Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Debt ceiling

So first thing this morning I got the news that yes, the air-blow thingee didn't work on the sewer line and so yes, they will have to dig up the sidewalk. Guess how much this is going to cost me? $5500. So add that to what I've already spent and we're at a staggering $10,000. And guess what? The tree the city planted in front of my house a couple of years ago that I was all excited about is the culprit. And guess what else? The work they're doing now is only so they can SEE into the remaining pipe I'm responsible for in the middle of the street. That may need to be repaired too for countless thousands more. Which I'm just going to have to say no to because I am completely tapped out.

And by tapped out, I don't mean money I actually have. This is all going to fill my line of credit that I so painstakingly paid down all of last year at $1000 a month. Which means if I need it to get by the next few months, I'm SOL. And with what will no doubt be a giant tax bill, I probably will need it.

This also means I will now be heavily in debt for years. So, no more saving, no more being debt-free while preparing a safety net for anything child-related. To say this is a game changer is mild. This pretty much fucks everything up for the foreseeable future. Good thing I had no plan to try to have another baby this year-!

So I had a momentary freak out, then melted some chocolate and frozen cherries, mixed them into a tub of lite Cool Whip and ate it. And I do feel a little better.

Here's the thing. I've had many, many financial disasters in my life, mostly things like this that I could neither prepare for nor escape. And I always survive, and I'm not homeless nor hungry nor cold. And if this year's event goes as well as I hope with the new dates, I might just be able to pay this disaster off in one fell swoop. And had I done only the sewer and not the attic first, I would have never put the money out to do the attic, and I would never have had a play space for B or a place for overnight visitors. So now it's within days of being done and there's nothing I can do to stop it so I have to just roll with it. And it's going to be great (the attic, that is. My drains will no doubt be as slow and maddening as ever even after $10,000 worth of work).

Kind of glad my sister and I are making B's cake now. Sigh.

7 comments:

  1. What about insurance? Or even the city, if they planted the tree in an improper location on private property? If they try to argue that it is public property, then wouldn't that mean they are responsible for repairs then too?

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    1. Nope. It clearly states on the DWP website that the homeowners are responsible for all sewer lines that connect to the main, no matter what. I could try to fight it and say they improperly placed a tree, but they can just as easily say it's a 100 year old pipe that needed replacing anyway (and I'm already fighting Kaiser to get my hospital bills refunded, I don't have much fight left in me, honestly)

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  2. Ugh! How awful...& frustrating...I was going to ask if you can't get the city to pitch in some since it's the tree but obviously not. Sucks! just sucks!

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  3. Yikes! Sorry to hear about all this. Money stuff is so frustrating -- I feel like it shouldn't have the power to affect me emotionally, but it definitely does.

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  4. Oh YUCK. I'm so sorry to hear about the sewer issues. I hope your event goes really well and you're able to pay it off easily and quickly, with no debt for years and years... hang in there!

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  5. Wait, if the city tree is the issue, why is the repair your fault?

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    1. Because I'm responsible for that pipe no matter what. It's totally unfair.

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