Well, we own a few houses that we rent out. When you hear the word landlord, the image that comes to mind might be a money hungry person who overcharges poor people, getting ever richer. You probably won't think of people like us, who bought some houses way back when, taking out a huge-0 loan, and fixing up those houses, and renting them out for fair prices. There is a lot to the story, but we have only two houses now. If we were to sell them tomorrow, it wouldn't pay the mortgage we owe on them. So, we rent them out. One has decent renters who respect the house and always pay the rent, this other one...we were not so lucky. They stopped paying rent ages ago, got a few dogs that weren't on the lease, and...they trashed the place. Totally lived rent-free for months...
You probably remember me writing about all the work we put into this house just a few years back. New flooring, windows, restored a vintage door, painted the cabinets, cleaned and painted every wall and ceiling and door...then replaced the refrigerator with a brand new one a year ago.
This family did not respect the house. This is so far beyond normal wear and tear, it boggles the mind. Holes punched in the walls, food everywhere, grubby walls and floors and cigarette butts everywhere, although the lease clearly stated No Smoking.
Bathroom sink, or ashtray? This begs the question, did they wash their hands at all?
The little girls' room...
Just one wall in the kitchen...
I don't even know...broken window, holes in the walls...
A few punches maybe?
Grub, grime, gross!
Don't look at this one too closely...of course it was closed and turned off, so it smelled atrocious. I was crying my eyes out walking through this place, then the gagging began...(
There is yuck in every nook and cranny...pieces of candy from Halloween bags, opened and sticky and loose Doritos amidst the cigarette butts, a plate of pizza on the bedroom floor, fast food bags with burger remnants and fries in them, spilled drinks...in one room, there was a large gas station drink cup tipped over and stuck fast to the floor, won't give you more details lest you be sick. Shoes, socks, clothes, toys, crumbs, papers, chargers, wrappers, just everywhere. The floors look like they were never ever mopped.
Paul and I started with giant garbage bags, just filling them up. Everything smells horrible, you couldn't save it even if you wanted to. I looked around the first room and told myself to just clean this one room, it was so daunting, but I got everything bagged up in that room...then the next, and the next, then upstairs, we got the bathroom and the two bedrooms bagged up...then I headed back down to attack the refrigerator. Truth: I was a bit mad at these people. It rankled, because I don't want to be mad, or bitter. I was working with this, then just decided to pray for them. (I mean, the poor kids!). Then I spotted some lavender essential oil on the windowsill....and that was actually a Godsend. I put it on like eight paper towels and distributed them around the house. My spirits lifted substantially when I decided to pray for them, and not be mad. (I know it'll be a battle when I go back there again!), and once I got the refrigerator mostly done, I thought more clearly.
This is just a trial in life. Those people...I don't understand them, they had a really nice place to live, and didn't care about it at all. I don't have to understand them though. (We are going to be so much more careful who we rent to after we get this fixed up!)
Anyway. We finished up for the day, headed to Walmart for some bleach and things, then home...ahh home. I made some wicked chicken fajitas: I googled Gordon Ramsey's recipe for the chicken, and marinated it for a few hours.
Cooked in the iron frying pan with some onions and peppers, mmm.
(It goes without saying that I went directly to the laundry room and put all my clothes in the washer when I got home, even my winter coat, and Paul's clothes too! because yuck!)
Anyways, that is my tale of woe for the day. You know, I never considered my house to be spotless, and it hasn't been, but it was never ever anything like this. Messy, maybe a little cluttered here and there, but not filthy rotten. When I was growing up, my mother had some sayings:
Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
Soap and water are cheap, there's no excuse for being dirty.
My parents were proud, they were poor when my older siblings were small, but they would never take any public assistance. They worked hard and saved and bought savings bonds and were responsible with their money, and also they tried extra hard to make sure our house and yard were nice and neat. These people probably didn't have parents like that? I don't know.
It takes all kinds of people to make the world go around, said Ma Ingalls.
I did have the great idea to rent a commercial floor cleaning machine though. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us....cleaning and repairing and drywalling and replacing windows and painting...but we'll get it done, and we will be take pride in it, and be so glad to see the finished work.
Tomorrow is Monday, and I hope to make it to the pool because shh, these old bones...or rather the muscles? I don't know, but there IS aching...too much leaning over, too much everything...:)
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