Welcome to Dullsville

Yes Virginia, It Snows In Southern California

Wow, three in a row. Making up for lost time here!

Thought it was time to post some pictures of the new house.

Have I said that we love it here? Love the house, the town, the neighborhood, the new folks we've met.

And it snows here! We had several snowstorms in February, March and early April. Now I'm not saying that I'm about to buy a snow blower or anything. It never amounted to more than 3 inches or so, but it was cool. Here are some pictures of the tree across the street and the yard.

Looking out at that tree is due east. The picture on the left is looking slightly towards the north. Behind that house is a mountain that forms the foothills of the larger mountain, San Gorgonio (11,500 ft.), right behind it. Very interesting rock formations in the ridge, you can see where one slab has ridden up over another. No surprise there, it's very seismically active around here, the San Andreas Fault is just down the hill from us. We are at about 3,500 ft. elevation, which is the reason for the occasional snowfalls.

But the best views are out the back, looking west. Some hills below us, and in the distance, the LA Basin. On hot days, we can see the layer of smog hovering like an ugly smudge down there. I have noticed a big difference in the air quality up here and a corresponding difference in my breathing. Definitely better for my health.

The sunsets are the best. Here are some shots taken from the big room. To the left is the kitchen, to the right the living room or family room. It's just one big open area, with mostly glass along the west wall. There are still some pictures on the floor in these shots. We've made a lot of progress since then. We are setting up the formal dining room as a sort of game room, with bookshelves around the walls, a pool table and a TV in the nook that would normally be for a china cabinet. Still a little work to be done in that room. Haven't found a pool table yet.

We had a big, sort of rustic wooden mantel fashioned for the fireplace. No pictures of that yet. We've been using that fireplace a lot. In our last place we did not have one, although we did have a pool. Given the choice, I'll take a fireplace over a pool. A few of our neighbors are getting bids to have pools built, at outrageous cost. I'm sure they will be beautiful, but I'll pass. 17 years taking care of a pool was enough for me. It was great when the kids were little, but during the last couple of years in that house, no one was using it.

We have had a landscape designer put together a plan for low maintenance, low water backyard landscaping. However, one large section will be dug out and soil amended for wine grape vines. I hope to grow 35 to 45 vines in order to make my own wine. According to the reading I've been doing, it will take 3 to 4 years for them to produce the grapes I will need. By that time I'll be getting close to retirement and looking for a hobby. Sounds to me like an enjoyable way to pass the time.

So there you have it, 3 posts in one night. I'm trying to break this writer's block. Who knows, maybe that story from the Tetons will be next.

The Fuse Is Burning

...and I'm the powder keg.

We are getting down to the wire. Final walk through on the house is scheduled (tentatively, like everything else these jackasses have scheduled) for December 14, and they are insisting we close a couple of days before Christmas. I am seething with anger at these people. I wake up at night and lie awake for hours thinking about how sour this whole deal seems. A couple of nights ago I awoke with my heart beating like I had just run a marathon. Never did get back to sleep that night.

The idea of closing on the 23rd or 24th is absurd. We won't be able to move in until after Christmas. This on top of 3 months of delays, shoddy construction, incredibly poor response to my concerns and total disorganization on the part of the developer, has just gotten to be too much. I have reached a point where I won't even acknowledge the greetings of the saleslady who is the rep we deal with. I detest all involved, and I know that at the next meeting I'm going to tell them exactly what I think.

In my job, I regularly deal with customers who are spending a great deal of money for the services I provide. Most of these customers are very demanding, and some are quite difficult. It is my responsibility to respond to their needs and make them feel comfortable with me and the company I work for. That may be the most important part of my job. After all, it is these customers who make it possible for me to receive a paycheck every week. I make it my business to like them, and have them like and trust me. It is not the least bit insincere. I am very grateful to these folks.

I have not at all felt that the people I am dealing with in buying this home have these same feelings of obligation or gratitude. It irritates me to no end to have to give my money to them. They simply don't deserve it.

