Real Life and What's Happening...

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Do you have a lot of job competition around you? We're about 60-70 miles from LA, so changing jobs and deciding to commute may temper that idea, and then the whole housing market thing in SoCal could make it impossible to relocate for many folks...


Our pay doesn't suck, and our benefits are really good. Pay and benefits aren't everything in keeping people around, though.
 
Do you have a lot of job competition around you? We're about 60-70 miles from LA, so changing jobs and deciding to commute may temper that idea, and then the whole housing market thing in SoCal could make it impossible to relocate for many folks...
Yes, there's quite a bit, and quite a few areas to consider. There's also the virtual idea that has made the commute not as big a deal anymore
 
I just checked. I'm going to be driving from Lisbon to Prague and then back beginning of next week. That sounds a lot more fun to me. But this isn't bad. Kids so far have been pretty amazing.
I drove several times across montana and back (1100 miles, 1700km) just to see my wife before she was my wife. That doesn’t look very rational, now that I’m looking at it 30 or more years later.
 
I drove several times across montana and back (1100 miles, 1700km) just to see my wife before she was my wife. That doesn’t look very rational, now that I’m looking at it 30 or more years later.
Admit it. You ghost wrote the Vanessa Carlton song.
 
Sooooo.... things have gotten interesting of late.

A few weeks ago, a co-worker asked if there was any way a young friend of theirs could perhaps stay a couple of nights at my place, as they, through no fault of their own, no longer had a place to live. Because I've been in that situation myself, I agreed, if somewhat hesitantly. The place I've been renting (kinda like a duplex but actually split into four different living residences, so technically a quadplex or quadruplex) is somewhat on the small side - fine for my purposes, but a bit cramped for two people, even if temporarily. And in the last several years I've grown used to having my solitude.

But so far it's been better than I would have expected. She's very quiet by nature (her family moved to the U.S. from Guatemala about a decade ago, and on some level I think she's still trying to assimilate), and when she isn't at work, taking classes at a local community college, or doing stuff at her church, she's just been quietly studying for her classes or occasionally watching something on her tablet, so her presence hasn't been particularly disruptive.

As some of the other places she might have been able to stay at has fell through, she's continued to stay here. I know she needs to be able to eventually sleep somewhere besides on my couch, but finding a 1 BR apartment in the area that she can afford has been difficult. As my own lease was due for renewal at the end of the month, I talked to the couple I've been renting from, whom I'm on pretty good terms with, and found out they have a 2 BR place that's will be available in about a week.

So now I'm starting the process of packing up my stuff, as we have signed the paperwork to start moving into the new place when it becomes ready. I can't say there isn't some hesitancy on my part, as the last time I was supposed to sign a lease with a roommate it didn't end well, but hopefully there will be a lot less drama this time around.
 
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Sooooo.... things have gotten interesting of late.
So is this a good thing or a bad thing? Couldn't figure out how to emoji that.

I have a ... situation myself in the living arrangements. My nephew came down at the end of last year, and after my wife left, I let him stay on- feeling bad about how his life imploded and such, and not really wanting to be alone in the house. I thought she'd be back after a few months so thought we'd handle it then, but it's looking longer, and though he got a job and is trying to get low income benefits, my days of wanting someone living here seem to be reaching a middle, especially as he has a definite drinking problem, and is putting a lot of his money towards that (I stopped lending him money for his beer).

I'm not sure how to make sure that by the time I'm done with the situation he's in a better place to go somewhere else...
 
I just checked. I'm going to be driving from Lisbon to Prague and then back beginning of next week. That sounds a lot more fun to me. But this isn't bad. Kids so far have been pretty amazing.
Two of my favorite cities on Earth! Sounds like a great trip. Would you mind to show us your itinerary?
 
Two of my favorite cities on Earth! Sounds like a great trip. Would you mind to show us your itinerary?
Oh not really. Sorry I mean the distance from Seattle Washington to Encinitas California is equivalent to Lisbon to Prague.
But my itinerary has included a stay at Medford and a million 5-15 minute stops to pee and have the kids move.
 
Oh not really. Sorry I mean the distance from Seattle Washington to Encinitas California is equivalent to Lisbon to Prague.
But my itinerary has included a stay at Medford and a million 5-15 minute stops to pee and have the kids move.
Too late. I now have plotted a Lisbon-to-Prague itinerary that includes Porto, Salamanca, Madrid, San Sebastián, Bourdeaux, Paris, Reims, Stuttgart, Munich and Prague. I will never have the time and/or money to do it but there you have it.
 
Too late. I now have plotted a Lisbon-to-Prague itinerary that includes Porto, Salamanca, Madrid, San Sebastián, Bourdeaux, Paris, Reims, Stuttgart, Munich and Prague. I will never have the time and/or money to do it but there you have it.
I have hit half those (Porto, Salamanca, Paris, Munich and Prague).
 
I drove several times across montana and back (1100 miles, 1700km) just to see my wife before she was my wife. That doesn’t look very rational, now that I’m looking at it 30 or more years later.
Never make life changing decisions, like marrying someone, while in the grip of powerful emotions ;)
 
.... I will never have the time and/or money to do it but there you have it.
My project flies me to Maine, hire a car and drive through Lovecraft & King Country, Boston, Providence, a couple of days in New York, then down the coast, Phily, D.C., the Carolinas, the South, all the way to Key West, then back up to New Orleans, take a plane to San Diego and in a second car north to L.A., Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle, and then a flight to the Great Lakes, visit Chicago, maybe cross the border and visit some relatives in Canada, eh?

