Although it came up by surprise, I’ve been thinking about the blogversary lately. When I started this in January 2001, I never, ever, ever thought it would go on this long. I feel like I started skiing down a very long hill and haven’t reached the bottom yet. Blogs hadn’t even gotten hot yet, then. I was an early adopter. Then 9/11 happened, and everybody had a blog – remember? The “warblogs,” every other one written by an asshole? Then the warbloggers beamed up to what was then called the MSM, or moved on to their own companies like, what was that? Pajamas Media? Yeesh.
Then blogs pretty much went away entirely, and it was all about social media. Now it’s Substacks and newsletters, which are just blogs in different form.
And on and on, NN.C grinds. As Laura Lippman once wrote, I never met a rut I couldn’t love.
Not that it’s been a rut. Now that there are, whoa, 21 years of archives over there on the left rail, I have an imperfect record of them. It’s not a journal; I can’t live entirely online. But it’s interesting to see how things change, what was upsetting me in…2007 or so. I admit that from time to time I think about chucking it all, maybe writing a book. But if I did write a book, I’d need a place to promote it, so…on I plug.
Glad you all who are here still show up to check it out. Admittedly, I haven’t checked my analytics in more than a decade. This might be a very thinly attended cocktail party, after all.
I should have more to say, but I’m out of gas. It’s been a long week, and now it’s cold again. For 10 days it’ll be like this, we’re promised. Ugh.
Something to read: Me, on the No. 1 asshole car in Metro Detroit — and many other cities.
Have a great weekend.
Deborah said on January 20, 2022 at 9:54 pm
Muscle cars are popular in northern NM. Espanola the town I’ve referred to as the armpit of the world because of its corruption and dismalness has a lot of low riders or at least they used to when the citizens had money for them.
Santa Fe has its share of muscle cars which I find abhorrent.
We are back in town, back to winter after a pleasant trip to So CA. Lots of trucks on the road and we saw lots of trains with double stacked containers so supply chains must be getting back to normal.
My husband’s granddaughter’s next door neighbor had a lemon tree loaded with fruit and I coveted a bunch, but alas I couldn’t figure out how to get some so I’ll have to purchase them here in Santa Fe, such a missed opportunity.
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Jeff Gill said on January 20, 2022 at 9:54 pm
If you don’t care about cars, you’ll still want to read Nancy’s story linked above. I do not, and I did.
And thank you for this supportive and challenging community, chief.
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Walter Biggins said on January 21, 2022 at 12:24 am
Happy 21st, Nancy! Pretty sure I’ve been reading you all the way from the start & look forward to years to come, in whatever form you choose. I started blogging in 2005 and, like you, I sometimes wonder what the point of it is/was now. But I never wonder that about your site, which enriches me whenever I visit.
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David C said on January 21, 2022 at 6:16 am
The asshole cars around here are Ram pickups with Hellcat engines or Ford Raptors. They’ve completely taken the crown from BMWs.
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Suzanne said on January 21, 2022 at 7:30 am
Happy Blogversary! I didn’t show up until a few years ago, discovering this interesting community when I was searching the interwebs for information about that Goeglein guy. I think I read for a while before commenting but it’s been an island of sanity in a world getting crazier by the minute.
In your honor, IU basketball beat Purdue for the first time since 2016!
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Tom (inRO) said on January 21, 2022 at 8:55 am
Happy Anniversary! (Long time lurker, first time poster.)
Dodge is apparently more than happy to burnish its dudebro image with the posting of a new “Chief Donut Maker” position ($150K, plus the use of a Hellcat!)
https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/chrysler/2021/11/08/dodge-never-lift-car-giveaway-chief-donut-maker/6339462001/
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kv450 said on January 21, 2022 at 9:02 am
I’m a relatively recent follower (“The Trouble with Texas”), but now your blog is part of my daily routine.
Thanks
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Jeff Borden said on January 21, 2022 at 9:25 am
Well done, Nancita! An entertaining and enlightening read.
