Conference waylay::singles_chat

    I agree that a single person (or one w/o a helping spouse) has a harder
    time. One thing that makes things harder is kids. I am always having my
    son pick up something or other mess he made. 
    	Actually a party to do (a roof, siding etc) something big is not a
    bad idea. I had 4 'barn raising' partys last fall to help put up my
    garage. It was actually quite enjoyable to have friends and their
    spouses come and help. We got a lot accomplished, though I had
    seriously underestimated how much time and money this would take. But
    that is another story. 
    	Another idea is to divide the job into smaller chunks. This year I
    will probably remove the clapboards from the front of the house and
    replace them with cedar shakes. Next year I will do the two side etc.
    	The thing I have a hard time with is the blizzard of paper (mail)
    that I receive...
    
    Steve

    I have the hardest time even getting out to shovel when the need
    be.   Actually, this year I can finally get it down because 
    Angeline is big enough to get out in the snow and play without
    major supervision.    Last year, it was horrid.
    
    When it comes to the yard work, I go "grab a kid".  That is,  I
    get a niece or nephew to come over and play with Angeline so I
    can go at it.  Usually takes me two Saturday afternoons to get
    the whole yard raked.  With Angeline, it would take me two months
    of Saturdays.
    
    						cj *->

Hi,
	Good to see some replies in here.  Was actually gonna put a reply in
last night but didn't have a chance.  It was mentioned here - work parties.  I
was joking somewehre in here or SINGLES about a painting party.  I really am
planning on doing that.  I've found that having company helps a lot.  My friend
with the cabin in VT has had several work parties/weekends and we've always had
fun doing them.  A couple of years ago a friend of mine who also owns a house
came down in the morning to help me rake my leaves and then in the afternoon we
went up to his house and raked his leaves.  So, if anyone in here wants to do
the same I'd be up for it!
	Letting things go...yup, I've had the 5" high grass many times.  I 
figure it just makes my neighbor's lawn look that much better.  ;-)  I actually
don't lose a lot of sleep over that.  And in general am not *always* stressed
out about getting everything done - it just creeps up at times.  (I am *not* 
superwoman!)  ;-)  

Barb

    re .7
    
    I saw that red cape with the S on it when we stopped at your house :-)
    
    joyce

    Mostly it's the bills.  After my divorce, within a year the roof
    caved (literally), I had to put in a new oil-burning furnace, etc.
    But I could afford it (barely) so I'm not really complaining.
    
    My two daughters are old enough (almost 10 and 12) that they help 
    out immensely around the house, too.  Of course a lot of what 
    they're doing is cleaning up their own messes, and they understand 
    that I'm not going to do it for them.  But they're also interested
    in learning how to cook, so I'll let them experiment and see what
    happens.  Not that I'm much better at it... ;-)
    
    glenn
    

re .8

You did????  Well it certainly wasn't mine!!!  Someone must've left it there 
New Year's Day...  ;-)  

    I view myself as a late century cattle rancher, with 3 or 4 cattle pens
    to clean (am a landlord), rustlers and Indians to thwart off, and being
    Mr. Mom. There exist more pokers in the fire than a Texas cattle
    rancher during round up. Whats a home owner/landlord to do? Whelp. Like
    any other good business person, deligate stuff that you don't like to
    who you can. As in, I have a cleaning person come in every other week,
    and I do allot of the shoveling/snowblowing, fixing, painting, and
    paperwork. But, when its major stuff, like hanging solid core doors
    where hollows were, I hire someone. Do what you can with what you have,
    and figure out the pain level that you have to deal with.
    
    

    As a homeowner and single parent of a 15 year old, I find the most
    stressfull thing is keeping the house clean.....general tiddyness,
    vaccuming, dusting, bathrooms, windows.....etc etc etc.  I am actually
    considering having someone come in (once a weeK??) to do a thorough
    cleaning. I just don't have the time and when I DO have spare time
    I DON'T want to spending it doing that stuff. I try to get my son to 
    pitch in, but you know how that works!  : )
    
    Anyway, any of you know what such a service would cost? Hate to
    spend the $$$, but also want a LIFE!  : - )
    
    Ron 

    A friend came up with the following idea - seems she used it with much
    success when she was single.
    
    Find someone else who hates doing housework alone, and agree that
    you'll work together on it -- first at one home, then at the other. 
    She said that having someone around made the time go quicker, both of
    you got everything done and had some time to spare.  The same could be
    done with gardening, etc.  Now, to find someone who shares my feelings
    about these jobs!!!!!!

>    you got everything done and had some time to spare.  The same could be
>    done with gardening, etc.  Now, to find someone who shares my feelings
>    about these jobs!!!!!!

See .7!

;-)

B

    It would take me so long to clean my house to get it to a point
    where I would even allow someone to see how much it needs to
    be cleaned!!!! ;->
    
    						cj *->

    Remind me not to come over cj!:)

    don't come over George.

