Week 13: Tenant's Agreement

To our newest tenant:

Welcome to your new home! We know that you may feel your arrival to be somewhat sudden and unexpected, however do know we have been awaiting your arrival with great anticipation and for quite some time! Just to let you know, here are how the next few months and years will most likely play out.

Agreements of your stay:

You are happily welcome to fully reside in your current situation for the next six months. All your food will be provided right to you, and we understand your warmth and comfort are amply covered. That said, after six months, if you have not by your own volition decided to move out due to the cramped space, you will be evicted. Neither process will be easy we hear, but certainly well worth it.

No need to worry however! You will have all the warmth, comfort, love, and food available to you in your next home. You'll spend plenty of time in our arms as you get used to things such as light and noise, and we'll be sure to take care of your every need, and most likely some of your wants as well. We anticipate a great deal of cooing and laughing!

This arrangement will last in various forms for the next eighteen years as you continue to grow and develop. After that, you will be encouraged to go build your own life in a location out from under our roof.

There need not be any concern however, because for the rest of your life you will have a firm and steady place in our hearts, minds, and prayers. You will be loved unconditionally and treasured for the gift from God that you are. This is our agreement and promise to you.

We can't wait to officially meet you in six months little Bundle (also you will get a new name at some point!), and we are so glad you are here.

Danville: a pearl in the wilderness

Let me share this hidden gem before our blog's readership gets too big and the secret gets spoiled. As we were driving through Kentucky, we decided to poke into Danville because it was apparently a wonderful small town to live in, and we wanted to see what the fuss was all about.

Skepticism grew in my heart as we got closer through the central Kentucky plains and pleasant yet unexciting rolling farmlands south of Lexington, with more and more characterless single-story homes around the road leading into town. What's so great about this little secluded community, thought I?

Well it's biggest claim to fame is that it was ranked 4th best place to retire nationwide by Money Magazine. That's gotta mean: 1) affordable, and 2) good healthcare (indeed as we were walking in the center, we came across almost an entire bloc along Main St of different types of health providers and services; there's also a big hospital there). But also, it's home to Centre College, a reputable college.

As we drove down the main drag, things started looking more interesting. The town was starting to show more (maintained) history in its architecture and infrastructure until we parked at the visitors' center which is located on the edge of a city-block park with old colonial buildings and plaques describing the place's history. Among the "firsts" that Danville proudly claims are the 1st courthouse in Kentucky and the 1st post office west of the Alleghany Mtns.

So we went in and talked with the young lady who was on duty in the visitors' center. She loved the place (always a good sign; we've visited some places where locals tended to say something to the effect of: "Uh, yeah, it's nice here... look, there's these interesting places/things to do within a 2-hour drive from here..."); she grew up in Danville and recently came back upon graduating from college. She enjoys the relaxed and friendly nature of the people as well as the safety (like jogging at night, not locking her home...).

She also showed us a list of the annual events that fill up the calendar. It was quite a bit more active than what I expected for this laid back, away from the mains roads little town. There's something every month: wine tasting festival, outdoor film festival, car show, Christmas parade, the state's barbecue festival, music festival, horse show... Also the college welcomes quite a few renowned exhibits and performances.

Having such a small, liberal arts, private college seems to mean: the community has fun & affordable (for college students) activities and attracts culture. In fact, next year it will host its second vice-presidential debate in 12 years. Not being a public university, it is not a "party school"; one of the locals we talked with described the students as "smart, they study hard." Also, the college guarantees to the students who make it in that they will have an internship and an opportunity to study abroad and graduate in four years. So that's bound to bring some interesting culture awareness and bright minds.

By the time we walked out, several other staff members had shown up, including one who had previously lived in Virginia (almost everyone else who lives in Kentucky apparently grew up near their current hometown and just never found a better place to settle), and it was nice to see that they were not full of themselves. They love Danville, but they told us about other small towns in the greater Lexington area that they also find awesome.

We stopped for lunch at a family-owned restaurant that makes excellent pizzas then kept walking down Main Street before stopping into Karamel Kreations where Beth, who runs the place, gave us some samples of her chocolate-caramel concoction and told us all about the area and why she set up her fun little shop in Danville even though she lives in Lexington, a good 45-minute drive away.

