Rainbows and butterflies

Here are a few things I'm (especially) looking forward to when I start living on my own, possibly to be modified and/or continued:

Tuna fish sandwiches (this just hit me the other day - it's been ages!) with dill pickles, and...

Miracle Whip (there, I said it)

Food, in general, and having to go shopping for it. Of course, the honeymoon regarding the shopping will wear off right away...
But the thing is, I haven't really purchased any groceries for the past 2 years, other than snack foods and incidentals. Admittedly I'm not the kind to cook from scratch, as a rule. I buy partially prepared foods and eat out quite a bit, etc. But I love having leftovers and as a consequence very little, if anything, goes to waste. So, that's about all I'm gonna say about this because this is my happy posting. And because I WILL very much miss having meals prepared for me, sometimes.

Leftovers!

My own bathroom

Uh oh...

Okay... Bear with me, I'm just going with it:
My own kitchen (with a Brita pitcher of water in the fridge so it's cold!)

My own living room

My own walk-in closet. I think that will be a first! I've had large closets before but never a walk-in.

A secured building

A secured parking garage

Although I will miss the yard with grass, at times,
A rooftop deck!

Venom

Reasons I'm excited about my move, in no particular order, with no reference given to which party/parties are involved (other than the dog):


No dog. No poop and pee left sitting for months at a time. No more incessant, habitual barking, even at the people the little bastard LIKES... let alone those he doesn't, with no discipline or training given.

I can go back to using my Brita pitcher instead of buying gallons of bottled water. I stopped using the pitcher when someone left it in the freezer. It was frozen solid. Not only was I unable to get a freakin drink of water on that hot day, there's also the possibility of the thing cracking or breaking when it's in the freezer for that long.

No more cleaning the shower drain BEFORE I take a shower because the roomie doesn't do so.

No more always-shut doors. Why does someone have to shut each and every door, in each and every doorway, each and every time they use a thoroughfare? I'm not talking bedrooms and bathrooms here... I'm talking about going upstairs and downstairs and closing each door at each end of the basement. Every time. imho the doors in these openings could just as well be taken off the hinges.
*also, see below

No more slamming doors. For months I thought my roomie(s) was/were in bad moods but I finally figured out that there's just no thought given to the process of closing a door. Shouldn't one try to close a door more quietly in the evening or at night than during the day? But why not tone it down, a little, just in general?
*also, see above

No more lost or buried mail. I don't live with neat-niks and I actually like that part, most of the time. But I also like to know where to look for my mail. I've suggested a spot, to no avail. I might find an envelope with my name on it most anywhere, in either of a couple rooms, in any of the multiple piles of papers or junk laying around. I've taken to going through the piles on a regular basis while the roomies are gone shopping or running errands. Because 1 late payment was enough. My car-insurance could have been canceled had I not been with the company for so long. This is my payment-history and my credit-record we're talking about here. What's with the attitude about giving me my mail?

No more "borrowed" belongings that never get returned or replaced. The items just seem to get lost.

No more breaking of the rental contract at my expense - by smoking in the house. Granted, the lease is up and we live here month to month now. But come on... how about a little respect for me, if not for the landlord, on general principles?

Lastly and maybe most importantly, the possible salvation of friendships / relationships. By not living together, these issues (and others) will be nullified and even if said friendships don't quickly improve, they will stop degrading.

Oops, the lawn

Yes, it's finally happened. The inaugural 2009 mowing of the front lawn. Uh, yeah... I know it's the middle of May already. The neighbors and the landlord are quite aware of that too, I imagine. I'm so glad the landlord doesn't get over this way very often.

But, see, there really was an issue. It's the lawnmower. And the whole getting-it-started thing. I DID try previously this year. At least once. And had no luck. So, I thought the gas might be damp, even though it's in the air-tight plastic gas can which is also under a 'roof' to keep the elements out.

I also thought it might be the spark plug. Last year I'd have to pull the stinkin cord a dozen (or more) times before the mower would run. So, after work I pulled the plug and made sure it was dry from oil or water or anything else resembling liquid. I also filed it just a skoch to get rid of any carbon or other buildup that might be preventing a good spark.