I’ve always loved cars. As a kid, my buddies and I would ride our bicycles from one car dealership to another, picking up the brochures on every model. (I sure wish I’d saved them. They fetch a good price at swap meets, etc.) The pony car and muscle car craze hit as I was just entering my teens and how I lusted for them even as my father bought one dull station wagon or four-door sedan after another. The closest I ever got to one was a 1974 Plymouth Satellite with the small block 318-cubic-inch V-8 and, folks, that was more than enough engine to get into serious trouble. Then, the Honda bug bit and I never looked back.
Until recently, there were regular drag races on the lowest level of Wacker Drive, which has three levels. (The lowest is also home to a City of Chicago impound lot.) A couple of young men were killed a few years ago when their hot ride went out of control, but I assume the hot rodders are still racing somewhere.
Don’t look to electric cars to put an end to this crazy behavior. One of my friends has a Tesla and it is terrifyingly quick to accelerate. At least the electric hot rodders won’t be contributing to global warming.
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Mark P said on January 21, 2022 at 9:45 am
Deborah, a friend who now lives in Edgewood used to live in Espanola. He had a very nice, and very pretty Acura stolen from his garage one night. When the thieves were finished riding around, they burned it.
Can you imagine what the insurance is on a
Charger?
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LAMary said on January 21, 2022 at 11:08 am
Dodge Chargers and BMWs have different asshole styles. The Chargers drive at 90 mph on the freeway, switching lanes without warning. BMWs tailgate you, switch lanes, then cut in front of you to demonstrate just how disappointed they are that you did not immediately yield to their superiority. There was one of those stupid car chases on the news the other day, where they TV station’s helicopter follows a car the cops are chasing. Sometimes they go on for over an hour. The car they were following the other day was a Charger and it was reaching speeds of 130mph on the freeway and over 100 on surface streets. The driver, a woman, finally abandoned the car and ran into a house. The TV station abandoned coverage after that. It’s only interesting when it’s a car nearly killing people.
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LAMary said on January 21, 2022 at 11:19 am
https://laist.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/2022-super-bowl-halftime-performers-compton-inglewood-dre-snoop-dogg-kendrick-lamar?fbclid=IwAR2SbdycEgRZLkrkAmrZ8AWA4CMN1HYKM8_UdWQAcud07nXq1RU-cm_6grw
The Superbowl is going to be in LA.
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Jeff Borden said on January 21, 2022 at 11:33 am
Snarky car joke warning!
Q.: What’s the difference between a porcupine and a BMW?
A.: The pricks on the outside of a porcupine.
I’m here all week. Don’t forget to tip your server!
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Elaine said on January 21, 2022 at 11:59 am
Thank you for sticking with it, Nancy. I don’t comment much, but I read every post.
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JodiP said on January 21, 2022 at 12:01 pm
Happy blogversary! Like many here, I really enjoy the connections and discussions. Thank you for creating this community Nancy.
Thanks to whomever told me the new season of All Creatures began. It goes immediately to Amazon, and it’s been a joy in recent days as work is kinda crappy.
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David C said on January 21, 2022 at 12:36 pm
Jeff Borden @ 12. That joke was the first post I remember from Moe99.
http://nancynall.com/2008/04/14/stupid-things-facts/
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alex said on January 21, 2022 at 12:38 pm
Congrats on the anniversary! I’ve been following steadfastly since the early aughts and I love this community. I also love looking back at the archives and seeing how care-free we were, how the Obama years seemed to be proof positive that the moral arc of the universe was bending in the right direction. And then it makes me regret how I feel now, ceaselessly hypervigilant about the threat of our nation being overtaken by fascism and being helpless to do much about it.
But we soldier on and so does this ‘blog and for this I’m most grateful.
