Out of sequence part 1

Yeah, I know I said I'd do more on my childhood, however given what I currently have going on, I'm going to post about that instead right now...especially since it's way more relevant to me, and this is really all about me anyway.

So, last year I finally took the plunge into home ownership and bought a townhouse.
It looked like a good deal, given it was a foreclosure and apparently just needed some TLC. I did everything by the book, down to having it inspected prior to escrow to make sure I wasn't getting shafted or distracted by the price.

One thing that I made sure to point out to the home inspector was that there was absolutely *no* air flow upstairs. The A/C was running, but nothing was happening upstairs. I told him that a screwed up A/C was a deal breaker, as there were a couple of other properties in the same community I could have made offers on, which were larger and had working A/C.
However, according to the Inspector, "it was something a handyman could fix, nothing major" ...

I wish I'd gotten that in writing or as some sort of guarantee.

After suffering through a Georgia summer with absolutely no A/C except for fans (and let me tell you, the HOA really loved seeing fans in my windows) because it turned out *not* to be a "handyman fix" - the coil was dirty, the plenum (that's the box the air goes through to be cooled) was designed wrong, the duct work going to the attic was all screwed up, and that's just what I can remember off the top of my head, after having 9, yes NINE different companies come out to look at the system and give me bids on getting it either fixed or replaced.

Anyway, I ended up going with a heat pump as the replacement option rather than repair, figuring that a new system will offer far less complications than something essentially brought back from the dead, not to mention be Green and add serious bucks to the resale value. The heat pump will be installed near the end of September, just in time for the heat to break and the new A/C not see any real use (or so you'd think.... I'm seriously considering running the damn thing at meat locker temperatures just because I'll have a new A/C).

Unfortunately, going with the replacement option temporarily killed my plans for new kitchen cabinets, however thanks to a *kicking* 12 month no interest/no payment sale at Floor & Decor, I got laminate flooring for the downstairs, in addition to slate for the hall, kitchen and laundry area...why slate? Because the entry way and the downstairs half bath both have slate floors, and I love the look.

Originally, I'd planned on doing the work myself, however after running into serious issues with trying to install the laminate myself with no experience, I elected to turn both jobs over to professionals in order to make sure the job was done right.
The tile guy is doing the kitchen, hall, and laundry over the next couple of days, and the laminate guy is coming on Saturday to do the living/dining area.

Yeah, it's going to cost me more, however the results so far are stunning and in the long run, the value added by having the work done professionally instead of half assed more than makes up for the expense.

Again, since I'm at work I'll post more later.