You Gotta Spend Money to (Eventually) Make Money

Last week Hick discovered a problem at Bargain House. He was mowing the yard, and noticed an issue around the clean-out pipe for the sewer line. Hick says that's a stand-up pipe connected to the sewer line. It looked like sewage was leaking. He and Old Buddy attempted to clear the suspected clog, using a special part and Hick's power washer. It did not work. So Hick contacted professionals to remedy the issue.

The first guy ran an auger down the clean-out pipe for the cost of $80. That didn't work. Hick began to suspect that it might be roots in the main sewer pipe. He asked about digging up the sewer line to check. The auger guy said he would not dig into the ground for less than $3,500. As you might imagine, Hick was reluctant to pay such a fee. It could be even more, once the actual problem was discovered. 

Hick called a guy who lives out here on the county blacktop road. We had bought a rental duplex from him many years ago. He went to look at the situation. He called on Tuesday evening with a price of $2,200. That's total. He will dig up the line, and then move it to the back yard, rather than the front yard. He will buy the pipe and put it in, connecting it to the city sewer, then cover up the trench. All Hick will have to do is connect the line from under the house to this new line.

It seems like a reasonable deal to me. Hick says all the lines are within about 24 inches of each other. The sewer line, water line, and gas line. Moving the sewer line to the back will make sense. The contractor can tie it in at the alley, and won't have to pay for the city to dig up the road in front. Hick thinks maybe the original sewer line might be cracked, from when the city did work on the water line a few years ago. He said the older sewer lines are made of clay, and any pressure from digging could crack them.

Sometimes, it's who you know. Sometimes, it's Hick knowing when he's being taken advantage of. Sometimes, it's a little of both.

This is not something that could have been foreseen when buying the house. Which only cost us $35,000, lest you forget.

Even Steven at the Auction

Hick went to an auction Monday night. He sent me a text right after it started:

"Just won $38 on the 50/50 drawing."

"Good for you."

Hick can't win on lottery tickets, but he does fairly well on getting bargains and free items at auctions and online. Of course his $38 didn't last long. Hick spent his winnings at the auction.

"I got a wooden case with a glass front. I can use it to display my merchandise. I think it cost me $9. I also got a wooden milk crate that held half-gallon milk bottles. And some Mickey Mouse toys. And aluminum drinking glasses. And two Christmas tree ornaments. One is an Olds Toronado that's a model four years older than mine. The other is a Ford pickup."

There was one more item, but I can't remember what it was. Seems like Hick bought a lot for his $38. As he said, "I didn't even have to spend my own money, since I won the drawing."

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The one I forgot was a CEILING FAN, new in the box, for $5. Don't know if Hick will sell it, or save it for a flip house fixture.

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Grillin' Is Fillin'

The Pony wanted to have a cookout Sunday, and invited The Veteran to join us. Hick left his SUS2.5 (Storage Unit Store 2.5) at 3:00, and came home to start the grill. I picked up The Pony shortlyl after noon, and we prepared some baked beans and garlic cheese bread. The other items were store-bought this time.

We decided to use our cafeteria-style trays, for the variety of foods. Even that was not enough room for The Pony.

The Pony had some red-skin potato salad, garlic cheese bread, a baked potato with Kerrygold stuck on the wrapper, a salad, baked beans, a pineapple/brown sugar bratwurst, and a sausage patty with cheddar chunks made into it.

We didn't get a photo of the trays of Hick and The Veteran, but mine was captured:

I had some garlic cheese bread, a sausage patty, slaw, red-skin potato salad, and baked beans.

 

I forgot to take pictures of the desserts, which were also store-bought. It was cinnamon bread, banana nut bread, triple chocolate cake, and a cherry pie Danish. 

A good time was had by all, with plenty of leftovers for the week.

Pretty Sure That's Not a Tip

The Pony sent me a text on Saturday:

"This has been here for almost a week!"

In keeping with the sentiments of mail carriers on an unofficial Reddit thread, where they often show odd items left in mailboxes, and suspect they are being baited by higher-ups to see if they are honest, I replied:

"Not today, Postal Inspector!"

"Or yesterday! Or Thursday!"

"Heh, heh. Probably waiting for a weed delivery."

"That was my guess! $20 won't get them anything good though."

"They might be on a budget."

"It would barely get you a bag of oregano in high school."

Let the record show that The Pony is not one to pocket money found in mailboxes.

The Milk of Bingo Kindness

Hick also played bingo this week at the Senior Center. He says it is fun again. Which means he's winning "prices" when he plays. This time he didn't send me bragging pictures. He carried in a plastic bag when he returned from whatever he does on Tuesday afternoons. It sat on the table until Thursday evening, when I asked what was in it.

"Oh. Thems my winnings from bingo the other day. I forgot. There's a dessert in there. I'll have it now."

Hick took out a small styrofoam container, saying it was a blueberry muffin. What was inside looked like a big flat cookie. 

"Huh. That looks better than the Fruit Fluff you brought in my dessert!"

"This wasn't for everyone. No carryout. We had a potluck to celebrate 25 years of something, and everybody brought stuff." (Except for Hick, I assume!) Here. Do you want it?"

"No. I'm good. It has teeth marks on the edge."

"Well, I tried it already. I got some other stuff here. Look. Milk!"

"That's not milk! That's milk powder!"

