We ordered a new air conditioner. It will be delivered on Friday. It was a lot more expensive than fixing the old one, but it should last longer. This will give me peace of mind over the summer. In other news, we are planning two trips to the cabin this summer. The first in May, where after a New York wedding, we will accompany Anne’s sisters to the cabin. They have big plans for a new water heater and spraying for powder post beetles. We’ll hangout up north until our new windows are ready, then return to Saint Louis for their installation. Between the A/C and the new windows their costs will blow our home improvement budget.
We are buying new windows. Back in 2023 we replaced four and, in this iteration, we are getting eight replacement windows. A few years before the unit cost was just over $500. Now it exceeds $1000. Such inflation is the downside for our phased window replacement strategy. To make matters worse the Biden era tax credit that we enjoyed last time and was scheduled to run for ten years has mysteriously disappeared. Thanks to that “Big Beautiful Bill.” Who knew that windows could be DEI? The of the windows that we bought before are pictured below. This batch will be the same make and model, Simonton 6500.
While our windows will not be as decorative or fancy as any of the others pictured in this post, the three in the living room do include stain glass. This detail like many others is part of this house’s charm and gives it its gingerbread architectural style. We plan on saving those sashes, taking the stain glass out of the frame and then hanging the glass as a decorative window treatment.
Ordering the new windows is one thing but actually getting them is a whole different story. Like before, we are getting our replacement windows from Home Depot, and their process doesn’t trust the salesmen’s measurements. In a week the subcontractor will come by to do the actual measurements. Then in 8-12 weeks the installation will actually occur. That puts us into June. I envision multiple trips to the cabin this summer.
Before Thanksgiving, when we last went to Ann Arbor all of the leaves were still on the trees. When we came back home, they were all on the ground. They have sat there until this week. For part of that time the leaves were buried under 9″ of snow, which soon melted, but not before I snow shoveled them around some. For most of that time they served to obstruct the walkways. With the return of warmer, drier weather Anne and I got out there and raked most of the leaves onto the parking strip. Where they still sit awaiting the city’s leaf removal service.
“Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard you are wanted in surgery”, tree surgery that is. This is the premise of a 1941 Three Stooges movie, Some More of Samoa, where Moe, Larry, and Curly are hired as Elite Painless Tree Surgeons to find a mate for a rare pucker-less persimmon tree, leading them to the tropical island of Rhum Boogie. It involves comical hijinks with natives and an alligator. Anyway, I was thinking along these lines, when this afternoon, Sirus XM sampled this movie.
Earlier today Davey tree service returned. This was their third visit. They did some emergency cutting on our elm last month. Now that it is cold, they are back. The cold keeps the insects away. who spread Dutch Elm disease. They were here last week, but that crew never even got setup. They threw up their hands and called it quits, before they had even begun. They felt that it was impossible to get their truck in there. Well, today’s crew made it happen. I’d say that they made it look easy, except they worked hard all day.
Pictured is our neighbor’s driveway. Years ago, in our driveway a similar tree cutting expedition met an unfortunate fate. It was muddier then and when they backed up their bucket truck, they made a mess of our driveway. The neighbor pointed out at the time; tree trimmers carry excellent insurance. They ended up replacing 30′ of our driveway’s pavers. Today’s crew seem more competent than that one was, but there is a wrinkle. Today’s truck drove over some of our PVC sewer. Hopefully without crushing it, because that’s what the Stooges would do.
UPDATE: They did not finish today. They will be back tomorrow, minus the cherry-picker. Tomorrow, they play Tarzan.
Just not me! We got a property tax bill for my father’s house. It had jumped by three times what it had been. It will be due in January. What do rich people do when they are faced with a situation like this? We engaged a lawyer. I don’t really understand our strategy, but that is what the lawyer is for. Anyway, this approach dovetails nicely with what our realtor had recommended that is to simply delay, deny and dismiss. Hopefully, long enough to sell the house.
Last week, when we left for Michigan, our Red Maple was like a fiery torch. Fully clothed in its red leaves, it was like an autumn blaze. When we returned on Saturday, it was practically naked, its leaves had all fallen to the ground and lay there like last week’s scattered confetti. The party’s over. I should get the rake out now, or maybe later. These leaves are not going anywhere, at least until Wednesday. So, why rush into anything now.
