It is Sunday, August 2 and there are only 26 days until Labor Day.  If you listen carefully, you can hear teachers beginning to moan.  Today we remember the birthdays of Pierre Charles L’Enfant, Carroll O’Connor and Garth Hudson.  It is also the birthday of my son Michael.  On this day in 1776 it was the formal signing of the Declaration of Independence, in 1877 the San Francisco Library opened with 5000 volumes and in 1961 the Beatles started their first gig, house band at Liverpool’s Cavern Club.  In Lesotho it is National Tree Planting Day, in Arizona and Michigan it is American Family Day and in the US National Smile Week begins tomorrow.

I don’t know if anyone remembers it, but quite some time ago I talked about using charge cards in some stores.  I commented that at one point, the screen puts up a message that says, “Your total is $47.93.  Is this okay?”  I pointed out that I was pretty sure that the machine wanted you to verify the amount.  I said that someday I was going to respond to that question.  The other day I was purchasing a few things and the question came up on the screen.  I told the clerk it was not okay.  I said that I was a veteran and a senior citizen on a fixed income and I felt the amount was too high and some consideration should be given to me.  He smiled, sort of chuckled uncomfortably and then just stood there waiting for me to sign so he could get rid of me.  I signed and left, knowing he really didn’t get it.

Well, the closing went off on Thursday, as planned.  I am amazed at how easy it is to spend that large a chunk of money.  We went into the lawyer’s office, signed our names a bunch of times, gave him a large check (amount-wise not size) and 30 minutes later walked out, the proud owners of our new house.  We drove home, grabbed a few things we wanted to take but had not loaded into the cars the night before and took off for our new abode.

We got there and walked in.  We knew what it looked like empty, because we had been down the previous day for the final walk-through.  It just looks different when you own it.  Before it was official, we looked and saw all the cabinets in the kitchen, the large master bathroom, the second bathroom, the nice sized kitchen and all the other things that made this the house we wanted.  After we owned it, we walked in and saw the two bathrooms that needed to be cleaned, the rugs that would need shampooing, the cobwebs that needed to be swept and all the other stuff that needed to get done.

It’s a lot like going on vacation.  You go to a nice resort area and you just fall in love with the whole place.  The hotel is great, the restaurants are fantastic, the beach is wonderful and on and on.  You think, “This is a great place.  I wouldn’t mind living here.”  Then you go home and talk to friends and they say you must be crazy.  They tell you about the poor schools, the high cost of living, the crime rate and more … but I digress.

It is something like that, though.  It looks great until you realize that you have to clean it to a standard that you find acceptable.  So we started out cleaning, sweeping, vacuuming, wiping, scrubbing and so on.  One thing that both the lovely Elaine and I agreed on was that my first chore would be to go and buy two new toilet seats and replace the ones that were there.  Yes we know that we, when absolutely necessary, use public toilets, although I never sit down on one.  But we felt that part of taking over our house was to replace the seats used by people we never even met.  Who knows where their butts have been.

When the lovely Elaine and I were preparing to buy the house and waiting for the closing date and stuff, we did some shopping to buy items we wanted for the new place.  I suggested to her that we not buy too many things.  I explained that I felt we should have a big house warming party and that we could go to some of the stores and set up a registry so that people could get gifts for us.  In response, I got the look.

We have spent several days working down there and we are making progress.  We are checking off many of the chores Elaine has on her numerous lists.  We have our work cut out for us.  While the place is not a pig sty by any means, let me just say that in some respects they were casual about cleaning.  From what I can tell, the mantra was “out of sight, out of mind” and they were on the short side and did not own a step stool.

On the old home front, we had the town inspector in our old home for the CCO inspection.  We are now in the process of filling out numerous permit applications for the various DIY projects I have done over the years that now need a permit and inspection before we can get our Certificate of Continued Occupancy.  Let’s face it, the town wants their piece of the action.  So now I have to file a permit request for work that was done as much as 20 years ago, pay the fees and have someone come and tell me it is okay (I hope).  Oh well, render unto the township …  I will let you know how all that works out.

This week our fact tells us that negative emotions such as anxiety and depression can weaken your immune system.  Fortunately, as I mentioned earlier, National Smile week is here.  Spend the week smiling and build your immune system.  You will also make a lot of people wonder what you are smiling about and that should make you smile even more.  Have a good week.