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Cullen said on January 21, 2022 at 12:51 pm
Happy Blogversary, NN. Lurker here from the very early days, infrequent poster. Thank you for being so creatively generous with your time & talent. I never miss a post, and I look forward to all the comments. It’s like a far flung family, where everyone checks in on one another. It’s truly a one of a kind blogging experience, and your writing is something I look forward to.
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ROGirl said on January 21, 2022 at 12:54 pm
Soldiering on, indeed. I’m glad this blog is still around and relevant to our lives. And hating on Mitch Albom never gets old.
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Scout said on January 21, 2022 at 1:03 pm
Happy Blogversary to all the regulars whether they be sharers or lurkers, and especially to the Divine Blog Mistress herself. I so appreciate you all.
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Julie Robinson said on January 21, 2022 at 1:45 pm
The Superbowl jacked up car rentals for D’s trip to LA and Palm Springs. I hate to think what it will do to traffic.
But life is a little sweeter today after IU defeated Purdue in basketball. Especially since we have a nephew at Purdue who has caught Covid twice due to the policies put in place by former Gov Mitch Daniels.
To wit: vaxxing is not required since everyone gets tested weekly (nephew is vaxxed and boosted). He has to quarantine in his dorm room along with his roommate, who isn’t sick now but surely will be soon.
Nephew was experiencing post-Covid brain fog during finals last semester. Does he get an asterisk on his transcript?
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Dave said on January 21, 2022 at 2:54 pm
Alex, speaking of looking back through the archives which I do frequently, just to marvel at how much time has passed, ugh, eight years ago we were discussing the retired cop who shot the man in the theater in Florida. For seven years, this case has been delayed time and again, some due to Covid, mostly due to the fact that he’s a retired cop, I imagine. Anyway:
https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/crime/curtis-reeves-movie-theater-shooting-trial/67-f09aa6b6-b131-4063-a30e-e21f3a0d77a4
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beb said on January 21, 2022 at 3:10 pm
A bunch of deaths are in the news today, starting with the discovery of a body believed to be missing student Brendan Santo found in the Red Cedar river as Nancy suspected. The report, repeated on Deadline Detroit, failed to mention that drinking had been involved.
The other two are Louie Anderson, a comedian I had heard of but that’s about all, and “Meatloaf” a singer I’ve enjoyed over the years and even went to a concert of his in the early days after his first album. Anderson appears to have died following a battle with lymphoma while Meatloaf appears to have died from COVID. In as much as Meatloaf was (apparently) an anti-vaxxer I find that I am more angry at his death than sorrowful. He could have still be alive with us if he had just got the jab. Anderson, in contrast, died from something beyond his control. I feel sorry for his death; Meatloaf, not so much.
The article on the Chargers was nice. There was a side article at Deadline Detroit giving a list of traffic accidents involving Chargers and Challengers that was just as interesting for its length. LAMary’s description of the typical Charger driver in LA seems about right here in Detroit. Always speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, and always with loud mufflers.
And Congratulations on 21 years. I think I started reading around 2003 or 04. Saw it mentioned on a friend’s blog and haven’t looked back.
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Sherri said on January 21, 2022 at 3:36 pm
I don’t remember when I came here, but I came here because of Lance Mannion’s recommendation. (RIP)
When I type my name into the search box, I get a small fraction of the posts I’ve commented on for some reason, not sure why. The earliest it returns is 2011 and a comment on the Paterno scandal, but I know I was commenting here before then.
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Deborah said on January 21, 2022 at 3:57 pm
Happy anniversary Nancy. I’ve been reading since 2004 or 2005, something like that I think. It took me a while before I was brave enough to comment.
Prius catalytic converters are getting swiped off of cars in Santa Fe these days. I read Nextdoor and it seems like someone is alerting neighbors about it nearly every day. I’m not sure why the Prius is preferred. The thieves are bold, doing it in broad daylight etc. it’s supposed to be easy to take and expensive to replace. Money for drugs is the usual incentive.