Screenshot_20220620-074245_Chrome.jpg
 
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And from the come-to-Indonesia-it's-lovely desk -

So, after some flooding prompted having to launder a lot of stock for her business, we finally decided a couple of months ago that we needed to move house - and we need more space.

So, today Mrs Nobby-W Nobby-W went to look at a house and, lo and behold, there was a resident cobra. Apparently #3 spawn thought this was terribly cute and was about to run up and pet it.

Mrs. Nobby-W Nobby-W decided she doesn't want the house anymore.

 
Pretty sure all the ones in the baby-with-cobra videos are de-fanged.
Bit much to de-fang a baby just for social media likes, isn't it?


Well after two years of being careful, wearing masks, washing hands etc etc I've finally got Covid despite having both jabs and the booster. So have most of the rest of my team at work.
I'm blaming the fact I had a common cold and it snuck up on me when my immune system was already struggling. I've still got my sense of taste and smell, just an annoying wheezy cough. I've had colds that have been far worse.

But at least I get a few days off work :smile:
 
New neighbors in the unit above mine. The previous ones moved out about five weeks ago (in the middle of the night, too, which makes me wonder).

It was nice having nobody up there for a while, aside from the few times that the cleaners and maintenance were in there. But so far the new neighbors seem quieter, aside from when they were moving some heavy things yesterday, but that's to be expected. Hoping things stay good with them.
 
New neighbors in the unit above mine. The previous ones moved out about five weeks ago (in the middle of the night, too, which makes me wonder).

It was nice having nobody up there for a while, aside from the few times that the cleaners and maintenance were in there. But so far the new neighbors seem quieter, aside from when they were moving some heavy things yesterday, but that's to be expected. Hoping things stay good with them.
I absolutely refuse to live on a ground floor unit any more. Edit: You should get a steep discount on rent for having a ground floor unit

tarb39ux52b81.jpg
 
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It got up to 100 degrees F here today. Bit hot for my taste, but seems appropriate for the first official day of summer.
 
I absolutely refuse to live on a ground floor unit any more. Edit: You should get a steep discount on rent for having a ground floor unit

Our building has four floors of apartments, so we'd have to be at the top to not have anyone above us. Since we have a dog, being on the ground floor makes things easier, otherwise we'd have to deal with the elevator or go up and down the stairs with him (which he can do, but it's more of a hassle). It's also nice not to have to worry about anyone below us (there's an underground garage, but the concrete pad is so thick that we can't hear anything at all from down there unless a really loud car alarm goes off).

We're going to try to get a townhome, duplex, or small rented house for our next place. This building is in a good location and has some nice amenities, but it's already had structural issues seven years after it was built due to somewhat poor build quality. I suspect that's what makes it noisy at times as well.
 
Our building has four floors of apartments, so we'd have to be at the top to not have anyone above us. Since we have a dog, being on the ground floor makes things easier, otherwise we'd have to deal with the elevator or go up and down the stairs with him (which he can do, but it's more of a hassle). It's also nice not to have to worry about anyone below us (there's an underground garage, but the concrete pad is so thick that we can't hear anything at all from down there unless a really loud car alarm goes off).
I get you, we all have to make compromises especially if you live in an area with expensive and limited housing. We're on the 2nd floor of two-story studio apartment with cheap rent in a desirable ZIP code close to the beach BUT the square footage is tiny, the poor workmanship is glaringly obvious and I doubt this place is up to code. I am sure that's a compromise a lot of people my age wouldn't make.
 
Just got back from a miserable weekend vacation to discover my desktop wouldn't boot... I was worried I was going to have to replace it, but the problem seems to just be the hard drive cables.

Pulled everything, reseated everything, doing a scorched Earth reinstall. Hoping this buys me a few more years... but at least there's a major QOL upgrade I can do for pretty cheap in the meantime.
 
I was going to say the longest was From Raleigh NC to Boston MA (about 800 miles, I dodged DC and NYC) a couple days after 9/11. I've done somewhat shorter versions, but it made a LOT of sense to dodge DC and NYC... I've done the round trip twice (once earlier for Christmas, having my Aunt pick me up on her way up from Florida) and a one way from Boston to Raleigh when I moved down there.

But actually going from Homestead FL to Raleigh NC with a stopover in Charleston SC is about 900 miles. With the Charleston to Raleigh leg in blizzard conditions...

Now if you count road trips before I started to drive... The cross country road trip when I was in high school clocks in at well over 7000 miles round trip. I've put in a handful of for sure destinations and come up with 7454 miles but add in some diversions for specific national parks and probably several hundred more miles would be added.
 
Considering renting this in Indonesia - decent sized yard by Indonesian standards.

House.jpg

Unfortunately, it's right across the road from a mosque, which means our dawn chorus will consist of adhan played over the P.A. system at 4 in the morning. On the plus side, no cobras, so I guess we've got that going for us.
 
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Was originally told the new place would be ready on Sunday for us to start moving our stuff into. Got a call last night that they got everything done they needed to a little early, so I just picked up the keys, and we can start schlepping our stuff over later tonight after I get off work.
 
Have a good move, Tulpa Girl Tulpa Girl !
Thanks. Having a couple of extra days will definitely make things easier. Will probably start on moving the books, music, games and other stuff that was relatively easy to pack up tonight, and try to get food and dining related stuff tomorrow night after getting off work. That will make Sunday go faster, with a rented truck and a few friends to move the furniture and heavier stuff. That will leave the rest of the month fir anything not yet moved, and for me to clean and touch up the place we're leaving.
 
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