Market 02 Update 05

While this doesn't look much better than the last picture, I can assure you that there is major progress. I've completely replaced all the plumbing in the entire house! And considering we've been without any running water or a functioning toilet for the first 7 weeks of the project, it was quite refreshing to take advantage of the brand new toilet :) I turned the water on and there were no leaks at all, and I was really happy with my work.

Anyhow, I think another week or so and the bathroom should be about finished, and we'll be on to the rest of the house, which should go really fast. Stay tuned!

Market 02 Update 04

Well there isn't much for picture progress on my 2nd house on Market Street, but things are coming along great. I'm putting in all new plumbing, and thus far have completely removed all the old plumbing, and have got the toilet drain put in place, all it needs now is the vent pipe run through the roof and the new 4" drain is done. I've got the toilet test fit and it looks perfect. Also today I filled in cracks in the old limestone with mortar mix where the new hot water heater goes so we can place it tomorrow. Its 11:45 at night right now, but I'm going to go over and start routing the new CPVC water supply line yet tonight, probably working til 3 am or so.

I honestly haven't been THIS motivated to work hard since about 98-2002 when I made my first video game. If I have a goal or strong purpose, where I think I can benefit greatly from it, I really enjoy working. I mean, who'd have ever thought I'd be excited about fixing up old houses, let alone plumbing work at 3 am! But I can see this business working beautiful so motivation comes easily. Plus I'm learning lots of new things, so its a lot of fun.

Another success story!

Well today the first side on my duplex rented. I decided to advertise in the newspaper and it paid off, instantly! Within 48 hours of running the ad I found a good tenant. Now the property is at least breaking even, and when I get the other side renovated and rented I will start seeing my return on the investment. I'm just hoping Obama can get the economy moving again before this recession hits our area, so far we've been relatively shielded from it.

The Secret Exposed!

I've put a lot of effort into The Secret, or otherwise known as the law of attraction and understanding its power. While I still kind of believe in it, it seems to me that success comes by default. By that I mean that I recall sitting around dreaming a lot and using the law of attraction, yet I was not successful. I envisioned everything I wanted, yet it didn't happen. Now it comes every day and I don't put an ounce of thought into it. I just expect it to arrive because of the actions and hard work I've put in.

The irony is, maybe its the actual belief of it that makes it happen? Or the hard work = results. I tend to think the latter, but then again, I believe that people will call me to fix their computers, and that I will make money in real estate, and I am doing so. Its kind of nice to just make money and not dream about it all the time.

What bugs me is when I was into all this stuff, I signed up for all these mailing lists and I'm still getting bombarded with some stuff about the secret. Now they are trying to milk it for some more money with some new material about it. Then I follow a few links and read about people talking about making money online. It seems to me that the people talking about making money online are selling dreams to other people who want to make money online. I say just get off your ass and go work doing a real business and you'll be 100x better off than downloading the latest success kit or get rich quick scheme.

Go find a business to do that you have skill or interest in, and do it. If you can provide a service that there is a need for, you'll do great. Its just that simple. Avoid retail or any investment starting out. Its too risky. Just go do service work and then expand into retail or other investments.

I guess I'm saying this because I was successful at regular businesses from age 23-30, then I quit everything to follow my dreams of becoming a game developer, only to struggle and go bankrupt, struggle some more and have no life beyond the computer for the last 12 years. I get back into traditional businesses and I'm instantly making a living and now growing comfortable, and I imagine will soon be living the lifestyle I want, and be 100x happier. To me, being successful is by far better than living the dream and being a loser. Thats just my two cents. I get a sense of accomplishment by helping people get their computers fixed up, and then to make some old house look sweet again. I'm improving the community and helping people. Seems to be a lot better for me than making violent video games :)

Market 2 Update 03

Drywalling the bathroom

This picture was taken yesterday. We're using that green moisture resistant drywall for the bathroom. We also put new heat ducts in. The old wood floor actually looks pretty decent yet, but due to some re-arranging of the heat ducts we can't save it, so we're going to lay some tile down.

Today we installed the door knobs in a few doors, and I wired up the laundry room nook ceiling light. I was schooled on how to install electrical boxes and am now a pro at it, lol. I also had to finish framing in the laundry nook header, and we dug down around the sewer pipe to look for a connection to take it off. We might end up sawing the pipe off.

Anyhow I'm pretty excited about the bathroom. Its very spacious and will get people excited for sure when they see the granite countertop and modern design instead of some 1880's crapper like most rentals have. It was a lot of fun designing a room from the ground up with functionality in mind, and with lots of space to work with. I'm envious, my own bathroom in my house isn't near as nice as this will be when finished. This house flows like a champ now, and has a much more modern feeling to the space. Hopefully we can get the nook drywalled tomorrow and maybe the front door hung, its supposed to be really warm and I've been waiting for a good day to hang the new front door.