#35 Boston - Real Estate Circus - February 3, 2006
The circus came to town! And not the fun kind of circus - even though the ridiculousness of the whole process reached elephantine proportions and the realtors involved performed acrobatics like you would not believe. Bottom line and end of story was that I ended up not buying the apartment in East Cambridge despite its praised advantages in size and price.
So what did I learn from this crazy experience? For starters, that PMS and Real Estate don't mix too well. But my being completely off the rocker this past Saturday made me think really hard about a big decision, look before you leap you know - and that ended up being the best thing I could have done. Just because something is a good deal, it does not mean that it is the right deal for you. I also learned that natural gas prices are so out of control that my moving into a 1200-square foot place would have landed me in the poor house, really quickly. I don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that much, honest.
So it is back to maybe not square one, but somewhere in the vicinity thereof, looking for that cute little apartment that is just waiting for me to move in. I am actually totally in love with a charming 1-bedroom in the Back Bay, however the owners are still a bit outside my price range. We'll see what we can do, right?
The fun part of the week you may ask? Well, there was a little of this and a little of that. Saturday for starters, our hiking exploits took us out west to Westborough, Mass in Worcester County. You drive up to the headquarters of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/nhesp.htm) and off into the woods you go.
Linda, Roger, Rick, Josephine, Phoebe and I had a most charming 7-mile hike there only to be interrupted on a regular basis by calls from my realtor screaming unacceptable offer numbers in my ear. It was a very pleasing area to hike around in - snow was on the ground, so we did need our YakTraks (for my European friends, these are rubber-wire contraptions you can snap over your shoes - they enable you to walk on ice and snow - best $19 dollars I ever spent!)http://www.scoutgear.com/shopbybrand-yaktrax.html). Unfortunately they allow hunting there all year around, and we had to keep Phoebe close to us - quite a few hunters around and not all of them looked friendly. Ice fishing was going on on the adjacent lake (http://www.ckwalleye.com/icegallery.htm) and thanks to the encyclopedic knowledge of both Roger and Rick, we learned about snow fleas, duck houses and how to not get pinned in a tent by elephants for a few hours.
Snow fleas are tiny little insects, the size of a head of a pin (1/16 of an inch - less than 2 mm - long). If you think there is dirt on the snow, think again! Apparently they are vegetarians feeding on algae and conifer pollen, and they move in a crazy sort-of hopping pattern - hence the name fleas. They are really insects called springtails - two tails on their back end are tucked up underneath their belly, held in place by tiny hooks. When the little critter wants to move, it just releases the spring-loaded tails which hit the snow and send them flying God knows where. Apparently they cannot control their flight or direction that much, so they often land in the same spot or only a few inches away. Recently they have become quite famous too - researchers in Canada this past October discovered that our little friends here host anti-freeze proteins capable of inhibiting ice growth by about six Celsius degrees. Medical science is now exploring this discovery which might allow organ transplants to be stored at lower temperatures, expanding the time allowed between removal and transplant. Ha! The things you learn when hiking.
Sunday, the day was begun with a 7.5 mile run with the marathon training group of the L Street Running Club in South Boston, and it was a lovely morning out; even the sun joined us for the duration of our morning exercise. The rest of the day was taken up by Episode 2 of the Real Estate Circus, with a particular stellar performance by my real estate agent, who started hyperventilating the minute I told him that I was not going to earn him a big fat commission that day. He'll get over it.
Other news and tidbits that you may want to know:
On Friday, Steph and I saw "Match Point" - the new Woody Allen movie; MUST-SEE, MUST-SEE, MUST-SEE, MUST-SEE, MUST-SEE - you would never in a million years guess that it is a Woody Allen movie. Fantastic. Dark. Thriller. Surprising. The movie theater was packed to the gills, every seat was filled. Have I said it? MUST-SEE!
Weather still sucks - sorry excuse for a winter. Every day a different weather pattern, mostly rainy and warm - ski season is going down the tubes. Yukk!!
Superbowl this Sunday - Whoever wins - the Patriots could have beat them, right? I will be attending my neighbor Claire's Superbowl Shindig. Big screen TV - Claire wins. If I drink too much - only have to crawl down the hallway.
I am now officially as poor as a mouse - immediately after booking my flight to Jacksonhole, Wyoming, I had to bring the car in for service, and then also pay the vet extortionate amounts of money. My little feathery friend Oscar has not been doing that well, and hopefully by early next week I will have some answers as to what is the reason behind his illness. This has been very upsetting as you might imagine - for both of us. He also let me know in no uncertain terms that he did not appreciate the vet too much and my giving him medication twice a day has not helped his somewhat dispirited mood either. Currently though he is visiting my place of work, and all my co-workers have been doting on him which he seems to enjoy.