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Deborah said on January 21, 2022 at 4:05 pm
Ok, I looked it up and the mineral Rhodium is the reason Priuses are the preferred pick for stealing catalytic converters. Rhodium went from $600 an ounce to $30,000 an ounce according to something I read on Google. Prius uses more Rhodium so scrap dealers pay more for those catalytic converters than others.
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Sherri said on January 21, 2022 at 4:32 pm
Deborah, my daughter had her catalytic converters stolen from her Prius several months ago, and it took a month to get it repaired because it’s so difficult to get replacement converters for Priuses because so many get stolen. She also got a shield installed over it to make it harder to steal.
Trucks and vans are also popular for catalytic converter thefts because they’re higher off the ground and the converters are easier to get to.
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Julie Robinson said on January 21, 2022 at 5:00 pm
How does that work with insurance? Did she get a loaner car in the interim?
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Sherri said on January 21, 2022 at 5:12 pm
Julie, her insurance did cover a rental in the interim. When she went off our insurance, I thought our insurance agent had upsold her too much insurance for a car that was pretty old (we gave her our 2010 Prius when we bought a new car, and when she turned 25 two years ago, kicked her off our car insurance.) But, on the other hand, replacing her catalytic converter was covered and the rental for a month was covered.
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basset said on January 21, 2022 at 9:26 pm
Basset Jr. got hit from behind in traffic December fourth, car’s still drivable but we can’t get it into a body shop till the first of March. Meanwhile, most of the plastic around the back bumper’s held on with duct tape, known around here as “Alabama chrome.”
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Jeff Gill said on January 21, 2022 at 9:34 pm
JodiP @ #14: it really has been redemptive.
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Julie Robinson said on January 21, 2022 at 9:50 pm
It was a sweet sweet day when our kids couldn’t be on our car insurance anymore. But now I’m wondering if we need to check our coverage. We’ve had rentals for accidents yet it seems like this would be a different category.
We finally found time to watch Don’t Look Up tonight. Holy cow, what a movie.
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Dexter Friend said on January 21, 2022 at 10:03 pm
I was reminiscing with my brother about a “Telling Tales” News-Sentinel column about winter cyclists in Fort Wayne when I Googled nance and found this blog. I think this was around 2007 maybe.
The cold has gotten intense indeed. Below 15F and I must drip faucets. Biggest excitement here is my grandson’s car’s brakes went out but we got it to the repair garage alright. Then in Florida, my son-in-law the pilot came down with acute gallbladder pain and is about to go in for the laparoscopic surgery.
I used to be a big IU basketball fan but that was long, long ago. I was for Purdue last night because they have a real chance to go deep into the NCAA tournament. But Phinesee for IU sank a 3 pointer and Ivey for PU missed one, and IU won . Amazingly, the Red Wings are ahead of Dallas Stars 4-3 now with just a few to go….uhhh, Dallas just tied it up with 63 seconds to go…figures.
Netflix: Ricky Gervais’s “After Life”, six new half hour episodes are up. Good stuff.
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Ann said on January 21, 2022 at 10:16 pm
Bob Greene brought me here, to my lasting pleasure. So 2002, perhaps?
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basset said on January 21, 2022 at 11:20 pm
I am an IU alum and was there during the undefeated season in 1970-whenever, but I cannot bring myself to care about IU basketball and never have, just don’t feel a connection.
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susan said on January 21, 2022 at 11:21 pm
I think I got here via fritinancy. Or maybe it was the other way around. Quite a few years ago.
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Dexter Friend said on January 22, 2022 at 1:40 am
Red Wings lost in OT. Oh well.
At my old army pal’s urging I watched “Pig”, the Nic Cage vehicle. He never watches any movie unless it gets a stamp of approval by NYT reviewers. I had boycotted it because Nic Cage’s movies are not good anymore. This one is slow-paced similar to “Power of the Dog” was, is. I had to keep the toothpicks in, propping up the eyelids. What a weird movie. Nic Cage, man oh man, I just don’t know.
