Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Our New House


Behind Tent #1
Originally uploaded by radioflyer007
Yup - here it is . . . our new house. Well, it's not ours yet but should all go well (and that's a big assumption at this point--but I digress), we will have the keys to this house in two days. The house which currently looks like a circus tent.

This termite tenting thing is new to me, a native New Englander. Not that we don't have termites or other wood-eating pests but somehow I don't recall seeing many (if any) tents in Boston.

In the purchase of my first Californian home, I've learned a few things about these pesky critters:

1) you don't want them as your new neighbors (or even occassional visitors)

2) when they do come, they make themselves totally at home, especially when they are most uninvited

3) 40 years of doing nothing about keeping these critters at bay (as in the case with the house we're buying) will result in some extensive (not to mention expensive) wood-work repairs

4) fumigation requires all humans, animals and plants to vacate the premise and not re-enter until a minimum of a 24-hour period

5) the chemicals used are combined with tear gas so that when you do enter before the 24 hours is up, you'll be so sorry, you'll end up crying

6) all this work doesn't guarantee that the unwelcomed guests/neighbors don't return . . .

7) . . . but it does make for a cool photo of your house! (I was personally hoping for red and white vertical stripes with a flag on top - just like how I remember Barnum & Bailey's tents)

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