Look at his face in that photo. He's just such a happy animal. He's fun to be around, he has such a joy for life. Everything is an adventure. He loves his family, even if he is ornery sometimes.
Yeah, anything he finds is HIS, his toy, his thingy that holds yuk water, his ciggy butts, his pop cans, his broken chair, his old tarp, his cat...bla bla. How dare I try and stop him, he flips out. I've stopped trying to round him up when I want to go in. Now, I just say goodbye and go. As soon as I close the door, I'll hear a huge bang. It's him, throwing himself at the door, wanting in. He can fend for himself and loves finding his own food, but, he will not be left alone. Nope.
BTW, Jerry Lee is staying. He alerted me to a dog attack yesterday and saved one of his flock. That big, mean black dog got Janet (the spotted hen). She had somehow flown over the fence and he got her. He was trying to kill her, but, Jerry Lee started barking at the dog! I thought it was so odd. I ran out to see wtf? He couldn't get to her, but, he was frantic. Try as I might, I could not get over that GD fence, so I reached through and hit the dog and yelled at it. She backed off and I called Janet. She came to me and I grabbed her. She's okay, just has a skinned up, bruised ass (tail bone). And lost some feathers. I doctored her up. But, Jerry Lee saved her. I wouldn't have heard it with the AC on if he hadn't started barking. I have never heard a rooster seriously bark before. Poor little Janet, she's the one who least deserved it. But, now, they stay clear of that damn dog pen. That black dog is dangerous.
21 comments:
Way to go, Jerry Lee! He is a good rooster, after all. He did his job by protecting his flock. It is too bad that you don't have another pullet for him to be with. Does anyone you know have a bird they are willing to part with? (Though sometimes integrating an older bird into a flock can be an issue. . .) locally, our feed store has fall chicks, and I am wondering if your feed store does, too. Maybe you would be able to add one or two into the mix. Or not. . . you may not want the hassle with it being fall already, and your upcoming move.
Oh, and yesterday was the day. We met for arbitration. I will most likely get the house, (as long as I can work out refinancing), but he keeps the cash he took from my mother's estate, and probably $15,000 or so more that I will have to pay him
toward his value in the house. I am keeping most of the stuff in the house, which I am really bummed about. I wanted him to take a bunch of his stuff, or stuff that he had wanted us to get, but he wants very little. He does want to value everything he is leaving behind, highly, though. He also has until January 1 to move his stuff, and knowing him, he will try to renegotiate approximately a day or so prior to that date. I thought he was rushing things along because he had planned things out, and had a new place staked out, etc. It could not be further from the truth. He is still living with his mom, has no real plans about where he will go, doesn't have a place to store any of his stuff, etc. It is pure craziness. Oh, well, enough about me. I need to go to Costco anyway. Almost out of Cosequin for Harley's joints.
Christina
I am so glad you are keeping the house. You don't know how happy that makes me. Fuck him, it aint over yet. Let's see what else he pulls. And no about more chicks. These are enough and after the hassle of the last integration, I will never do it again. The younger 'rooster' laid an egg today. LMAO! I guess Jerry Lee knew what I didn't. He has two hens.
Yay for two hens!!!!
I have a rooster who has too many hens, so I hardly ever find a fertile one. If things got bad, I might want to get at least one more rooster, and set him up in the old run with 6 or 7 of the girls. That could work. I would want to be able to get some fertile eggs, and produce my own eggs and meat.
It is a hassle to try to integrate birds into a new flock, though. The established birds are awfully hard on the new ones.
I am glad to keep the house, but afraid because of all it needs. (I guess I am talking to the right person about that sort of thing, right? Heh) I know you have had all kinds of challenges with your new place (including finding it a repository for all kinds of garbage, having all the wiring ripped out, and having a contractor who did not want to finish your bathroom according to your wishes.) I am in good company, here. I have to refinance, getting the mortgage in my name, and pay him off the extra within 30 days or they will charge me interest. It doesn't seem fair to me, but it is what they decided. I have to try to figure out how much extra to apply for so that I can get the work done ASAP.
It needs a new roof and gutters, and the upstairs bathroom needs to be finished. Other than that, it needs tar paper replaced and siding on the parts of the shed that have never been done. I need all of that done before the weather gets worse. It all looks uphill from here. I need another door put in the back, with a dog door there as well. I am so sick of letting the dogs in and out, as we almost always do that up front, and I have to hold onto her to do it, as the door doesn't open into the yard. It's an odd arrangement.
Oh, well. . . I guess I should start making lists.
Christina
I'm so sorry he got any money from your family's estate. Leaving stuff behind is unforgivable. Pain in the ass. I so hope you can refinance without extra costs and that you have enough in equity to allow for repairs you need. I think about you often. I also have super hate for your ex and his mommy.