Guess what... after a couple pulls of the cord it started and it kept running the first time. None of this fake-out run for a few seconds, die, and then require another several pulls before it KEEPS running. WOW! I shoulda cleaned the spark plug last year!

The front yard only took about a half hour. Over 2 bag-loads went into the yard-waste bin. I'll bet my eastern Washington family (and others) laugh at the concept of yard-waste bins. But I digress...

So, today and/or tomorrow I'll tackle the back yard. It will likely be 3 bag loads as the grass is less-short than it was in the front yard. Ah... but what a relief... I'll bet the mower will start in less than 6 pulls of the cord.

Addendum at around 2:30 Saturday afternoon:
The back yard is now mowed. It was, uh, over 3 grass-catcher loads that went into the yard waste. Well over 3. Let's say, more than 3 and less than 10. Yeah. Whew!

...not a drop to drink

Tuesday: Much rain overnight.

Wednesday morning: The storm drain just outside (literally) the basement door, draining slower and slower every month as roots and stuff gradually plug up the ancient line, loses the battle. We wake to nearly an inch of water in the basement. Fortunately, it's only in the unfinished section with the concrete floor, and some in the kitchen with the linoleum floor. We were fortunate that there wasn't enough water to reach the other half of the basement. Specifically, our carpeted bedrooms. Plumber is called, drain is snaked, problem solved for a matter of months...(?)

Wednesday evening: Fans are setup to circulate and dry the musty air. Cleanup and organizing restore normalcy after the chaos of the morning.

Wednesday night, sometime between 10:30'ish and midnight: The water heater ruptures, dumping nearly an inch of water in the basement. Fortunately, blah blah blah, yada yada yada...

Wednesday night, around 12:30 or 1 am: Vern, having just fetched his brother from the airport, was having a nice visit with his mom upstairs. Recently fetched brother steps downstairs for something and, well, discovers he's all wet. Side by side, working in tandem like a well oiled machine... yeah, right... not these brothers...

Wednesday night bottom line: Somehow, eventually, one way or another, the two brothers manage to complete the second push-broom / mop brigade in as many days. They even left me asleep as this was the middle of the night (for some) and both brothers had Thursday off.

Thursday morning: I vaguely remembered some activity happening during the night. What WAS it? Oh well, as usual, I grab clothes and head for the bathroom. I start the shower. I start the shower. I start the shower. Oh, I'm dreaming. Wake up. The shower doesn't work. In fact, the mainline must be shut off because even the cold water doesn't work. Well, I attempt a quick spramp and get dressed and go to work.

Thursday late morning: I'm informed of last nights activity. We should have a new hot water heater installed Friday or Saturday. Whew! That will be good. I can't wait to get this all taken care of once and for all...(?)

Acclimation

Apparently I have a heat rash. It's true I'm out of shape, overweight, and (today) hot, plus I must have worn the wrong shirt (not cotton, not natural) to do yard-work in today. At least, that's what I'm reading as I research the multitudinous red bumps on my upper body.

Up to now I'd been thinking how nice it would be to mow the yard again. At my last few residences I haven't had yards, or at least not yards with grass in them. Like, the previous house certainly had space in front of and behind it. But a traditional lawn was out of the question due to 2 major factors: 1) a good portion of the back yard was a concrete slab. 2) the front yard had a lArGE pine tree in it. So large... (how large was it?) it was so large that the needles fell into the front yard, the back yard and the alley out back, the neighbors yards, the street... well, you get the idea. I loaded countless yard waste bins with needles trying to keep up with the tree. Anyway, the acidity of the needles prevented certain plants from growing. Ironically, a number of flowers and bushes thrived.

Oh yeah! Also ironic: After tearing down the old house and rebuilding, the annoying pine tree in the front yard is the one that survived. They ended up cutting down the (maple?) tree in the back yard that we all liked. I'll bet the neighbors are very disappointed. They always had choice things to say about the tree in front.

Anyway, well, a couple houses back I did live in a place with nice lawns but the landlord insisted on mowing them.

