Lifestyle upgrades

In the past couple of months I have had three major lifestyle upgrades. They are remarkable!


Upgrade 1: Gas fireplace: DH installed a gas fireplace in our Hermann house. It is so cool, with the press of a button it goes on with a press of a button it goes off. in these chilly spring mornings I turn it on because – it’s so easy! I would never have a wood burning fire every morning in the spring because that would be so much trouble. When we bought this house the real estate agent cautioned us that the chimney does not draw very well and we tried Wood burning fire and that is true it did not draw well. But that’s OK we had planned to convert it to gas anyway. The cost was a couple hundred bucks and a day of DH’s time to install and move a gas line.

Upgrade 2: Magic shower: When we bought this Hermann house it came with a shower apparatus that is truly the best shower I’ve ever had in my life, and it makes me sad to think I’m almost 65 years old before I got this fabulous magic shower that works in any situation. It is so fabulous that I quacked on and on about it! That promoted DH to Search out and buy the same apparatus for our city house. Cost was a couple hundred bucks and a day of his time to install.

Upgrade 3 roof that does not leak: In this rainy spring it has not rained into my bedroom because we had a new roof put on our city house. We had a leak for more than a decade and it got bigger and bigger. DH couldn’t fix it. He fussed with it for years. He would not talk to me about it so for the last five years we just stopped talking about it. He actually had me convinced that it was not fixable , but you know what? The roofers fixed it! what a concept, hiring professionals to fix stuff. And not surprisingly they mentioned that the leak was coming from one of the skylights which of course is always suspect number one in any roof leak.



Photos

Magic shower moves up for tall people, down for short people, Can be rotated into several fixed positions, and showerhead can be removed for a handheld access. Here is a photo of the magic shower upside down
Attachment 2752

Definitely worth while upgrades. I would have put my foot down long before 10 years with the roof leaks.

I so relate to this.

After using a woodburning fireplace and airtight stove for decades, the gas furnace and fireplace are such a treat. The handheld shower in my ensuite is wonderful as well.

I would add the iRobot Roomba vacuum for cleaning under beds to the treasures of my present life experience. Have you looked at one of them, IL?
https://store.irobot.com/default/robot-vacuum-roomba/

Choosing to live in an area where the sump pump never runs despite the heaviest rain or meltdowns in the spring was a major priority for me as the former home required careful monitoring during severe weather. I love it!

Razz, I also love my roomba and I also have a mopping robot.

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Originally Posted by Teacher Terry

Definitely worth while upgrades. I would have put my foot down long before 10 years with the roof leaks.

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He really had me convinced he was “ on it” and THIS time the fix would work. Sigh.

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Originally Posted by iris lilies

He really had me convinced he was “ on it” and THIS time the fix would work. Sigh.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc4IFIXcDcs (SFW)

We are on our second Roomba. They get a huge workout with two dogs. I run it after going over the house with the regular vacuum and it always amazes me how much it still finds. My upgrade I feel rather sheepish about but I'm holding on to it for now.... I know I have given the horror story of cleaning out my parents house. I started to think back on what age they were when I started to notice things being let go. I do not want to go down that path although some of it is inevitable. We have garage sale every year (many people join in with us so its fun) and we refuse to sit on things we are not using. So with the downsizing and simplification I have now hired a housekeeper. A total extravagance BUT our yard is our love and where we get the biggest enjoyment working. So I have it set up that they come once a month for deep cleaning and we maintain it in-between. We laugh that it takes us two hours to clean before the team comes in but it keeps us on our game. We roll up all area rugs and weather permitting, shampoo them to dry outside. The team cleans the floors (house is all hardwoods except the bedrooms). I love having somebody else clean my bathrooms. I love walking into the house after deep clean day...….. it is decadent and I'll keep it until I have to sell a second kidney.

Your DH is not a pro but he moved a gas line? Where I am only licensed plumbers can do that and they must pull a city permit.

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Originally Posted by Simplemind

We are on our second Roomba. They get a huge workout with two dogs. I run it after going over the house with the regular vacuum and it always amazes me how much it still finds. My upgrade I feel rather sheepish about but I'm holding on to it for now.... I know I have given the horror story of cleaning out my parents house. I started to think back on what age they were when I started to notice things being let go. I do not want to go down that path although some of it is inevitable. We have garage sale every year (many people join in with us so its fun) and we refuse to sit on things we are not using. So with the downsizing and simplification I have now hired a housekeeper. A total extravagance BUT our yard is our love and where we get the biggest enjoyment working. So I have it set up that they come once a month for deep cleaning and we maintain it in-between. We laugh that it takes us two hours to clean before the team comes in but it keeps us on our game. We roll up all area rugs and weather permitting, shampoo them to dry outside. The team cleans the floors (house is all hardwoods except the bedrooms). I love having somebody else clean my bathrooms. I love walking into the house after deep clean day...….. it is decadent and I'll keep it until I have to sell a second kidney.

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I had a housekeeper come every two weeks for a few years. The housekeepers we had were our friends and then they got out of the business so I never look for others. And then we finished our downstairs and it looks nice, and so I rather enjoy a little bit of housecleaning down there because it’s just a pretty room!Besides, our upstairs is now not a place I want anyone to see because we have an infonntinent cat Huge holes in the ceiling cracking back to when it rained in my bedroom. I told DH if we had children, CPS would take them away based on the condition of our upstairs bedroom.


But I hear you about getting older. When we move to Hermann I am going to get a housekeeper. Agreed that I will continue to do Garden maintenance because I couldn’t hire anyone to adequately care for my perennial gardens anyway.

I had a monthly cleaner that did the floors and bathrooms until I lost my job. I miss them.