"Same thing. The girls up there say it's good. They use it all the time. You can put it in stuff you cook that needs milk."

"You have mistaken me for somebody who cooks! I hardly ever need milk for anything, unless it's corn muffins."

"And here. A little flower for you. And cookies. Do you want some cookies?"

"No, that's okay. Where'd they come from?"

"From the grocery store."

"They're usually dry."

It was nice of Hick to offer me some of his treasured winnings.

At least Hick won sugar-free cookies this time! Although you can see he hasn't opened the package. And the BEST BY date is April 19, 2025. The little flower is fake, of course. Probably out of somebody's closet when they did spring cleaning and donated it. There's the bag of milk. It's12.8 ounces. Not sure how they chose that number. It's 362 grams. Seems kind of random.

Anyhoo... the dry milk is NOT expired! It has a BEST BY date of 02/23/26. I know! I'm as shocked as you are. But here's what really caught my eye:

The bingo milk is packaged by TRANSYLVANIA VOCATIONAL SERVICES! I'm sure it's perfectly fine. You notice this info is on the back. At least that's not their brand name, which appears to be Mountain Maid. It's hard to imagine using milk from a Mountain Maid in Transylvania...

Hick Gives Bingo Another Try

Hick went to Wednesday night bingo once again. Now that a certain person has stopped attending, Hick thinks it will be fun. He didn't win anything, but it kept him off the streets from 4:30 to 9:00. Hick was excited to play.

"Some of the girls (age 50s-60s) are going at 4:00 to get us a table. The half-price food and drinks are from 4:30 to 5:30."

After all this time away from night-time bingo, what did Hick choose for his supper?

Is it just me, or does that look not very appetizing? It could be the color. As Hick texted:

"They got these stupid blue lights." Looks like an adult beverage helped him cope! Rest assured, Hick will not be ordering refill after refill on a soda, garnished with a full jar of cherries.

"Your nachos don't look all that good."

"They were actually pretty good."

"Inside of the bar."

"Doesn't look crowded."

"It's filling up alot of the same old people."

"Heh, heh, OLD people!"

"They are younger than me."

Pardon me for asking Hick later if it was some kind of dress-up night. Just judging from the hair on the "girls" at Hick's table. He said it was not. I asked why they looked like some of Miss Kitty's girls. He said they didn't. Sorry. I don't mean to hair-shame them, me of the lovely lady-mullet. It's just not hair that I'm used to seeing on my trips around town.

One of Hick's buddies won a "price."

 

"My buddy won a bottle of vine." I think what Hick meant was WINE. Said the guy was happy to win, and that he planned to give it to his daughter.

The grand prize was a TRAMPOLINE! It was won by the sister of one of the gals at Hick's table. She went to claim it, and they offered her $100 cash. She took it. I suppose a 50-something woman does not have much use for a trampoline, though Hick thinks it was worth more than that. He said he would have taken the trampoline! Yes. I know you're giggling at the thought of Hick bouncing on a trampoline, when in reality you know he would have sold it for at least a 50-cent profit!

A Hick Walks Into a Lawyer's Office

Hick spent a half hour talking to our lawyer on Tuesday morning, explaining the Double Hovel flip house property, and how he had asked the city for a variance to split it into two separate lots. The first thing Lawyer asked Hick was:

"Are you sure I'M the one you want to do this? Mayor does not like me. In the past, I've been involved in a property case with a relative of Mayor's, on the opposing side. Mayor has asked me twice to represent him in other matters, and I declined. I don't want it to go against your best interests, just because I'M the lawyer you chose."

"Yes. I've done business with you all these years, and I don't think this will be a problem. I told Mayor I was going to talk to you, and he said he would be interested in what you had to say."

Hick gave Lawyer the meager paperwork that we have. A copy of the blank form to request a variance. He did not have a copy of the one we filled out to accompany the $125 fee he paid at city hall. Hick had a copy of the letter he handed out. The five pages of city codes given to him by the gal at city hall, explaining how to request a variance. Also a sticky note written by the city hall gal with the date and time of Hick's meeting. 

Lawyer said he would start with a phone call to the city attorney to see what the process might be. Then he would call Mayor. He wanted the filled-out request form. So Hick called Mayor, who said he'd have the office get it ready for Hick to pick up later in the day.

Hick is cautiously optimistic that he might get a new meeting. When he got the completed form to drop off at Lawyer's office, there was NOTHING written at the bottom in the section for Action Taken by Board of Adjustment.

Hick thinks Lawyer might ask for the minutes of the original meeting. If the gal recording put everything in, it would show that Hick had asked about the "mystery" letter in the packet, and offered to show his letter he gave to the surrounding property owners, but was turned down for both the request and the offer.

Still, Hick shouldn't have left the meeting without something in writing, or assurance that it would be mailed to him. All he has was the unanimous vote of the board members present to deny the variance request, with reasoning that if they did it for him, they'd have to do it for everybody. Even though the five pages of papers handed out said each case would be considered on an individual basis.

Lawyer also asked why Realtor said she can't sell the houses together. Hick said Lawyer should talk to Realtor specifically, because it has to do with low- or no-down-payment loan regulations. People can't get them for a property that has potential to make money for them, such as renting the second house. Realtor said people WANT to buy the Beauty Shop, but can't afford a down payment. Splitting the houses would allow potential buyers to get these loans.

We'll see what develops...