Whisper's Diary

Wow. I almost just don't know what to say. I know I'm not supposed to give up. I really feel like I am doing the right thing. I'm doing what I have been asked to do.

We've been working on trying to stay calm and go through paperwork and everything else. Rufus' family came over the other night and we had a really good time re-bonding with them. They've been helping us. What is sad. I'm almost afraid to write this here because of how vindictive Rufus is. It's totally sick.

Tonight, my sister and I went to the UPS store to mail off the credit bureau stuff for my mom and dad. There were severe thunderstorms in the are again and we were under a tornado warning at one point. When we got back, it wasn't a good sight at all. Trees where blown down in the yard, the back part of the fence was down. Shingles from the roof where blown from the back part of the house into the street in front of our house.

I cleaned up the shingles and called my cousin. That's about all I can do at this point. Our cat is throwing up blood tonight all of a sudden so it's not again. What did we do wrong? It doesn't feel like we did though. It's hard.

And get this. You know, I like the lottery Pick 3. On the day draw, it was 333. Triples only come out a couple of times a year. This year trips have come out 6 times so far. Well, tonight while this storm was going on, the evening draw came out and it was 666. Interesting, if nothing else.
 

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I don't think you did anything to deserve this shitstorm. Sometimes life just sucks. And the lower you are already the harder it hits. If you were upper middle class that storm damage would be a minir annoyance but because you're already struggling it feels like a killing blow.
 
I don't think you did anything to deserve this shitstorm. Sometimes life just sucks. And the lower you are already the harder it hits. If you were upper middle class that storm damage would be a minir annoyance but because you're already struggling it feels like a killing blow.

It does. Today, is the last day for limb pick up. I'll call the city and see what they have to say. I picked up all of the blown shingles in the street and yard last night. The backyard is flooded. I can't do much out there, so the fence will have to wait. I can't pick it up on my own anyway though. I'll have to see if someone can help. I can't do anything about the roof damage either. The wind did blow the highest limb off of the house last night. So basically, all I can do are the limbs. Everything is drenched though so not sure if I can cut the limbs down to size or not. I'll have to wait until daylight and see. It is much colder today and windy.
 
Oh, Tom. That is such bad luck at a time when you need some luck. Is there a local men's group or a charity that could help with cleaning up? I wish I could actually give you a hug & also organise a bit of a working bee :grouphug:
 
Oh, Tom. That is such bad luck at a time when you need some luck. Is there a local men's group or a charity that could help with cleaning up? I wish I could actually give you a hug & also organise a bit of a working bee :grouphug:

It is what it is unfortunately. I called the city yesterday about limb pickup. Yesterday, was the last day. They said I could put them out but there was no guarantee that code enforcement wouldn't come by before they were picked up???? I don't get that. We get storm damage. We'd get a fine if we didn't clean up, but we could get a fine if we put them limbs out and notify them??? Anyway, yesterday was the last day for pickup. I went out and cut up all of the trees and placed them out on the curb and called the city back and scheduled it. Now, it's just waiting to see when they will pick them up and if code compliance comes out. Ugh. I don't control the storm. If I did....

So all of the limbs are taking care of except for the main trunk that fell down. It is too big for me to chop up. I can put that in my cubby hole until next time. I picked up all of the shingles and other debris. As far as the fence, I have an idea. My older brother's ex-wife (I have a good relationship with.), her husband works on fences. I'm going to see if we can get a little help from him. That would leave the roof. I don't have a clue about that yet.
 
Whew. Got some more limbs picked up. City hasn't picked up the curb yet, but they don't work on the weekends for that. Worked on the fence mainly today. There was a whole section that I couldn't pick up myself. I got my sister to help and between the two of us, we put some support boards in at a 45 degree angle and put stakes at the bottom and fastened everything together. There were two posts involved. One was rotted at the bottom and broke. The other was uprooted, concrete and all. Must have been some wind at that point. High wind has come through before, but haven't seen the damage like this before. For the other panels, we picked them up and rescrewed them in. It seems pretty sturdy for a MacGyver job. Reminds me, I once got the MacGyver award at work - able to do a lot with very little. The whole thing needs replaced, but no money. AT least this way it didn't cost anything at all and it looks pretty much the same as it did before the storm came through.
 
