A List of Breakdowns

I think it started with the Bunn coffee maker. It was the first thing to die this year and was quickly replaced by an exact replica. Best coffee maker I have ever owned and has far outlasted the cheap models that I've owned in the past.

I haven't poured much money into this house lately. There are a few things I want to have done but I'm not stressed about it. Three exterior windows are still the single paned ones that are builders' models and when I stand in front of them and open the blinds I can feel the heat radiating in so I ordered new windows and found someone to install them.

The other thing we wanted to get done this year was the roof. 9000.00 gets ya a new roof. Add in another 10,000.00 and you get your a/c unit replaced that chose to die two weeks after the roof was placed. My question is, how does one afford a house these days. The last a/c unit I had placed in this house cost 1/3 of the one I'm having done now and the previous roof was also 1/3 of the cost of the one just done.

I was stunned with the cost of the roof and the a/c unit. The average life of both these items are 15 yrs. How do the young couples with a 30 yr. house payment afford to replace these items 15 yrs down the road when the prices have tripled and their paychecks haven't? Is it really worth owning a home?

I suppose I could have gotten by a bit cheaper on the a/c unit had I got a 4 ton instead of a 5 ton and also went lower on the SEER rating which determines the energy efficiency of the unit. The higher the number on the SEER the more efficient and I went with an 18 which I think is the highest you can go. That was additional 2000.00. I'm hoping it makes a difference on the a/c bill as the old a/c unit was a 10 SEER. Enough of this mind numbing information. 

A sure sign of your age is when you get estimates on replacing items like these and your first comment is "I'm not paying that price. Why..I paid 1/3 of that the last time I bought that!"  Of course the young man handing me that estimate was barely 9 yrs old when I bought the last a/c unit and I'm sure he has heard comments like this from his "more advanced in age" customers. These prices he is accustomed to. Give him another 30 yrs and we'll see that stunned look on his face too when he has to replace something in the house he doesn't own yet.

Another sure sign of your age is when your husband,trying to make things better about the sticker shock I was experiencing says to me "Well, think about it this way. This will be the last a/c unit and roof you will ever have to worry about!"

"Oh, thanks a bunch honey! Now I really feel better knowing I"ll be dead or in a rest home and won't have to worry about an a/c or a roof!" Yep, I guess it could be worse huh?

I'm off to get another cup of coffee and be grateful I was able to access the internet this morning. This is the Monday that the DNS malware thing was supposed to keep those infected computers from signing onto the internet. I'm safe and I'm ON!