So, even though I've been a couch potato for awhile, at least my position at work was keeping me in shape a little bit. If nothing else, I got some walking in and did lots of lifting and carrying and sorting and the like.

Now, I have a desk job again. It's been less than two months, but... I HAVE to start doing stuff. I know that this weekend was a good start. Mowing the yard, front and back, and pulling weeds for a couple hours certainly has me feeling my age. Maybe it's a good wake-up call.

The original point of this message was going to be about mowing the yard. As I mentioned, it's been years since I've mowed on a regular basis. In fact, not since my teenage (and younger) years has it been a habit. I remember the ugly old blue push-mower we had. Rather fondly, in fact. The most important thing to dad was that it had a Briggs & Stratton engine. That used to be the brand to look for. There was no grass-catcher. That was a luxury for other people, not us. We just aimed the exiting grass to the center of the yard and kept mowing around and around in a square shape so the grass was always aimed toward the center. Besides, the cut grass was good mulch for the living grass, right?

Voila! I've just answered myself. Previously I was pondering why I'm in the habit of mowing the lawn as a big square (see above) rather than going back and forth (in only two directions) until it's complete. The back and forth method gives you nice, even lines all across the yard. Now that I'm using a mower with a grass catcher it will be a struggle to remember to mow that way.

The neighbor across the street had one of the new (at the time) Honda mowers that could even mow wet grass. I remember being envious of that. But he was a gardener and had a small greenhouse and the whole bit. Their yard was always perfect.

I remember my little brother and I took turns mowing, switching off every other week. Or was it a two-week period in between? Anyway, when he was first old enough to mow, he'd have to push on the lower bar with one hand and the upper bar with the other. It took all his weight and strength to move it, I think.

Anyway, I must confess that this was the first mow of the season. Which also brought back memories. Back in the day we kinda just mowed to keep the crab grass and dandelions at bay. It was a semi-regular occurrence and the 'first mow' was put off longer than the neighbors probably liked. That's certainly the case this year. I was sick a couple weekends ago and busy the past week and kept putting the lawn off. All the neighbors yards are looking slick already.

So, finally, today was the day. The grass catcher couldn't keep up. I emptied it about 3 times between the front and the back yards. Even so, there was still plenty of escaping grass to be raked. (Thank you, roomie, for raking since I'm exhausted!) Then I pulled a few of the largest weeds (some a couple feet high). Our yard-waste bin is full. It's a good feeling of accomplishment. But I'll have to do it (and other activities) more regularly, both for the yards sake and for mine!

Objects & trappings

I'm not sure how to start. I think a final 'thank you' to all who helped me move to my new residence is a good start. There should have been much less to move. I could blame it on former roomies who left stuff behind. But I did have months (or more) to get rid of that and I put it off.

So, eVeRYtHiNG moved here with me. I'm happy to report that when (or if) I move again, I'll have less stuff to move. For REALS this time. Partly because, after 2 false-starts, I finally found a real taker for the couch. You know, the couch that belonged to the roomie that I replaced. In the previous house. 6 years ago. She never claimed it. Her/my roomie never got rid of it. And truthfully, it's a great couch. I wanted to take a nap every time I sat in it. Which is a good, or bad, habit depending on your point of view. So it served us well for a few years.

Well... I'd always heard about this wonderful site called Freecycle. I successfully got rid of a couple small items I posted on it. But then there was the couch. The first person, the first weekend, was a no-show. The next person, the next weekend, didn't show but re-scheduled for later in the day. And didn't show up. Again. Making a total of 3 no-shows in less than 2 weeks. No phone call or e-mail. No nothing unless we followed up on this end.

I gave up for awhile and then posted it a month later on a whim. The first guy who called ended up renting a pickup and coming 20 miles (give or take) and actually picked up the stupid couch. Finally! The first people that had responded a month previously were locals and owned vehicles capable of hauling such belongings. They simply elected to blow me off. Statistically, the closer you get to the Seattle core, the flakier and more passive-aggressive people seem to be. I got SO tired of hearing that over the years. BUT facts is facts, at least in this current scenario.