Reminds me, I once got the MacGyver award at work - able to do a lot with very little.
A very useful skill! And getting practical stuff done together with your sister would be a good bonding experience as well after all the crap you've been dealing with together.
 
A very useful skill! And getting practical stuff done together with your sister would be a good bonding experience as well after all the crap you've been dealing with together.

Thanks. We wish we were more handy, but with the help of Youtube we get the job done.
 
Is there anything practical you have to arrange with him at this point? If not I'd just ignore the phone when his number shows...
 
Is there anything practical you have to arrange with him at this point? If not I'd just ignore the phone when his number shows...
We are scheduling an apt with the county and moving forward with paperwork to file probate even tho not required. We have been given the name of a lawyer also. It is just taking time with everything thrown at us at once.
 
Well as a follow up to the last post, I did contact the county, but they referred us to a real estate attorney or a title company. I called the realtor that sold my dad the other house as well as the house for me and my wife at the time. She referred us to a title company. I called, left a message and they never returned my phone call. That was about 5 days ago. Yesterday, I looked up another title company and called them and spoke to a really nice young lady. I asked her what do we need to prove the house is my sisters. She told us warranty deed with my sister's name on it. And then to look it up at the appraisal district (which I had already done) to make sure no one else's name was on it. She looked up the information and said that it was solely in my sisters name and rufus and dufus shouldn't have a leg to stand on. That's a load off. It's amazing, you can have a property in your name, pay taxes on it for over 20 years and still have to worry about the criminal mob trying to take it away. Next, we are trying to put everything through probate to shut them up. They think dad had all of this money and stuff and he didn't. He had already given them everything which they squandered. The old house was given to my older brother (according to my dad's will he made 20 years ago). My older brother accepted it. After a while, he gave it to my younger brother. My younger brother defaulted on the payments and went to prison for abusing his kids on a plea. The house went to collections. My dad had to take back over the house, get it reinstated, and then sell it to pay the back stuff as well as the first loan. It ruined his credit. He was pissed.

The current house (one board shy of being condemned) was given to my sister back then. She has paid the taxes on it and everything else. Her name is on the warranty deeds, the property taxes, income tax, etc. My younger brother claims everything is his and he didn't have to do nothing until dad died. What a piece of shit. I partially blame my parents. Even though my sister is the youngest, my little brother was babied his entire life and didn't have to earn or do anything. Everything was given to him. My dad always bailed my two brothers out. My sister and I were held to a higher standard. My younger brother throws it up in my face that dad always helped him and not me. That is true. But my dad didn't have to. It wasn't because he didn't love me. He could depend on me and my sister. He couldn't depend on my two brothers for nothing.


Anyway, this is partly update, partly documentation. Next step, try and get everything together for the probate. There's really very little. After ripping my parents off, my brothers still have their hands out. There's nothing left. And I'll be damned if they are going to take the very little that we have. I wish I could sue them for the condition that they left the house. They are both carpenters after all according to them and they charge their "customers" a lot of money for their services.

Anyway, part 2. For April, I am trying to do a 30 day challenge. I've done this before. This time, I want to work on genealogy each day, play a game, exercise, and so forth. I have a schedule made up. Actually, I'm starting today because I don't want to wait until tomorrow.

Still not feeling great. My sister brought home a sinus something 3-4 weeks ago and it is still lingering. The cough is getting to me the worst right now. The pollen is high everyday so is prolonging it. That's why I hate getting sick. it takes forever to get over anything. I've been taking claritin, mucinex, and flonase. Going to try some Tree Tea oil. I saw a video saying that it was good for sinuses. I also had 2 hot toddies yesterday - warm green tea, lemon juice, and local honey.

I'm still pretty miserable though lol. Hope everyone has a great day!
 
Glad you at least have the paperwork showing the house belongs to your sister. Allergies are bad here as well and they make everything exhausting. I like the sound of your April plan! Maybe I should come up with one as well.
 
Your brothers are the pits. It will be good when probate is done & you hopefully, can get rid of them. Concentrating on the stuff that interests you sounds like a good April goal. You deserve some enjoyment, Tom.
 
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