When I tell them about my dissatisfaction with their lack of professionalism, I fully expect them to offer me my deposit back. I expect this because they have done the same thing with the people who are buying next door, who are also extremely unhappy. If they make this offer, I think that I just might take it. Now, I know that I will be shooting myself in the foot since they can sell the house for significantly more than I paid for it back in February. This, of course, is why they are making the offer in the first place. Also, I fear that if I back out, I will break my wife's heart.

This shouldn't be such a miserable experience. This should be a happy time.

And So it Goes

Feeling rather Vonnegut-ish these days.

We are still in the rental. Latest move in date is the first week of December (they wouldn't want to be any more specific than that). We were up at the house a few times this past weekend meeting with some design people, and it sure doesn't look to us as if there is any way on God's green earth that these morons will have the house ready by then. I have reached a point where I won't even speak to the sales lady. Darlene is still nice to her, but I think that is starting to change. I'm starting to have violent fantasies about the development company.

The kids are hanging in there. George went to Homecoming dance for the first time. He and his date looked incredible. I have pictures of that and the house, but access is so infrequent that I don't have the pictures available to download. Someday...............

Emilie's grades are up, much to everyone's joy. It seems the lack of TV and internet has increased her focus a bit. She's also on severe restriction with her cell phone due to going WAY over her minutes twice now. We all four now have cell phones, since we no longer have a house phone. Life sure is different.

Darlene hates it. Her commute is long, she takes the train, but that doesn't really seem to be the issue. She says that she just wants to be "home". In this case, that seems to mostly mean the ability to unpack all our stuff. It has gotten to be a daily occurrence to look for something we really need, only to realize that it is packed away in the mountain of stuff out in the garage. It's been 3 months now and I expect it will be at least one more.

We spoke to the folks who bought the house next door to ours, and, boy, are they pissed. They've been living with their son and his family after selling their home in another state. I think things are beginning to wear on all involved after this has dragged on much longer than anticipated.

I bought an extra car, since both kids are learning to drive. We needed one for George to drive when he gets his license. I have been planning a post on cars in general, but with lack of access....well, you know. Anyway, it's a cool car, a 1962 Ford Falcon station wagon in amazing condition, with a straight 6 under the hood(didn't want anything powerful for the boy). It's a one owner car, just sold after his death at the estate sale. We don't have it yet, it's on the east coast and is waiting to be shipped. I do have a few pictures on this computer, so here it is.

I love American cars. Might be dumb, or sentimental, I know, but I just love 'em. They're just so.......well.....American. I can just see old George in the old wagon with his surfboards heading out to the beach.

All for now, back to work.

The Move Part 4 or House Sold

I can't imagine that anyone is still reading this, but here's a new one.

The old house sold in 72 hours for our asking price. The new owners wanted a fast escrow, less than 30 days. We went crazy trying to get everything out of there, but had everything out in 28 days. In the end, it didn't close until last Tuesday, about 36 days after we opened escrow. Not bad. So happy to be completely done with that house. One big load off my mind.

We had movers come in and move all the big stuff. One big truckload. Most of it is now in the garage of the rental. Just the necessary things are inside. No television or internet. Just using cell phones for now.

The current move-in time for the new house is the end of November. That house is coming along, but it still seems like forever until it is ready. We all feel like our lives are on hold. My daughter keeps saying she wants to go home. I do too. The kids have good days and bad days, depending on how their social lives are going.

My wife and I have started to question whether this was such a good idea. We never figured on two moves and this limbo we are currently living in.

I do like the new town. Very much a small-town feel. I doubt that it will be like that in 10 years, but right now it's great.

Will try to post from time to time, it should get better after the final move.

The Move Part3 or Now it Starts Getting Crazy

I don't have much time. This house went on the market Thursday, and this is our first weekend. We left the house all day yesterday (Saturday), and will do the same today. We had some folks look at the house both Thursday and Friday, and it appears that yesterday was busy. We've been told that an offer is being made by a young couple who saw the house yesterday. This is a perfect first home. It's small and manageable, with most things a couple starting out would want: garage, 3 bedrooms, big backyard with a pool. Apparently, the father of the couple met my daughter yesterday afternoon when she stopped by to change after work. He asked her what was wrong with this house, why would anyone want to leave it? She said that 4 full size adults living in this house makes it feel crowded, and we just need a little more room. Good answer, Em.

