Whats Going On Here?!?!

OK, so Wendy & I have finally agreed that we aren't the type of people who enjoy all the work involved in owning an older home with a big yard.

There's always to many things to do, and you can never just kick back and enjoy the yard.
There's always something that needs to be fixed.
There's always another project that has to be half-finished because you have to go to work...

So, Wendy has been looking around alot, and started to include me in the details, of what we might want to try and switch to.

Here's what she found, and what we might be moving towards...

There was a neighborhood on top of the hill to the west of where we currently live that was made up of old military housing. Small flats for the families of personal at the variuous bases that were strewn about the Seattle area. This neighborhood, Highpoint, over time was converted into housing for low income families.

A couple years ago the City, some neighborhood associations, and some developers got together and planned a community, that they decided to call The Highpoint. They decided to experiment with alternative, "Green" development. Things like:

Porous streets and sidewalks designed to allow rainwater to soak into the ground rather than flowing ionto storm drains.

Structures that are built with extra insulation and carefully designed ventilation to save energy.

That development is now nearly complete with "phase 1", and Wendy thought we should look at what was available. She stopped in and looked at a few units, found an interesting floorplan that was in our price range, and then we went and looked together. I agreed that the design was nice, and the unit that we are looking into even has a "territorial view" that is supposed to include Mt. Ranier (which hasn't been visible to anyone for a few weeks anyway, so we have to take their word for it.)

The unit is being offered through Polygon Northwest, and is one of the City View Townhomes that they have built. The design we are looking at is the Dakota, although the unit we are trying for has the floorplan "flipped" (front door on the left, stairs on the the right.)

*EDIT: Here is a Google Map of the area. The satellite view shows the area before development, and the unit we are looking at is near where SW Raymond and Highpoint Drive SW intersect.

Now we get to try and finance, then sell the house, and either rent back or rent a small apartment until the unit has been completed. We get to sell a great deal of stuff, give some stuff away, and in general empty ourr house out down to the bare minimum... Yay! (Sort of. It'll be lots of work.)

In the middle of all this, I'm still trying to sell my M3, am working an average of 65 hours a week, and would like to find some "off time" somewhere to go for a drive in the country... I might just have to run away for a day sometime soon... Maybe just cruise up to Mt. Baker on my own. Take some pictures. Enjoy the clean air. Even if it's pouring rain, should make for a nice drive. Hmm....

Wow! A Saturday! For Real!

So, this is like the first weekend in a while that I haven't actully worked, or been out of town for... It's been a busy month both at home and at work. It seems like whenever I'm not at work, it's either to dark or to wet to do much of anything here at home. Last weekend I spent a big chunk of Sunday making firewood. And felt it Monday and Tuesday, too.

So, since I wasn't at work, we borrowed a friends garage so that I could work on the truck a little more. I changed oil, replaced the fuel filler hose (which was leaking - 28 year old rubber...), and installed the bumper I bought from a guy up north of Everett. I'd been looking forward to that, it just didn't look right without a bumper on it.

So, I measured the holes in the frame rails, and the thickness of the steel, and set off to th elocal hardware store that still has a good selection of individual nuts & bolts. Not the prepackaged kind like Home Depot carries, but good, Grade 8 nuts & bolts. And a few lockwashers to go with it as well.





The install went great, except for the part where I discovered that two of the holes (one on each side) were smaller than the other 4 holes. So a second trip to the hardware was required.

I'm happy with the result though...








Today I also got to try out a new tools, and I have to say "Kewl!" I bought a Topsider oil evacuation pump. With this tool, you feed a tube down into the oil sump, and vacuum it out into a handy, easy to carry away container. Makes the oil change clean and easy, and doesn't require crawling under the engine (except for the oil filter...) This has to be some of the best money I've spent on a tool of this sort. Very pleased.

Check it out here on amazon.