Bite, please

No bites on the house, yet. Our virtual tour is finally up and available for viewing... if you'd like to view it let me know and I'll send you the link. Co-workers of SpyC who recently sold their homes said they only had a hand full of lookers before offers were made -- both of those homes went to contract in about a month. This Friday will be two weeks for us on the market. We've been reassured there is no reason to worry.

We're not in a hurry to sell our house, but we thought we'd at least have lookers by now. The good news is our house is immaculate and ready for lookers, and that's something to be proud of. Funny enough, Beth was touching up the transition from green to white paint along the ceiling edge in the kitchen. Noah jumped up on top of the cabinets, rubbed his tail in the fresh green paint and then painted the ceiling green with it. Thanks Noah. Beth was laughing about it last night, but I know she isn't pleased she has to do more touch-up now. Gotta love those kitties!

I have been in New York since the 19th. I took the last month of February off to go check out North Carolina and then took the first two weeks of March off to work on the house. I've been paying the Piper ever since, working eleven days in a row. I'm headed to Paris tonight, which I can't complain about because it's an easy trip. I've 25 hours there to get myself in trouble, join one of the riots for the hell of it or spend money (I'll be in trouble regardless of what I chose, just from different people). I'm looking forward to only working two more flights before I head home Friday afternoon. I only have two days off before I fly four more, but then I have a week and a half off after that, which happens to be SpyC's Spring Break.

Our friends Brett and Sherry are coming to town for a few days that week. We're going to see one of the Cirque shows, probably Ka, but maybe O or Zumanity. Beth and I haven't seen Ka yet, so that's probably the first choice. Beth and I also have plans of going to Mama Mia soon. We've created a little list of things we want to do before we leave Las Vegas, and seeing Mama Mia is one of them. A recent addition to the list was to dine at the top of the Stratosphere in the revolving restaurant. We've been to the bar up that sits above the restaurant, but the bar doesn't revolve. It'll be fun for the novelty of it.

I'll share our list in a later post.

Crash

I don't even know where to begin to describe this movie. It has got to be one of the most loaded, complex movies I've ever seen. I can't even digest it, I can't even wrap my mind around it. There were so many racial issues addressed in the movie and in the most raw, graphic of ways. I'd love to know what others thought of this movie. I'm still trying to understand it. I can, however, understand why it won Movie of the Year at the Oscar's.

Kew Gardens

Speaking of homes... this is my home away from home. My crashpad in New York is located in Kew Gardens, not too far from JFK and La Guardia airports. There is reliable public transportation to JFK and frequent pay shuttles to both. I love this quaint little neighborhood. It has just about everything you could need... I love that I can have my dirty clothes laundered for me for five bucks... ten feet out my front door. I love that I can go next door to that and have fresh, quickly made Chinese food... a meal big enough for two and still only pay five bucks. I can also go to the corner diner and have meals with courses from A to Z... guess what, still just five or six bucks.

There is an old movie theatre just down the street that shows many new releases as well as indies. One of the current indies there that I am interested in is called "Sophie School." It's about a courageous school girl in Nazi Germany. I think, however, I am going to see Crash there tonight. I want to know what was so ground breaking about it that it stole the Oscar from Brokeback Mountain.

Anyway... there is a Dunkin Donuts minutes away, a nice deli, dollar store and much, much more. All within a five minute walk. I just love it. It helps me to realize that I really would love inner-city living.

Sell That House

It's official... our house is on the market, as of last Friday. We're still waiting for the internet listing to pop up... a virtual tour company came in today and took pictures of the house. Hopefully that means the internet listing will be up and available for viewing soon. I'll pass it along when I get it. If anyone is interested in buying it... you know how to contact me. :-)

On happiness, stress and trains

Good news times two, although one brings with it trepidation. I finally got my car back today. I took it in almost three weeks ago to have the necessary repairs made after the accident. It was estimated to take six days to complete. I guess its a good thing I'm flexible. The other good news is our house is officially on the market. We met with our realtor again today and signed on the dotted line, or should I say, all the dotted lines. We have no listing I can point you to yet, but it is out their in realtor cyber space and is now available for viewing. Now that's stressful.

A virtual tour company is coming in on Monday to take the necessary pictures/images of the house and those will be used to create an internet listing. Once I know the URL for that, I'll pass it along so you can all check it out. Any one interested in moving to Vegas? I've got just the house for you...

And speaking of the move... we've discovered their is what seems to be a pretty efficient rail service throughout North Carolina courtesy of Amtrak. I've never taken the train anywhere, other than a few miles in Virginia City and Caltrain in the Bay Area of California. I am looking forward to the opportunity to take the train to Washington DC... there is also several train routes within North Carolina that cost as little as $22. That's awesome. If you'd like to learn more about travelling NC by rail visit bytrain.org.

Rampant Ignorance

There are very few things within the Bush Administration that I agree with, but there are a couple. I, to some degree, supported Bush's proposed changes to Social Security in part because I don't think Social Security will be around when it comes time for me to collect. I'm doing a good job preparing my retirement on my own and I'd rather use my SS dollars to boost my own retirement plan.

The only other thing within the Bush Admin that I don't diagree with is turning port security over to a UAE company. The country is up in arms that we would turn port security over to an Arab country. Oh, ok, so all Arabs are bad? Hardly, in fact, very few are. And furthermore, the United Arab Emirates is one of the most westernized and progressive countries in Arabia, right along with Qatar (UAE and Qatar are neighbors). In fact, we have a large US base in Qatar. Both the UAE and Qatar are important US allies in the middle east. Of course, as with any deal involving security, very specific investigations and fact finding need to occur in order to ensure safety and security, but I'd say this of any company involved in US security.