With much less ado, I'm happy to say that I've lightened my load even more since living here. The couch was just the biggie. I sold the 32" color TV for a few bucks rather than have it die on me and pay a recycling fee. Or, even if it lasts, I'd have needed to buy a digital adapter for it.

I broke down and recycled all the old cardboard boxes that stuff came in when I bought the stuff. I figured the original boxes would be great for moving or storing or... I don't know. When it came time to move I didn't bother re-packaging hardly anything in the original box. It was much easier and faster (and more efficient) to use bigger / different boxes. So I did. All the empty boxes got moved to this new residence. Oy... but they're now GONE.

Oh yeah, awhile back the new roomie and I took a load of junk to the dump. I mean Transfer Station. Whatever. Obviously that was an effective and fun, rewarding trip!

I'd already taken a box of old computer stuff / junk (along with an actual computer) to the used computer store for reselling or recycling.

Today I paid 5$ to recycle this huge old used scanner that I'd purchased from a friend of mine. And never used.

I also donated another computer and a laptop to interconnection.org. They rock. They took the computers for free so I was happy to pay $5 to get rid of the scanner.

So... yeah... I still have too much to my name. Like many Americans. But as recently as today I've managed to share the love! Or spread it around. Or... oh, just go make up your own analogy!

Follow up and miscellany

I never did follow up on a couple postings and I feel that now's a good time. Starting with the old house, my former residence. One day in, ummm... November or December? Oh brother... well, let's say November. My (former) roomie said that the roof was gone and I should go take a look. Now, she didn't mean the shingles. No... no, they weren't planning to re-roof the house. She meant, literally, that the roof was GONE. I never had a chance to get a picture of it in the daylight. But I drove by that evening and sure enough... if you'd been standing in the house looking up you'd see sky.
Then, a couple days before Christmas, she mentioned that the house was torn down. I haven't followed up at all. I mean, as far as doing a drive-by to look at the dirt or rubbish or whatever. But I want to. Maybe it's already cleaned up and they're starting on a new building. The neighbors on both sides were very disappointed about the whole thing. They've lived there for years. Long enough to see the little Christmas tree in the front yard grow to its' current (if it's still standing) mighty stature. Admittedly, that was the one thing nobody would miss. You can't believe how many pine needles that tree put out in our yard and the neighbors and probably across the street! Yeah, that's all I know about that.

I never did have the heart to go back to Discount Tires and get the rotation I needed on the Neon! It's okay since I'm driving the Contour for a couple more months until I switch the insurance back again. Anybody wanna buy a '99 Ford Contour?

West Seattle has turned out to be a nice area to live in. It's true what 'they' say. I'm still not convinced I'm in the best living situation but it'll do for now. Oh! The window leak... that happened only because of the extreme rain / wind storm we had. It's never leaked before or since so unless we get record-breaking rain I think I'm okay. The carpet seems to have dried out fairly well but it needs to be cleaned. It's dis-colored where it got flooded. Of course, it was dirty water leaking in. I'm assuming it will shampoo right out.

My Christmas drive to Oregon went well. I truly enjoyed spending time with the family again. It was a whirlwind of a trip and I'm ready for a 'real' vacation now. I think the lack of sleep and eating all that unhealthy food (and so much of it) contributed to my being sick. I managed to work today and if I can make it through tomorrow then I'll have the weekend to recover. I'm not sick, like contagious, but it's more of a stomach thing. I have issues and holiday food is a big contributor.

Hmmm... that's all I can think of. I have the house to myself this evening and it's been nice. WOW! It's 9:00. No big deal but the last time I looked, which seemed like 10 minutes ago, it was around 7:45.

G'day

Sleepless in, well, here

I did hear the drip. It woke me up around 2(?) this morning. But I thought it was inside the fireplace. I'm not sure why I thought that. I guess because it sounded so close and the fireplace is only about 4 feet from my bed. But when I heard the drip turn into a trickle I realized I'd better check on it.

