Mmm. Bacon.

I saw Bacon Shoe.  It's frumpy looking white boys doing hip hop, but the vocabulary is clearly college level and the subject matter clearly junior high.  Oh, and a guy in a jumpsuit with a big furry mascot head cooks bacon on stage.  It's comedy.  Odd, but highly entertaining.  The smell made me want a pancake.  I'm told the ex-girlfriend was in attendance, but I didn't see her and she probably wouldn't have recognized me in the crazy costume I had on.  The cover charge was cheaper that way.  I don't often wear my leopard print fuzzy collar shirt, a blonde wig, 70's shades, and a pink tie.  In fact, never.  I high-fived someone in a monkey suit and danced next to a woman who was riding a mic stand hobby-horse-style on the stage in front of a backdrop which featured some freaky dolphins jumping up out of the sea.  When's the last time that happened to you?  They were recording a DVD.  I hope I'm on it and completely incognito.

That was a fun end to a tough work week, which featured too much night maintenance and not enough consecutive hours of sleep.

Well, Benchmark Home Furnishings is going out of business, so I went out there to see what kind of deals could be had.  I have new tables in my living room and a brand new and very comfortable leather sofa, which would normally cost over a grand, but I got a nice deal.  The old living room furniture is in my recently vacated basement apartment. 

For the past few years, I've put off fixing up my house to invest in rental properties.  In reality, that has been a good move.  The properties I have bought have appreciated significantly, and my tenants pay late, but they pay late fees.  It's nice gravy.  Now, my new living room furniture is going to force me, aesthetically, to buy new carpet or put down some kind of hardwood laminate.  I have a bonus coming in February and hopefully a fat tax refund <fingers crossed>.  I'm still recovering from the bathroom remodel, which was pretty exhaustive, but once I found what must have been years and years of water damage, it had to be basically rebuilt.  I think I'll sell some stock and clear the debt.  While investigating the possibility of new flooring throughout, I pulled up some of the carpet in the basement and found more asbestos tile.  I need a plan for covering that up permanently, because I know it would cost a small fortune to remove it.  The shower insert in the basement is cracked.  I should take it out completely and tile that, too. If I get the basement back into good shape, I'll need to rent it again to recoup the cost.  I had thought of replacing my stove and putting the old one downstairs, to create a kitchenette down there so I could charge more for rent.  I just need a stack of cash right now for a good cause.  I'm still paying back a 401k loan, which I used to buy a rent house back in May.  I never considered a second mortgage or a home equity line of credit, because I hate paying a dime more interest than I have to.  I do, however, think it's time for a cash-out refi.  Tuesday I'll ask my mortgage guy if I can get the same or better interest rate on the new loan.  If not, I'll sell my second vehicle, but now that the roommate has moved out, it's definitely time to spruce up the place.  And maybe I'll fix the front doorknob, while I'm at it.