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Haha! Sounds like you bought my house. Stone cottage sitting on five acres, cute as a button from the road. Built in 1947, not a straight board in the place. Framing studs 6" short with a piece scabbed on the bottom to make it sort of the right length. Multiple layers in random combinations of drywall, plaster and lath boards, and cement. I should have stock in drywall mud; I've become an artist. Insulation? Surely you jest. My wife was cold, (she's always cold, except in the summer when she cranks up the AC so much she sleeps with a blanket) and she had the great idea to insulate the outer walls. Fun!! I can't say it was a total nightmare because I did discover that the walls were insulated with wadded up newspaper from the 40s. Used cars were $49, $69, & $89, new cars around $1,500. Help wanted ads would curl your hair. "Wanted- Nice, young, attractive girl for secretarial duties." "Wanted- "Clean cut Christian man willing to work hard." Anyway, I hear you, and good luck. I've heard things like this make men attractive to their women, but I didn't notice any particular uptick in that category after finishing. But it is warmer and heating bills are lower, so there's that.

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I am a little jealous... ours is a 1956 cape cod on <1 acre (although the backyard is large and flat, unusual for this area). The first house we bought about 17 years ago was 1860's in the front, then a back half expansion made in the mid 1900's. A string of madmen had owned it over the years, from a very skilled carpenter who loved making hidden cabinets in the walls and floors (3 years before I found the last one) to a... human, probably, who apparently went to the MC Escher school of plumbing and electrical installation. I did find one old newspaper that was balled up and backing the soap dish in the shower... yea... but it didn't have anything interesting in it other than mold. I would have loved to have those ads when I was teaching! :D I have a scan of a 1970's Sears catalogue somewhere that I used to use.

My wife has been nicer the past month, although I have to admit, if I knew working 13 hour days 7 days a week was what it would take, I might have made different decisions...

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Well, like I tell my boys, the grass isn't greener on the other side; it's greener where you fertilize it. But sometimes spreading that fertilizer can be a tiresome business.

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I keep trying to give her shit, but it just doesn't seem to help!

:D

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