20160606 (decision)

June 2006 - Ten years younger, handsomer, more daring, and dumber. Same belt though

In Las Vegas the house always wins.

So too at 2908 Franklin, the storied

Speith House counts another as 

Victim. If you haven’t guessed 

Earlier I have decided to remove

My hand from this particular

Plow, house restoration, to poker

Or writing where at least I have

A chance. I have patched every 

Broken pane, reroped, reweighted

Almost every sash (except for 

One in the dining room and  

Two massive bastards in the

Parlor). Dinah, my ex of the

Last four years, and I bought 

This house with plans to make

For her three studios. She 

Was an artist who worked in

Acrylics, photography, and

Fabrics. The first floor was to

Be our formal rooms, parlor,

Dining, kitchen, and a small 

Office for me. The second 

Floor front would contain her

Sewing/teaching studio, one 

Side her computer/graphics,

And the rear two bedrooms 

Would be opened up for her

Painting. The remaining space

Would be our master bedroom

And bath. Basement would

Be utilities and my shop. We 

Learned it could not be insured

Unless one of us occupied it.

For personal reasons I offered

To sleep there, work there, and

Return home to share cooking,

Cleaning, and meals. For many

Other personal reasons it 

Didn’t work out. I moved all

My stuff out of “her place” 

September 1, 2010, and by

January 19, 2012, the knot was

Legally unravelled. From the 

Start I took Loki with me. I

Spent the greater portion of

The first three years removing

Cruddy carpeting, underlayment,

And dismantling the three

Kitchens we’d come to call

“Crappy kitchens A, B, and C."

Whoever assembled the fixtures

Did not understand the principle

“Tighten and test.” Below every

Sink the floors had rotted out

From drippage—the commode

On the first floor was a matter

Of starting there and possibly

Finishing in the basement. That

Needed a new floor also. The

Windows and doors needed to

Be sealed every winter. Two 

Years ago I paid a contractor

To replace the boiler, reconnect

A radiator for the second floor,

And heal the electrical service

With a new panel. I detailed a

Few of these revisions via My

Old House Online, FaceBook,

The rest in numerous photos

I shared with family and friends.

But facing failing health, the 

Sum total of my worldly goods

Nowhere approaching what

Substantive restoration would

Cost, and the appreciation of

Real estate here enabling a hope

Of getting out from an underwater

Mortgage, I have accepted my

Son’s offer to spend the years

Remaining in his in-law

Suite out west. This place 

Deserves a real fix to return it

To the original glory. I hope 

The next owner will do it.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016