-
·
House Hunting Journal – Hidden Clues
Real estate in the bay area is a bit surreal. Words and phrases often have subtle subtext that isn’t obvious if you haven’t been steeped in it. One thing that you quickly learn is that the price often isn’t what they want the house to sell at. Clues to this are prices that are too…
-
·
House Hunting Journal
Moving to the next phase of our San Jose adventure, it is time to begin the hunt for a house to buy. All the insanity of the Bay Area market is in our face. Starting over the holidays was a bad idea. Inventory is dismal. Almost nothing in our price range or in neighborhoods we…
-
·
Marking an Ominous Anniversary – 5 years
Today marks an ominous anniversary. Five years ago today, I had a heart attack and almost died. There had been numerous times in my life where I started to glimpse my own mortality. Being a motorcycle rider and racer, close calls are par for the course, but hardly unique. Hiking near thousand foot drop offs,…
-
·
New Years Fun
We missed the Fourth of July (we were picking up our dogs), but we read about how some poor sod not far from our new apartment had lost his hand when an illegal firework accident (a co-worker tells me about a park a mile or so from where we live that is chaotic with professional…
-
·
Apartment Living – The Final Straw
In case you have been living under a rock and not read my award winning blog posts (ha ha ha), we relocated to San Jose from Phoenix, and slipped into an apartment as a temporary landing spot. We have tried to make the best of it, and my prior posts have highlighted some of the…
-
·
2014 in Review – The Job
2014 was a chaotic year for many reasons, not the least of which was career related. With the move, it turned out that a promotion was in the works as well. The move itself was traumatic. Sadly, the timing couldn’t have been worse. The market in Phoenix was hitting the brakes, while the market in…
-
·
2014 in Reflection – the Move
A lot has happened in 2014. Much chaos and drama, both work and personal related. Actually, before the beginning of 2014, we were informed of the decision to close the plant where we worked in Chandler Arizona, and the offer to relocate from the Phoenix area to the San Jose area was offered. Gulp. Not…
-
·
Apartment Living – Laundry part deus
Among all the joys of apartment living, not much ranks up there with the friendly competition for the laundry units. At 9:00AM you can practically see the residents lining up to steal the machines as soon as the time locks on the doors open. Hoo BOY! Today though, we will talk about the machines themselves.…
-
·
An old friend
My iPad that I bought in 2011, is nearing the end. Not that it isn’t still functional, but at near 4 years old, it is finally showing its age. I shouldn’t complain, nearly 4 years out of any tech gadget is a remarkable feat, and a testament to Apple’s quality and standards. My iPad, a…