« My Building Has Every Inconvenience
Since We’ve No Place to Go »

This Year’s Remodel

As almost a sort of counterpart to the Daily’s series on A2 slumlords, the Ann Arbor News puts its priorities on display with a personal essay on the hardships of home remodeling. “Living through a home remodeling project is a long, dark journey to something better,” Lisa Carolin, whose house is in the process of having a foyer and laundry room added, writes. Among the indignities: “[T]he water softener has remained off through the construction making hard water a daily part of our diet and scalps.” And as if that weren’t bad enough, “We have to park on the lawn.”

30 Responses to “This Year’s Remodel”


  1. All I can say is HA HA HA YOU STUPID BITCH - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR BEING DUMB ENOUGH TO LIVE IN ANN ARBOR LONG ENOUGH TO BUY A HOUSE!!!! Bwah Ha Ha Ha!

    But I don’t quite get the point of the article. Is news so slow in Ann Arbor that this qualifies as something worth printing several thousand copies of? I mean, she includes her email - what am I going to write her? “Lisa - I’m really sorry that your home improvement project turned awry. I understand your pain and misery. Please email me if you need someone to mock you.” This is the bane of small town newspapers - Nothing important is going on, but instead of just owning up to this, they print rubbish instead. This woman also owns five cats. Her place must be disgusting to begin with. And 2 kids? You already know what I think of Ann Arbor kids. I pay taxes to support schools that educate them to express themselves, when in reality I’d pay a large hunk of change for the little bastards to shut the fuck up while I’m working at the coffeeshop. Kids blow, yo.

    posted by DrMandrake on April 22nd, 2005 at 1:48 pm

  2. AAIO:

    It can be fun to flog. However, flogging the AANews because of its lack of hard-hitting coverage of anything is like beating a dead horse. The publisher endorsed George W. Bush in the last election.

    Student housing stories don’t sell papers in Washtenaw and Livingston counties. The guy living in South Lyon, Chelsea or East Ypsi doesn’t give a shit that rich little UM college pukes are living in squalor.

    Publisher Ed P. is soon off to a new job, and the next Publisher of the Ann Arbor News will come with a big watering can to apply liquid crap liberally to the news printed by the pub.

    Xavier

    posted by Anonymous on April 22nd, 2005 at 1:50 pm

  3. She should be taken to Cambodia and forced to work with a gun in her back for a bowl of rice a day. Then force fed her cats.

    posted by yd on April 22nd, 2005 at 2:36 pm

  4. What /where in the hell is East Ypsi?

    posted by Dave on April 22nd, 2005 at 3:10 pm

  5. That article won’t be in the print edition here in town…just the little insert for Livingston County. I believe they are a bit harder up for news there.

    posted by OFWinsurgent on April 22nd, 2005 at 3:10 pm

  6. If South Detroit is where Journey grew up, maybe East Ypsi is where Foreigner is from.

    posted by js on April 22nd, 2005 at 4:26 pm

  7. js - By jove, that was clever.

    Why do people read local newspapers when they have AAiO and Craig’s List, for hard news and classifieds respectively?

    posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 22nd, 2005 at 4:50 pm

  8. East Ypsi.. wouldn’t that be considered Willow Run?

    posted by Anonymous on April 22nd, 2005 at 10:48 pm

  9. He’s just a city boy… born an raised at Willow Run.

    Nope. It don’t rhyme.

    Hey, but, don’t stop believing.

    posted by Alan Gutierrez on April 23rd, 2005 at 1:17 am

  10. That’s funny. We’ve had a maintenance truck on our front lawn for two days now. Except we’re not remodelling or getting repairs done, they just chose our house to park on the front lawn of.

    Course, at least this maintenance-guy is nice. Then there were the two jerks who parked in my paid-by-the-month spot, and the one next to it, who basically told me it was their right to do so - and they weren’t. even. working. for. my. rental. company.

    We were talking about what again?

    posted by Jen on April 23rd, 2005 at 9:00 am

  11. Water softener… well, hell, maybe Lisa is a brewer. Let’s email her and ask her to make a nice IPA or maybe a hefeweizen next.

    posted by Dave on April 23rd, 2005 at 11:14 am

  12. when the lights go down in East Ypsi
    And scum shines on North Bay
    oooooh, I wanna be there, in East Ypsi

    posted by LF on April 23rd, 2005 at 3:35 pm

  13. Just a small town girl, livin’ in the old fourth ward
    She took I-94 East goin to East Ypsi…

    posted by Some Arab Guy on April 24th, 2005 at 11:38 am

  14. Not only is this story a big yawn on the News site, it’s even more pathetic is that it was posted here.
    Slow. News. Day.

    posted by Mr. Man on April 25th, 2005 at 11:46 am

  15. You know, if you look closely, you may notice that this blog links to a lot of lame Ann Arbor news stories. Sort of its raison d’etre.

    posted by ann arbor is overrated on April 25th, 2005 at 12:11 pm

  16. Really? That’s your raison d’etre?
    I had previously thought this blog aspired to a larger topic. My mistake.
    Perhaps you should change the name to “Ann Arbor News is Overrated”…

    posted by Mr. Man on April 25th, 2005 at 12:33 pm

  17. Hey, Mr. Man — check out the archives; almost every other post in the first couple months was on the News. It didn’t hurt this blog’s readership. And knocking a community’s chief news source seems to me a good way of knocking the community that puts up with it.

    posted by Dale on April 25th, 2005 at 1:51 pm

  18. “…almost every other post in the first couple months was on the News. It didn’t hurt this blog’s readership. “

    Yeah, but the AA Snooze is low-hanging fruit. Then again, if that’s your windmill, tilt away.

