This is a test. I really need to make a real update soon.

Posted via m.livejournal.com.

We leave tomorrow for vacation. Lara and I have been getting ready all week long but there is still a lot left to do. I haven't got very much sleep this week and I am in need of a good long vacation.

Tomorrow morning we will pack the car and drive 10 hours to Toledo, Ohio and stay there for the night. Sunday morning we are off again for a 4 hour drive. The next stop is Sears, Michigan where we will stay for the next 10 days.

My family owns a small cottage on a lake in Sears. It is a very small town with about 1000 people in it. Most of them are farmers and/or Amish. It is very quiet and far away from any big city. The nights are cool and the temperatures during the day are a lot better than North Carolina.

I downloaded the Live Journal app for my phone and hopefully I will be able to use it to upload some pictures and post some updates.

While at the cottage I hope to get some reading in and some much deserved sleep. I'm also planning on walking around the lake a few times. It is a 4 mile walk around the entire lake and I could really use the exercise. Hopefully I will get a chance to walk it everyday so long as we have good weather. I'm also looking forward to doing some swimming and maybe some fishing.

After the 10 days in Sears we will be heading back to Toledo to spend a few days with friends and family. On Saturday, July 31 we will get back in the car and head back to NC. Then it is back to work on the following Monday.

We are not taking the cats with us. They are going to stay with Lara's parents. That should be interesting. Lara's parents have a dog and a cat and also take care of Lara's sister's dog 3 times a week. Kitten Mittens doesn't like change. It takes her awhile to get use to new environments. On the other hand, Sweet Dee seems to adapt quickly. I'm going to miss those 2 while I'm gone.

As for Kiesha, she will be with me the entire trip. She is 15 years old and 4 months. I took her to the vet the other day for her regular check up and she is doing fine. They took some blood work and I should have the results later today. Hopefully everything is fine.

I just need to get through today at work and then I'm off for the next 2 weeks.

It has been so long since my last update. I have been religiously reading everyone's posts and staying active in the communities that I belong. I just haven't been updating my journal. I would like to touch on some events over the last few months.

New roof on the house. It looks really good and it is one less thing I have to worry about for awhile. I paid for it out of pocket and in the end it cost just over 3K. Here it is:



Same job. I absolutely hate my job. I have had a few interviews over the last couple months but none of them have turned into a new position. One of the positions was with the American Red Cross and I really wish that they would have offered the job to me. It came down to me and one other person. We were equally qualified. The only thing he had over me was that he had worked for the Red Cross about 5 years back. I have a couple of interviews next week but they are both with calibration labs. I don't want to stay in the calibration world and would love to get back into the engineering side of things. I'm over qualified for both of the positions and I do not think they will offer me a salary anywhere close to what I want. The interviews would be good practice but I also don't want to waste their time by interviewing for a job I don't want. Kind of confused on what I should do.

Lara and I are still doing well. The school year will be ending for her in the next couple of weeks. Her sister is getting married in June which will have us in Atlanta for a weekend. We have planned our vacation to Michigan for the last 2 weeks in July. I'm really looking forward to getting up there.

Kiesha and Kitten Mittens are still at with me. A few weeks ago I adopted another kitten. My nephews found it in the road and my sister would not let them keep it. So now I have 2 young cats and a 15 year old dog (Kiesha turned 15 on March 3, 2010). Here are a few photos of the animals.
The new kitten (we don't have a name for her yet):




Kitten Mittens and her new friend:


Kiesha on her birthday:


I have had a whole string of medical problems over the last month. Some of the things were problems that I knew about but I have put off for several months/years. In the last month I have spent $500 on co-pays and medications but everything is starting to come around.

So there is an update of things with me. I hope to start updating at least once a week. I hope everyone is doing well.

The HVAC technician came out last night. He diagnosed the problem but did not have the part to fix the heating system and had to order it. It comes in tomorrow and he will install it tomorrow afternoon. So this will be over 3 days without heat. The high in Charlotte was 35 degrees today.

Even with the unit being under warranty, the HVAC technician gave me an estimated bill of $825. I called a friend of mine that lives back in Ohio who is an HVAC technician to ask him if this sounded right. He asked me if the technician was going to replace the refrigerant or reuse the old refrigerant. I told him that he was going to replace it with new refrigerant. My friend said that he could use the old refrigerant and that is perfectly legal and would not cause any problems. I'm going to mention this tomorrow because the new refrigerant, which is considered a consumable and not a warranty part, is more than half of the estimated bill.

