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Two friends of ours are looking for a house here in San Francisco. They have told us they would love to live in our neighborhood, so when a house just up the street was advertising last Sunday that it was open, we called them and they came right over.
What an instant-smell-of-pee disappointment. The house was in terrible shape, with water damage, rotting wood, mold, windows on the verge of falling out, decrepit bathrooms and kitchen, and a pungent smell of urine (human? dog? other?) throughout. We heard through the neighborhood grapevine that the owner was an old man with no family, who evidently had neither the money nor energy to keep the place up.
From the outside the house looks quite normal, and from its sale price one would think that such a house would be treasured and protected as a valuable investment. It really makes me wonder, about the houses on my street ... which are clean on the inside, well-kept and cherished, and which are filled with old newspapers and dog poo and musty pee smells. Probably half the reason people break into houses is because they're curious about the same thing.
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ADDENDUM: Jack just read this entry, and mused aloud, "Do people wonder about our home? Are the cupboard doors closed there ? Is the coffeepot on? Did Steve make Jack's supper?"
What an instant-smell-of-pee disappointment. The house was in terrible shape, with water damage, rotting wood, mold, windows on the verge of falling out, decrepit bathrooms and kitchen, and a pungent smell of urine (human? dog? other?) throughout. We heard through the neighborhood grapevine that the owner was an old man with no family, who evidently had neither the money nor energy to keep the place up.
From the outside the house looks quite normal, and from its sale price one would think that such a house would be treasured and protected as a valuable investment. It really makes me wonder, about the houses on my street ... which are clean on the inside, well-kept and cherished, and which are filled with old newspapers and dog poo and musty pee smells. Probably half the reason people break into houses is because they're curious about the same thing.
----
ADDENDUM: Jack just read this entry, and mused aloud, "Do people wonder about our home? Are the cupboard doors closed there ? Is the coffeepot on? Did Steve make Jack's supper?"
