Jul
23
So Much Patio Stone
July 23, 2007 |
Yesterday was a pretty rude awakening back to the happy-fun world o’ manual labor after my Vegas hiatus, as I finally bit the bullet and sorted out all of two tons or so of patio stone that’s been sitting in our driveway for months. The plan was to put stone down on the long curving concrete front walkway at our home, and to use the remainder of the stone for a patio in the backyard of the Main St. house. While I didn’t really want to detour and spend time laying out the stone for the walkway, I didn’t see any alternative, as it’s hard to know how much leftover stone I had to work with for the Main St. house until I did so. Then I had to lug all of the leftover stone over to the Main St. house. So that’s basically how I spent my Sunday, with a trip to Lowe’s thrown in for good measure.
Stone is heavy. And muddy and slippery if you live in Texas, which has suddenly become the new Seattle with the deluge of rain that we keep getting. That is all.
It’s been a bit weird the last few days as I’m still grinding my gears, looking for motivation. For some unknown reason, it’s harder for me to get motivated when the end of a project is finally in sight. Backwards, indeed, but I end up just wanting it to be done, magically, and it’s hard for me to just blank out my overactive mind and do what needs to be done.
Part of it, too, is that I inevitably leap forward and start thinking about the next project. And about the nine million things I need to do at our house, which I’ve basically been ignoring. And lately my response hasn’t been to bare my teeth and welcome any and all challenges, but more to think, Geez, this is an awful lot of work, especially on top of the equivalent of two other full-time jobs.
But that’s loser talk, and I know that, when I’m not all woe-is-me-I-have-it-so-hard. My basic plan is a solid one, as far as picking up a rental property next, then buying another fixer, flip it, make $10,000-$30,000, pick up another rental, then another fixer, rinse and repeat. It’s just going to be a bit of a grind, as I’m not ever going to see serious returns on the investment and labor until five or six years down the road, when I start selling the rentals. And I’m cool with that 90% of the time, just not when I’m worn out, sore, and facing yet another fun day of work.
Comments
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I’m anxious to see the finished patio stone project, as I’m about to attempt the same thing. Actually, I’m ready to see the whole finished project. LOL What are your plans for the Main St front porch and walkway? Also, seems like I remember you mentioning something about putting up a carport. Do you still plan to do that?