These days, whenever I drive past Home Hardware, I throw my head back and laugh.
You see, I am now a renter.
Yup, most of my adult life, I have owned a home (well, the bank and I did) and, so, most of my adult life I have always needed to buy top soil or rakes or baseboards or wheelbarrows or, or, or, or ...
There is always some project going on that requires ... stuff. Either something needs to be repaired or moved or cleaned or replaced or, or, or, or ...
Not anymore. I am a renter now. We decided to sell our house when the selling was good and this now requires us to live the lives of renters for a spell.
I used to hate renting: writing those cheques every month and not having anything to show for it (other than a dry head for one month). But, maybe it's because of my age, I now see it differently. I now write those four-figure cheques each month for the privilege of picking up the phone and saying, "Yo, the toilet is backed up. Come and fix it."
Hmm, actually, as I re-read Page 2 of our seven-page Rental Agreement, I see that it is my job to repair plugged toilets ... and sinks and drains.
What else? I see here that I need to adjust weather stripping myself, change light bulbs and tighten hinge screws.
Well, I may be a renter, but I'm not dead. I can do this. At least the list of things I am responsible for are not endless ... it only takes up three pages of the seven-page agreement.
At least the landlord has obligations, too. Let's see, these include, #5(a), Quiet Enjoyment. That's it. There is no (b) and no #6. OK, make that "obligation" (no "s").
Still, it is a pretty sweet life when you don't have to mow the lawn. And this isn't because there is full-service lawn care, but, it is because we have no lawn. You see, the City of Whitehorse decided not to require landowners to landscape in Copper Ridge. So, why would a landlord put in a lawn that may or may not be cared for?
It's crazy. It makes me want to write a letter ... until I realize that my rent will probably go up $100 each month to cover the extra costs of installation and maintenance.
There is only thing I can do to feel better about this situation. Buy a house? No way, have you seen the price of houses these days.
No, no ... I'm going to drive by Home Hardware again.