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Jeff Borden said on January 22, 2022 at 9:31 am
One of my favorite Neo-noir movies is “Red Rock West,” a twisty little crime drama set in Montana starring Nicholas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Laura Flynn Boyle and the great character actor, J.T. Walsh. When I try to share this gem with others, the mere mention of Cage immediately gets the hackles up on many, but it’s a freaking great film.
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Deborah said on January 22, 2022 at 2:36 pm
Jeff B, that sounds like a movie I’d like but not because of Cage, more because of Hopper and the trailer I watched after googling it. Also, I’m kind of into the American west, so there’s that.
LB is enjoying her unexpected extended stay in So CA, she and her friend went down to San Diego again this weekend. Meanwhile we’re back in winter but not horribly cold here in northern NM, like some of you in the upper midwest are experiencing. Highs here in the low 40s, lows in the low 20s, but sunny every day, that helps a lot. The quality of light here is amazing, better than CA even, I think.
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alex said on January 22, 2022 at 4:01 pm
Going to hubby’s belated work Christmas party tonight. They’re putting us all up in a hotel after plying us with free food and alcohol and games and prizes all night. They sure know how to inspire esprit de corps.
SIL is in town relieving my brother of home hospice duty, which he’s been performing for the last couple of weeks. As of Monday my mother said she was no longer eating or taking any medications and has stayed true to her word, although she rallied on Thursday night enough to watch the IU game and Jeopardy, and again last night to watch Jeopardy and another college basketball game. Otherwise she just sleeps.
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Colleen said on January 22, 2022 at 7:10 pm
Oh Alex, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope hospice will help ease her transition.
I have been hanging out here since the beginning. I found the blog because I missed reading Nancy’s column and had given her a Goog. I’d actually written her at the NS some years before after a column she had written struck home for me. I think it was about a young woman who had run off because she felt like she was failing at life.
Anyway. This little party is a regular part of my routine, and I appreciate this gathering of like minded folk. Thanks Nance!
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Deborah said on January 22, 2022 at 9:25 pm
Alex, I hope you are feeling peace, may your mother’s transition be painless and peaceful too.
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jerry said on January 23, 2022 at 2:55 am
More thanks to Nancy from England. Not sure how long I’ve been reading but it is part of my daily routine. It provides an interesting insight into American life for me.
Commenting is very occasional – I even have to type in my name and email each time as I can’t remember how to have my iPad remember them for me.
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Dexter Friend said on January 23, 2022 at 3:14 am
Always enjoy reading your comments, Jerry. I watch a lot of BritBox films and miniseries, and always wonder how it came to be that you drive on the left, we on the right. I also realize English drink much more tea than us, but you also drink coffee. It appears most English consider tea without milk is not acceptable, while here I’d wager most tea is served cold with ice and lemon.
I think I read something many years ago about ox-cart traffic setting the pattern for left-side driving, but why do we then drive opposite? Guess I could have Googled it. https://www.worldstandards.eu/cars/driving-on-the-left/
Your Ricky Gervais’s new episodes of “After Life” are just great. I love his work.
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jcburns said on January 23, 2022 at 9:50 am
Ricky Gervais is jerry’s? Are there additional Ricky Gervaises that other nn.c readers have?
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Deborah said on January 23, 2022 at 10:14 am
This is a fabulous place to visit “in” Abiquiu (but maybe not right now) https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/monks-in-new-mexico-desert-dedicated-to-hospitality-reflect-on-two-years-without-guests/2022/01/21/bbe4a932-6f35-11ec-b9fc-b394d592a7a6_story.html
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Suzanne said on January 23, 2022 at 10:43 am
As you all probably know, Green Bay lost last night, at home, on a last second very long field goal in the midst of bitter cold, wind, and snow. Aaron Rogers is being absolutely skewered on social media and I am here for it.
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Deborah said on January 23, 2022 at 12:56 pm
I don’t follow football, but Twitter is overflowing with jokes about Aaron Rogers and I wondered why.
