blind date

.
Did you guys ever watch that crappy show Blind Date? I loved that show. It was so bad it was good. Total douchebags with slutty chicks and really cheesy commentary. When I had TV and too much time on my hands I could waste hours watching that. (Some people might say that they wish they had those hours back, but not me. I think it made me a better person.)

B and I have a blind date this weekend. Except it's more like a blind friend date*, and to be honest, we're a bit nervous. Our good friend Rob that hangs out where the ocean meets the land has some real-life friends that recently moved out here to Sacatomato. He knew that we had recently moved out here, and nice guy that he is (I assume that he's nice, I mean I suppose he could really be some creepy old man with 17 cats, but I doubt that) he thought to introduce us. Except that we've never actually met Rob. And so not only do we have a blind friend date, it's a blind friend date set up by someone who we never actually met.

Based on his blog, Rob seems to be a pretty cool cat. Sometimes I wonder though what we're portraying ourselves as on our blog. Is it a good representation? If we ever actually hang out with Rob, would he be all, "man those guys are nerds"? (Actually no, I think we're pretty good at asserting our nerdiness here.)

The one thing that's getting us through this all though is that Rob's a fellow geologist, and we geo-nerds tend to gravitate towards each other. And we trust other geo-nerd judgement. So if Rob says they're cool, then they're probably cool.

And they're all probably reading this post. So hi new friends! See you Saturday!



*note this does not actually mean a date with a blind friend, like my grandma's blind friend for instance, which is a topic for a whole other post.

400*

Things I'm realizing I had forgotten about California, in no particular order...

ants
palm trees
snapdragons
heat
"speed limits"
sprawl
wisteria
wine
flies
oak trees
olive trees
sunglasses


*400th post! woo-hoo!

computer nerd advice please!

Last week we got the phone and internet service activated at the house, but we couldn’t find any phone jacks that worked. B went hunting around the outside of the house to find the main phone box and found this:

It’s an Allied Telesyn AT-RG656BD. Not quite sure exactly what it does. One website said this:

“The AT-RG656 is a member of the RG600 series new family of residential gateways from Allied Telesyn, an evolution of the successful RG200 series. It adds powerful Layer 3 capabilities as well as enhanced VoIP features set. Moreover, it offers optical connection to the WAN. The RG600 series supports up to 16 IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLAN operation across its 6 x 10/100Mbps switch ports. Hence, it offers a powerful combination of wirespeed Layer 2 switching between VLANs as well as high performance Layer 3 routing between VLANs in one highly cost effective unit.”

Umm… okay. What he said.

One thing we do know is that on the front it says something about VoIP. And a couple websites said something about it being used for Triple Play packages. And we’ve got random cables coming out of the walls in a few of the rooms. All we can think is that the people who lived at the house before us had some sort of phone/internet/cable package and this was installed to handle the system. Somehow the main phone line was diverted and all the phone jacks were attached to this thing for the internet phone service.

What we want to know is if there is an easy way to disconnect the big box router thing and quickly reconnect our home to old-school land lines? Or is this thing super cool and we should totally get a voice/internet package? Does anyone have experience with VoIP?

What do you think, internets?

B: The real Chunk Shady?

We are nearing the 3 month mark in Sacto, so I have prepared some observations in comparing Sac to Seattle:

• The air is really dry and kind of dusty. Our faces are always a little dirtier and dryer than we are used to.
• White people here are a bit more redneck middle america.
• It is a way more "diverse" here than we remember. I am totally unaccustomed to seeing so many young people of color all over the place. Unfortunately, I have yet to see any groups of young black men throwing down rhymes on a street corner, so my 8 Mile fantasy has yet to come true.
• It is definitely a bit more suburban here and people take casualness a bit further than we are used to. We don't mean the "i'm outdoorsy" casual or the "i'm uber hip" casual, but the "i am a slob wearing sweat pants" casual.
• Sacto is flat. You know how Seattle has a fucking hill everywhere you turn, and it makes cycling there a bit more challenging? Not so here. It is flat. I can do the 12 miles from the house to the office in <45
• It is way harder to find the pockets of coolness that exist in any city when you have a kid. Amanda and I knew the places that we liked in Seattle from our pre-marriage, pre-baby days. Now with the kid in tow it is harder to try out all of the dessert cafes and thai restaurants to find the ones that are the best.
• People drive fast here and it is good. You know my ridiculously overpowered turbo charged neon? Yep, it makes a whole lot of sense here where merging at 90 miles an hour is occasionally the appropriate thing to do, not just the fun thing to do.
• It is spring and 70 degrees every day for the last week mofo! When I flew to Seattle this weekend it was 45 and grey. When I got home it was 70 and sunny. I know it will be 90+ soon, but spring is awesome.

