And it came to pass that the previous owner moved out, and, lo, the walls needed paint....

The saga of my parents' new house forges on. In the original plan, they should have already been in their new home for a month now, but they're still waiting on repairs to be done to their old house. So in the meantime, I'm still responsible for the new house and keep finding things that need to be done.

When the previous owner (a smoker) moved out, it became clear that the interior needed painting, as you could see the outlines of everything he had had hanging on the wall. After a week or two, I managed to find some people to do that for me for a not-too-exorbitant price. And he had lost the key to the garage and side doors, so I replaced the locks on those. I also wanted to replace the vent covers on the ceilings, as they were badly stained by cigarette smoke. Doesn't sound too hard, right? Replacements, a ladder & a screwdriver, and you're done, right?

Yeah, not so much. Turns out the new vents' screw holes aren't positioned the same as the old vents' screw holes. Putting a new hole through the drywall isn't that hard, but on top of the drywall is some kind of impervious something. So most of the vents I've tried to install have a screw on one side that I've angled to avoid the whatever-it-is around the vent and one on the other side that is only in halfway. I'm going to take Tommy's power drill up there and give it one more try to get them done before I collapse in a weeping heap.

I still have to get the carpet cleaned, but I thought I ought to wait until I'm done dropping vent dirt and ceiling dust all over the floor. Or maybe I should just get new carpet. I've entered that state where every improvement I make leads to another improvement. The only end in sight is if my parents actually move in one of these days.