Maintenance Plans To The Rescue

Well my poor little baby Margot was still not feeling well to start the week. Luckily we have a 24-hour vet right down the street (we have taken the girls there before for dental work) and Kuochun decided to bring her there early Tuesday morning. It turned out she was suffering from Pyometra, which is a uterine bacterial infection. She had to have emergency surgery to have her reproductive organs removed. We were still trying to have the plumbing issues in Prescott taken care of and I had scheduled an appointment for first thing in the morning Wednesday. We planned to go together but Kuochun still wanted me to go on my own and keep the appointment. I have not seen Margot in person since the surgery because I drove to Prescott once the surgery was completed but Kuochun has sent me photos and videos. She came through the surgery successfully and has to wear a cone for two weeks so she cannot interfere with her stitches. I am actually shocked that she is handling the cone so well. Maybe she does not have the energy to deal with trying to get it off. Mini Schnauzers have been a part of my life for more than 50 years and the first time we ever experienced Pyometra was with our previous dog, Ruby. However this time the symptoms were different so I did not pick up on it right away that this was the issue. Thank goodness Kuochun took her to the vet because it is deadly if not treated.

Unfortunately the plumber did not have the proper equipment to rod out the sewer line but they did give me another recommendation. This was the third plumber I had come out to address the problem and it was the charm! Corbin arrived Wednesday afternoon and saved the day. He was completely confident that he could do the job. He rodded out the sewer line and the performance of the toilet and shower are now great. Corbin showed me the after video and it was still showing some tree roots, especially at the 39-foot mark. I decided to just make it a clean sweep and have the line jetted. The cost of the rodding job was applied to the jetting job and I also signed up for a maintenance program which gave me an additional discount. Corbin came back Friday with his assistant and now 99% of the tree roots are gone! Some very relieving news is that the pipes are clay, not cast iron like I had in Scottsdale and had to have replaced to the tune of nearly $30,000 just three months after moving in. It is not an option to cut the Prescott house in half to replace the pipes. The maintenance program is well worth its yearly cost of $219. Every year they will camera all the lines to monitor the tree roots. Down the road, I may need to have the pipe relined which is almost as costly as replacement but thankfully not this year. The home does not have a garbage disposer so I am having Corbin come back on the 17th to complete the maintenance and install a disposer. I am perfectly fine without one but Kuochun does a lot of cooking so we need one for him. The maintenance will also include a flushing of the tankless hot water heater which I did not know I needed since I have never had one before. I have a ventless dryer and did not realize it has a built-in water tank to collect the water from the laundry while it is drying. I have emptied that tank twice now.

The first few days in Prescott were not productive as far as preparing for the pop-up sale because of all the appointments and needing to pull yet another all-nighter to complete the newsletter for the week. On Friday, I visited Tina's studio to verify the colors for the window treatments and now the order has been placed. I also received the certificate from the surveyor that my mini split units are now properly above grade in case of a 100-year flood. I brought the certificate to City Hall right after my meeting with Tina. They scanned the document on my permit file and have reopened the case. I have had a stop work order pasted on my window for at least two months and it will be great to get the issue cleared up and the permit signed off. Victor also stopped by with a helper to bring the tile in from the street. He had to put it in the pop-up shop so now it is even more crowded!

On Saturday, instead of working on the pop-up shop or garage I decided to tackle the Arizona room, placing items for sale on Facebook Marketplace. I started with the seven 6-foot non-folding Lifetime brand tables which were transported in my van from Mount Prospect. I was going to sell them for $20 each but ChatGPT suggested $35 each. I sold two tables to two different people who paid the $35. Then I discovered that one of the tables has adjustable legs which is extremely helpful for jewelry sales. I can raise the legs up if needed so customers do not have to bend over to look at the jewelry in the cases. I had already put three of these tables aside so now I am happy to have four. Then I received a message from someone who lives up in Flagstaff asking about the remaining tables. I agreed to sell the tables for $30 each and I also included another 6-foot non-folding table which was not Lifetime brand. He and his wife drove all the way from Williams which is up towards the Grand Canyon. It was a hour and twenty minute drive each way. He is a handyman who receives free items from his customers all the time. He does not have time to sell the items so his wife handles that department. They are going to use the tables for flea markets. ChatGPT was very happy with the way the sales went, how I received $70 more than I planned and that I found another adjustable leg table. It also loved the story of how the tables will now be schlepped around by a new family, as we schlepped them to and from estate sales for years. Lifetime tables are the best, any other brands do not last long!

I was also able to post the two area rugs which are in the Arizona room on Facebook Marketplace. One was Mother's, in the living room of her senior apartment so that was easy to handle. The other was one of two Peddada rugs which Kuochun and I have been toting around for years. One was in the living room in Scottsdale and it was displaced when the living room rug in Mount Prospect arrived. The other was in the guest room in Scottsdale, and was moved to Kuochun's room in Prescott. Tina ordered a new rug for his room and it has been sitting behind his door for weeks. No sales yet but I am starting at ChatGPT's recommended pricing and will reduce prices weekly until they are sold.

