To the Future Residents of #XX Duncan

I wish that the family that lived here before me would have left me a little note giving me some hints about the house.  After an eventful day, I couldn't help but think about after one year of living in this house what I've learned.

You obviously live on the corner.  This means that you only have noise from one neighbor which is a huge plus.  Now you pray that your neighbor cleans the house and doesn't cook weird food that will waft it's way into your home.  The downside of living on the corner is that you are the first stop on the centipede, spider, beetle, cockroach and just "bug" train line.  They must first make their way into your house, yard, and front area before moving down the line.  And your drain pipes are the first coming off of the main line that runs under the manhole covers in the backyard.  One of the manholes out on the road is not tightened down and makes a little noise every time someone drives over it...annoying at first but you get over it.

You must put duck tape over the PVC pipe the washing machine hose runs into...otherwise you will have centipedes crawling out of your laundry room daily.  You must take your laundry out of your dryer immediately during the months of July and August otherwise they will smell like mold and mildew.  You must also keep the dryer door shut during these months otherwise the entire laundry room smells like mold and mildew!  They will come and clean out the dryer lint every four months...this is annoying but your dryer will be close to dying at that four month point and will be begging you for this service.  You must turn on the fan when using the dryer otherwise the room will turn into a sauna.  Some of the air is vented outside so don't plant any flowers near the vent otherwise you will literally suck the water right out of them.  Also, don't plant nice flowers that cats wouldn't mind using as a bed...otherwise you will have flat dead flowers!

You must keep the air on and at least a few of the units on the dry function otherwise you will get mold.  Well you will get mold...it's unavoidable.  You will find it in odd places such as your child's glue stick.

You must not run your dishwasher at night during the months of July and August otherwise you will find mold on your dishes in the morning.  You must run the garbage disposal before starting the dishwasher otherwise your sink will fill up with water.

You must keep your sink drains closed, toilet seat lids down, the tub plugged, and the shower door closed otherwise you will have centipedes crawling out of the pipes and possibly a rat or mouse crawling out of your toilet.

The downstairs toilet has taken a diaper and the kids' toilet has taken a diaper and two rubber ducks...just an FYI if the toilet decides to cough up one or more of these items all over the floor.  And I'm not quite sure what the kids' sink upstairs took but it's slow.  Be sure to watch your kids when they run in there to play in the sink because you really could end up with water everywhere.

You must spread centipede powder and ant/cockroach spray at least once a month around the perimeter of the yard, house, and front steps.  Be sure to coat the outside of the manhole covers in the backyard.  Every morning there will be one dead cockroach on your back patio.  A quick flick of your broom and you can send him into the side yard.  Ants:You can't get rid of them but just keep spraying until they set up a trail that both of you can live with.  You must spray your kids with Natural/Organic bug spray each morning because the mosquitoes will eat them alive.  Your children will get hive spots and this is normal for those with European descent...however a trip the ER is needed if the bite is on the eye.  The screen door on the sliding door is wonderful in the fall and spring.  However, the mosquitoes can and will just fly right through the mesh.  You can and will get bit at 9 in the morning inside your house.  Which leads me to the front door.  It does not seal...along with all the windows in the house.  The bugs can and will just crawl right under the door and into your house especially during the months of July and August.  Teach your children to run to you when they see a bug and under no circumstances do they touch...otherwise you will be making an ER visit for antibiotics when one of your children gets bit by centipede.

Oh, and a family of some weird Japanese wasp is trying to set up it's home in the concrete next to the water hose outside.  They are quite determined to make that their home.  Invest in the very expensive battery operated giant bottle of bug spray at the Autoport...it will be well worth the money. 

Spray the concrete around the water hose and gutter drains with half bleach and half water to get rid of that green algae that starts to grow especially during the rainy season.  Your faucet outside will leak...it's an American hose on a Japanese faucet.

Earthquakes:  The doors and windows will shake first followed by the rest of the house.

Typhoons:  Your house is pretty well protected.  However, the vents on the roof into your house will shake, rattle, and moan with every wind gust...especially the one above the stove.  That one is highly annoying because it will snap open and closed.

The very friendly golden retriever that will come over and pee on your neighbors corner fence post across from the gate belongs to the family in D on the hill.  He likes to come down when the kids are playing outside...and apparently pee on that post! 

A year later and I've learned quite a few things about living in this house.  Now hopefully the next two years will go much smoother!