Category Archives: House

Housetime

We made an offer on a house last weekend and it was accepted. Boosh.

On top of that, we got to travel a bit for Easter, I submitted a test piece to the Economist, and I sent a story off to Glimmer Train. Oh right, I also rode my bike for the first time in months.

I used to bike to work every day. I would take the bus out to edge of Durham in the wee hours, meet up with Alisa and ride the seven miles into work. Then I’d bike back seven or, on nice day, ride the eighteen or so that it took to get home. It got to be pretty straightforward and I got pretty good at it.

Last spring, I rode most days into work, which was a shorter commute. But then we moved into the city and I basically stopped riding. Yesterday was only seven miles, but it felt like a million.

I got lost a few times, a few bike paths I thought I had on lockdown were just soon-to-be bike paths, and the roads in DC are nothing short of horrific to ride on — but I got to where I was going. I left the bike at the end of the line, and I’m going to pick it up from my friend’s place on Friday and ride home. We’ll see how it goes.

Oh right, we close on the house at the end of the month.

House Finding and Column Writing

We found the one we like. Hyattsville, old, nice, near the metro, fireplace. These are a few of my favorite things. We’re working now to put an offer in, but I have no idea what the timeframe will look like after that. We were looking at another place, and then changed our minds. That place went off the market last night, literally hours after we decided to pass on it. Woof.

Work has changed a bit, and compensation is now rewarding slightly shorter pieces, which will be a new style for me. Next week is the first time we’ll be working in the new format, and I’m interested to see how the change affects my performance.

In the same vein, I’m submitting a fiction piece to a real magazine for the first time ever, this week. I’m also going to be doing a piece for an economic magazine to see if they’d like to have me around. That’s a long shot, but it would be fun and mix up the tone of my writing, which would be lovely.

First, let’s see how this house thing goes.

House Hunting in DC is Fun – ish

We’re looking for a house. It’s an experience, to be sure.

Today, we saw five with our excellent realtor. We liked two, and then we really liked just one. It’s in Takoma, but not Takoma Park. Regardless, it’s a fifteen minute walk to the metro and a fifteen minute walk to the farmers market. Those are both big deals.

The house has been recently renovated — read, “flipped” — but in the nicest possible way. They did, what appears to be, a great job.

We’re still mentally in love with this place in Hyattsville, but we haven’t seen it yet and the inside could be all shag carpet and rat assassins. Hopefully, we’ll see that one later this week and then see a few more in Takoma and then maybe see one more and then just that last one and then be ready to think about making an offer only to have the carpet pulled out from under us because, hey, someone already made an offer on that place.

It was surprisingly enjoyable today, and I hope that feeling keeps going. I’ll let you know.