What irritates you about the home you live in? Surely there is something about your home that you’d like to change. What is it? Read for my thoughts and share yours.
My wife and I have lived in several places, from apartments to houses, all in different parts of Philadelphia. You often don’t realize what you don’t like about a place until you move in. It’s like a job. The person selling you on the idea of the home (or job) makes it seem like the most incredible thing of all time. Then you move in (or take the job), and reality sets in.
Our apartment in Old City, Philadelphia, was a fourth-floor walk-up above a bar on Market Street. It had big ceilings and a lovely wood floor. However, once we moved in, we quickly realized how many loud, drunk people peddle down the street on these drinking tour contraptions, singing “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey with as much grace as a sleep-deprived hog trying to jump over a six-foot fence. And I love Journey! But this is not the way the band is meant to be heard. We also had marching bands going down the street, which were easily heard through the paper-thin windows, which, of course, were right in front of our living room.
The next place we moved into was in a constant state of disrepair because the landlord didn’t give a damn. It was a cute, trinity house in a great neighborhood. But the heating bill was $300 a month in the winter because it was as well insulated as a piece of Swiss cheese. It also had low plaster ceilings in the twisty stairwell, which I hit with my head. Once, I slid down the steps and landed in front of the bathroom door. My wife couldn’t get out of the bathroom to help me because I was blocking her in. Fun times!
The house we currently live in is the best one yet. We love our neighborhood, and we’re raising our son here, and it’s going well. However, we want a bigger place with a finished basement and a roof deck. If we can get a house with a built-in sprinkler system, too, then hot damn, we’ll be off to the races! The biggest issue with this house is that the guy who flipped it to us renovated it as cheaply as possible, and we’ve learned this the hard way. Each time we bring in a qualified contractor, something new is discovered. Thankfully, we’ve fixed a lot of the problems, and it’s a nice place (for now).
How about you? What irritates you about the home you live in? I think it’s best to be grateful for what you have, so I ask this question jokingly. As a child, I was happiest living in an apartment in Old City with my two Dads. I didn’t have my own room, but it didn’t matter. It was a cozy place, and I was well provided for. Many of us are doing better than others, so we should be happy with our housing situation to a certain degree. However, there’s nothing wrong with wanting more out of life and paving a path to make it happen.
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