Al's Thoughts on Things

Link: http://www.alandsuejohnson.com/wv_new_house.htm

Its been a while since I posted anything here.  Not sure that very many people care but a few read some of the posts.  Anyway here's a catch up on what's been going on.

Sue found a job as a visiting nurse.  She isn't thrilled for several reasons but is settling into it.  I probably won't venture into that as a discussion.  As a recent change, she has a new position with a clinic at WVU.  That's the environment where she's most comfortable.

I'm still looking for a job.  I have applied for several that I feel I'm qualified but don't get responses.  I'm not sure of the problem.  Some of the positions are filled internally I imagine.  Some may feel I'm older than they want to hire (61 yrs).  Some  may prefer individuals that are already employed.  I've even applied for some entry level positions.  I suppose I'm over qualified but who knows?  No real information coming back.  I'll keep working on it.  If I don't find something, the travel section of my website will be severely limited. 

This winter was one for the ages as far as I'm concerned.  We had somewhere around 9 feet of snow between Thanksgiving and the last one.  It wasn't any worse than winter back in Reston, VA as it turned out but it was bad.  We lost the gutters off the front and back of the house.  Huge blocks of ice tore up the deck and our table.  Today we're getting the air conditioner replaced.  Ice got it too.  We're actually in good company with problems like that.  Many gutters came down around here.

One of our neighbors pretty much saved us.  When  you have 30 inches of snow on the ground, shoveling isn't good.  He used his 4-wheeler with a blade to shovel our driveway and 2 others in addition to his own.  We wouldn't have made it without him.  A fine example of being a West Virginian.

We're finally getting back to normal.  The gutters are all up.  One has a problem but I need to climb a 24' ladder to fix it.  I'll eventually get to it.  The deck is rebuilt.  We eat nearly all evening meals out there.  I expect to have it stained and some siding issues fixed in the very near future. 

We still like the house and the yard.  Its really nice having a front porch and that's something we're not used to.  Even in the rain, its enjoyable sitting out there.  It finally warmed up after a chilly spring.

I guess now I better get back to looking at the want ads.  Either that or go get my fishing pole and check out the local trout population.

Link: http://www.alandsuejohnson.com/wv_new_house.htm

Not everything went as smoothly as we wanted but we now live in Bruceton Mills, WV and have since August 10.

Closing in VA on August 7 went smoothly. We closed and left. Didn't really look over our shoulders. We thought everything was good. We found on Monday that it two days longer to get the funds sent than we expected. It caused a ripple on this end but that's all.

When we got here, we bought two rocking chairs and a table for the porch. For two days, that's all we had. All meals at the house were eaten on the porch. The furniture showed up on Wednesday.

The movers had downsized the truck based on Google Maps. It still couldn't make the turn onto our little gravel road. The result was that they had to rent a truck to shuttle the goods. The first box got to our house at 4:00PM. It was 10:30 by the time everything was in the house. We're still not completely out of boxes but at least everything is unpacked or in the basement.

Now we need to find jobs. That's proving to be more difficult.

Lets Go Mountaineers!!

My wife has become an addict. She's in dire need of a 12 step program of some kind. She's completely hooked.

No it isn't on drugs. It isn't that expensive either. She's totally hooked on Craigslist.

Find something neat for cheap and buy it. Do you need it? Not part of the decision process. Just spend hours looking and maybe buy something. Now its toddler things for our granddaughter. Some will go into our new house. Some will go into Michelle's backyard because she no longer has room in the house. Did I mention she's a Craigslist addict too. I suppose they could both be hooked on something worse, though.

If you've never seen Craigslist, its a national website where people sell or barter all kinds of goods and services. Its very active in the DC area. Our moving boxes have all been free from people listing them on Craigslist. It can be pretty useful, but be careful. You too could become a Craigslist addict. (www.craigslist.com)

We close on our current house on August 7. It all looks like a go and we've started packing. We won't be able to find anything for a few months I suppose. I should have the contract worked out with the movers today and be all set on this end.

We're doing our own packing. They would give us free boxes but we already found some on the internet, also for free. We'll have them deliver some wardrobe boxes at the end of the week and should be ready to go.

For 3 days, we'll be staying in a rustic cabin in West Virginia. Its the same place we used to stay for football games so we know it well. We'll have enough clothes to get by but not much more. If I have a job interview in that short time, they'll have to accept me in shorts, T-shirt and sandals. Maybe Jimmy Buffett will be hiring.

Our stuff should arrive August 11 or the 12th at the latest. We almost had to go to storage between the two houses and that would have gotten expensive. Not so much in the cost of the storage but cost of getting it there.

The new house is a fairly conventional layout. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths on 2.3 acres. A lot of the lot has trees. Now I have to decide if I need a new riding lawnmower with cupholder or just a self propelled one. Decisions, decisions.

Our nearest neighbor is about 50 yards away. Much further than here in Reston but close enough that they can stop by anytime they want.

We'll also have a basement. Not sure what to with that. Haven't had one since I was very young. I doubt we'll finish it but who knows. It will be nice to have some out of the way storage though.

OK, that's enough for now. Back to packing.

I've been a little slow posting this because I didn't want to jinx it. We did find a new house in the Morgantown area. If we don't hit any snags, we'll settle there shortly after we settle here. If you are one of the people interested in all this, check back later and I'll post some information. After a lot of aggravations, it looks like we're moving in the right direction.