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Comments:
Anna - 2004-03-30 07:58:00 My house was built in 1925 and like a lot of old houses, it has a few quirks. I have an ancient furnace too and while it heats up the house just fine, it makes some *weird* noises. When I first moved in, they used to scare my dog which I thought was really funny. Even now sometimes it will give a loud "clunk" and she will think that someone is at the door and will go crazy. The guy I bought the house from rewired it himself. He did a good job according to the electrician I had come in to take a look at it. But, he didnt finish it. So there are outlets that dont work because they havent ever been hooked up. One of these days, I'll be able to afford to have that electrician back to finish the work but for now, I just dont use certain outlets. My floor isnt even. It is the original hard wood floor but over the years it has gotten a little warped. I think this is kind of charming but it does look kind of funny. I live right next to the train tracks so when the train goes by, the whole house shakes. I have had knick knacks fall off of shelves. Some California friends remarked that it feels like I have earthquakes six times a day. * * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2004-03-30 10:00:40 Oh -- Another quirk -- I have these very weirdly-shaped three-prong outlets, one in the living room, one in the dining room. They have holes for prongs the shape of which I've never seen, and they're a different voltage from the other outlets. My mom thinks that someone had them put in 20-30 years ago for air conditioners. I suppose someday I'll try to have them switched over, but in the meantime, I just pretend they aren't there.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-03-30 11:33:23 Wow. Really interesting details. Oddly, Anna, I keep my bills in a bill-basket too. I am glad your dad is going to help fix things up. The outlets have me puzzled...Lynne, I am highly envious of your living near the tracks! I would love that, vibrations notwithstanding...I'm very fond of trains. At least I can always hear the train from home. But I'd love to see it zoom by six times a day.* * * * * * * * * * * * Caron - 2004-03-30 12:39:03 hey, I have one of those mystery outlets too! Maybe whatever plugged into it was really popular around here for a minute then faded into oblivion. Kind of like BETA or yogurt makers. I think my most distinctive house quirk is the refrigerator. It's about 15 years old now, but from the beginning it's always made loud gurgling noises that often perplex my cats, and guests. (Imagine a hippopotamus digesting a large meal of lilypads) I used to have more furnace quirks, but since I had a new furnace installed last fall with new ducts, I can't complain. The only problem is the new return air duct that runs under the living room floor. It's a sheet of aluminum bolted to the floor joists. Now everytime someone walks across a certain spot, it sounds like muffled thunder. If you plant your feet at the right spot and kind of shift your weight from one foot to the other you can get a rythm going. I love the sound of trains too. One evening years ago, I found myself standing by the tracks in downtown Chelsea looking up at the Jiffy factory just as a train was coming along. As it got closer, I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The rumbling of the train vibrated up through the soles of my feet, and generated an uncontrollable urge to scream at the top of my lungs, which I did as the train zoomed past. Far better than any roller coaster scream!* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-03-30 21:02:10 Wow! Welcome, Caron! Yay! What a story! The "rhythmic thunder" bit was hilarious; I can just imagine that, if not a hippopotomus having lily pad reflux. Very funny! The train story was gripping! There is just something about trains. Whenever I'm in Gallup Park and I hear one coming, I just run to the fence by the tracks like I'm 8 years old or something. At any rate, thanks Caron! * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-03-30 22:01:54 We need to solve this weird-outlet mystery. What on earth are those things for? Oh, one more quirk. I have a gas stove with an electric pilot light--it has to be plugged in to start the oven. Well, I had it on a mini extension cord till I discovered a mouse was using the cord as a ladder to climb up on my counter and chew on some carnations that I have growing in a bowl! For Pete's sake. So I removed the mouse-ladder, trapped the mouse, and now start the (unplugged) stove burners with a bit of paper and a lighter. Silly, I know. Kinda "Little House on the Prairie," actually, which is a good thing. But anytime I bake I have to drag out the extension cord & temporarily plug it in. At such times it becomes all too clear why I live alone...ah, well. * * * * * * * * * * * * Lynne Fremont - 2004-03-31 18:31:50 Ok, that stove story is hilarious. :) I had some weird quirks with my stove that apparently were due to spiders building webs in the gas pipes but when I had the gas leak (fixed now), the michcon guy fixed my stove too :) I am glad to know that I am not the only person who loves trains. My mother told me I would never be able to sell my house because it is so close to the tracks but I told her that I couldnt possibly be the only person in the world who thinks the trains are a plus. Now I have proof!* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-03-31 18:43:42 The extension cord actually travels back and forth between the oven and the computer (its usual home), from which it runs to the nearest 3-hole outlet, which is in the bathroom. And I just bought an ashtray with a picture of the Ypsi water tower--practical--yet I can never remember when in Meijer's to just buy another extension cord. It's all fairly pathetic. Yep, your house being right by the tracks is really cool in my book. I'd love to live in one of those houses on Railroad St. off LeForge right by the tracks--trees + trains; the best!* * * * * * * * * * * * girl-drunk - 2004-09-04 21:59:05 drunk girl* * * * * * * * * * * * PICS-FREE - 2004-10-03 08:24:42 FREE PICS* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |