Old Lib

The house flipping shows always pull me in as I have to see if they make any money. The worst bunch seems to be the first time flippers. So many of those have zero clue what they are doing. Would have thought in the current market, any of the flippers who aren’t savvy business people would be long out of business. From personal experience, not so. We sold our late mom’s condo for cash. It needed work: roof, flooring, painting. Realtor said per the comps, this is the max sale price if you have stuff fixed. Researched the costs and what was for sale and what sold in the area, and realtor was spot on for max, maybe a tad aggressive. Had a cash offer for basically top amount less costs to fix. We took the cash offer. The buyer was a flipper. The changes they made are awful. Cheap laminate floors, cookie cutter light fixtures (existing fixtures weren’t cheap and in good shape), replaced nice oak railing with cheap white slat railing, awful laminate countertops. Priced it at 45k over the top price we were quoted. Sold in April, still up for sale now, after two price reductions. Tells me they found more to fix, overspent, and trying to make a profit. Glad we sold but it saddens me how ugly they made it look. I watched some house hunting type shows while in a hotel on a recent trip. Always gutting out whatever when it’s good shape now, wanting a huge yard (which will require a lot of upkeep), room for entertaining, when later they have a shot of everyone around a kitchen island. Not sure how people afford big houses to then renovate everything.

I started watching Grit TV, as an alternative to news shows and my regular watching of true crime and crime dramas (on Charge and ION). Most of the shows on in the daytime were before my time. I do love seeing newcomers who would later become stars. The Lone Ranger is not very good with the acting and the sets were bad. Then having the LR have various disguises (old Italian man, generic older man), just bad. The Italian accent was so bad. I guess as a show mainly directed at kids it was ok. I do enjoy Zorro, as the lead is very charming. Bat Masterson is ok, albeit very liberal in the portrayal of the actual man. Tombstone Territory is ok, and I do enjoy Tales of Wells Fargo. Again, the lead, Dale Robertson has a natural charm. With the older movies shown, John Wayne seems to play the same character over and over. Same with Eastwood. Some of the western stars, not familiar with before, so interesting to see their movies.

My Directv service is kaput, dish or receivers died. Any suggestions on what streaming services would be good for me? I need Bravo, old movie channels, history channels, Big Ten network. It’s a bit overwhelming with the options available.

This will be a long one. I posted on here years ago as hoosier80, (sent in request to reset password but it’s not coming through so I needed to post and get opinions). Mom passed away earlier this year. Sibling who lived locally withheld information, like it was just their mother, even to the point of not saying she was actively dying, so I got there after she’d passed. Lots of that type of stuff, plus being super hostile at first, saying I hadn’t done anything for her in over 20 years (a blatant lie). I stayed at her place, for about 3 weeks, extending that stay to clear out her house, plus to see the attorney. It was stressed that it was imperative for me to sign paperwork so sibling was primary rep for the estate; I live out of state, etc. Attorney explained everything, and I said sibling was so stressed wanted to get everything resolved in a couple of months. He literally said no way, and what was sib’s issue? I said very rigid, super high strung. I went back additional times, staying in hotels as the house was becoming vacant. Sib didn’t even come by when I was there, giving the excuse that they worked better alone. I decided if they were that toxic, probably better off if less interaction. And paradoxically, they were very considerate at times, saying oh take this or I saved this for you. I told the saga to friends, who said sib was weird or just grieving badly. I was so dependent upon mom towards the latter years; she got jealous and angry if I went out, so I am finding I isolated myself. Working on getting a social life together. Also worked through grief and guilt. Went to grief counseling. In the midst of this, a cousin reconnected with us when mom was doing ok. We hit it off immediately. Mom was a tad jealous, but I brushed it off. Cousin was a help as mom’s health got worse. They heard her litany of everything that had gone wrong in her life;as they recounted it, I said oh you probably heard about this and that. Cousin was astounded, and I said I heard it 3 to 4 times per week. Plus other instances. They said it was mental abuse; we agreed that mom had her demons, most likely from her childhood. Anyhow, cousin helped when it wasn’t their responsibility. We have gotten together since then, and cousin mentioned reaching out to my sibling multiple times, but was basically ghosted. I was invited to their large holiday gathering, reconnecting with other relatives from literally coast to coast. They reached out to me afterwards to connect via sm. Cousin’s partner said as I was leaving, don’t stay away too long. It gave me validation that I am not the devil my own immediate family insinuated I was. So I get a Christmas card from my sib. Normally, it’s a signature. No note. Oh but this time added that most of the estate was settled except for one or two items. It had been so stressful being the primary rep!! Should I respond? It’s a guilt trip, most definitely. Woe is me. But this is the person who wanted to handle it all. Didn’t even include me on trip to funeral home, yet texted me with tons of questions. Options are send a card, signature or a happy holidays generic greeting. Or send card with note saying sorry but I can’t help legally or logistically. Send in prayer request for him to ease the stress (they’ve become super religious). I would like to remain at least cordial, doubtful we’ll ever be close.