I'm going through my drafts this week so you're going to see some dated material that I've been sitting on for one reason or another. First up: my old-ass house!
I live in a row home on a one-way street. These houses were built in 1950 or so. At that time, most families didn't have two cars. Every house had a pull-in garage in the back, because the point was to drive around and go right into your house.
Somewhere along the way, someone decided to seal off the garage of my house and put a wall there instead. Now, I'm happy about this on some level because I work and do the show from this converted garage. But the people who put up this wall didn't do it right.
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So every time it rains, we get water in that room - either under the door or further over where the drain is. I hate it. When it gets really bad, I text my landlord who always says "please clear the drain" like they don't know what the real issue is. There was also one time when the water was coming in at the top of the wall, further illustrating my point of this being a larger problem. I just don't know why someone would go against the clear design of the house like that and take away parking on a block where it's already limited.
I should mention that we do not have a car, so the need for an indoor spot isn't here. But I'm much more concerned about water getting into my house every few days or weeks, while continually being told that the issue is the outdoor drain. I am as upset about this poor design choice as I am over the absence of a clear remedy. None of it makes sense to me. Also, even if we had a proper garage, I still would have had a fence built back there. And I'll tell you why.
Say we have a garage and every dumb issue with the asshole neighbors played out the same way. I still wouldn't have wanted them to park their cars and dump their trash in our driveway, even if it technically wouldn't have taken away our only parking spot. But having the pull in garage as the builder intended would have given me the option to make the fence with just one swinging gate and not two. Although, and I've been thinking about this for months, I can (theoretically) make that a reality anyway. I'm just worried about how much of a hassle it would be for the guy putting in the work. But in this scenario, I would be able to open the gate inward and close it again with the car parked in the garage or the outside space. The fence as constructed today makes this impossible.
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(Aside: I wouldn't even need the fence if my previous neighbors weren't jerks. But I'm still glad to have it even though I don't technically *need* it right now. But I digress.)
Having a pull-in garage would make my life easier, and I cannot fathom the logic behind sealing it - especially since the job was done so poorly. If we ever own a home, I'll at least know the kind of "upgrades" to avoid. Though the next house we live in will [hopefully] not be connected to another house. Should I have Jill do another surrogacy after this one?
I do realize that without this botched repair, I wouldn't have a place to work or produce my podcast (assuming we'd gotten a car and parked it there). But I for sure would have found a way. I guess the lesson here is that not every new idea will be good. Though the people who did it - and paid for it - will never have to handle the consequences.
Someone buy us a house.
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