I just can’t. We are a month into the pseudo-presidency of Musk and the orange-hued horror show. Between the moron(s) and the psycho(s) – you choose who is who – our entire government is being dismantled before our eyes. Economic reckoning is on the horizon. They’ve gone full-on Nazi, publicly, in front of an international audience. They’ve decided to side with the worst of the world’s dictators and throw him a lifeline. Government worker layoffs have been horrific, and stupid. Ridiculous EOs come out almost every day. Inane decisions like no longer minting pennies are clearly just to distract attention from the actual crimes they are commiting. Downstream effects of the DOGE slash and burn mostly hurt MAGA supporters. And right about now, they are beginning to find out.
I just can’t.
I’m calling and emailing my elected representatives. I’m watching who is voting for what. It is infuriating and depressing and feels like nothing I do will make a difference. To safeguard my sanity, I am doing other silly things like prepping my house for sale and searching for a home in Europe (far from Russia’s borders, though nothing is quite far enough, is it?)
About that…
Deciding to sell the house is the easy part. Getting it ready has already proven to be difficult. And costly. My tiny upstairs bathroom’s paint was peeling and generating mold for the last 15 years. TBH, it was one of the many straws that led to my divorce three years ago. Its size and configuration pretty much guaranteed that just painting it was going to be a major pain in the ass. Welp, I can report that it was not fun. It is finished, and could be better, but it is good enough.
Another straw, the badly rotted porch roof and main roof soffits, are finally being repaired. Half of my savings will be eaten by this little endeavor. Turns out the soffits along the main roofline were completely rotted because – surprise – the roofers that worked on the house when we moved in managed to punch holes through the yankee gutter system when affixing the new shingles. For 25 years there has been seepage where there shouldn’t have been. But wait, there’s more! The realtor came by to do a quick assessment. I have to test some tiles for asbestos. The crack in my daughter’s bedroom ceiling needs patching. The old brick sewer under the backyard needs filling. And there’s evidence of an oil tank.
I just can’t.
Potential for disaster
New Jersey environmental law requires all homeowners with underground heating oil tanks to remove or remediate them. Apparently, this went into effect in 1995, about 4 years before we bought this house. I do not recall if it was disclosed or not – and then the law was strengthened in 2017 and again in 2022. Obviously, the potential for ground contamination is high, especially if the tank wasn’t empty when abandoned and it deteriorates. The cost for remediation can be astronomical. No wonder we got this house at a good price. All I can do now is pray that when they rip up the concrete slab under which the behemoth rests, they find an empty tank made of American steel from the 1940s. With no holes.
It never ends
Following all of that extraneous spending that I really didn’t want to do, there is the matter of the contents. First, there will be the declutter. Then the estate sale and the emptying. Or vice-versa. I don’t really know. In all of this, I have to determine what I am keeping and what I am letting go. What to do with more than 20 years of paper and records. Children’s artwork and crafts I haven’t looked at in over a decade. All of the electronics and supplies that clutter the spaces (the other straws.) Dishware and glassware and cutlery and pots and pans and gadgets. All of my children’s things stored hither and yon. The child that still lives with me. Paintings and icons and books. Every receptacle needs to be cleared out. Every space needs to be cleaned out. It is all so overwhelming.
I just can’t.
We’re in a time crunch, too. I want to have this home in its new owners’ hands by summertime, so their children can start a new school year either walking to school or catching the high school bus right across the street. So they can take advantage of good weather seasons to get the roof redone and the house painted, get the floors refinished and the yard and shed put to rights – or given last rites. Really, I want to sell while people still have money to buy and can get a mortgage. That window of opportunity may be closing fast with these dangerous clowns running amok.
Now that I’m reading this, I realize something. Maybe I just can’t, but I am doing it. One day at a time, one step at a time, one goal at a time, one call at a time.