I filed a claim for the roof damage. The claim adjuster will be at my house tomorrow afternoon to inspect the damage. I just hope that he agrees with me that the roof is damaged so badly that it is beyond repair and needs to be replaced.

When filing the claim yesterday the insurance agent was a dick. He kept telling me that my policy only covers repairs and not replacements. After he mentioned this for the third time I asked him, "If my house catches on fire and burns to the ground, does my policy only cover the repair? If a water pipe burst in my house and my house floods, will my policy only cover the repair of the pipe?" After those questions he did not bring it up again.

Everyone says, "Buy a house. If you keep renting you are just throwing your money away." I say bullshit.

I have had a bunch of problems with my house recently. We had strong winds over the last few weeks and everyday more and more shingles are falling off. I have received 3 quotes for a new roof and they are expensive. I'm going to see if I can file a claim with my insurance company to cover most of the costs. The only problem I can see with filing this claim through my insurance company is that they might deny my claim.

The roofing companies that came out and inspected my roof and gave me estimates all told me the same thing. When my roof was installed, it was installed incorrectly. There was no felt put down on top of the plywood. The felt, or tar paper, is a protective, waterproof barrier. Basically, whoever installed this roof just nailed shingles to the plywood. This is a big no-no.

This roof was put on by the previous owners. The previous owners were scumbags that "fixed" up my house prior to selling it to me by cutting every corner that they could. So if the insurance adjuster comes out and sees that the roof was installed improperly, they could deny my claim and then I will have to pay for the entire thing out of my pocket. If my claim is denied it is still looked at by my insurance company, and other insurance companies, as a claim which makes me harder to insure. Insurance is such a scam.

Over the weekend we have had freezing temperatures here. On Saturday night my heating system went out. We got through the night but Sunday morning it was 53 in my house. I went out and got a couple of space heaters while trying to troubleshoot the problem. I found a schematic for my heating system but couldn't seem to figure out a solution. As far as I can tell, the blower motor has stopped working for some reason.

I came inside and started calling around heating repair companies. Since it was Sunday not many places were open. When I finally got a hold of a company that was opened on Sunday and they asked me how old the heating system was. I told them that the previous owners had it installed it a few months before I bought the house. I bought the house in 2006 so the heating system is less than 4 years old. The heating repair company told me that it was probably under warranty and to contact the contractor that installed it. I didn't have that information but I knew that the neighbors across the street knew how to contact the previous owners so I headed over there.

My neighbors said that they would call the previous owners and ask for me. They did but I didn't like the news I received. Come to find out the previous owners were good friends of the contractor that installed the heating system. The contractor installed it as a side job and because it was off the books it is not covered under the contractor's warranty. Just another example of how the shady the previous owners are.

I went back and examined the heating system to find a manufacturing date of August 2005. I checked the manufacturer's website and discovered that there is a 5 year warranty on all parts for this heating system. So now I'm trying to get this thing fixed under the manufacturer's warranty. Unfortunately the manufacturer is not open on Sunday so I have to wait until this morning.

Last night it dropped to 15 degrees.

This morning I contacted the manufacturer's service department and they told me that any certified contractor in my area would do the warranty repair. All I had to do was go to the manufacturer's website and type in my zip code. I found 12 companies within 15 miles. I start calling around and only one could come out today. As of right now a repair person is going to meet me at my house this afternoon to diagnose the problem and hopefully fix it. With my luck they probably will not have the part they need in their truck and I will be without heat for another night. The only thing I have to pay for is the diagnostic fee and any other additional labor. All parts should be covered under the warranty.

I'm done bitching and moaning for now. It just gets me angry that the house I bought seems to be falling down around me.

Hi all,

Lara posted a photo in the Charlotte Observer Fall Photo Contest and needs your votes.

Please go to the following website:

http://charlotteobserver.upickem.net/engine/Votes.aspx?PageType=VOTING&incrementnumber=1

In the search window type "Macy". This will bring up the photo titled "Macy and the Butterfly".

Voting ends tomorrow, but you can vote every hour until 5pm Friday.

Thanks in advanced,

~Andy

Pictures of Kiesha and the kitten. Kiesha has started warming up to the kitten. They have started playing together and it is very cute. I think that the kitten thinks Kiesha is her mommy but Kiesha has never had a motherly instinct. Every time the kitten tries to cuddle up and sleep with Kiesha, Kiesha runs away. They are getting along.

Kiesha after her haircut:


The kitten being cute


( More Cuteness Under the CutCollapse )

I've started uploading my photos of my vacation to flickr. This is a test to see if it posts.