I've lived in the same house, in the same town for over 30 years. When I first moved here there wasn't much to it. Sleepy town. I had to drive all the way to Plano to buy groceries because there wasn't a "real" grocery store in either Celina or neighboring Frisco. But it was okay because Plano was just a straight shot south on Preston Road - no traffic lights and only two four way stops between me and Kroger - it took less than 30 minutes to get there. But now we are "uptown" - we have two or three traffic lights all our own. We also have a grocery store so unless I want something exotic, like celery root or daikon, I don't even have to leave town.
But it wasn't perfect back then. When I first moved here, there was a pack of wild dogs that roamed around the town. You didn't want to drive through town with your windows down because one of those dogs was just crazy and would jump at you. It seemed like he was the leader of the pack. It was a wonder he lived. And apparently nothing could be done about these dogs. You could call the mayor or a city council member to complain. (Back in those days you called their homes. They did not hide from the general public behind "one size fits all" phone numbers.) But they'd point out that there was no law requiring residents to control their animals or keep them fenced in or on a leash. Then one day, it changed. The dogs were gone. There was a law that dogs had to be controlled - on a leash or within a fenced yard. I consider this progress.
In addition to some minor problems with the town, there were issues with the house. When I came to look at the house, I assumed (wrongly) that the garage door was up. When I moved all of my stuff into the garage and went to close the garage door, I discovered that there wasn't a garage door. I realize now that it would have been okay to just leave the boxes there overnight and move them in the morning. But at the time, having just moved from Garland, we felt compelled to take all the boxes inside the house. I contacted a garage door company the next day and I had a door on my garage in a matter of days.
When I first moved into this house, I discovered a number of other things. (There were no home inspectors in those days so I had to make these discoveries on my own. Actually, it's likely that if there had been inspectors, I probably wouldn't have bought the house - at least not without serious repair negotiations!) Some of the things I discovered: My blow dryer would knock out all power to the house for several hours. The heat and air did not extend to the upstairs of the house. I ended up spending
But there were other things we needed that you could see. The yard wasn't fenced and the driveway was gravel. We put up a fence, which has since been replaced and is about due to be replaced again. I am filled with dread. You'll know why later.
We also had a concrete drive poured. As I recall, it was fairly simple. We called a concrete company, they came out and laid the forms and then poured the concrete and a week or so later we could use the driveway. No trauma. No drama. But now we have "progress". Now we have trauma. And drama. Stay tuned.
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