So now one of our bi-fold closet doors in our Santa Fe condo bedroom fell off this morning. This is the third door we’ve had fall off of it’s pivots, 2 in Chicago and now this one here. This door is a cheap hollow core door and the bottom pivot had been inserted into a block of wood that someone previously must have done when this probably happened before. I ordered a corner piece to fix it from Amazon, none of the hardware stores seem to have what I need. My husband is in Abiquiu but will be back in Santa Fe tomorrow. He has a zoom call, he usually does those in that bedroom and his setup is such that the bifold door is in view, so he’s going to have to angle things differently for a call he has tomorrow or people are going to be looking into the closet, lol. It’s not that messy, but weird to have people having to see that in a business meeting. The hardware won’t be here until Tuesday and hopefully it will work. Someday we’ll replace these crappy bifold doors in both bedrooms and the laundry closet, but hopefully this fix will put that off for a while.
I’m so proud of myself, I got the Wordle word in 3 tries, in less than 5 minutes today, first time for that.
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Julie Robinson said on January 23, 2022 at 2:11 pm
Oh I hate those doors with a passion. Not so big on sliding closet doors either since those also seem to go off track all the time. In Orlando we’ve removed them from the old part of the house and either put up curtains or left them empty. It’s a very motivating way to keep your closet clean.
Alex, somehow I missed that your mother was in hospice care. I’m praying for peace for your family and absence of pain for her. And especially for your dad, what a difficult thing this will be.
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Dorothy said on January 23, 2022 at 2:44 pm
Alex your mom will be on my mind in the coming days. Hoping she is not in pain and that you are holding up. Four and a half years later and I still get a little teary-eyed thinking of my mom or talking about her. She was a terrific mom and such a great role model.
So this morning our water handle in the shower gave out. I could not get the water to turn off and yelled for my husband. Thank heavens this did not happen on a work day when he’d be on his way to to his office while I was getting ready. A call to a plumber is in order tomorrow. We do our walk-through of the house at 9 AM tomorrow and then we close on the 31st. My last day at work is this Friday. We are on sensory overload these days. Appointments for taking the big screen t.v. off the wall, delivery at the new house of the stove and fridge; new internet access will be connected later that same day. Movers come Tuesday next, and they bring our stuff the next day. We have to replace carpeting in the entire 2nd floor in old house cuz the dog scratched holes (anxiety post tornado) in three places. Plus it’s old and worn out and it’s time. Haven’t booked someone to clean the old house yet to make it ready for when the house goes on the market (Feb 10). If I survive the next three weeks I’ll feel quite powerful. At times it feels like I’m walking a tightrope without a net or even a balancing pole.
Have any of you had cryosurgery? I had a facial spot zapped on Friday. It’s supposed to dry up and drop off soon and I’m glad I had it done. In the meantime I’m glad to have to put a mask on to avoid anyone staring at this huge red spot on my left cheek.
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Julie Robinson said on January 23, 2022 at 2:54 pm
Dorothy, having just gone through this, I have three pieces of advice for you: deep breathing, five minutes of distraction, and chocolate. Our last three moves have been under the time pressure of having to move out before our new place was ready, despite promises made. Sounds like you have a bit of leeway. Still…I know, I know.
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Suzanne said on January 23, 2022 at 3:35 pm
Alex, I feel for you. My dad passed away in 2020, in a home with COVID raging. Thank God he was in hospice by then so we were allowed in to be with him. Hang in there.
My husband is retiring this summer and we are planning to move to something smaller. I am kinda freaking out already. He carries the insurance so we have to figure that out, downsizing is a pain, dealing with elderly parents, too…it’s all overwhelming.
I have had a couple of spots taken off my face by being burned off with some sort of frozen something and yeah, it got very red then this big, ugly scab. One was on the side of my nose so that was fun. But all the sudden the scab fell off and all was good!