    “And knocking a community’s chief news source seems to me a good way of knocking the community that puts up with it.”

    Chief news source? Guess again. We read it for the movie times and arts stuff, and then not very closely. Most Ann Arbor natives, like me, largely ignore the paper, yet it soldiers on.
    That they have the financial resources to keep it up is not an accurate reflection of the community, but a statement of their solvency.

    But knock away. It’s the easy target you’re looking for.

    posted by Mr. Man on April 25th, 2005 at 2:19 pm

  19. Well, I realize that only 1/100th of A2 stupidity makes it into the News, but it’s hard to mock the 99/100 that isn’t put into print.

    posted by ann arbor is overrated on April 25th, 2005 at 2:28 pm

  20. Oh, I dunno.
    There are some blogs out there… :)

    posted by Mr. Man on April 25th, 2005 at 2:42 pm

  21. Out of curiosity, where do you (AAIO) plan to move after you’ve finished whatever business it is that you have here in Ann Arbor?
    Not baiting you here, just genuinely interested in knowing what your preferred cities/towns might be, and why you think they’re good places to live.

    posted by Mr. Man on April 25th, 2005 at 2:48 pm

  22. Well, I liked living Boston and Chicago before, and I’d go back to either, especially Boston. Boston is a great place to live for many of the reasons that most other big cities are, and a lot of the rest is subjective, but I can cite the amazing public transportation, not-too-bad weather, creative atmosphere and cost of living that’s at least lower than New York and, in my experience, no higher than here. But it’s a lot harder to describe what makes it so great than to describe what makes Ann Arbor overrated, because A2 is objectively overrated but Boston is the greatest city in the world only in my estimation.

    posted by ann arbor is overrated on April 25th, 2005 at 3:00 pm

  23. Indeed, because New Orleans is the *real* greatest city in the world. Where y’at?

    posted by Dave on April 25th, 2005 at 3:50 pm

  24. I lived in Boston for a couple of years and I never really felt “the vibe” there (however one defines vibe is personal, I guess). New England left me cold for the most part. Physically however, Boston is a great city. I still love to visit and have friends out that way…occasionally when I am there I wonder why the hell I didn’t like it when I lived there.

    I adore Chicago. I may up and go there some day, but for now I’m locked into A2. It’s not so bad for me, I like it here, though I sympathize with those from elsewhere who think it’s lame…as long as they have a sense of humor about it.

    posted by OFWinsurgent on April 25th, 2005 at 6:30 pm

  25. Oh, and New Orleans is excellent…but I haven’t spent as much time there as the other two cities mentioned. I defintely want to go back there for a visit. I love touring through the south, but I don’t think I could live there (other than N.O. and Louisville, which isn’t really that far south).

    posted by OFWinsurgent on April 25th, 2005 at 6:37 pm

  26. Eh. Boston seems to have pretty shitty public transport, at least compared to Chicago. And while most of my experience comes from visiting a girlfriend in Cambridge, Boston didn’t seem all that great. When I was able to stay in downtown Boston, I enjoyed it a lot more, but still… For me, I’m not sure I’d ever be able to deal with the crap weather of the Northeast coast or the weird, early daylight…

    posted by js on April 26th, 2005 at 11:37 am

  27. you’re right. the weather in SE michigan is much better.

    posted by Anonymous on April 26th, 2005 at 1:58 pm

  28. Had to laugh out loud at that one.

    Actually, the fall is much warmer in New England, winter is nothing compared to here.

    posted by OFWinsurgent on April 26th, 2005 at 3:43 pm

  29. First off, I hate the weather here too. Second off, it’s the wet Nor’easters that hit the last time I was there, which is worse. Think about it. This winter was freakish in the amount of crap we got dumped on us, and it still wasn’t all that cold. At the same time, temperatures were lower and winds were higher in Boston. And brick sidewalks? Fuck, that’s just askin’ for a concussion.
    Gimme New York over Boston any day. Fuck, I’d even take Chicago. But when I get the fuck out of Ann Arbor, I wanna go south, either into the lush kudzu or the dry desert. Fuck this snow in April bullshit. Hell, even Portland looks more hospitable.

    posted by js on April 27th, 2005 at 10:30 am

  30. I just have to say that my landlords - Bell Properties - is awesome. If you have the chance to rent from them - do it - they are the nicest and most responsible landlords I have ever had - even if it requires a follow-up phone call every once in a while. I’ve never had trouble in the 2 years I’ve lived here, and the Bells have to be the nicest landlords I’ve had in all my 10 years of shitty slum-lords in Chicago.

    Not everything about Ann Arbor is overrated. I give the bells an A.

    posted by DrMandrake on April 27th, 2005 at 3:41 pm