Sounds like a notable improvement. Good.

Sent by thought transference

Good to hear UT.
The dinner invite stands. Oh, and we have a new bird feeder arrangement now. Come check it out anyway.

I looked at a place in King of Prussia today and realized how I am old

It had everything - everything! except two things were missing

One, no dishwasher.

Two, no insulation in the attic. Not one single roll.

In my 20s, 30s, and 40s, #1 was a deal-breaker

In my 50s #2 is far worse

In my 20s I would not have looked in the attic.

In my 30s and 40s I would looked and not noticed what was missing.

The owners bought the place in November and they are early-30s.

Now I look and I say, WTF you young people, with your investment property, you've put in all this attention to detail, you are at least pretending to be so anal about this place and yet you forgot about this. Because you are 30-somethings and you don't even know!

If this remains my favorite place, I will go back to them, and tell them to spend a few hundred and address that shit, because they want me as a tenant. Because I am fucking awesome as a tenant.

Wow...we had a dishwasher when I was growing up because my grandpa worked for kitchenaid...but this one right here is the first one I've had in my many dwellings since I left home. And I never use it. But I'm like Ms Bohemian.

Awesome tenants are awesome. I've also been accused of being one. There are so many nightmare tenants out there.

Glad you like the place!

I remember pretending to be a grown-up in my 30's. Grown-ups are mostly in their 70's and 80's now.

It's all over but the signing; I will be living in King of Prussia.

Now I have to figure out a title.

Earl of Prussia.
Baron of Prussia.
Viscount of Prussia.
Dauphin of Prussia.
Duke of Prussia.
Admiral of Prussia.
Marquess of Prussia.
Sultan of Prussia.
Emir of Prussia.
Shah of Prussia.
Sieur de Prussia.

What is best, friends?

I thought everyone in King Of Prussia had an Imperial attitude. You could be something unique, honored, and special: Peasant.

Go the other way. Serf of Prussia. That's good, I like that.

When they say "Surfs Up", is that a complement?

Serf of Prussia is nice. You live in the kingdom, you work the land, and on your wedding night the King gets to bang your fiancee first. A man can be proud of that.

Take a gamble on any of them. Prussian Roulette, you could call it. :)

If you were le Dauphin of Prussia, some wag would no doubt insist you were a shark.

Ha!

Dwellar of Prussia

Sir Toad, of Prussia

From Prussia with love?


Anyway, what about Lord Protector of the Realm of Prussia?

Prussian Monkey

Write a song for your band: I Got the Prussian Blues

Baron Friedrich VonSteubenToad of Prussia

Risky business, you could have Putin invading at 3 AM. :unsure:

The signing is over! I now have a residence with a roof that doesn't leak, a sewage system that drains to the outside, heat that doesn't smell like a truck stop, no known infestations, and a driveway that is not on a hill and is not full of potholes and mud.

And most of all, a landlord that seems highly engaged and helpful.

Now all I have to do is move my stuff to it.

Excellent, I'm glad the new base of operations is making life smoother.

Nice! :)

Good news.

Pics! Pics! Pics!

http://cellar.org/2015/newplace.jpg

It looks bigger than it is because of that big blue umbrella. Bing dot. Also there's this weird cutout roof area on the back quarter, which is roof over nothing in particular.

Obviously, do not stalk me. Do not do such a thing it is unhealthy

the rest is unremarkable right now as it is plain grey carpet and plain white walls. But that's what you want

And the toilets don't flush into the sink!

That is definitely what you want.

Ah crap, now you're gonna get soft and spoiled. :haha:

Picky picky.

That's a great front door. Think you can shoot a staple into the lock? :p:

Oh good Lord!

well alright

Wow!! What good news~!!!

It turns out a little 50s renovated rancher like this rents for the same price as a 2BR condo in a building. I believe that rents for apartment buildings and rental townhouses has risen in this area due to H1B visas. Dey took er jobs!! And den dey took er condos!!

Oh OK

The office room (the "not really a 3rd bedroom" room) has the dumb built-in cabinet, but then they've put in this really funky light fixture.

http://cellar.org/2015/newplace-pic10.jpg

I love this fixture more and more each time I see it. I'm going to ask them if they chose this one. It's hard to find a commercial/residential light fixture like this. The picture doesn't really show its compleat awesomeness.

That dumb built in cabinet will prove to be very useful.

Shoe shelf

The property management lady (my now ex-landlord) APOLOGIZED!

I understand your leaving. It has been virtually unbearable for you and I am sorry. You can go ahead and take the washer and dryer.* The owner is not sure what she is going to do with the house at this point. She may try to sell it. Let me know your forwarding address when you get it. Thanks for being so understanding over the course of your lease. If you need a reference just let me know. I would be happy to give you one.



* I was offering to sell them the W/D because the new place has them. Anyone in the area need a W/D? Does anyone have muscle, a large vehicle, and a hand truck powerful enough to haul a front-load washer up a soggy hillside? Want to scrap them for the money?

so, after aaaaallll that shit, literal and figurative, what **FINALLY** got their attention was the change in their cash flow.