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Dorothy said on January 23, 2022 at 3:56 pm
It was liquid nitrogen, Suzanne, so yeah that’s the sequence the doctor told me should happen. Once the scab falls off, I’ll use a little Doc Spartan to make sure it heals well. Mike used that on his neck after having his thyroid out and the emergency surgery the next day to get the blood clot out of his throat and his scar is really minimal.
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Julie Robinson said on January 23, 2022 at 5:06 pm
Suzanne, our income dropped enough that we paid very little for ACA insurance. It was more than a thousand/month less than employer coverage and less than our Medicare premiums now. So, the bad news is you’re poor but the good news is getting insurance subsidies.
I’ve never heard of Doc Spartan but I’m intrigued since I scar easily.
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Dorothy said on January 23, 2022 at 6:16 pm
Google it, Julie. I think you have to order it a specific website. Our son found out about when he was deployed, I think. He didn’t have a wound or anything but it was stuff other soldiers talked about. Comes in a tin and it’s kind of like a Vaseline thing but not exactly.
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Deborah said on January 23, 2022 at 7:41 pm
I’ve had a bunch of those face things frozen off before but this past summer I had so many that my dermatologist prescribed a cream (topical chemo) that burned almost my whole face off. Mostly my forehead, upper lip, chin and some spots on my cheeks. It was horribly painful, took a month of applying the cream every night and then a month to heal. I don’t ever want to go through that again so I use sun screen and wear hats religiously when I’m in the sun, which is always in NM. Mostly I’m paying for growing up in Miami, FL before anyone knew about sunscreen.
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alex said on January 23, 2022 at 11:25 pm
Strange, but since my mom stopped eating and taking her meds at the beginning of the week her cognition has improved. She came to the dinner table tonight and was quite chipper. She rebuffed offers of food. She’s at peace with her decision and seems physically comfortable, and that’s how she wants to go out.
I’ll probably be moving in to take care of my dad, who was totally dependent on my mom. He faints and falls a lot and really needs to have someone around. I was planning to eventually take their house, so I guess the transition starts now.
I had planned to make my house and the one we own next door into income-producing rental properties for my retirement, but in this insane housing market with bidding wars going on I’m thinking it might make more sense to sell. Some developer just bought a house down the street with an extra lot and plans to demolish the house and build a big new one. We just learned of it as the house and lot were never listed. Properties are changing hands quietly these days in this neighborhood, and when things do get listed they vanish from the Internet within hours. Realtor.com is estimating my properties right now at more than twice what I paid for them.
I was going to convert the house next door from an oil furnace to gas, which would have required a considerable outlay. It’s tempting to make it someone else’s problem (or not, if they’re just going to raze it and build something else).
Hoping I can convince my employer to let me work remotely. They’re afraid of making exceptions because of the domino effect that would ensue. I’m thinking I could afford to quit and then devote myself fully to a job search for something that would better meet my needs.
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Dexter Friend said on January 23, 2022 at 11:59 pm
The temperature dropped like a rock from the sky and it’s now 3F. Last night the weather app I use reported it would not drop below 15F until much later in the day. I just walked Pogo and it does not feel like 3F. I was watching football and just checked the weather now and I hope the pipes are not frozen.
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Jeff Gill said on January 24, 2022 at 7:56 am
Alex, I’m feeling it right with you. Prayers of mercy and blessing on our respective roads ahead. These endgame scenarios are all quite similar and totally different.
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Dave said on January 24, 2022 at 8:47 am
Alex, sending many positive thoughts, having gone through such a hard time, I and many others here can relate and I like Jeff Gill’s words above, it’s all quite similar and totally different.
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LAMary said on January 24, 2022 at 10:18 am
Deborah, virtual backgrounds are very useful for Zoom meetings. There are lots you can download but I use my own photos. I have great photo of the view from my deck that inspires Zoom meeting envy. If I didn’t use a virtual background I would be showing off the shelf in kids’ old bedroom, youth soccer trophies and all.
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