While we were in the ghetto apartment waiting to get into our house, Mandy and I started playing some games like, How high can you stack Lily's blocks? (ANSWER = 13). I made up a new game I like to call, How many plastic animals can you stack?, but it didn't really catch on.

when your husband's a superhero...

you've gotta step up.

When he's working full-time (+) and coming home every night to a new house project (attacks on sewage clean-outs, grounding furnace outlets, taking apart toilets, pulling up tackboard, etc) and a grumpy baby and a wife who's having a hell of a time doing the motherhood/working woman dance...

When he takes the 7AM flight up to Seattle on a Saturday to pack up the rest of the stuff that didn't fit in the POD and turn around and make a retarded long drive with a dog and a cat, only to come home to his in-laws visiting for a week...

I had big plans for stepping it up. These plans included painting a room and moving the little one in it so we'd have space for all the stuff he's bringing. These plans were put into motion first thing Saturday morning. Windows were taped, walls were washed, plates were removed. Ceilings were painted. Wall paint was purchased. The little one went to bed and I was ready. All the painting accessories came out, and I ready to stay up all night to get that damn room painted.

And all of a sudden my plans were thwarted. By the evil that is known only as...

Purple.

FRICK! The lilac that I decided on - the nice, light, subtle lilac - turned purple. Way purple. Like you'd walk into the room and you'd say, "damn, that's purple."

At least the ceiling's painted.

B: A long drive for someone with nothing to think about

• New furnace $4,000
• New AC $3,000
• Toilets that flush without filling the backyard with sewage $145
• Coming home to a warm home and happy family....Priceless

We are finally done with the big furnace/AC replacement. We knew it had to be done going in, but we never expected it would take so long or cost quite so much. Turns out that Heating and AC people are generally crooked lying bastards, and if you can find someone that is willing to tell you the truth and put it in writing, then it is going to cost you more...at least up front.

I am heading up to Seattle tomorrow to retrieve a dog, a cat, and 5 x 10 storage unit full of junk and essentials (such as the hardware for half of our furni , and the burr grinder). 740 miles is a long drive inside a car. Even longer with a dog and a cat that hate car rides. I don't know where we are going to put all of the crap from the storage unit, but we will figure it out.

got to admit it's getting better

...getting better, all the time.

it's not just a house, it's an adventure

That's what I kept telling myself over and over today as I was painting ceilings. All afternoon. We've realized that when you buy a house that's 50 years old, you're also buying 50 years of "updates" and "repairs" that other people have done. And for some reason, it always seems like no one else does things as well as they should. It's no surprise, but we're still a bit shocked when we find a small square of wallpaper left behind the thermostat, or two layers of poorly-installed trim around the sliding doors...

When a house sits empty for 8 months, it gets pretty grimy. The spider that I saw in the tub disappeared, so lately I've been reduced to checking all around the toilet before I sit down.

There's a LOT to be done. We're both pretty motivated though, and we're used to projects with lists of tasks that seem endless, so we're not too overwhelmed. Just be prepared to see a bunch of before and after photos (once we find the camera and cord). It's going to be quite a year! (And if anyone comes to vist, we're going to put you to work. Hope you like pulling ivy!)

pelonis

We made it! This post is coming to you from hijacked internet at the new house! Woo-hoo!

You'll also notice our newest purchase, a handy-dandy space heater, since we're still without heat... Oh well, you can't have everything...

B: HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now wait and wait and wait...

We have been doing some cooking in the ghetto-Apartment. Despite working conditions I would not wish on Rachel Ray (the Barney of celebrity chefs), things have been turning out pretty good. Mandy is on a soup kick. It has been good cuz we are both reading In Defense of Food and trying to follow the guidelines.

Eat food. Not too Much. Mostly Plants.

Which means we are trying to remove ourselves from the meat centric A1B2 western plating format. Yay Soup (and salads)! Here's valentines day Split Pea Soup, Salad, and el cheapo sparkling white mimosas.

We have also been finding some pretty yummy wines.

When you are trying to not catch somebody's face in a picture, but want their outfit and the wine glass, what you really end up with is a picture that appears to be focused on their chest. I have lot's these, to the point that is a little ridiculous.


We still don't have the keys to our house despite signing the final papers three days ago. It is absolutely no wonder there are so many foreclosed homes on the market. Banks make them so difficult to buy that nobody wants to deal with it. It is frigging ridiculous! Because of their inability to reacte in a timely manner, we are losing a full weekend to work on the house before we leave the apartment. This is delay is reeking havoc on our schedule. We probably won't have a furnace by the time we have to sleep there, so we may all end up camped in the living room around the fireplace. At least it has been pretty warm lately.