I agree with Border, but, keeping the house is awesome. You have to have a familiar home base from which to smite him. He needs his ass smited good. Oh, and Jerry Lee just tried to kick my ass, at 6 am. LMAO. He would NOT stop. I smacked him with the feed can.
I'm glad you got the house. Is it an Oregon law that he gets money from YOUR family's estate? I guess it's different in different states. How did he get his hands on that money?
Actually, my mother's estate is mine. He took the money out of our mutual account where I had deposited funds from her estate (because I didn't have a secret account like he did), and put it in an account with his and his mother's names on it. It stayed there, and he was awarded that money as payment of part of his equity in the house. We didn't owe very much on the house anymore, and the housing market has come back up, so there is a lot of equity.
They did not seem to question any of the money in stocks. That was a clear transfer from my mom, on her death. They also did not question any of her things that I still have in storage.
They seemed very focused on her boat, and kept talking about it and trying to value it. Made no sense to me, so, after trying as I might, and getting nowhere telling them that it was from her estate. . . I told them that they were inordinately focused on something that should not be in question. Then the arbitrator tried to say that if we didn't assign a value to the boat, he would assign a value to the trailer it is on. I had to tell him that the boat was sold to our family when I was about 10 years old, and that it was sold to us on the trailer, and that my husband and I took the trailer and the boat from my mother's place, after her death. He still wanted to assign a value. I am sitting here shaking my head. I have never before dealt with someone who so enjoyed the sound of his own voice.
In the end, the only real negotiations were over the value of my car, (which they valued too highly, as it needs some major work this week), the value of the contents of the house (which he wants very little of---a huge disappointment to me, as I was looking forward to unclogging this place), and the value of the house. He and his attorney wanted to value the contents very highly, and also value the house at the same price range as other, newer construction that had no need for major repairs. I took probably 100 pictures of the house, and showed the arbitrator pictures with explanations of what was wrong. I thought of more things this morning, but I am sure that it doesn't matter. There was approximately $40,000 separating us, though their later estimates of home value raised that to $45,000. After viewing the pictures, the amount was set at $6,000 above our requested value. Much less than my husband's side was asking for. The value of my car was slightly high, and the value of the contents of the house was higher than it should be, but not hugely so.
All that means that he gets to keep the money from my mother's estate, and I owe him probably $18,000 to $20,000 more. They are only allowing me 30 days to arrange for refinance, and after that I will have to pay interest on the money owed. He is getting until January 1 to remove his stuff. I am very bummed about the amount of stuff he is not taking. I was counting on having him take stuff. I still have a storage unit full of my mom's stuff that I wanted to keep. I guess I will just keep paying that until I figure it all out.
Now I am feeling stressed about getting repairs done, as the roof isn't leaking yet, but there is damage, and the gutters are almost useless. The weather has changed in the last week or so, and I would like to get things underway before it gets bad. I've been making a list and consulting Angie's list online this morning. I work tomorrow, so everything will have to wait until Tuesday, though. I will hopefully feel better about things in a month or two. It will be exciting, I think. Having my own home! (I'm glad you-all can not hear the squealing)
Christina
Valuation of contents sucks big time. The real value of articles like that is about zero, or in the red to hire somebody to pick it up and take it away. Guy up the street had a tv, not flat screen, out for trash or recyclers or whoever for a few weeks and he finally had to go to one of the recycling centers with it. So pitch his shit, preferable on his mommy's lawn, and get your stuff out of storage which costs an arm and a leg around here. Really 3 months storage fees and the value of contents is in decline. So what you are paying for is a place for the stuff to deteriorate. Makes no sense. Do you have a son or anything big enough to kick his sorry ass.
Christina, this may be a stupid question but I will ask it anyway. Do you have to h ave gutters? Very few houses around here have gutters. Is it something to do with the different types of weather?
Also, come Jan. 2, I would take his stuff outside and have a huge yard sale/bonfire. What doesn't sell, burns. Bring marshmallows, hot dogs, hot toddies and have a good old time. Take whatever is his most prized possession and feed the dogs and chickens out of it. Any pics of him, put on the floor of the chicken coop. I can be a very vengeful bitch when I want to be. Would you get in some kind of legal trouble if you put a pic of his stuff burning on facebook? I don't go on facebook, but I would for that.