By the time we left the little town, we were surprised by how much we loved it there. There's even a river and a lake nearby, so kayaking looks feasible. I'm not sure how far good skiing and hiking are, but there were some hairpin turns on the road up to Lexington, along the Kentucky River, where the driving reminded me of going up some parts of the Cévennes mountains more than anything else.

The biggest downside for us of living in such a place seems to be that it is about as far from either of our parents as we could get within the part of the country we think we'd enjoy being. So that doesn't sound ideal if a baby is in the picture (no, this is NOT an announcement, we occasionally happen to think ahead).

Review: Megabus

Last month, for my trip to Boston, I decided to give Megabus a try. It's one of the express bus companies that connect cities, mostly in the Northeast, though their network does branch out way beyond the region. It seemed like a much more affordable way to get up to Boston than by plane or train or even Greyhound (and with less security hassle than airports) . I opted for a most established, organized company than the Chinatown buses that run up and down the coast, and this was the only company I found that had direct trips between DC and Boston (others would have me change buses in New York).

I looked for reviews. Some hated their experience with Megabus. For others it was their favorite way to travel.

My experience turned out to average. Overall, it wasn't terrible or traumatizing. It also wasn't wonderful.

Organizationally, it seemed a little under par ("under" not being used in a similar way as in golf). In Washington, they used a parking lot a 10-minute walk away from Union Station as their departure/arrival area. They were setup to get things working pretty smoothly with staff and cones and booths to direct people to the right bus or waiting line. But operating from a parking lot can be a bit unreassuring. Fortunately the weather was fine, but I can imagine it being unpleasant in rain or snow. Now, I have since heard that there's a new bus terminal near Union Station, so that issue has maybe been solved now.

We had one stop on the northeast side of Baltimore, on the edge of a mall's parking lot right off I-95. There were a few cones and small signs as a waiting area for passengers. And the other stop was in Seacaucus, NJ, at what seems to be a major bus terminal right off I-95 with a rail connection to NYC. That's where we got a new driver for the second half of the trip.

Then in Boston, arrival and departure were at a pretty well organized bus terminal next to South Station. At least it seemed well organized at first. When I was returning on Sunday morning, I had a bus scheduled for 10:15 am. I got there 45 minutes early, and another bus was at my gate, leaving for NY at 10:00. It was filling up with passengers 20 minutes early so that was encouraging. But after that one left, no new bus came in its place. After waiting 15 minutes past the departure time, I went to a Megabus guy who was trying to keep the amassing travelers waiting for their buses in the right line (it was getting closer to the departure time for the next bus to NY as well) to ask him if he had any information on when the bus would be there. "It's on its way." So it finally arrived just in time to fill up and leave at 11:00.

Comfort wise, it was OK as long as I could put my legs in front of the seat next to that which I was sitting on. That posed no problem on the way up, when I don't think there were more than 20 people on board (in the middle of the week). On the way down however, it was another story. It was the day after an overnight blizzard that had seen a whole lot of bus cancellations (I was originally scheduled to leave Boston Saturday evening and arrive in DC Sunday morning early enough to get to church in Reston). And it was on a weekend to boot. So I sat next to someone from Boston to Baltimore, and could not comfortably fit my legs in the space behind the seat in front of mine. I also wasn't too comfortable when I twisted my legs to dangle my feet out in the aisle, where there was more breathing space. At the stop near Baltimore, enough people got off that I could switch sides of the bus to have 2 seats to myself for the last hour.

I was hoping to use my eight hours on the road productively and get some work done (well at least on the way up to the conference, I wasn't planning on working on the overnight trip back). Megabus's website says that they "will make a reasonable effort to make WIFI services available free of charge to every passenger." But I could neither my phone nor my laptop could find a WIFI connection on the Boston-bound bus. I did spend a little time doing some offline work like preparing invoices, but I couldn't be as productive as I had hoped, so I got more sleep than anticipated. I also read some. And played on my phone. There wasn't much space to open my computer anyway (I balanced it on my leg and the seat next to me), and with the bounciness of the bus, I could type all that efficiently anyway.

Of course on the "cozy" way down, I did not open my computer. My phone found a WIFI network whose name matched the number at the front of bus. My phone said it was connected. I could not pull up any website on my phone (unless I turned off the WIFI and used up some 3G data). So that got kinda frustrating. I had been able to get on a free Megabus network when I was waiting around in the bus terminal, but once on the bus, no matter what I tried, I couldn't use the network I was connected to all day long.

The drivers were friendly and accurately announced our lunch breaks and all. They were also safe. Nothing to complain about there.

