Modern Life is Rubbish

The things we impose on ourselves!

So... I've been having a dilemma. I've been a homeowner in Ireland for just over three years. Yep, myself and the fella are one of those lucky people now living in negative equity... which doesn't really matter so long as you've a roof over your head right? And with interest rates so low, we're paying less than we would if we were renting. So, it's not so bad.

Except (and it's a big except to us) we bought our place in a neighborhood we were less than thrilled about simply because there was nothing else we could afford at the time. An Estate Agent would call it central, I would call it inner city.

Wanting to upgrade neighborhoods was always at the back of our minds, and knowing we couldn't sell our house, we slowly worked on fixing up the house with the distant possibility of being landlords. Well... opportunity literally knocked on our door a few weeks ago and our former next door neighbor was interested in renting the house. Grand. Good. Let's do it.

In theory we're supposed to be leaving our home this week... except for one small problem. Our house doesn't have a washing machine. No biggie right? When I lived in NYC, having a washing machine was a luxury. Well, in Dublin it's considered a "Mod Con". It's actually required! Not only do we not have a washing machine, but we've no place to put one. In order to put a washing machine in our house, we would need to fit an entire new kitchen. This whole landlord business is starting to look quite expensive!

So... lucky for us cheapies, Dublin finally has Ikea. I've got the kitchen all picked out using the Ikea kitchen software thingy, but I began to panic as reality set in. Thoughts of all the things that need doing in order to REALLY put in a kitchen. Such as:
Okay, like, BUY the kitchen
buy a washing machine
get the kitchen installed
re-tile the walls
re-tile the floors
get a plumber to put in a washing machine
get a plumber in to take out the radiator
get another heater installed under the units by electrician
get electrician to fix the oven pluggy-thing that is messed up but we've ignored for 3 years.

Ummmm... this is not a weekend event is it? All for a stupid washing machine!

AND... can I really call myself a modern-day-eco-warrior by buying a super cheap kitchen from Ikea? Inevitably imported from far overseas and taking business away from some local kitchen artisan? Okay, well, my bank balance won't allow me to have that argument, but it is something I think about.

I'm thinking I agree with Blur, Modern Life Is Rubbish.

(anyone know any good kitchen installers?)