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3 March 2003
Has it been a week already? We
made it to the house in one piece, wish we could say the same for all
the furniture. All in all, it went well. The closing ran
over a couple of hours and the loading went well. The trip back to
New York was great because we missed all the bad weather virtually by
hours. The unloading literally wiped us out. We had to take
care of other personal business Friday so we didn't finish until
Saturday. A piano and a giant 4000 pound entertainment center were
just a few items we had to carry up the 10 steps from the street because
of the snow mounds and the narrow streets. I remember Saturday
night I think I could have slept on a concrete slab just fine. The
putting away of items has not gone a smoothly as I thought it
would. There is still stuff (shit to you, per George Carlin)
everywhere. More later, and a very special thanks to Ray, Tommy,
Ken, and Beth for all the help. I can't put into words how
grateful we are for everything.
..........
9 March 2003
I'm sporting a bad cold the last few
days and it has slowed down the progress on getting the house in shape
but until then, it was coming along just fine. Kaleb seems to be
adjusting better since it has warmed up just a little and she has the
run of the house and snow. We took a road trip to New York City
yesterday and saw The Empire State Building and Times Square. I
assume we'll be making a lot more of those kind of trips in the
future. There were no shows because of the musicians' strike but that's OK. They'll
always be there. See some pictures here and here. Today I think I'll just take it easy and
see if this cold gets any better while I think about how much the gas
bill will be this month. I also received my drivers license that
we frantically had to get before we even unpacked the truck so we could
get all the property tax exemptions we are entitled to before the March
1 deadline. Today we will rest.
..........
13 March 2003
Painting is so much fun that I
hope we never finish. Somehow I see that as a possibility.
Slopping paint on walls that haven't been painted since the seventies
and the fact that I am painting over something close to lime green makes
for some tired arms. The new colors are cotton
field and bali
sand. Does this look like anything you've seen in a cotton
field? I will have to say that the pristine porcelain would
make for a great place to sit when it came that time though blissful
is so bland, I would hope that eternal bliss is nothing like that.
Johnny Cash, a great man, was in the hospital last
year very sick. He has released a new album with a song called Hurt and every time I look at it, it makes me
bawl. It is a Nine
Inch Nails remake and Cash puts a twist on it about getting old and
it just breaks my heart because I see my dad when I look at it. I
guess it is some sort of self torture I put myself in by watching it so
much.
It's snowing again but we may get to 50
degrees Sunday for the first time since we've been here. My cold
seems to have subsided hence, some work is finally getting done.
..........
13 March
2003...Later
I hate shoveling snow.
..........
16 March 2003
Being a much more analytical minded
person, I'll be the first one to admit that I rely on spell check way to
much. I fact, I thank God for spell check every day. The
only thing, if you don't know how to spell a word at all, and the
misspelled word also has a different meaning, you're up the creek
without a paddle. That's how you end up telling people about a sexual
exploit you had listening to Johnny Cash instead of a baby cry
listening to Johnny Cash.
..........
18 March 2003
Yesterday and today, we frolicked in
the snow in shorts and t-shirt. Tonight, 20 degrees.
..........
26 March 2003
View of GE Plant from downtown Schenectady from about ½ mile.
Schenectady, The Electric City,
is an old city with homes dating back to the 1700's. It began to
prosper in the early 1800's when the Erie
Canal was built through it. Later in the century, railroads
began to phase out the Erie Canal. In 1887, a man named Thomas
Edison came to Schenectady and built the Edison Machine Works which
later became General
Electric. Schenectady thrived until the 1970's and 80's when
GE cut thousands of jobs. At some point, I'm not sure when, GE
moved it's headquarters to Fairfield, CT. The city is beginning to come
back now and with some good governing, the 21st Century should be good
for it. Pictures soon, I promise.
Here at the homestead, I spent
yesterday pulling out molding so we can install carpet today. We
also installed washer connections in the basement so we can have some
kitchen space free for an eventual dishwasher (OK, so a plumber did
that). Duncan installed an ice maker, after all, we're re from the
south so we need ice for ice tea. I actually installed a new
faucet upstairs without much pain (lie) seeing how it has only been in
place for 50 years or so. I also think it has been that long since
it had been cleaned. The basement is now cleaned so I can actually
tell you where everything is. The old lady who lived here at one
time had saved every jar she ever bought. The snow has finally
gone, almost, and Kaleb is discovering she can actually do her business
on the ground now.
Another oddity I've discovered is with
all the time we have spent lately at Home Depot, the Home Depot boys here do not have
that pizzazz that they had in North Carolina. It almost takes the
fun out of it, well, not really.
..........
27 March 2003
One of the things that takes a little
getting used to driving in the Northeast this time of year are all the potholes. They're everywhere, and some are
quite deep. They keep the freeways in good shape but every other
road, no matter how major or minor, is like riding a horse. Today,
I think I put my horse out of alignment but it really makes me just wish
I was a cowboy.
And at the old homestead, these people shouldn't even pretend to know what a
pothole is, but they can sure throw a party,
and it'll be LIVE.
..........
29 March 2003
 
Since Christmas and up until last week,
this area of the backyard was covered with snow, up to a foot
even. Now the flowers are blooming. To celebrate, today we
headed to Vermont.
 
We made it to Green Mountain National Forest outside of Bennington Vermont
as well as the Bennington War Memorial. We then headed down
to Pittsfield
Massachusetts and the Pittsfield
State Forest. The beautiful scenery and quiet was refreshing
because the trimming of the bottoms of all the doors awaited us when we
got home since the carpet is now installed. It turns out that
picking out the circular saw was the hardest part of the job. Now
after 65 degrees today, we wait on the snow tomorrow.
..........
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