Their communication was imperfect but got the job done. Buying the tickets was quite quick and easy on their website, and very affordable. On Saturday afternoon, as the freak snowstorm was getting closer, I decided to call their customer service to check if I should expect any problem with my trip, and was told all the information is on the site. Hmph. I was expecting more detail than that from a human. The website noted some cancellations but my bus was only marked as 2 hours late. It wasn't clear if that meant the departure would be 2 hours later or if the trip would take 2 hours longer. So I continued according to plan. As I was packing my last things I got back online to check for updates, and my bus was cancelled. Stink. I called their customer service and after not too long got rescheduled on a bus twelve hours later than the one I had bought, and they're hassle-free enough that I didn't even need to print off an email with the new confirmation (good thing, 'cause I never got that email); I could just make notes of the new confirmation number on my previous reservation. Sometime later that evening I got an email telling me my (original) bus trip was cancelled. It would have been nice to get that earlier, like right after they decided to cancel it. It was a good thing I was staying with an easy-going friend who didn't have a problem letting me stay for another night, rather than at the expensive Marriott where the conference was held. An extra night there woulda been painful to the bank account.

In conclusion, I'd say you can consider Megabus a cheap option to get between major cities without much hassle and if you're not in a big hurry. But I won't tell you you have to use them to travel whenever you can.

I'd say... 6.5 / 10

Rain, rain,... it went away!!

It has been WET here - surreally so. Driving back yesterday was nerve wracking, and so was this morning (I had to drive to get my oil changed). Generally people know how to drive in normal rain, and people tend to be cautious in the snow - I've been in a few tight spots around here in snow, and everyone generally is keeping their eyes out for each other.

But no one knows how to drive in soggy, day-long flash flood conditions. There are rash judgments, panicked looks, and frustration every where. On the way home yesterday, I was nearly hit once and almost witnessed a head-on collision, not to mention one I almost caused myself while backing up in a tight spot... could barely see the car around me.

So today when the sun popped out of the sky and everything lit up - it was remarkable! It is just a blessings to be reminded of what a blessing the sun is, and rain is, and how perfectly in balance they are the large majority of the time. Truly praise worthy.

Times like this, having Jon work from home is very very convenient!

8-/

I just felt an earthquake! Never felt that before. The whole apartment was trembling. Can't remember how long it was. 30 seconds? I stood in the doorway for a while, then when it was over I quickly went outside.

It was kind of freaky! This is the kind of time I'm not a fan of being on the 3rd floor. No damage heard or detected so far.

Is it safe yet to go to the bathroom, or should I be ready to run out in case of follow-up tremors?

Vermicomposting

Today Jon and I bravely "harvested" our vermicomposter. Usually typical vermicomposters have several layers to them, so you can easily harvest the good compost from the composter as the worms go through the layers. You just take the bottom layer off, which has the rich stuff, and meanwhile the worms have already moved up to the next layer and are continuing their wonderful work.

Unfortunately all our worms live in one layer - a kitty litter box, now full of former-food, soil, and newspaper. They are very happily working away at all our scraps, however it was beginning to get full. To harvest the good compost in this situation, you have to dump all the contents of the composter onto a tarp! Yes, worm dirt, worms, rotting food, and all. Now it had been awhile since we had put new scraps in the vermicomposter, so we didn't see too many food scraps (excepting some eggs shells we put back there MONTHS ago. Worms don't like them, but they sure filled them with compost too!). We did however see lots of worms! They are busy in there. Once we got it all dumped onto the tarp (took awhile as it was pretty packed in), the worms seemed in a bit of a state of shock. Soon they were climbing away from the light into their dark heap of moisty dirtiness, and then we removed the rich compost from the sides of the mound. This took quite awhile.

I was surprised how fun it was. Now, we certainly looked odd, bent over a tarp of dirty and worms on our cement balcony in the suburbs, with our head-lamps on our head to shed more light on the mound to get the worms to move inward. However, it felt so much like childhood, playing the dirty, moving squilly worms around, working on a project.... it was just fun and a new experience.

We removed a huge bowl full of fresh compost, dropped the worms and their former work back into their bin, and put a heaping load more of our scraps into the worm bin. I'm excited to see their work again - it's always fascinating how quickly they move through so much food - and hoping the compost will help our plants grow a little bit. However if you are in our area- we have enough good compost to go around!