I'm shocked, shocked I tell you.

/sarcasm

Moving.

Everything is so uncertain. Everything is worry. So I wind up Project Managing it like it was my job.

My idea was to move the light stuff myself and with a few friends, and to hire pros to move the heavy stuff.

I mean, part of it is, my friends are getting old. They can't move stuff any more! You figure you have friends that might help you move, but... you don't figure how everyone is now out of shape, partly ill, or has serious injuries.

Moving Company: So it's four rooms to move?
UT: I can give you a complete list of items to move.
MC: Oh! Uh, OK, go ahead.
UT: Upstairs: king size mattress, split box spring, steel frame, heavy headboard, 4 foot wide 3 foot tall hard wood dresser, 4 foot tall 3 foot wide hardwood dresser, average hardwood side table, small wooden file cabinet. First floor: standard non-sleeper sofa, standard loveseat, two foot side table, 75 pound combo bass amplifier*, four 7-foot tall bookshelves, two heavy duty office desks, one with a return, and 20 11x14 boxes. Pre-packaged, taped, labeled, and staged fifteen feet from the truck's landing zone.
MC: Um. Wow. Wow. Uh, okay, our standard package comes at $105 an hour and a two bedroom move is generally four to six hours.
UT: Two hours at the old place would be ideal. My Verizon install window at the new place starts at 1PM.

I was prepared to go another round with her, too (imaginary):

MC: Okay, all this is weather permitting.
UT: The latest models show we'll be a little warmer than last night's news thought. It'll all be rain early in the week. We're fine. I won't even have to load in another bag of salt.

You might figure (very imaginary):

UT: I'll be proving snacks for the movers.
MC: You don't have to --
UT: Yes, M&Ms.
MC: That's very nice of you.
UT: With all the brown ones picked out.

*Normally I would move the bass amp myself, and I did move all the rest of the music gear already. But then I picked up this heavy old beast of an amp, and I thought, for once... for once... let the roadies handle it.

Moving companies are definitely the way to go. I can't believe it took me as many years as it did to realize not just the value of moving companies, but the fact that you could buy boxes for almost no money, instead of trying to harass the grocery store every day for mismatched produce boxes before they broke them down for recycling.

So true! lol.

Funny how some things are the same on both sides of the pond.

It's done; or really the 95% of it that matters is done.

J was such a huge help, you can't believe it, I can't believe it...

And right before the cold snap, where it might not go above freezing for the next 10 days or so. These were the worst of times, in past winters. Now, I left the tank with almost no oil and the thermostat set for 40 F (4 C), and I think it will run out on Sunday night. Let the bugger freeze.

I still have like 5 carloads of stuff to get out. And I should go tonight. Hell maybe I will. This last bit is going to be a huge pain in the ass. But now I've figured out that I had to move, and gotten moved, in less than a month. That counts for something.

And it's a huge improvement. When the -4 F (-20 C) and 50 MPH winds hit Sunday night, I'll be in a place with gas heat and a new roof. No more whining, I have officially rejoined the middle class.

Yay! And J rocks!

So good to hear this. X

Sent by thought transference

Awesome stuff.

That counts for a lot. Shit only gets done in this world by people who can make themselves show up. The fact that it was eating you up inside just makes it more impressive, because you came through with flying colors.

Awesome man! congrats.

Fantastic! This storm and cold snap is/going to be a bugger. Very glad you'll be snug in a house with real heat.

The sigh of relief is one of the best sounds on the planet! :)

I actually thought of you as the wind woke me up last night, rustling our house. Glad you are in a real structure today.

Yesterday morning I thought one of the dogs up the street was howling, but, the dogs around here only howl to sirens, and I could hear no siren.

"Twas the wind, and nothing more."

So the movers performed as expected?

Uh, make that as hoped? :D

They did, in fact the amount I asked them to do was so small that I accidentally left myself an additional week of work! Only 4% left now... but the job is put off for a while, as the snow melts. For once I ain't going down that driveway.

Sweeeet!

It been a long time coming. :3eye:

So far, so good...

There are downsides to living right next to the Mall though, and that is sirens are as lively as they are in the city. With three major highways coming together in this one spot, there are helicopters too. And a ton of traffic just rolls down my street because it's a short cut for some people on some routes.

Which is why it's cheaper. No family can live here. There are no sidewalks. Nobody should be walking anywhere past the end of the driveway. The big, dangerous road is 200 feet away and it's big, loud and very dangerous.

Still! Went back to the old place last night, where I still have about three carloads of crap to haul out. With no heat and no light, the place was miserable. And then I heard the sound of water... it was a pipe joint, failing in the freeze and putting an inch of water into one side of the basement. I was able to get down there and turn off the incoming water at the first valve into the property.

~ they should give me a medal ~