my life in waycross

This week and next week I am "teaching" several classes at Waycross College while one of the instructors is out of town. I place "teaching" in quotes because what I'm actually doing is checking roll and showing movies. It's pretty boring - especially when I have to watch stultifying films such as Altered States: A History of Drug Use in America three times in a row. But it brings in some needed extra cash.

Extra cash is definitely needed when one doesn't have health insurance. Lack of health insurance is probably the biggest drawback of my life plan, as health care costs in this country are ridiculous. I had minor surgery on Tuesday - an outpatient procedure to remove to moles from my left arm for biopsy. I also needed a tetanus shot. Not only did all of this amount to a whopping $335 (even with the cash discount - yes, they charge the insurance companies more than they charge those of us who pay out of our wallets) but if they come back malignant (no physical harm!), then I'm going to have to pay an extra $50 because they charge more to get a malignant sample biopsied than a benign one. WTF? Nothing like setting the costs of procedures after the fact. Sheesh. And of course now I have unpleasant stitches (here and here if you're interested, but they're gross) which hurt like hell. Yay. Also, feel free to shop at my store and help refill the coffers of the unemployed and health-care-less Jane :-)

Mom and I went and looked at a house today. It's for sale for $500, but the buyer would have to move it off the property. As we should be closing on the eight acres any day now, we do have a place where we could put said property. My mom knows a guy who moves houses and who said he could move it for about $3200. Less than $4000 isn't a bad price for a house... although obviously any house being essentially given away for $500 is going to need a LOT of work...

Now, one of the first things you might notice is that this house used to have a pyramid roof, but the top has been lopped off. Apparently the mother of the owner did that years ago because she thought it looked better. Someone would definitely have to see whether or not that alteration has led to structural instability or roof leaks.

The space under the pyramid is roughly 900 square feet and consists of four rooms. That's the original structure. To the back of the pyramid/square were two additions (connected) where the bathroom and kitchen were located:

The two rear additions - kitchen on the right, bathroom on the left.
Sadly, both parts of the rear addition are in terrible shape - especially the kitchen.


Additionally, the corner where the addition meets the original house on this side of the house was poorly done and leaked (and still leaks, I suspect) tremendously...


...leading to horrific water damage on that corner of the pyramid/square.

The rest of the pyramid/square seems to be in decent shape (assuming no structural damage resulting from the tip of the pyramid being snipped off), but would require a lot of work nonetheless. My opinion is that the rear additions should be left where they sit; there's nothing in them worth saving. Now, obviously a four room pyramid/square with no kitchen or bathroom isn't exactly livable... but it would be years (given the rate mom and I work) before the front part would be ready. Perhaps at that point we could hire someone to build some quality rear additions. Although I'm thinking we're going to pass. I'll let you know if we change our mind.