It's amazing to me how Democrats and Republicans alike have refused to look at the facts and give this port deal a thorough look over before spouting off ignorant comments, short-sided assumptions and closed minded antics. It goes to show how ignorant our nation is (like we needed any more examples). I don't know that this port security deal is good or bad, but neither does anyone else because noone has bothered to get the facts. And this whole debacle goes further to prove our law makers pander to the ignorance of the country (again, like we needed any more examples).

30 Days

FX's new series "30 Days" is putting a twist on reality TV by having people live for 30 days in someone else's shoes. The series started when Morgan Spurlock, the documentarian who created the expose on fast food called "Super Size Me," inked a deal with FX to create a show that gave people the opportunity to live as others do for 30 days.

One of the upcoming episodes uproots a Christian, conservative, military man who thinks homosexuality is morally wrong and plants him firmly in the heart of gay culture - San Francisco's Castro District. Ryan Hickmott, from rural Michigan, moves in with the unofficial mayor of the Castro, Ed Coller, for 30 days. During that time Ryan's beliefs are severely challenged and he is forced to rethink some of his own opinions.

I saw Ryan and Ed on Oprah this morning and the show definitely pushes some boundaries, especially for Ryan, and is an eye opening experience for viewers. No air date has been published on FX's site.

To learn more about the show, click on "30 Days" above, then "Episode Guide" and then "Gay/Straight." You can also click on Oprah for more about Ryan and Ed's appearance there. The show certainly seems interesting and I am curious to see how Ryan reacts throughout the 30 days.

Good to know. . . (about NC)

> I saw more Targets in North Carolina than Wal-Marts. In fact, I only saw two Wal-Marts and that was in rural North Carolina enroute to Charlotte.
> Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and therefore has the worst traffic. I experienced it first hand and much appreciate the lack of traffic in Raleigh. (BTW, traffic in Vegas is nearing the ridiculousness of LA.)
> Car registration in North Carolina is much cheaper than in Nevada. Annual registration fees for two cars is less than $75, regardless of the vehicle’s value.
> State income tax is less than California’s, the only state I know enough about to compare.
> Chapel Hill is fantastic... a true college town that surrounds an amazing university, UNC Chapel Hill.
> Carolina Coffee Shop in Chapel Hill is not your typical coffee shop, worth a visit, but a little pricey.
> Sadly missed James Joyce’s Irish Pub in Durham where you can get true Irish Coffee... we’re talkin liquor, but not Irish Creme.
> Triangle Town Center is thee mall in Raleigh, not Crabtree like many ads would like to make you think... North Hills gets runner up.
> Sweet tea is too sweet, but tasty nonetheless.
> Fried chicken and biscuits are as plentiful in the south as crepes are in Paris, or another comparison, as plentiful as slot machines in Las Vegas.
> Wilmington and the Carolina coast are less than two and a half hours away... well worth the drive to visit the majestic Atlantic.
> Drive another 30-40 minutes south (nearly to South Carolina and Myrtle Beach) and visit Sunset and Ocean Isle Beahces, both beautiful and home to Amber’s parents.
> The nearest IKEA is about a six hour drive away in Virginia (in the DC area).
> The Sugar Shack in Ocean Isle Beach has great, authentic Jamaican food. Expensive but the best jerk ribs I’ve ever had and plentiful, too.
> Good for pa... NASCAR's home is in Charlotte, NC, and NASCAR just announced they'll build their Hall of Fame there... a short two hours from Raleigh.

The Butterfly House

Amazing, amazing, amazing. I don't know how many butterflies were in there, but they were everywhere and they were beautiful. The environment in there was very tropical, hot snd humid, but the vegetation was beautiful. The museum also had an Insectarium with live displays of insects and arachnids. It was gross and creepy, but very cool at the same time. There was a large space exhibit complete with a large (maybe lifesized) replica of the Lunar Lander and plenty of hands on exhibits. It was a lot of fun. Great place to take others in the future... I'm sure we'll go often.

We walked around an outdoor shopping area in downtown Durham yesterday called Brightleaf Square. The place seems like it could be cool, but we were there around four pm, and it seems things close up around 3pm after the lunch rush and open again at 5pm during dinner. We'll have to give it another try.

We fianlly found "the mall" of the area. I had read and been told Crabtree Valley Mall was a cool mall. Well, it isn't, really. They have great resteraunts there, like PF Changs and Cheesecake Factory, but that was about it. The Triangle Town Center, on the other hand, had everything we look for in a a mall. Love, love, loved it. It will definately be the mall for us there, as Fashion Show is "our" mall in Las Vegas. It's a great place.

Today we're headed to Charlotte for the statewide teacher job fair. Its about a three hour drive from where we are, but that give us a good opportunity to see other parts of the state. I am looking forward to the drive, and I am sure Beth and Amber are too, but they're a little nervous about the job fair. I delight in the fact I a simply the chaffeur and get to enjoy the experience.

We like what we see. . . so far

Yesterday was an interesting day as we met with our realator here in Raleigh. She took us around to several neighborhoods and we looked at seven houses, each a little different than the one before. The one we liked the most is the one above. And that taught us something: we really want a single story this time around. Two story are usually less expensive, especially when you want space, but Beth and I are willing to downsize as the house we have now is a little too large for our needs. We love, love, loved the house above... too bad we aren't ready to buy. But we'll find more like it, I'm sure.

We have already found several shopping malls/areas, including a place called North Hills which is like The District in Henderson, but about four times the size. Very cool indeed. We're going to check out some other shopping areas today, as well as visit the Museum of Life and Science and their Butterfly House... one of the largest in the US. Yes Dan, this one's for you. We've got an exciting day ahead of us... we'll report back soon.