That's when I realized it wasn't inside the fireplace. Well, I mean it was, but the other one was not. It was coming in through the window. The rain had formed a puddle outside the window of my basement bedroom. The window is below ground level. The puddle had gotten deep enough that it was above the bottom of my window. So it was leaking into the house via old-fashioned gravity flow. Down onto my bookshelf and then to the carpet below. So I put a bucket under it. At the same time, the rain let up a little and the dripping temporarily subsided. Fine, no problem, right?

When I woke again, an hour or so later, I realized the 'flow' had not only returned, but was not going into the bucket anymore. It had moved and was hugging the wall. By then the carpeting in the corner of my room was pretty soaked. Bollocks! (in a bad way)

I moved both shelves away from the corner, off the damp carpet. My 4 foot ladder was nearby and was about the right height for my plastic drawer. Which I emptied out and put under the leak. But the water was still bypassing the container(s). I needed some quick way to re-route the drip. It occurred to me that a piece of string (or something, anything) would hang down and force the water to drop into the bucket. So I thumb-tacked a twist-tie to the edge of the window sill and finally, finally... the water was going where it could be contained.

Then I got a towel and stood on it to soak up some water from the carpet. Not a thorough job but I got a few inches worth out of the carpet. Then it was 4:?? and I decided it was safe to get a little sleep again. Oy... sleep... I'd been up late the night before after having dinner guests and then workin on a project.

When I got up this morning things were pretty much the same. I emptied the buckets (plural, there WAS a drip inside the fireplace, too) and then did my morning routine. On the way to the bus stop I could see why the water had nowhere else to go. It was raining like mad. I was thankful for my recently purchased expensive umbrella. (The cheap one I'd found previously didn't do much against wind or rain, let alone both)

More later...

Small Steps... but it's Progress

Ever since my move I've been feeling, well, kind of unsettled. There are certainly pros and cons about this new living situation. Of course I realize that's life and it applies to everyone everywhere. But I'm just saying... I've really been on the fence, mentally, about... things.

It's been almost 3 months now. I haven't felt like nesting yet.

Of course, the first month or so it was due to plumbing issues. Which were finally sorted out and then repaired. Although water leaked from the washer upstairs down into the basement, it was over the 'unfinished' area that's setup for a work-shop and storage. Which could have been bad, if our personal belongings had been water damaged. But nothing was. The leak was in a good spot. It missed most things and just filled up the room with a bit of water. With the dehumidifier that the 'water specialist' brought in it dried up amazingly fast.

So, yeah... that was a set-back. Actually, in the end it was motivating because we'd had to move everything and then re-organize it after the room dried out. But it was merely necessity that pushed me to do it.

Then there was the discovery that I don't have a fireplace. I mean, I do, of course. But it's unusable until we figure out why it doesn't vent. I was very excited when I decided to try a small fire in there. The weather had finally cooled down enough for it. But hey, well, even with my doors closed they quickly smelled the smoke upstairs. And my room was smoky for a day or 2. These silly windows only open a couple inches. But at least there are 2 of them. Anyway the fireplace had been a big selling-point for me. Now it's on hold.

Speaking of those windows, they didn't have screens on them. They're not sliders but rather are hinged at the bottom and they open at an angle by pulling the top inward. But being me and really wary of the insectavorae, I wasn't about to open them until I figured out how to screen them. I mean, other than the day of the fireplace test. I guess I owe this one to dad. He was really good at figuring out how to just make things work. Not always (not usually?) the right way but he made stuff work one way or another. In this case, so did I. With a roll of screen from Home Depot and scissors and duct-tape I cut out a couple sections of screening and taped it to the outside of the window frame. Actually pretty hilarious but it works rather well and you can barely tell from the inside.

So, I guess the point I'm not getting to is this: between water and fire and (mainly) my mixed-up-ed-ness I've really been dragging my feet. About this place. Until today. Something must have clicked. I was able to focus and sort through another box full of crap. I mean, good stuff that I own. The travel-path in my room has opened up a bit. A couple candles are sitting around here and there. Some filing has been caught up, piles of papers re-organized, recycled, etc. It's still an unfinished, rough looking space but it's definitely moved 2 steps forward from where it was yesterday.

