In the summer of 1996, Kyle graduated from high school.

In fall 1997 I managed to get my finances straightened out enough to qualify for buying a house. I managed to find a real nice 2-bedroom bath and a half brick place in the Meadowbrook area in East Fort Worth. It had all the appliances (well stove, refrigerator, dishwasher) that I did not. Took the deal the day that I saw it as compared to others we had seen that day, this house was GREAT! The guy selling the house was a contractor anxious to sell the house and get back to building new ones. He helped with "creative financing" and I got into the house for closing costs only out of my pocket. I paid $49,500 for an 1170 square foot house with attached one-car garage. It has been a good house. The A/C is old a I would like to replace it but it still cool and heat the place just fine. The electrical box is outside on the back side of the house and someday I would like to move the service to inside the garage and update the wiring. I spent the fall of '97 and the spring of '98 painting the inside as I had seem enough of white in the apartment. The living room was done in a two tone sand (light on top and darker on bottom) with a bump rail at around 38" on all for walls. I replaced the trim wood and painted that white. The hallway was done in a lime green the blend with the dark green wallpaper in the master bath. The master bedroom I did in lavender and purple (two walls each) and the second bedroom (which I now use for my office is done in a shade of ivory (sometimes looks light yellow). I replaced all the ceiling fans to bring them up to date and have replaced all the switches and plugs in the house to newer one.

The only room in the house that has had little work is the kitchen/dinning area. I would like to remodel before I spend time here. In the summer of 1998 however I did removed the sheet rock on the kitchen side of the wall that separates the kitchen with the living room and made a pass-through. In so doing I found wiring that needed to be updated. I removed and patched the plug that was facing the living room and added a telephone connection and plug on the kitchen side. I have an extra box that has never been connected to anything. When the contractor looks at the sink I will find out about that wall being finished. With the wall open I replaced the thermostat with a digital unit that has served me well over the years.

I also replaced the house alarm brain (was Brinks unit) with a generic unit so that I could get monitoring from anyone not just a specific vendor. The company that I work for did home monitoring at the time and I have been with them since I activated protection on the house. I get an employee rate. I also added a good smoke detector that will notify the monitoring company even if the alarm is not active. There is a motion detector in the corner of the kitchen that covers the house very well and the back of the house has window contacts.

One day when everything to modernize the house is complete I want to re-insulate the attic space to help keep the house cooler in summer and help with heating in the winter. As the property has a huge oak tree in the front yard and house faces south, my utilities are quite reasonable. There is also a huge oak tree (bigger than the one in my yard) across the street that helps shade the house in the afternoons. My utility expenses for the first year were less than $1000 for everything. To date the home has been good. It has gas heat and hot water so there is another small bill for that service. In checking today (March 28, 2002) here are the figures for last year on utilities:

GAS: Average $25 per month with highest month being $55 and lowest being $ 11.00

WATER/SEWER/GARBAGE: Average $28.00 (watering the lawn can run the bill up well over $100 a month easily in summer)

ELECTRICITY: Average $ 64.00 per month with highest being $125 and lowest $ 40.00

So you see on average $117.00 which is hard to beat in this day and age especially when you like it cool and warm. Gotta' love that digital thermostat.

In the summer of 1998 I had the telephone wiring replace with what I thought was a good deal. When I activated DSL in February of 2000 I found that the contract had not used to good write like I asked him too. When they connected to the second pair they knocked out the home security system's ability to "clamp on" to a line in case of an emergency. My friend David acme to my rescue and add direct wiring from the outside junction block to the home alarm to correct the problem.

This is a shot of Kyle and me at my brother Mike house in 2000. Kyle still has his beard, although it is a little longer. His hair is not as short either these days.

This is me posing in the back of PCI in the summer of 2001. I had to take three images and put them together for the Digital Imaging (PhotoShop) class I was attending at Richland College.

On March 27, 2002 while trying to replace the garbage disposal and fix a leak under the sink, the plumber discovered that the cast iron pipe in the wall was rotten. Per his instructions I contacted my insurance agent and filed a claim. The insurance will pay for the work necessary to get the wall open and to put things back after the plumber has fixed the problem. The plumber says that I should be able to get a whole new set of counters and cabinets as the one I have were built when the house was and are not removable. I have a contractor coming out the 28th do do any estimate and the insurance adjuster is scheduled on April 4, 2002. My FIRST major problem with the house and only $700 in the bank.

Wow! I'm current but a do I have my hands full. No more excuses for "nothing to do!"