Monday moanin'

Okay, so it's not morning... I just like writing that!

Had the appraiser over today. We (adriana and I) had thought (and the bank agreed) that we could just use the recent appraisal Adriana (my landlady) paid for in September when she refinanced the house. But, since I am going FHA, it requires a different appraisal (oh, please! So, you retype it! Right? NOT!)

I had to be home between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM. So, I invited my friend Bill over for lunch. I made an easy French-dip sandwich with au jus dipping sauce (email me and I'll send you the recipe - tasty!)

Meanwhile the appraiser (the same guy) did most of the same things he had done before. Only difference was he went up in the attic, and he stuck his head in the opening (for midgets, I think - maybe 18 inches deep by two feet wide) for the crawl space in the office closet.

He was happy with his view of the underbelly of the house. He said the main beam was dry and not cracked. Had there been any doubts, he said the bank would have insisted on a home inspection (another charge, I'm guessing).

But, in the attic, he found several wires that were not secured as much as he would have liked. and there's a wire that runs down from an upper rafter to the floor. That he said would need either conduit (not easy, as I'd have to disconnect the wire, add the conduit, then reconnect) or else a two by four nailed in place and the wire stapled to that. (Okay, so that I can do!)

He said he would have to mention these in his report, and might have to come out and verify they had been corrected. (Dammit!)

So, tonight after work, went into the attic and stapled up all the offending wire. Invented a new trick, BTW. I always, ALWAYS, hit my fingers with the hammer using wire staples. So, knowing that, this time I used needle nose pliers to hold the staple until I got it started, then pulled the wire tight and finished it up. Bingo, no sore fingers!

Took the measurement for the 2 x 4 (a 6 footer will work just fine) and climbed back down the stairs.

And, so it goes...