The big news, and the thing that has kept me away from the computer, is that we discovered some things regarding the kids schooling that has changed our plans radically.  We were planning to transfer them from their current school to the new one in late November, early December. Then we found out that the new school works on a block semester schedule. In other words, 4 subjects run for two semesters, ending in January, and then another 4 subjects start which end in June. The school the kids attend now just runs all the courses for the entire year. Therefore, if we were to transfer them in during December, they would be coming in to 4 courses that were almost complete. While my son, as a 10th grader might survive this, it could result in Emilie not getting the credits to graduate (she's a senior). The school would not allow us to enroll them and commute them without an address in town. We showed them the address on our house-to-be but that didn't work unless escrow was closed. No inter-district transfer either.

We deliberated over this for a while, and then finally decided to rent a house in town until ours is ready. I'll live there with the kids, Darlene will commute to her job from the old house in order to keep an eye on it until it sells. Darlene has already been offered a teaching job near the new house, but has committed to this school year at the old school, so she will have to commute for a year.

Besides the kids schooling, the other benefit to renting is that we will not have to ask buyers for a long escrow. At this point, I'd like to see this place go quickly.

What we are doing, is moving the necessities to the rental tomorrow and Tuesday. I'm taking the time off work, and Darlene and I will rent a truck and do the move. Then, when the house sells, we will hire a moving company to pick up all the big stuff and store it until the new house is ready. Whew! I never imagined it would get this crazy.

I have spent every evening after work fixing and improving stuff around the house to get it looking nice. Darlene has been packing everything and filled our storage space with boxes, the remainder of which will go into the garage at the rental house. Because our garage has been the staging area for the boxes, there hasn't been room to tear the garage apart and get it ready for the move. I'm dreading that task. I'm sure there will be a truckload of stuff going to the dump.

Anyway, here are some pictures showing the progression of the house. It's starting to look like a house from the inside. Walking around it is exciting. I really like the layout and the piece of land it is on.

Posts will be scarce, as they have been, and when this place sells, I'm sure we will be off line for at least a couple of months. I do have a laptop to make occasional visits, so check back now and then.

The Move Part 2 or Makeover

I haven't had much to write about regarding the new house. Very little has been done, and I'm starting to get alarmed and pissed off. In fact, we will drive out there today and see if they are working on Saturdays. I've been monitoring the progress, or lack thereof, on my way home from a project I have going on out in that direction.

Because we still don't have a confirmed move in date, we are still unsure of when to put this house on the market. It's all very unnerving, especially with the uncertainty of real estate prices.

In the meantime, however, we've been working on getting this house as appealing as possible. Inside, we gutted the second bathroom down to the studs and had it completely redone. The first bathroom we did about 5 years ago, and it still looks great. We replaced the kitchen fixtures, stove, oven, hood, and dishwasher. Replaced the plumbing under the kitchen sink and some of the old damaged wood as well. I replaced the pool pump and heater. All of this work was interior and back yard, and did not do anything for "curb appeal".

So I had the outside painted, the roof redone and replaced the junky old tilt up garage door with a roll up.  Here are the before and after photos from the street.

All in all, spent about 15 large. Not cheap, but it needed doing. Now, of course, we sit around and wonder why we didn't do it sooner. "Hey', I said to my wife, 'maybe we should just stay here!" The look I got in return said, "No!"

The Move part 1 or How We Got Here

I lived a simple life for a long time. There were years when I lived on the move, spending time in this city or that. All I owned was in my backpack. At times, I'd stow it in a corner for a year or so, ready to move on when the urge struck me.  It was like a cross between "On the Road" and that old show "Route 66".....except I didn't have a Corvette.

After around 5 years of this, my "stuff" expanded to where it would fit in a footlocker. I dragged this from one apartment to another in Greenwich Village through the mid-70's. In 1977, my buddy kindly shipped it to California for me with his stuff. I rode my bike across and we shared a house in Manhattan Beach.  Over the next 9 years I accumulated some furniture and continued to live in apartments.