I'm happy about that!

PS - I didn't even mention the blasted yappy dog but he may earn a blog unto himself. We'll see.

Work and home life

I've never lived in West Seattle before. I guess it was high time I 'tried out' the neighborhood. I think I ended up in a great spot. I live next to a fire-house. Firemen and paramedics at hand and of course the requisite hook-and-ladder truck. It's true, they really do get washed constantly. (I mean the trucks, silly)

I'm 3 blocks from Blockbuster and an antique store; 4 blocks from the library, drugstore, cheap movie theater, my bank, premium grocery store, quicky-mart, Italian restaurant and a laundromat (if the need arises). It's 5 blocks to the mainstream grocery store, Starbucks, another restaurant-or-2 and about 6 or 7 blocks to visit my long-time friend from Eugene, along with her bf and their son. I'm about a mile or so from Alki with it's beach and eateries and scenery.

While I've worked in a downtown high-rise before, I've never worked on the 44th floor of one until this year. It was interesting to discover that your ears actually do pop on the elevator ride, as a rule. I knew, in theory, that the tall buildings are earthquake proof and are built to give and sway a bit. During today's wind-storm the proof was in the pudding. (Actually I prefer chocolate peanut-butter pie, but I digress) Even when you can't feel it, on mildly windy days, you can tell the building is swaying by watching the window-shades. They will sway in unison... slowly... back... and forth. Not to be confused with the chaotic movement caused by the HVAC. It reminded me of being on a cruise ship and feeling the movement of the ship during a squall. It's odd to feel your equilibrium being tampered with. I, fortunately, am not particularly bothered by it in small doses.

So, there's a lot of 'new' for me for 2007. It will almost be new again to travel home for the holidays. I took a couple years hiatus from that drive because after travelling down I-5 to Oregon and back a couple times a year for 15 years or so, I needed a break. My family didn't understand very well at first. I was accused of distancing myself from them. It hurt. A bunch. Much as I love my brother I don't know if I'll ever quite be comfortable with him again. Hmmm... this rumination has gone in a direction I didn't plan. It appears I need to find a way to vent. This has been a good start though. I really am lookin forward to seeing the family again. Seeing how much the nieces have grown. They're really starting to take off. I'm afraid they'll be young ladies before I know it.

For now, I'm afraid my lunch period has ended. I must close this for now and come back later.

FILO

Yes, as in First In Last Out.

No, not as in a certain acquaintance I've lost touch with. Who I was not even thinking of until I started this posting. For some reason the memory jarred me for a second. It was out of the blue. How many other people will pop into my head, throughout my life, triggered by something totally unrelated? Bringing guilt for letting them slip out of my company. But I digress...

Memories of a shower-head. Yup. THAT's what this is really about. See, I remember the first (or technically 2nd) day of living in that Madison Park house. New (to me) space. A bedroom and a bathroom to make my own. It didn't occur to me to run the shower before-hand. Nooooo... I waited until that first fateful day. On a 'school-night' even.

Well, I got up, kind of excited to take my first shower in my new/old bathroom.

It was pretty awful. I'm guessing that about 6 or 7 of the 40 (?) jets in the shower-head worked. Seriously. The others were plugged up with rust and debris. Maybe that was appropriate as the water pressure in the house is so low that it could barely support more water flow anyway. After work I went right out to purchase a new shower-head. Of course it helped immensely, though water pressure was indeed a problem. But that was possibly the single best investment toward life on 41st Ave.

Flash forward to now. Okay, 'now' is actually weeks ago already. Oh boy... make that months ago. Pay no attention to the posting date. That was the date I originally thought of mentioning this experience. It just gelled and fell into place today, 3 months later.

Anyway, I was slowly packing and organizing for my big move near the end of July. I mailed the postcard from the city regarding the free shower-head program. It arrived within a couple days. I installed it.

I didn't like it.

So I put mine back on until the last minute. Which was just a few days later. Changing the shower-head was one of the final things I did when I went back to clean and vacuum the empty, strangely lifeless house.

