The Horror House

This past Saturday my dad and I checked out a house up by the University of Utah. I knew it needed some work from the pictures included in the listing but I never imagined that in needed to be bulldozed and rebuilt...

When I arrived at the house I wasn't impressed. The outside was covered in icky blue shingles and had red paint on the trim. The shingles were crooked and it made the house look like it would fall down in a storm. I kept an optimistic eye hoping that the inside would fare better. When the Realtor arrived she took me inside and we were both in shock. There was junk everywhere. Old records, a bottle of ketchup, pieces of the ceiling had fallen off and were on the floor. The stairs were metal and seemed like they were made to be a crude ladder.

There was a hole in the floor and several in the ceiling. I climbed up the stairs carefully and walked around the top floor. The carpet was filthy and there was a carton of rotting soy milk laying upon an old desk in what I assumed was the master bedroom. As I walked I had to be careful not to fall through the holes or to cut myself on debris. In one of the rooms there was a door leading out to nothing. It seems that the owner had removed a deck and replaced it with an ugly, slanted roof. It seemed that the owner must have been a vampire because they had removed the front porch and turned it into an entry way with small windows that didn't let in enough light and covered a beautiful bay window so that it served no purpose. I couldn't imagine how a property in such a beautiful location, surrounded by beautiful homes could be so depressing and disgusting. The whole thing just gave me bad vibes.

Needless to say, we turned it down. The Realtor did not seem at all surprised, in fact she mentioned several times that if they were going to get anyone to take this off the owner's hands they would have to bulldoze the house and sell the property by itself. If even a Realtor, who's job it is to find the good in even the dankest property, thought it was unsaleable then who was I to think any different. Maybe a home renovating show could take on the daunting task of fixing it up, but whoever was going to do it, it wasn't going to be me.

Now my search continues...I have less than a month before I have to move out of my currently living space and I really hope something happens soon. Wish me luck! I'll keep updating as new developments arise.

Venting a little excess heat

Disclaimer: I'm going to go ahead and say that this post is a tad bit bratty. Please forgive me, I need to vent.

Green Sleeves was steadily gaining speed. I had collected start up inventory, a website, and my mom began working on the logo. However, it seems that my progress has been halted. I am ready to move forward but unfortunately Salt Lake City isn't ready for me.

My problem: I can't secure a location. It's not that I don't have a place in mind, in fact that might be precisely the problem, I have the exact place in mind. There is even an opening in my dream location but so far there is no confirmation on whether or not I can get into the space. It has been upwards of a month now, and Green Sleeves is still homeless.

My major frustration is with the Broker, who promised to update me daily. I haven't heard from him in a week and whenever I call him, it's the same story.

"Blah blah because of this blah this and this
have to wait until next week blah blah blah
nothing new blah blah not this week blah."

All I want is a definitive answer, yes or no. He gives me hope one day and then shuts it down the next. I almost gave up altogether when he told me that the larger space that I was initially led to believe was open was actually not and the smaller one next to it was. Ugh!

I suppose I could look elsewhere but I don't want elsewhere, I want there. There is perfect. It's an up and coming urban mecca with kitschy shops and a record store. I can't imagine anywhere better. As I told the broker during our first conversation, the moment I thought up my business I knew I wanted it to be there. I can't stop daydreaming about painting the walls and decorating making it my own, making it Green Sleeves.