Take the Long Way Home

Inspired by my blogging friends at The Cynical Sailor & His Salty Sidekick and their scenic boat-shopping tour of the U.S., we decided we should take a bit more leisurely route back to the boat.  Ok, I also didn't want to do the 3+ day marathon driving trip again.  Of course, this time of year doesn't seem to be lending itself to a nice trip for anything north of the 36' 30° parallel, so I think we will be going south.

I've got some friends and family I would like to see in Texas, then I think we are going to meander somewhere roughly along the path of I-10.  Of course, at the moment I have no idea what we should check out along the way.  So, if you happen to know of any place along the way that we should check out, please let us know.  And where is that world's largest ball of yarn anyway? ;-)

So, we'll be taking the long way home...to the boat...

Definitely Not Home Anymore

My wife and I, with my parent's help, have been putting in long hours the last several days trying to meet a deadline with our house.  The realtor was scheduled to come on Wednesday to take pictures for the MLS listing for our house so we could put it on the market today.

Proof it is for sale...the realty sign

If you have ever seen our house you know that, while we aren't dirty people, we don't keep the house spotless. There are just too many things to do in life to spend hours every day cleaning a home.  And since we owned a home that...in true American fashion...was way bigger than we needed, over 18 years we accumulated a lot of stuff to fill that space.  Not necessarily useful stuff and, if I had it all to do over again, I doubt I would have bought much of it...but we were busy being good American consumers. It has been quite an undertaking to move completely out, clean it all up, and get it ready to sell.  And we almost made it by the time the realtor arrived with his camera (the images here are mine, not the realtor).

Living room and hall

Family room

There are still a couple small piles of stuff in the garage...mostly extra packing boxes and cleaners...but we should be done with it all today.  Then we need to re-pack and re-evaluate what has been earmarked for transport to the boat while we spend a day or so at my mother-in-law's place.  I think we may have just a bit more than will fit in the Prius, at least if we intend to fit ourselves in it as well.

Master bath

Master Bedroom

If you happen to know of someone who wants to move to the Denver metro area, we know of a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath house they can buy and move in immediately.  It has a number of upgrades to make it more energy efficient, including being one of the few in our neighborhood to be built to the Ideal Energy Home standards of the day.  I know our utility bills are about half of some of our neighbors. If we had stayed, we probably would have added solar and tried to see how close to net zero we could get.  Unlike many of the houses of the period, the lower level of this house is all brick for lower maintenance. The neighborhood is desirable and is supposed to have good schools (our dogs didn't use them).  Since it is early spring, you can't tell from the pictures but the back yard is actually a nice retreat to hang out in during the summer.

Update:  It appeared in the MLS mid-morning yesterday.  You can see it here as long as the listing lasts.

The backyard retreat

So, wish us luck as we make the move to the boat...if the wheels don't fall off the Prius trying to get us and the stuff across the country.

Getting There

I think we are finally getting a handle on the house. It still amazes me how much stuff there is once all the big items are gone.  Thanks to Freecycle, the mattress, dinette chairs, and a number of other things (all were offered and taken by the nice couple that responded to the mattress ad) are gone. The pathfinder is also gone now, so we have more limited means of hauling than we did before.

Most of the rest of the stuff that is left has been boxed and moved to the garage.  There is a small pile of stuff to keep (either boat or storage), a larger pile of stuff to donate, another large pile to recycle, and a small pile of trash.  Oh, did I mention that today was trash day?  Our trash service comes with the cans and this was our last pick up. We had hoped they would not show up until the afternoon...so of course they were here by 9am.

After getting the house cleared, in came the steam cleaner.  Our real estate agent said our carpets were fine and replacement would likely be a waste of time as the new owners would probably want to replace them with their own choice anyway.  So, we rented a Rug Doctor and, after vacuuming, steam cleaned the carpets.  For as old as they are, the carpets still look fairly decent...a surprise for builders grade carpeting.