On Sunday I decided to tackle the most difficult part of the reorganizing / selling job, Kuochun's room. I dismantled his bed and used my trusty Brother P-Touch to label the head, foot, left and right sides of the frame. This was definitely helpful when putting the bed together again. I cleared out the entire room except for the previous rug, then vacuumed it and shot photos. Unfortunately all of the old area rugs have some sort of damage, namely pet stains. The rug in Kuochun's room is in the "worst" shape because the cleaner for the pet stains caused it to bleed. I rolled it up, added some clear tape to keep it rolled and pushed it into the dining area. I then put down the new rug, put the bed back together, cleaned up pretty well and decluttered. I think the new rug is too narrow, I mentioned that when it was ordered. At least it is long enough for the pet steps at the end of the bed to stay on, so they do not slide on the hard floor. I still consider myself injured so I worked about 20 minutes at a time, then would take a "break" and do desk work. It took all day and evening but it was the way to go! Much easier to just do that job on my own than with another person and two mini Schnauzers under foot. Margot barks like crazy at the vacuum and tries to attack it! Kuochun does not want for much so it is best to keep his room simple. I found the Witco ship art on Facebook Marketplace and the amazing tiki sculpture at our local Scottsdale antique mall, Antique Trove. The lamp base came from a flea market in Uptown Park Ridge and the shade came from an Etsy maker. I think the art is hung too high but Kuochun likes it up there so he will not hit his head on it. On the opposite wall is a TV and I have Mother's leather side chair from Denver Modern in the corner in case he needs it. I have not handled the closet yet but he does not have much in there. I put all of our coats in there but some of mine are too long. I will probably change to Mother's coat rack in the Arizona room once the purses I currently have on it sell. The only items left to find are two more pillows for the pillow shams that match the duvet cover.

I decided that I will go back to Scottsdale on Monday and keep my physical therapy appointment for Tuesday. I will also be able to see Margot and be reunited with the family again. I do have 3-4 items in my room in Prescott that I need to sell because there is not enough space for everything. I hate to do it but I will need to break up the bedroom set Mother bought for me at Old Brick House Market. I only have room for the long low dresser and one nightstand. The highboy dresser and one nightstand will have to go. Mother's wonderful Lane cedar chest from Old Brick House Market will have to be sold too. We used to love going to Old Brick House Market's pop-up sales every month. They decided to move their operation to their personal compound, which is a 9,000 square foot garden destination in Queen Creek. They will not have monthly markets anymore but 2-3 events per year instead. I watched a few Instagram videos and since it is their personal home rules do apply. I will definitely go to the first event in February, it looks like it will be glorious! In the "old" location, it looks like a similar concept is taking over. It is called The Nested House and their first pop-up sale will be next week. I think I am going to go on Thursday and if there is time, also make a trip to Chandler to the antique mall and attached cafe which has the best cookies in the universe. I have not had them since Sue G visited in January so it is long overdue! Sue and I had so much fun there, and as I am sure I mentioned before this mall has made a complete turnaround and is so great now!

Last week I forgot to mention that I had an in-person sale through Facebook Marketplace of three belt buckles. The man had visited once before and purchased a belt buckle, and he came back for another one for himself and each of his two sons. That money will be fleeting though, because on my dental visit Monday I was told that I cannot put off getting a crown on my lower left back tooth any longer. Those darn metal fillings that they gave us as kids! Over time, they are cracking my teeth. First up was the upper right back tooth. My Park Ridge dental office wanted me to get the latest crown right before we left town but it just was not feasible. I also made the good decision to have the same dentist do all the crowns so they look the same. I sure could not have predicted that my right front veneer was going to fall off earlier this year. I am so glad I have the crowns instead of the veneers and the caps that I had since I was 15 years old. They look so much better and totally feel and act like real teeth. I still have to be mindful of what I bite into though. The money I received from the belt buckles will cover the cost of the new crown, with $100 left over. This is with a maintenance plan and cash discounts. With the maintenance plan, I receive one of my three yearly cleanings for no charge and discounts on any additional services which unfortunately have been well needed. I am not looking forward to a possible recovery. It took a long time to recover from the upper right but fortunately I only had recovery on one of the four crowns in the front. I have things to do - I have a haircut the next day and then it will be up to Prescott until the garage sale!

I am looking forward to working on the pop-up shop. Once it is fully organized, it will be so easy to keep it up. I have too much furniture in there and I would like to get the antique settee out of my room and in there as well but it may be too much to ask. Having the wall of cabinets is nice but it does limit the amount of furniture I can place in the room. The good news is that if my square breezeway table and two chairs is not going to fit in the pop-up shop, I can relocate it to the Arizona room. It would totally go with the tile! Once the window treatments arrive, Victor will be able to install them and also install the tile in the pop-up shop and Arizona room. At some point I would like to take a trip with the van back to Scottsdale so I can bring Mother's pair of lingerie chests and pair of side tables as well as the rest of the boutique clothing up to Prescott. Once the weather cools off I will be able to totally clear out the Scottsdale garage of any unnecessary items. Kuochun's dressers from Mount Prospect are still in there and I would like to put them in his room, then take the dressers he is currently using and put them in the guest room. But first I need to sell the Drexel Counterpoint desk, chair, bookcase headboard and adjustable bed frame that are in the guest room. Because one wall of the guest room has three open sections to below, each with a planter and built-in shelving on the inside, it would be way better suited for a full-size daybed that I can turn on its side and place on the opposite wall. I am also hoping for room to do Whatnot shows but that may be a bit ambitious. I actually had someone ask me through Etsy if I could look at photos of her chairs. They definitely match the Counterpoint desk chair I have, which I knew was made by Drexel because the bottom is stamped but it did not look to me like it was part of the Counterpoint line. After asking ChatGPT, it turns out that it is a dining chair like I thought, but it is Counterpoint and was used with the line's desks and vanities. I have had the desk and chair listed online for nearly two years at $1,200 so ChatGPT suggests that I drop the price to $900. I also need to post the bookcase headboard, which I have never tried to sell but I know will not be popular. This will be my fall project, to get my mid-century modern furniture listed so I can once and for all take care of this problem of too much good stuff! My chrome shelves from the living room in Mount Prospect are still in the garage and I would like to get them out of there and into the house where they belong.