I think I have to have them. The idea is that they direct rainwater away from the foundation. If the foundation has a lot of water coming down around it, it can be weakened or damaged outright. At the northernmost corner of the house, there is a section of the downspout that is missing, and there are mud splashes on the siding about 3-4 feet high. The gutters have stuff growing in them, some live stuff, some dead stuff, and the outside looks pretty grimy. It does really need to be done. The house needs all new windows, too, but I'll have to get some estimates and see when that might happen. There were two windows with small cracks in the corner when we moved here, and they have never been changed out, the downstairs bathroom window is falling apart, the cording in one of the double hung windows is broken and I have to prop it open when I want fresh air, and both upstairs bedrooms have big, 3-way slider windows. The panes on those were blown when we bought the place, and they have never been replaced. The storm windows are nonfunctional. It is going to be an expensive job. It is one of the priorities though. After the roof, gutters and upstairs bathroom, oh, and the screens on the front porch. . . they are hanging in tatters in places.
I haven't done facebook in a couple of years. I am not sure if I would get in some legal trouble if I burned everything. I think they said that after January 1 I could do what I wish with it, but having known my husband all this time, I know that he is pretty likely to talk to someone a day or two prior to that deadline, and renegotiate. He is often able to charm people. He has a gentle demeanor, and he was raised by a selfish manipulator, so he has learned how to get what he wants. Also, there are a lot of tools that have been left everywhere, and 5 gallon buckets of chemicals. I don't know if there are critters in the one shed, either. He really left me holding the bag. All he wants is his clothes, tools, and a few silver coins that he got many years ago. He isn't taking anything else. This house is packed, and I can't dispose of much. I think that I will have to wait to do anything until the financing is set, and it is signed off by the court.
It still burns my hide that our house has had a handyman who is very skilled, living in it, and it is falling apart, while his mother's place is perfectly cared for. It was okay to the both of them if Andy and I lived like this, but she had to have everything perfect for herself.
Christina
Wait, so he left stuff there so it could have a value put on it and then gets half the money for contents instead of taking his shit? I would have that SOB by the balls so fast he would be one sorry mother fucker. I think I would have to cut his break lines.
Christina, see if you can poke a hole in the roof so it has to be fixed while the house is still in his name. Then he might be responsible for half the repair and it can be deducted from his payout. LOL
I like the way Pan thinks.
Actually, I think it's a little worse than that. He requested a higher value on the contents, but then is only taking a little, so I am paying probably 3/4 of the value, and I am cleaning up his mess. He also has until January 1 to take the stuff because "I don't have anywhere to store it". The issue that he rushed things along, but had no plan for how to handle his part of things did not come up, although my attorney talked to me privately, and told me he knew exactly what was going on. His attorney did not even try to look at the pictures. He must have told her it was not good, and so, despite the fact that she wanted to look at my notes and hang on to them, etc., she never asked to look at the pictures, or commented on them. There were literally approximately 80 pictures that I showed the arbitrator. I took more pictures, but didn't print them off, and I thought of more things in the last two days, that I should have taken pictures of, but forgot. We had good support for what we requested, as far as valuation of the house and property. I am glad that I didn't take pictures earlier either. I was asked several times exactly when I took the pictures.
Christina
Sounds like the arbitrator is a little biased. Can you ask for a different one? Any way of taking this to court? Is the arbitrator a female? You did say he could be very persuasive. There's got to be some way to challenge this. Could you talk to a different lawyer? What happens if you don't sign the papers? I know you want this over with, but so does he. He wants his money. Why not try dragging your feet for a while. Would this put you in a bind?
Christina if I may give a little advice on the windows, my husband has been in the business for 20 years. I'm not sure where you live, but I'm thinking Midwest cuz you have storm windows. I'll also bet they are wood. Replace glass where you can, it's cheap. Consider vinyl windows for replacements, they are inexpensive and come in a variety of colors so you can try to match the ones that you are just repairing. Most important, get a reputable contractor. Lots of bad things can go wrong with improperly installed windows. Good luck with your repairs and life.
I'll just add this..my guttering got damaged a couple of years back and I thought, fuck it, and added it to the 'whenever' list. I got such bad damage from water that my whole subfloor on the N. side of my living room rotted and had mold. In one season. I had to replace that whole side of the floor. It was gross and awful. You want gutters.
Thanks, Diana, Jane, Border and Pat, and anyone else who has offered their advice. I really do appreciate it.
When we were discussing my husband's tools (during arbitration) the old, male arbitrator chuckled, turned to me and said "tools. . . all you probably need is one screwdriver." The jerk. He knew I wouldn't need tools because, you know, I am female. We don't know how to use tools. Asshole.
I turned to him and said, "I've been buying my own tools for years".
Christina
I would have said, "All I ever need is a butter knife and my chain saw." Then I would have given him crazy eyes.
I just spit my smoothie out over that last comment. I'm going to try that the next time someone pisses me off.
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