Ellie and Joe -- Thanks for the responses. WCW asked me about renting out the cabin as well but here's the scoop on the cabin:
1. It is in a recreational subdivision in the middle of Athna requested federal tribal land. Hunting in that unit is very restricted. Even though I own property there, there is very little I can hunt there.
2. The snowmobile club is headed by the owners of the lodge, about eight miles away. They groom the trails, hold poker runs, and all sorts of stuff but they have rooms for rent, cabins for rent, and RV space rental -- on the road, with running water and bathrooms.
3. Power/heat is provided by hauling in diesel fuel and running the diesel generator. So, do I provide the diesel and haul it in? Or, do I assume a renter would get the correct fuel, and/or oil, and check the oil and fill the oil? If the generator is burned up it's about $3000 at least to get a used generator that will run the stuff in the cabin. XH was very good at that kind of stuff. It can provide three phase power, is electrically run into the cabin -- only thing he didn't get done was the remote start.
He was working on it.
4. The outhouse needs to have a new hole dug and to be moved. There is no bathroom in the cabin, not even a porta-potty -- no running water.
I just don't think it is very feasible to rent it. As a "family" cabin, we did all the things we needed to do like haul in water, fuel, supplies, etc. Maybe I'm just too sentimental because we built it right up from the railroad tie pilings that hold the foundation. I was oh so close to selling it and then S24 asked me to please keep it as he wanted to buy it. LOL. He spends over half his take home buying fuel to get to work.
S22 hasn't had any more legal fees in quite a while. I paid his attorney for the last one. He had to pay the fines. XH doesn't want to know anything about it. S22 has been doing okay except still not much direction in his life. He was leaning toward going back to school part-time and I talked him into going to the real estate seminar with me. He actually wanted to take some of their advanced training. I said, okay, if there are student loans -- go for it. I, too, am interested in real estate but ...
He and I don't see eye to eye on his direction right now but Anchorage has enough homeless people begging on street corners.
Ellie, is your sister ADD? Or, just OCD? S22 is both and he is the only one who ever has time to help. I think that is part of why I get so frustrated, throw up my hands, and do nothing for a while on the remodel. He doesn't want to do most of it when I'm not here as he might do something I don't like -- sounds like XH.
Daughter says, "I should come over and help you, mom." Always too busy. S24 can't keep up with his commute and the stuff he needs to do around their abode.
I'm feeling very tired and for whatever reason depressed. I've started taking my temps again and probably need to order from the company you told me about. I was doing really well, I think, but have lots of the symptoms back. I know my thyroid still isn't quite where it should be either, although I have a great MD to help me with that. He measured my reverse T3 and about had a fit. So, changed the meds and I'm trialing. I hate the trials of new meds sometimes. I know it isn't quite right because my eyebrows are falling out again, my hairdresser about had a fit as I have almost a whole strip where my hair is gone. It's on the back of my head so I don't see it. I'm about to the forget about it and shave the rest of it off stage. I see him again this month but my insurance doesn't pay for most of that either -- above usual and customary for Washington state and some of the labs, etc., they just don't cover. I'm not sure, other than our Health Trust is based in Seattle, why we follow usual and customary for Washington.
I guess my job is good and it does have benefits. One-third of my gross salary goes to pay my share of my benefits and taxes. Of the other two-thirds I bring home, half goes to the house payment, although it is PITI, and another quarter goes to the car payment. I got back into my bind somewhat because I went back to the neurobehavioral clinic. It is about 2-1/2 times as much and my insurance doesn't pay it, but I don't run out of Adderall all the time because I can't get my prescription -- like continually happened at the family practice clinic.
I got myself into a crunch by going to Nebraska when my MIL was so ill. Not current X, first X's mom, daughter's grandmother. She is a wonderful woman and that X has been nothing but cruel to her. Her other son died as the result some genetic heart defect. Her husband died from complications of diabetes -- so, for most of my life that I've known her she has had my daughter and me. I went to try to get her back home or bring her here. Neither one occurred. While she was in the hospital, just after she got out of intensive care, she signed a full power of attorney to her cousin and his wife. I don't know why she did that. She doesn't know why she did that. She was not of sound mind and I know that because I was there ...
Nonetheless, she is in assisted living, still thinks she is going home, the cousin's daughter is living in her house, and there isn't a darn thing I can do. I'm still paying for that trip. I fixed a lot of things around her house while I was there.
Helped S24 get his truck fixed. They only have one vehicle, which he drives to work, and there isn't any bus service from his house. They had their house on the market and were to pay me back when it sold but they took it off the market after lowering the price to the point only the realtor would have left the closing with any money. Realtor advised them to lower the price again. I advised them they need a place to live and they were not going to find rent on a 3-bedroom at twice what they pay for this house (rural housing assistance on the loan) and they better just keep it. So ... yep,
Helpled them fill out paperwork for energy assistance, food stamps, Medicaid, and I don't remember what else after DIL hurt her knee. He has no benefits with his job, is gone from 7 a.m. until 6 to 7 p.m. and, like I said, they only have one vehicle so DIL getting to these offices during state office hours ... doesn't happen unless he takes the day off. I had no idea the financial shape they were in. Half his takehome goes to fill the gas tank so they were behind on all the utilities. Even with that, they didn't qualify for most programs. I think they did get some energy assistance.
Yep, part of my leak in my bucket is not being able to let my kids go without heat, electricity, and food. Does XH help them? No -- he's "broke." And, perhaps he is, I have no idea.
I only have two bedrooms and one bathroom in my place. S22 has everything he owns in this life in one of them. He spends most of his non-working time here, and I wish he'd find a full time job since he's not going to school, and makes sure he cooks for me, etc., as he knows I'd never eat otherwise.
I think I would but I'll let him cook and clean. Yeah, it would be nice if he paid rent but I'm pretty sure he isn't earning more than enough for his truck insurance, fuel, and Pepsi.
I don't think I'd rent out a room anyway, I still have some mold issues to contend with (kitchen) and I don't want sued by someone who figures out they are allergic to mold. And, an even bigger reason is I can only be around other people so long. I wanted that room to use as an office and a place to put Weekenders so I could host here rather than dragging the clothes to other people's houses.
I'm whining and it's all self-inflicted. I let myself get to feeling whatever and it's my responsibility. I also went to Utah for a conference but I used a mileage ticket, took a shuttle, and shared a room, so that one was pretty minor. I don't know if it helped me or not -- yes and no to that one.
I went to storage. I have two pieces of furniture there too big for this place anyway. They aren't in great shape so I'll try to sell first and if not give them away to someone in need. Otherwise, there are just about a doxen moving boxes. I don't know why I was thinking it was full. S22 did have some stuff there, I thought, but none now.
I am going to make myself get one box a day and go through it. I brought one home today -- big enough it was all I could fit in my car. I did ask daughter before. Her SO didn't want me to store stuff there. They have a "storage room" off their basement (under their garage) that they really don't use so I'll ask again. It is about 20 x 20, they have suitcases and their Christmas stuff in there. It is closed off with a door so no one sees anything there. But -- hey, it's their house so.
I'm not sure I could deal with it but the answer might be to pool all the money and buy one big house.