The house knows.

Back in September I bought a cute little house on the north west side of Des Moines. When I bought the house it was in great condition. . .a few littl things here and there that could be worked on but nothing major and nothing that had to be done right away. I had made plans to do some painting and replace the stove some other odds and ends and I was able to save up some money.

Since September life has been bubbling along no problem and then something interesting happened. Back in February once I received all of my W-2's and other tax forms I bought myself a copy of Turbotax (being the do it yourselfer that I am) completed my taxes. I mailed everything to IRS including proof that I had purchased a house and was eligible for the home buyers tax credit. Once that was accomplished I sat back and began the wait for my fat check to arrive.

I am still waiting for that check but in the 6 weeks since I mailed everything in things have started to go haywire. It started on evening when I was warming something up for dinner. I heard the microwave quit and was surprised because it did not seem as though enough time had elapsed for it to be finished. Upon checking on the microwave I realized that the microwave had died, just died no warning nothing, just dead. For those of you who don't know my microwave is attached to the stove one of those late 80's early 90's units so I can't just get a new microwave gotta replace the whole thing. Great.

Fast foward a couple of weeks, the snow starts melting and I discover that all but three of the window well covers outside are broken. Then one rainy morning I was in the basement getting clothes out of the dryer and just happened to check on the sump pump to discover that it was about to overflow. . .there was 400 dollars and an emergency visit from the plumber.

Now this weekend the kitchen sink is starting to have trouble. The other night I was running the dishwasher and doing some dishes in the sink when all of the sudden water starts bubbling out of the other side of the sink. I ran the garbage disposal think that would clear up the problem, instead the other side of the sink turned into a fountain with water spouting from the drain. Guess the plumber is getting another call.

Why am I telling you this you ask. Because I have come to one conclusion and I want it to serve as a warning to everyone else. The house knows, the house knows that I am expecting a fat check and has decided to make sure that there is none of it left when it finally arrives. Now in all fairness the house did wait until the check was coming before it started breaking down. But still I am warning you all. . .if you own your home. . .it knows more than you think.