A Dorkusfeminitis Crumudgeon

~ My British Royal Family collection~

Gosh but you ae all so special! I love you because you are so supportive. And funny. And get what I am saying! I have vowed not to keep up my venting about HGTV but want to end my ranting rambling with this...

I wasn't planning on watching Tuesday night but a friend called to tell me someone in Ohio was on Property Virgins. Now, it isn't often I see someone from my home state on HGTV so I flipped on the TV. The young woman lived nearer to Cincinnati than Dayton but she seemed fun, cute, a police officer and looking at homes I actually *understood*. Do you know what I mean? Typical older Ohio homes. I watched it with one eye as I folded laundry, not really interested but not totally bored either. The show ended and Hidden Potential began. What made me sit up and take notice was that it was also in Ohio, and not just anywhere in Ohio, but near Dayton. This *very* young couple (Of course, anyone under 45 is young to me ya know) were looking for their first home and wanted it to be environmentally friendly. They also were looking at homes in the 250, 000 to 350,000. Wha...? FIRST home is the big word here. Rabbit Run Cottage did not cost 250,000 so I must tell you that I was a bit miffed. My *miffed* mood grew darker when they announced that they also had "borrowed"$100,000 from old Mumsie and Popsie to lay down on the little cottage.

Even if my folks HAD an extra $100,000 lying around the house when we bought our first place (I think I will go count the change in Bill's jar. You never know right?) I would never have taken it. Wow. I would tell them to take an around the world trip and have a blast. They earned it, shouldn't they enjoy some of their own life savings? Couldn't little Boopsie and Tommy Boy live within THEIR means and buy what THEY could afford or rent until they saved the monies themselves? I am just sayin'...

Yet I watched.

The first home was located in Yellow Springs. I love Yellow Springs, love the area around the city. In fact, my wonderful red dream house (If you remember that post!) is situated near there. I actually know the house they saw. The second home was located in Kettering. I also love Kettering. Such perfect cottages and sweet older homes. I point this out because HGTV showed another shot of Yellow Springs when they discussed Kettering (I would like to think the Mayor of Kettering is dictating his nasty letter even as I type...) and because the two towns are not exactly side by side. If this young couple were actually worried about the environment, shouldn't they be interested in living near their work/school/rich parents?

The 3rd house's city was never mentioned but it looked like those great older homes in Centerville, another lovely bedroom community near Dayton. The couple ended up choosing the second house, the one in Kettering. Of course their decision was based on the designer's ideas for all those delightful *little* things that could be done to make it *perfect*. After all, they have that extra $100,000 burning a hole in their pockets right? The thing that made me wonder about this show, as I do many of the others anymore, was a statement made by sweet Boopsie at the close of the show. "Gee, I hope we can get out of our lease." Hmmm...they are just now thinking about that? They obviously are either NOT ready to buy, airheads, expecting Mom and Pop to bail 'em out of that as well or all three. Am I being too harsh? *sigh* Just one more reason I no longer find myself watching HGTV. I cringe as I type that. I LOVED this network. I was overjoyed when it went on the air. I watched almost nothing else for years. Okay, so I watched Nick At Night's old reruns of I Love Lucy, Leave It To Beaver and Andy Griffith but you know what I am saying right?

I miss what it once was...I truly do. I love the voyeur aspect of all the house searching shows but get so riled up about the people involved I usually scream at the screen! Frightens our pets something awful.

I know what it is like to lug laundry to the laundromat, live without a dishwasher, a television, a garage. Most of us do. We have learned to appreciate working and saving for something. The pride of self that comes along with that. Why are young couples buying home they can ill afford being showcased? What happened to living within one's means? There are plenty of homes in this area that Boopsie and Tommy Boy could buy that would not require them to borrow huge lumps of cash from the parental units.Homes that could suit their needs for many years but it seems I am speaking gibberish these days.

I do want to clarify how I feel about decorators. I LOVE them. I envy that job and I do know that it is their job to be harsh, especially when someone asks for help and needs to properly stage a home for sale. On this note, I really DO want to know when this became popular! It seems I am not the only one who asks that question! What happened to looking at homes you can afford (Not what the lender says you can afford!), finding one based on it's location, size, bones and knowing what YOU can do with it eventually, over time. Now we are told we must create a completely *vanilla* interior, devoid of any remnant of our family life, heart and

soul. As a buyer I would take this as a huge slam...am I considered to be so stupid that I can not look past their blue walls if I like green? Can I not see their 3.5 children's faces in a frame and know they do not go with the sale of the house? *sheesh. I might look at the cleanliness of the house but not whether of not they have a Beanie Baby collection on their bookshelves.

I understand the need to make a home look more spacious by removing a chair or table even though I personally could look at a room and decide if I could fit the space without all of that. Is this telling me that today's buyer's are without imagination? As a buyer I would feel a tad bit slighted.

Yes, I wish my living room was bigger. I wish I had a bigger laundry room, master bath and

one more wall in the kitchen so my Hoosier would fit upstairs. I also wish I was 6 feet tall and a Supermodel but that ain't gonna happen either. *sigh* But you know? That is okay. I will live.

The sun will still rise and the birds will still sing. I won't be featured on HGTV but I am not in their target audience. Hmmm...THEIR dominant target audience seems to be the people that are now facing foreclosures, living well above their means and seem to lack any real creativity. Yeah, yeah, spoken like a true curmudgeon.

Dorkusfeminitis Crumudgeon. That's me and proud of it.

And now my HGTV ranting has come to an end. *Cheers are heard 'round the globe*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love and Hugs to you all,

Susie Q