Wednesday! We have actually made it to the middle of the week. this week that feels like an accomplishment. I am trying to get a long list of things done because next week I will be going down to stay with my mother. I’ll still post the prompts, they may just be a little earlier in the morning so i can do them before she wakes up. I find if I skip them i am slightly unsettled for the rest of the day. So it is best to just take the time and knock them out early. But before we get there, we have the rest of the week to go. So timers set and let’s see what today brings.
I like this one. I actually had a hard time stopping when the timer went off. I may have to set this aside to break out a little more at lunch.
Wednesday, July 19th: The floor tiles were cracked.
The floor tiles were cracked. He made a mental note of it as he continued his walk through the house. It could be that someone dropped something heavy in such a way as to crack them or it could signal foundation issues. He would have to check.
But the foundation would have to wait. For now, there was the livibale space. It was not inspiroing. The rooms were small and pokey and the walls yellow with decades of nicotine. The fixtures were at least five decades out of date and most were not working or working poorly. Replacing them would not be a matter of style but one of necessity.
This house needed a lot of work. Everything would need to be changed. Could he make it work?
The numbers could be managed if the sale price was right. He tried not to see how he could beautify the house and just made a mental list of the things that would have to be done to make the house livable. He calculated his costs in his head with each step.
It was workable. ‘Depending on the foundation.’ He decided.
“I’ll need to look at the foundation,” he told Lyle. Lyle blinked as though surprised James wasn’t running for the hills.
“Of course,” Lyle said. As if sensing the possibility of a sale his face brightened. “We can go out the back door.” He moved to the back door and struggled with the catch on the door. It was stuck and didn’t seem to want to come unstuck. Lyle wrestled with it and finally managed to get it open.
“Just a little sticky,” Lyle said. James said nothing as he followed him out into the backyard. The back yard was apparently where old cars and lawnmowers went to die and Lyle quickly turned away looking back towards the peeling paint on the back of the house. “The um access panel,” Lyle said. He looked over the back of the house.
“I see it,” James said. Lyle nodded and left James to negotiate the underbelly of the house on his own. James opened the panel and took a small flashlight from his pocket. He shimmied into the underside of the house and began looking things over. It was surprisingly solid. The house may have been a bit of a reck upstairs but the bones were good. It was something he could work with.
He shimmied back out of the crawl space, put his pen light away and replaced the panel. The n he dusted himself off. “How much are you asking again?” James asked.
Lyle told him the asking price and James looked disappointed. “But we are willing to negotiate,” Lyle assured him. James suspected he was the only taker for the house.
Their negotiations began. It was a short negotiation. James offered a low ball offer expecting Lyle to be insulted and counter. He instead jumped on it and in less time than expected they were on their way to the bank, an agreement in place.
Ten til Midnight 