    I also own a home on my own. Have trouble dealing with apartment living
    especially when you have dogs. The effort of keeping it up is sometimes
    overwhelming. But the tax advantages and privacy do make it worth it. I
    bought this house brand new 3.5 years ago so I haven't had to do too
    much yet.  I will do small stuff, but will hire a handyman for certain
    jobs.  Unfortunately I don't have any brothers.  My neighbor does
    snowblow my driveway, and was insulted when I had a guy plow. I should
    look into having someone come in every other week to do general
    cleaning, but I'm too cheap.  What amazes me is how much space one
    person can use.  Of course I still have my son's room with alot of his
    stuff.  Plus if I bring something home that is too heavy, the guys in
    the neigborhood will give me a hand. But I don't like to ask for help
    too often. 
    
    	Cindy

    Dam! I wish someone would snow blow my driveway. Just took my broken
    blower to the repairman/person... again.... Dam thing is worse than my
    old chev, always in the shop, or on the lift.:(
    
    

    I have a condo fee for just that sort of reason.  It's not worth my
    time and energy to have to purchase a snow blower and spend my 
    precious time getting it to and from the repairman, not to mention 
    the job itself.  
    
    I just open the garage door with a garage door opener and back out.  
    I love it!  But okay, occasionally I miss the zen of shoveling.  
    I'm sure it would come back to me if I hit a rough spot.  
    
    Karyn

            Hehe I fix snowblowers amongst other things in my 2nd job. Now
    if only I owned one of the dagone things!! On the other hand rolling
    outa bed and having things plowed out wouldn't exactly ruin my day
    either :-)
    
    bob

    Zen of shoveling?? Dam! What book is that I missed?:) More like, yha
    love pain, live in New England, and shovel snow!:)
    
    

    Hmmmmmmm....

        As with everything else in life there are 'pros' and there are 'cons'
    about owning a home alone.  When I get home from work at night there
    is no one home to entertain me while I cook dinner,  just the cat.  
    When I say entertain I mean someone to help make a daily chore fun!
    It's always fun to have someone help do things around the house.  Some
    people don't feel this way because they work with people all day long.
    Whereas I have a very introspective job as an engineer,   Therefor on my
    time I enjoy being with friends and family.  Sometimes when I get home
    from a long hard day of work I would like to have someone to talk to. 
    Not to be Sigmund but just someone to listen to me ramble on for a
    while.  Someone to get my much needed daily hugs from. But I do live
    alone so I make the best of it and overall I still really enjoy life
    it's just that one aspect of it that isn't complete.

    !!Frank 

    
    	Yep Frank, every once in a while, it would be nice if there was
    someone there to listen or hold you.  I'd be lost without my woos, but
    some days they're just not enough.
    
    	Of course, that's why I organize these social events and hug
    everyone in sight :-)
    
    joyce

    The other night, whist sanding the shared driveway. The only friend to
    chat to was my pickup truck. Been more faithful than some
    relationships I have known. Doesn't ask much of me, execpt to keep its
    belly filled with gas, and some new tires every so often. The New
    England nights, long, cold, snowy. The sounds of a shovel dipping into
    sand in the barrel in the bed of my truck. Warm translucent mist of
    exaust funnels its way into the night air. And as I spread the sand, I
    hear sounds of the warm summers time at the beach with my daughter
    making sand castles. Then reality comes back, and can identify with the
    late twenthy century cattle ranchers.:_}
    
    

    .26
    
    Wow!  Nice images.  Are you a writer?  If not, you should be.
    
    
    

    Nope, not a writer. Just a phone monkey. But flattery will get you
    every where! I am easy!:)
    

and how much might it cost?

Spring is on its way (even if I hear we might get snow later
this week :-(.

I notice that Joyce mentioned CLASSIFIED_ADS as a way to find
(human) lawn mowers.  Do you place an ad or do the lawn mowers
start to emerge around this time?  

    re: LJSRV1::BOURQUARD
    re: how do you find someone to mow the lawn?
    
    Deb,
    
    Unless you have a lot of lawn or are particularly picky about how
    the lawn is done, you might look for enterprising kids in your
    neighborhood.
    
    Just a thought.
    
    /Bill

     Or even consider buying a goat ;-) Bill's right though depends on how
    big it is. I do yard work for beer ;-)
    
    
    bb

Well, I won't have to mow my lawn this season!  My nephew is gonna be doing it.
Now the big question is how much do I pay him?  I have no clue.  Am looking for
suggestions on how much to pay a 12-year-old to mow my lawn.  It takes me 1-1.5
hours to do it.

Thanks all!
Barb

        Sounds like a good age to start accepting some responsibilities
    Barb. Judging from the size of your yard I'd say 10-15 bucks?? Plus
    maybe a trip to Skips for Ice Cream afterwards..
    
    bob

    	Nothing worse than when your Mortgage Company, who escrows your
    taxes doesn't pay the full tax amount and you get a demand notice :-(  
    
    	Called the town hall and apparently this years Tax Bills were on
    the light side/difficult to read, numerous banks sent it the incorrect 
    amount.  
    
    	So, now I get to call my Mortgage Company and tell them to sent the 
    $200 and there won't be any fees associated.  Course they're already
    escrowing extra $$ a month because they miscalculated what the tax
    escrow should be...
    
    joyce