The Merriam Ave. Dump Revitalization Project

we bought this house with 2 criteria in mind .... (1) it had to be close to a highway so i could get to Boston easily, if i got a job there and ...... (2) Debbie could pay the mortgage on her salary alone, because GE was about to close the plant and sack the sorry lot of us (I was 50 .... and deaf .... at the time and planned to be unemployed and unemployable).

It was the smartest financial decision I ever made..... wait ..... It was the ONLY smart financial decision I ever made.

Happily I got an early retirement package + GE (South Carolina) gave me a contract to work out of the house here, and I made enough money over the next few years to completely remodel the house.

It took us 13 years and somewhere between $80,000 & $100,000 (roof & siding on garage and house, replaced every window, complete new oil heating system, rebuilt enclosed porch, complete kitchen remodel + added bathroom, remodeled other bathroom, total basement teardown & rebuild, excavated & replaced drainage to city line, total fireplace & chimney rebuild, enclosed yard, shed, replaced the driveway, carpets, walls, ceilings, oak flooring & beechwood) to make the place nice (which it now is).

.....whew .... let me catch my breath a minute ......