Because we won't be able to paint or do anything else at the house this weekend we might drive down to Santa Cruz. We haven't been there since our wedding, so it should be fun.

conflicted

Lefty and Lily got to run around barefoot in the grass on Saturday. We found a great restaurant and had a fantastic early Valentine's Day. We're meeting nice people. It was 70 degrees yesterday. I'm working from an local coffee shop that has great coffee and baristas that know how to make a real cappuccino. There's enough local food here to feed entire countries. We get to plan our own kitchen and I finally get a gas cooktop.

I miss our dog. I miss our friends. I can't walk down the street and find two of my best friends overjoyed to play with my daughter. My office is sterile and so big I can't really find people to connect with. There's no one to have lunch with on my days off. It seems like we're never going to get into the house, but then when we do it seems like it's going to be so overwhelming I don't even know where to start.

Lily is as cute as can be. She's having fun at daycare and she's learning new words every day. My mom's brain is cancer free. Luna is ridiculously happy with her foster family. I can wear sunglasses again. We'll get settled soon.

Lily gets overstimulated at daycare and turns into a grump in the few evening hours we get to spend with her. Our real estate agent just called and said that the loan docs aren't in. I'm more stressed than I've been in a really long time. We're not settled yet.

pepe's koala shack

For some reason we've been getting a lot of wrong numbers here at the apartment, and B's been making up some great business ideas. Personally I like the koala shack, and I definitely think we should stay with the Pepe theme.

Good news! We found a farmers market in Davis, which is only a few minutes west of here. It's pretty darn amazing. It's the middle of winter and the market was still thriving. Greens, potatoes, citrus, strawberries... Fresh, local strawberries in February! Crazy shit. Local fresh pressed olive oil, artisan breads, local pork, farm-fresh eggs, even a pedal-powered carousel. In the summer it looks like quite the city event, with dinner and music and all sorts of good fun. We can't wait!

M: seems so out of context, in this gaudy apartment complex

Yes, it's been raining for a week.

Yes, we have crappy pots and dull knives and no coffee grinder. (I was able to pull off the chicken noodle soup though, thank you very much.)

Yes, we're staying in a ghetto-adjacant 'hood.

But then there was yarn. And knitters. And a great coffee shop to house the knitters and their yarn.

And there is Mexican food. And Sailor Jerry lives at the supermarket (and at your local corner store, and you may even find him at the gas station). And Bevmo!


And there are kitchens to plan!

All in all, I think the outlook is good.

B: It's still raining.

Where the hell is all that fucking sunshine I was promised!?

Mandy and I are struggling to cook meals in our shizzy little apartment without our knifes or pots or anything good and quality and not tainted by the general crapiness of the apartment. Seriously we are tired of that apartment and want our house.

I know we are snobs, but the pots just suck and the knives are not anything close to sharp. We are resisting the urge to go buy things like a sharp knife because good knives are expensive and we don't need anymore, but it is painful. I feel like I am on a really crappy camping trip that I just want to end. Tonight I think we are making chicken noodle soup. Yum. Hopefully Mandy isn't on the verge of losing her sanity from not having a proper dutch oven.

We ate Suzie Burgers last night. It was fun. Burgers aren't that great but you can get hot peppers or cheese wiz or pastrami added to your burger. Next time I am getting a cheeseburger with pastrami and a fried egg. Take that heart!

B: Holy Crap it's Raining!

Irony just plain hurts sometimes. Right now in Sacramento it is grey and slightly breezy with showers and temps in the high 40's to low 50's. Sound familiar? Only difference is that here this is a bad weather day with people glad for the rain.

Here we are moving into our 2nd week of the move to Sacramento so far.

The good:

The weather has been pretty frigging nice. 50's and 60's with sun everyday!!!!!!

• We finally got the signed contract from the bank that owns the house that we want to buy. That only took 3 freaking weeks! it is no wonder the housing market is going to crap. Banks apparently don't know how, or care about selling houses.
  
• I went for a really nice road ride yesterday. I did 26 miles on the river trail. sure it was flat and a bit boring, but in 26 miles I never saw a single car. NICE!!!! I also hooked up with another rider on the way home and took turns pulling down the trail for a while. We were moving along pretty good, but I guess he got tired of that so he dropped me on a small hill and I never saw him again.

• Lily is playing with her cousin that is 7 months older once a week and getting to spend some quality time with Grandma.

The bad:

• Our apartment is in a booty neighborhood which is just depressing. It is an enormous secure apartment complex, surrounded by office park sprawl and adjoining to some low income neighborhoods.
  
• Sacramento continues to have one of the worst homeless problems of the cities that I have lived in.
  
• It is taking forever to buy this dang house and we miss our stuff. Mostly our bed and our cookware. At least we have a kitchen.

Anyways, things are looking up and the move to Sac isn't a total disaster yet.