Speaking of surprises, one of the vacuums we borrowed (not the one pictured above) was sure one.  With all the advertising and the price tag of Dyson, I found that the one we tried using was terrible.  It was less effective than a refurbished Hoover WindTunnel vacuum we picked up at Big Lots for about 1/10 the price.  And all those claims about design innovations...well...I think my wife summed it up best: "This thing was obviously designed by someone that has never actually used a vacuum".  I could say that the Dyson sucked...but normally a vacuum should and it didn't seem to do that either.

As of this morning all of the rooms are empty except the kitchen.  And we need to get that cleared out and cleaned up quickly as the real estate agent is coming over to take pictures to create the listing. Everyone says it is a good time to be selling in the Denver market, so hopefully we will get it sold soon.  In any case, we should be heading for the boat in the next few days.  Yay!

Aaaaaagh.....

Sorry for going radio silent for a little while.  It has been quite hectic around here.  We had the nice going away party last Sunday and it was nice to see my old friends and make some new ones.  Of course, as dizzy as I've been recently, I totally forgot to take any pictures while I was there (doh!).  I do want to thank everyone who stopped by to wish us well.

Some "provisions" we were given during the party.

Since the party we've been running around like the proverbial headless chickens trying to get rid of stuff.  It still amazes me how much cruft we have to deal with.  The only furniture we have left is our mattress lying on the floor in our bedroom, one table, and a couple dilapidated dinette chairs.  It kind of reminds me how we first started living out of college...not a lot of furniture.  The difference is all the small stuff though...man you can accumulate a lot in 18 years.

Many trips to every imaginable donation place (Goodwill, ARC, Habitat for Humanity, etc.). A trip down to the metal recycling center with old computer carcasses (steel cases, motherboards, hard drives...all separated of course), fence stakes, buckets of hardware, and other metallic things we couldn't find a home for or reason to keep (it is amazing what they will recycle..and depending on what you have there is some money in it..between our two trips we made $125).

Boxing up the things we want to store like picture albums, heirlooms, paperwork.  Decided to buy a small fire safe to store some paperwork in lieu of paying for a safe deposit box for some necessary (but not exactly valuable) paperwork.  Then stashing these boxes with nearby relatives.

Spending some quality time on eBay and Craigslist trying to get a few more dollars for some of our better "stuff".  Our mountain bikes are now sold, so we will be looking for some possibly folding ones once we get to Florida.  Running to CarMax and EchoPark to get appraisals on our old Pathfinder (which should disappear later today...after we cart the table my computer is currently sitting on to Goodwill).

The almost gone Pathfinder...and house...I hope.

And yesterday we met with the real estate agent.  The sign is hiding in the garage, and we are prepared to list the house.  That should happen early next week.

The sign waiting in the garage.

The goal was to be cleared out by last Tuesday...but this isn't any different than any other plan made by a cruiser...a wave comes along and wipes away any trace of that plan scribbled in the sand.  Now I guess we will see if we are on the road by Easter.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Twang Goes The Dock Line

They call the act of heading off cruising "cutting the dock lines".  Untethering yourself from your previous land-based life as it were. Well, that twang was the sound of another dock line of ours being cut. Not the last one, but an important one nonetheless. You see, yesterday was my wife's last day at work.

Goodbye card signed by her coworkers

I think this was a particularly tough day for her.  She's had this job since shortly after she graduated from college and has spent the last 23.5 years there.  She has seen a lot in her time there (personally I'm not sure how anyone can watch laws being made for that long) and made many friends there. And given she had no less than three going away gatherings at work, I'm pretty sure that (as the above card stated) she will be missed there. But this morning she no longer has to drive to the office.

A bit more picturesque than the average office building
(Picture by Chris Gonzalez, released under GFDL)

I didn't really realize it until recently, but the way we divided up our tasks was probably more difficult for her. While I was living and working on the boat, she was in Colorado wrapping things up here.  So, while I was seeing positive progress (albeit sometimes VERY slow progress), she mostly dealt with things going away.  Fortunately only a few more days remain of those tasks, then we all head back to the east coast and to our new floating home.