Time to go - Friday night - Sofa Time! Have a great weekend everyone! Pray for snow!
pet:)
So what did I learn from this crazy experience? For starters, that PMS and Real Estate don't mix too well. But my being completely off the rocker this past Saturday made me think really hard about a big decision, look before you leap you know - and that ended up being the best thing I could have done. Just because something is a good deal, it does not mean that it is the right deal for you. I also learned that natural gas prices are so out of control that my moving into a 1200-square foot place would have landed me in the poor house, really quickly. I don't like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that much, honest.
So it is back to maybe not square one, but somewhere in the vicinity thereof, looking for that cute little apartment that is just waiting for me to move in. I am actually totally in love with a charming 1-bedroom in the Back Bay, however the owners are still a bit outside my price range. We'll see what we can do, right?
The fun part of the week you may ask? Well, there was a little of this and a little of that. Saturday for starters, our hiking exploits took us out west to Westborough, Mass in Worcester County. You drive up to the headquarters of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/nhesp/nhesp.htm) and off into the woods you go.
Linda, Roger, Rick, Josephine, Phoebe and I had a most charming 7-mile hike there only to be interrupted on a regular basis by calls from my realtor screaming unacceptable offer numbers in my ear. It was a very pleasing area to hike around in - snow was on the ground, so we did need our YakTraks (for my European friends, these are rubber-wire contraptions you can snap over your shoes - they enable you to walk on ice and snow - best $19 dollars I ever spent!)http://www.scoutgear.com/shopbybrand-yaktrax.html). Unfortunately they allow hunting there all year around, and we had to keep Phoebe close to us - quite a few hunters around and not all of them looked friendly. Ice fishing was going on on the adjacent lake (http://www.ckwalleye.com/icegallery.htm) and thanks to the encyclopedic knowledge of both Roger and Rick, we learned about snow fleas, duck houses and how to not get pinned in a tent by elephants for a few hours. Snow fleas are tiny little insects, the size of a head of a pin (1/16 of an inch - less than 2 mm - long). If you think there is dirt on the snow, think again! Apparently they are vegetarians feeding on algae and conifer pollen, and they move in a crazy sort-of hopping pattern - hence the name fleas. They are really insects called springtails - two tails on their back end are tucked up underneath their belly, held in place by tiny hooks. When the little critter wants to move, it just releases the spring-loaded tails which hit the snow and send them flying God knows where. Apparently they cannot control their flight or direction that much, so they often land in the same spot or only a few inches away. Recently they have become quite famous too - researchers in Canada this past October discovered that our little friends here host anti-freeze proteins capable of inhibiting ice growth by about six Celsius degrees. Medical science is now exploring this discovery which might allow organ transplants to be stored at lower temperatures, expanding the time allowed between removal and transplant. Ha! The things you learn when hiking.
Sunday, the day was begun with a 7.5 mile run with the marathon training group of the L Street Running Club in South Boston, and it was a lovely morning out; even the sun joined us for the duration of our morning exercise. The rest of the day was taken up by Episode 2 of the Real Estate Circus, with a particular stellar performance by my real estate agent, who started hyperventilating the minute I told him that I was not going to earn him a big fat commission that day. He'll get over it.
Other news and tidbits that you may want to know:
On Friday, Steph and I saw "Match Point" - the new Woody Allen movie; MUST-SEE, MUST-SEE, MUST-SEE, MUST-SEE, MUST-SEE - you would never in a million years guess that it is a Woody Allen movie. Fantastic. Dark. Thriller. Surprising. The movie theater was packed to the gills, every seat was filled. Have I said it? MUST-SEE!
Weather still sucks - sorry excuse for a winter. Every day a different weather pattern, mostly rainy and warm - ski season is going down the tubes. Yukk!!
Superbowl this Sunday - Whoever wins - the Patriots could have beat them, right? I will be attending my neighbor Claire's Superbowl Shindig. Big screen TV - Claire wins. If I drink too much - only have to crawl down the hallway.
I am now officially as poor as a mouse - immediately after booking my flight to Jacksonhole, Wyoming, I had to bring the car in for service, and then also pay the vet extortionate amounts of money. My little feathery friend Oscar has not been doing that well, and hopefully by early next week I will have some answers as to what is the reason behind his illness. This has been very upsetting as you might imagine - for both of us. He also let me know in no uncertain terms that he did not appreciate the vet too much and my giving him medication twice a day has not helped his somewhat dispirited mood either. Currently though he is visiting my place of work, and all my co-workers have been doting on him which he seems to enjoy.
Time to go - Friday night - Sofa Time! Have a great weekend everyone! Pray for snow!
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
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