Rant

We've been scurrying around, having our house shown. Did you know that the house has to be PERFECT if one is to consider buying? Fidget and I had no idea...Here we thought that painting and things were the job of the buyer. Apparently, if you don't like the paint color that's in the living room then that's reason to not buy the house. Ridiculous, it's completely ridiculous.

When Fidget and I look at a house we ignore things like: the colors on the walls, any smell that we can get rid of (yes, that includes the heavy smoke and stale beer smells that have been in a couple of the houses we've looked at), the flooring, things like that. We feel that those are personal choices...some may sweeten the deal (hardwood floors) but they are not deal breakers--those are things we can fix/change.

Fidget and I both smoke. If it's freezing cold (like below zero) or raining, we smoke in the house. If we have guests over who also smoke, we smoke in the house (this is rare). If all of the windows are open on a nice day, we smoke in the house. The rest of the time, we smoke outside. Most of the time when we're smoking indoors, we're smoking in front of a window fan that's set to vent to the outside. Are there times when a non-smoker can smell the smoke? Of course. Is it ever heavy? Never. Our house is almost always spotless...well, relatively. We have cats, and where there are cats, there is cat hair. (We get rid of as much as we can before showing the house...using sticky-rollers on furniture and drapes and such.) We have non-smoking friends who have told us that our house doesn't stink at all.

That said: I view a smoky odor as a "fixable" issue. If there is a bad aroma in a house I'm otherwise interested in (and trust me, in the last couple of months we've gone into some NASTY houses), it's not a deal-breaker. I can fix it. I understand that there are a few people out there with a severe allergy to smoke...I'm not talking about them.

The people I'm talking about: Well, one lady wouldn't even look at the house because there was the faint odor of smoke. (I had smoked OUTSIDE, just before we left so the Realtor could show the house, my guess is that she smelled it outside.) Ridiculous.

I know I should quit smoking, and I want to quit. I can't do the gum (dentures); the lozenges upset my stomach; I'm allergic to the adhesive in the patch; I can't afford the medication. So I'm going to have to quit cold turkey. In the meantime, this is my home. This is where I live, where I need to be comfortable. One's home is their refuge from the world. I refuse to feel guilty about being comfortable in my own home.

When I go to a non-smoker's home, I would never in a million years dream of lighting up. To me, that's the equivalent of peeing on someone's table. They don't smoke, and they probably think it's a filthy, disgusting habit/addiction. And it is.

But in my own home, I will do as I please. If you make an offer on my home for MORE than the asking price with the stipulation that I not smoke in it until you move in...It's a deal. Until then, I have to live here. You are the guest.

This pisses me off to no end. Am I being unreasonable? Please email or comment below with your thoughts on the issue.