After the party, of course.

Bon Voyage Gathering - You're Invited

Now that things are finally coming down to the wire back in Colorado, I think it is time to have a party.  But...there is just one problem...an empty house isn't exactly the best venue for throwing a party.  The lack of tables...and chairs...and just about everything else just won't work for a gathering.

We thought about doing a cruiser style party...those are typically pot-luck affairs where you bring your own favorite drink and some food to share...but I don't think that would work out as well with guests all across the Denver area as it does in a marina or anchorage.

So, we decided to try a hybrid approach.  We are going to try to meet up with a bunch of folks at a new brewpub that recently (at least to me) opened in the area to say farewell over a couple beers.  They have about a dozen different beers on tap at any given time so you should be able to find something to your liking.

If you are hungry, this place doesn't have a kitchen itself but schedules a variety of food trucks to provide the food, and reports are that they are good.  On Sunday it will be Taj Palace (Indian).

If you are reading this and will be in the Denver area on Sunday, March 29th, please drop in.  Here is some information on the Wonderland Brewing Company:

Wonderland Brewing Company
5450 W 120th Ave
Broomfield, Colorado 80020

2~4pm Sunday March 29th

Map


Come join us for a beer, chat about our upcoming adventure, and say bon voyage!

P.S. If you think you might be coming, please let us know so we know how many tables to hoard.  If you don't have other contact information for us, the email form at the bottom of the right hand column will work just fine.

Being Slug-ish

A week or two ago one of the blogs I regularly read did a monthly recap.  In the recap they had mentioned that they spent a couple days as "complete and utter slugs" while waiting out some bad weather.  According to their account they didn't do anything except read, work on their blog, snack and catch up on some TV shows.  Usually tossing out the term "slug" implies a negative connotation, that somehow they should have been doing something more with their time.  So, naturally (and with tongue-in-cheek), I had to respond.  I quipped something about the virtues of the slug lifestyle and that it must be OK because you never hear of slugs having heart attacks.

(image from quintessentialruminations)

While my comment was intended with a hearty veil of humor, there was also a little bit of a lesson that life has been trying to teach me mixed in.  You see, my career in the software industry has always been fast paced and fairly stressful.  It was pretty rare when I would have the chance to unwind and it seems I had just about forgotten how to do that.  When I used to go on vacation, at best I may have just started to unwind a bit by the time the vacation was over.  And I'm pretty sure I am far from alone on this.  Otherwise this clip from CitySlickers might have been left on the cutting room floor...

https://youtu.be/-1bTe54j6PQ?t=2m34s

For me, the worst part is the irony between what my industry was supposed to do and what it has actually done.  Remember how these "computing devices" I've worked on my whole life were supposed to make life easier?  It doesn't really seem they have done that, have they?  Sure, it makes some things easier.  You can make phone calls more easily, and check your email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pintrest, and other things at any time from virtually anywhere.  You now have the internet at your fingertips and can instantly find the answers to most of our questions. Yes, we have certainly made communications easier.  But making communication easier doesn't seem to have made life any easier...instead it seems to have made life more fast-paced and hectic. Now that you can receive calls and email from just about anywhere, your boss or your customers now expect instant answers at any time.  As a society, we seem to have lost patience.  And the stress from all of this seems to be killing us.

So, back to the idea of the slug.  I don't think there is anything wrong with being a slug, if that is what you want to call it.  A little slower paced, more deliberate lifestyle is something I think we all could use.  It is something I continue to struggle with but keep striving for in my own life.  My friends over at The Cynical Sailor & His Salty Sidekick just completed another post on "The Art of Being a Slug" and, while being another humor infused post, I think it does have some pretty good lessons to offer if you just think about it.  So I will ask you to go and embrace your inner slug...the life you save may be your own.

And I'll leave you with something appropriate from the Eagles...


Learn To Be Still by siouxnavajo