. You want a piece of that, you know what you're in for, and you are glad that what you end up with is unique and one of a kind.

I have the same affiliation with classic cars. You may curse them for not starting but when they are running and you are cruising down the road, you realize that the experience that they offer is unparalleled with anything that was built today. It's a visceral experience that you can't forget that somehow makes your life seem more rich than it would have been had you picked the normal thing.

And, so it goes, I love classic sports cars, vintage Saxophones, guitars, organs, amps, mixers, tape machines, microphones and houses. I like the low tech and grit that these things provide in the high tech world I live in.

So, not so difficult to understand. This house has a thousand stories. The people that stopped by that lived here told a few. They confirmed some hunches and disproved others; it was all a fascinating process. So, when you buy a place, you sign up for an Odyssey of sorts, you never know where you will end up. You are stuck with it good or bad, but with a place like this, even the WTF moments make you smile as you peel back the layers and discover what lies beneath the facade.

Now, we have a great frame and a canvas that is worthy of many artistic impressions. We have made a few tentative starts, always checking with the spirit of the house to see if it matches the original ideals. We may extend into Neo-Classicism as we customize this classic ride into a low-rider of a house that we seek to unleash upon the streets of Albany Park. However, we both agree that we are going to keep this Bungalow true to it's nature. It's strength lies in a time tested design.

Jeff, a long time friend of mine made an excellent analogy: "A Bungalow is like a Fender Stratocaster, try as you might, you can't perfect the design any further." "It was designed right the first time, you can't make it any better than it is."

So, I'll join in the fun as we go here, I have been working on this earth ship as Heather has been posting - you've only seen a small sampling of the pictures. This place is so ripe with experiences that I can honestly say, "you will have to visit to get it", but some of the more interesting parts we will post. Hopefully, all of you will stop by and see what we have been blogging about.

Right now, I would love to post about what is happening in the house next door. But that, is for the next post. Don't despair, I have pictures.

Celebrate!

http://wichmannstories.blogspot.com/2008/11/blog-post.html
Great read. Well said, Mark.

Today is my happy day.

I am off from work, and it's 75 degrees outside.

I woke up early, started organizing the house, and then went for a massage.

Next stop: Opart Thai for lunch. Now my mom is coming over to see the house, and go for a walk. Maybe some shopping, buy some cheese, then dinner at our favorite pizza place, Pizza Art Cafe.

Oh happy day! (Then the diet begins...)

Vote!

I voted 2 weeks ago, but heard some interesting developments... If you already voted, your name is still appearing on the roster for today, as not voted yet. I heard this from 2 people at work, who's spouses and children had voted early, yet they were still on the list without a check mark. Vote early, vote often? I don't get it.

I did read somewhere that the results from the early voting wouldn't get counted until 7pm tonight, however, again, they're giving you the option of voting twice?

Anyway, tonight we'll be celebrating with some wine and cheese (and maybe some unpacking), but mostly wine... and cheese.

This country NEEDS some change. Hopefully the majority agree.

http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/

Gardening 101

Saturday morning, I was up bright and early, and thinking over the project list, I wanted to accomplish 2 things. Unpack the rest of the boxes from the move, and plant some bulbs. Since it looked like a nice day, planting the bulbs in the garden won first order of business. We had to rent a tiller from our friends over at the Crafty Beaver, so Cat came over to help us move it in her truck, and then the fun began...

Giving a man a large power tool is like giving the kitty catnip... happy as can be and craving more. So, no, we couldn't just have a small flower bed line tilled up, but a nice great big area for Mike to have fun with. I had about 85 bulbs to plant, and a huge area to work with, so I figured it would work out. But, once I started planting, I realized the flowers are going to look pretty scarce since they'll be so far apart. Oh well, live and learn. (Thanks Cat for all the help also!)

Michael decided since we had the tiller, he'd do the entire front lawn. Yes, it's too late to plant grass seed this year, but don't argue with a man with his rented power tools... So, he tilled the entire front lawn, which was dead anyway, but according to him, it will help for next spring. Again, men and their tools... don't argue. After a full day of that, we were SORE. It was too late to bring the dang thing back to the CB, so we'd have to do it Sunday.

Sunday, we were even more sore. Mike and Cat took the tiller back, and came back with a dirt rake to even out all the lumps. While Mike was raking, the neighborhood men on the block convened telling Mike it's not going to work. Apparantly, this has been done before, over and over. We'll see though. We're still confident they didn't have the right grass, and that they also didn't water it.

Cat helped move some hostas that were on the corner, and not doing well, to a better area now that the lawn had been tilled. And then the brilliant idea came to rake the leaves and sweep the sidewalks. 6 hours later... we finally finished bagging all the leaves. Looking up at the tree's, you can't help but notice it's still pretty darn full, about 1% of the leaves have dropped, and we had 7 full bags of huge lawn bags filled up. By this time, I was done, so I pretty much passed out and was done for the weekend. Oh yea, no boxes got unpacked.

This morning I woke up and looked in the backyard. The squirrels had dug up the daffodils and left them half eaten around the yard. Yep, guess there won't be many flowers next year...