Carpets and yards

Carpets and yards have really been my only two complaints about base housing, with the exception of the fact that only about 20% of dog owners here seem to regularly obey the leash law (no tethered dogs without owners present, no off-leash dogs ever).  When we moved into our cute little duplex, everything was in great order except for the carpets.  They had an unbelievable amount of stains, but I comforted myself with the fact that, of course the carpets were shampooed between tenants, so at least I could rest assured knowing that while they may not look clean, they actually are clean.  There were two stains in particular that were driving me batty, so a couple of weeks ago I took out my carpet shampooer to have at 'em and try my luck.  Wouldn't you know it?  They lifted right out.  While I was thrilled by this, I was also a little displeased that the carpets were not cleaned prior to our move-in.  Particularly as we had to wait (and live in a moldy Best Western) for nearly two weeks after the prior tenants left so our home could be "cleaned".  We have moved many times over the years, and even the two ghetto-ish apartment complexes we lived in routinely shampooed between tenants.  That said, I still love base housing and our home, it was just a surprise and a good reminder not to assume things.

On another note, while I was shampooing the carpet around midnight the other night, it was like a dream come true for Matt.  He lay sprawled out and reclined on his special chair that he likes to sleep on (the upright angle helps his heartburn and snoring), with his beauty mask on, and the noisy hum of the carpet shampooer in the background.  He smiled and said, "It feels like I am relaxing in the First Class section of a plane," lol.  :o)

The only other real complaint I have had has been the yard service here.  Granted, it is free/included in our "rent" (base housing has our full BAH routed to their account each month to cover rent, utilities, maintenance, etc.), however our front yard is basically 45% dirt, which has become 45% mud thanks to the cooler, rainier weather--and I cannot get a thing to grow in our front flower bed because the two massive branch-shedding trees beside our house block all sunlight from filtering in--although they are great bases for hammocks/swings.  But, as I stated before, we are very happy here and actually consider our current home to be our favorite residence since our time in Misawa, Japan, about 8 years ago, when we were dual-military, pulling a double housing allowance and living in a huge hardwood-floor 4-bedroom home with heated toilet seats and floor drains in the bathroom.  :o)