The Straggler: On the House

PROCRASTINATION, say the Gods of the Copybook Headings, is the thief of time. A house, says the Straggler, is just a big black pit into which, every so often, you have to tip a wheelbarrow-load of money, or the equivalent in your personal time.

Back in March we changed insurers for our homeowner’s policy. My wife, always suspecting she is paying too much for any service, ever vigilant for a bargain, found a company offering a rate lower than our current one. We signed up. They sent a fellow round to tap at our joists and do things with flashlight and measuring tape in our crawlspaces. In due course a letter arrived from our new insurer. Yes, they would cover us for the advertised rate. However, coverage would not be renewed in March 2007 unless we removed the peeling, flaking 50-year-old paint from our garage, and repainted. We agreed.

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John Derbyshire

Mr. Derbyshire is a former contributing editor of National Review.

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PROCRASTINATION, say the Gods of the Copybook Headings, is the thief of time. A house, says the Straggler, is just a big black pit into which, every so often, you have to tip a wheelbarrow-load of money, or the equivalent in your personal time.

Back in March we changed insurers for our homeowner’s policy. My wife, always suspecting she is paying too much for any service, ever vigilant for a bargain, found a company offering a rate lower than our current one. We signed up. They sent a fellow round to tap at our joists and do things with flashlight and measuring tape in our crawlspaces. In due course a letter arrived from our new insurer. Yes, they would cover us for the advertised rate. However, coverage would not be renewed in March 2007 unless we removed the peeling, flaking 50-year-old paint from our garage, and repainted. We agreed.