In 1986 I got married. My wife and I lived in a little apartment a block from the sand in Hermosa Beach. In 1987 my wife got pregnant, and in February 1988 our daughter Emilie was born. This is when everything changed for me. Within 6 months the beach community became a totally different place in my perception. All the noise and crowds became unpleasant especially in a little apartment 10 feet from a busy street.  I started feeling as if I owed my kid a real house to grow up in. Wow, what a concept, owning a house.  And so at 38 I became a homeowner.  We still didn't have much in the way of furniture and stuff, so the move was not so bad.

The house was small, 1,250 square feet, on a 7600 square foot lot. Two car garage, in ground pool and jacuzzi. Built in 1971, has that almost 60's California styling to it. Not necessarily in a good way. It was also pretty far out in the "sticks", in a small undeveloped community. But it was well below what we could afford, so I felt comfortable with the purchase, and I still felt as if I was living a fairly simple lifestyle. We both had jobs and were doing alright, we figured we'd put the kid in preschool. My wife was fortunate enough to be able to work out of the house for 18 months. Then we decided to have another baby.

Meanwhile, my work was bringing me into contact with daycare centers. The company I worked for had a couple of large centers as accounts. As I worked in these places, I watched what went on. I started talking to my wife about her staying home with the (soon to be) two kids. This marked a complete about face for me in my thinking regarding the raising of children. It took me a awhile to convince her, but within about 10 months of our son's birth, she became a stay at home mom. This pretty much made it certain that we would have to stay in the house we were living in. It was all we could afford, and times were very tight for a while on one income.

I won't go into great detail here about the advantages of  raising little ones with a parent at home. I have modified (again) some of my feelings on this subject now that I have the benefit of  experience. I will say that my wife made an outstanding stay at home mom. She volunteered in the classrooms when the kids started elementary school, became the secretary of the PTA and the leader of a Girl Scout Troop.  Her involvement at school resulted in her becoming the computer lab instructor at the kids' school 17 hours per week.  She did really well at this job and a few years ago went back to college to get the necessary credits for a teaching credential (she already had a Bachelors in Social Welfare).

And so, 17 years passed. The small community surprised everyone by becoming a hub of development, with every major retailer and lots of businesses locating here. A new freeway got built. City planners had their heads on pretty straight, creating lots of parks and nice shopping areas. But the developers have gone wild, there is no longer a lot to be had. And the tracts they build are all the same, big two story houses on minuscule pieces on land. Traffic has increased exponentially.

And those two little bundles of joy? Well, they are in high school. George, 15, is taller than me, and Emilie, 17 is just a bit shorter. They are constantly busy, coming and going, friends showing up. Suddenly, this little house started feeling like a closet. My wife and I have NO privacy. It's like living in a train station, and there is nowhere to retreat.  We need more space for living. I can see that it will not be such a simple life from now on.

Fortunately, the build up of this community has resulted in property values going through the roof. This house has more than tripled in value, so we have some money to work with. But, of course, if we buy here we won't get much of an upgrade. So we started looking further out in "the sticks". We need to stay in southern California, our jobs have us anchored here. My wife started teaching full time this year, 8th grade Physical Science, and she loves it. I have about 8 to 10 years to go before retirement is possible, and I need to stay in my union to get the most out of my pension.

We really liked a community about 30 miles east of here called Yucaipa. It's much more rural. We started looking at houses up high in the hills, at about 3500 feet. We found a new area where 16 homes are planned and were early enough to take our pick of the lots. It's the highest point of the grouping with views from the front and the back. Our rear neighbor is about 30 feet below us, so no obstruction of the view of the LA Basin. From the front you look straight up to the mountains. Best of all, we are finally up out of the smog that lays in the basin. There are horse ranches in the surrounding area, and a chicken ranch down the street.  The house that is planned is the smallest floor plan of the group, but it is still huge in comparison to anything I've ever lived in. It's 3100 square feet, single story. So we've made the commitment, given the developer 5% (don't ask), and it looks like we're moving.

The house won't be complete until late August, early September. Lots to do between now and then. We have to get this place sold, and time it right for the completion date of the new place. Apparently we have to go to the "Design Center" in April and see all the bells and whistles you can put in the house.

Quite frankly, I don't know whether to be excited or terrified.