Joe Btfsplk Lives Here

If you've never heard of Joe Btfsplk, he is an old cartoon character by Al Capp who brings bad... no, horrible luck to whoever is near him. I think he lives in my attic.

For months I've been trying to save money for our trip to Chicago. For some reason every time I get some cash saved up, something needs fixing. Usually something very expensive. On Monday it was the PT Cruiser. It needed a new gasket, new front wheel bearings (both wheels), and various other parts replaced. The guy asked me if I had purchased the car new. I told him that I had. He then asked me if I had ever had it serviced, because all the parts in the engine were the originals. My position was that it added to the value of the car as a untouched classic. The mechanic disagreed. Besides, it will probably be another twenty two years or more before my eight year old PT Cruiser is even marginally collectible.
$1,100 was the bill.

This afternoon my tenant called and said the shower was leaking. That would be the shower that Mark's friend, the unlicensed plumber, had rebuilt from the ground up. I went over and took a look. Sure enough, moisture was creeping up the walls, and around the baseboards of the bathroom. This time I called a licensed plumber that I had used before. It was like that show on HGTV, Holmes on Homes, where the guy cleans up the mess of incompetent tradesmen and contractors. He looked at the shower and just stood there, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Gotta tear it all up, and redo it."
$1400 is the estimate.

On my way out of the apartment, my tenant had a little 'by the way' for me, "You have termites Alan.".  He then pointed to a little pin hole on the wall, and a pile of termite poop on the floor. Luckily I bought a termite protection contract from a local pest control company. I just hope they're still in business.