So long, shell-of-a-house I once loved. So long, free shower-head. May you stay free of rust and corrosion for years to come. Or be replaced. What do I care?

Sold!

Well, the house I've been living in for 5 years has been sold. It is off the market. Sorry... you had your chance.

The landlord has really come-through and is cutting us a deal for our final days in residence. Hmmm... not sure what else to say. Just another step toward that feeling of closure. We are welcome to stay another 1.5 months but need to be moved out by the end of July.

As much as I've complained about different aspects of the house or the neighborhood in the past, I've been reflecting on some of the good stuff lately. I'll certainly miss walking 1/2 a block (1/4?) to get to the bus stop. Which is in front of the Red Apple market. Which is, obviously, about as convenient as a market could be!

That is, unless I could afford a condo ABOVE a supermarket like my friends did. Hmmm... actually, by the time they walk downstairs and through the garage entrance I think they walk farther than I do. HA!

Well, anyway... being 3 blocks from the beach has been nice. If I move to the West Seattle house I'll be relatively close to Alki. But that can be a bit overwhelming. The constant flow of traffic and people is worse than this Madison Beach location. I suppose it's a little more accessible. So, I'll have to drive or bike a couple miles to get to the water now. Boo hoo...

And now it's back to work. Thus endeth the luncheon break.

The soon-to-be old 'hood

As Katy (the roomie) noted earlier today, it's very odd to see pictures of your house online. Especially when you didn't take them.

http://www.johnlscott.com/PropertyDetail.aspx?GroupID=45834334&ListingID=30131803&Sort=256

Actually, I'd wanted to post a few pictures for family and friends for quite some time. Now that the house is for sale, here they are. But some of them seem out of proportion and a bit surreal. (along with the whole experience)

It's one thing to see a 'stock' photo of something... anything... even your house. But when the photo(s) include(s) your own collection of unique / mis-matched furniture, photos on the wall, flowers in the garden, it's downright disconcerting.

I've never owned a home, nor sold one and haven't experienced these feelings before. I've lived here about as long as... oh, wow. Oh, dear. Holy crap... I think the 5 years I've spent here constitutes the longest I've maintained a single address since moving away from home. The first time. Let's see... I'm obsessing now. Sorry for this. You might want to skip the next paragraph or two.

Eugene... 3 blocks away for a few months, then back home. A year in my first apartment (or a little longer), a couple years in the shared house on West 11th, back home. Not necessarily in that order. I think I'm forgetting something in there.

Seattle area... a year on Capitol Hill, 3 years in Tukwila, 2 years in the CD (Central District), a couple years in Shoreline, couple years in Crown Hill, that year on Queen Anne...
3 years in Renton... yup. I'm afraid it's true. No wonder we're experiencing this. Both Katy and I are feeling a sense of loss, even though we don't own the house. We've had many good and bad experiences in this place. But we've shared them.

Okay, timing is key. Admittedly, we're both a little 'extra' busy (dare I say stressed?) due to transitions in the workplace as well as the living space. But that's for another blog.

May I interject that after a slow initial start, I've grown rather fond of the roomie. You may have gathered that. We are moving apart and I will miss living with her. More surprisingly, her very hairy dog will always have a warm spot in my heart. I never expected to live in the same space as a dog and enjoy it so immensely but she is a canine like no other. Well, okay... with the possible exception of the family dog from my childhood, Ginger, but that's also for another blog.

Oh yeah, the house. Right! The thought of the worst-case scenario, of the place being razed to make way for a rental house, well, I can't describe it. That's been happening around here. Old traditional homes are replaced so that they can charge multiple thousands of dollars in rent for a new, modern house. A house full of tenants that may or may not care about the history of the neighborhood.

I am truly a sap. I guess it is what it is. I've only invested 5 years here. Many times wishing I were elsewhere. It's interesting feeling this way and I'm glad for it.

You weren't expecting a segue like this, were you? This is my verbose way of getting to the bottom line. At the bottom, get it? See below!

Okay... so, yes, um, you are hereby notified that I'll have a new address by August. Details to follow. Thanks for listening.