Elephants for Dinner?

The worst thing about being physically disabled is being physically disabled, not being able to do what everyone else can do just because they have the physical means to do what they need to do. Usually, I get by my days in and days out with out having to deal with these issues too much but lately the issues have been piling up and I have been able passive-aggress my way out of having to deal with these issues for weeks and sometimes years at a time but my time has run out—I have hit the wall of responsibility and now I have to figure out how to get some very pressing issues met.

My house is a mess...I have a leaking roof, my ramp needs to be shored up, painted and made ready for the coming winter and there is the electrical issues with the house. One of the big things people with disabilities are encouraged to do is get into some sort of home ownership path. And true there is nothing like homeownership. I love not having a landlord come snooping round the door or coming home from work and have notices on the door of “this is happening” or “that is going to be date with time and date”. I guess the trade off is all the other stuff the landlord is typically responsible for, now, I am responsible for both financially and physically.

This weekend we entertained yet another contractor, who was another bag of bad news. He walked round the house, got on the roof and sat in his truck and wrote up his finding. $10,000 to do the job which needs to be done and that is $10,000.00 if they don't find anything once they strip the previous three roofs off to the flat boards of the roof. The contractor shook his head and said what he could do though—to help us get by was to give us a quote of giving his men a couple of packages of shingles, and roof repair( what ever that is) and having them do the best they can do for six hours and hopefully this will get us by fort another year. This was last Friday and he was going to “try” to get the quote back to us by the end of the day otherwise it would be Monday—so I am figuring we will get something today in the mail. When Dianne heard this we looked at each other and felt we could do something better with the same amount of money regardless of how much the quote might be.

So, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. The biggest bite first, having to ask for help, then breaking up all the other 'bites' as to need. Roof, ramp, electrical,downstairs bathroom...one's got to start somewhere. I wish I were rich and could have contractors do an the work but I cannot so I am going to ask relatives and friends for some physical help and see where that goes. So brothers and cousins, good friends beware. If I cold do it myself I would...bite,chew and swallow...