A Year in New England

11. May 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Connecticut, moving, Richmond

It is really hard to believe that it has been a full year since I’ve left Richmond. We spoke to a bunch of our friends last night who were at the pool, enjoying a cookout and drinks with friends. It’s not the area at all. It is the people that I miss the most. The daily interactions have slowly turned into an occasional chat as time permits. Losing that constant connection with the people who have been such an important part of my life is still the hardest part about leaving.

On a much more positive note, this May has been much more relaxing than last May was. The most important part is that I am here with my family. We still don’t have many friends in the area, but that will eventually come. The kids have found a home and a caring environment – definitely very important.

This weekend last year started a very lonely couple of months for me. I was in a hotel room, starting a new job, and in an area where I knew absolutely no one. I am not sure I’d like to do that again, but it did allow me to get firmly entrenched in my new job.

Twelve months – hard to believe.

Early Morning Run

09. May 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Connecticut, running

This morning, I came downstairs on time (well, almost) and was starting to get ready to head in to the gym. I stuck my head outside and saw the weather was just spectacular. So, I went for a run! I took off and ran a bit more than 3 miles. It was a good run, up the hill and through a neighborhood, then out and back on the main street that heads north from here. All in all it was a good run and well worth the time to stay home this morning!

Stumbling upon cool stuff

25. April 2009 · Write a comment · Categories: Connecticut, wandering

We took a leisurely drive through northwestern Connecticut on Friday. I had the day off from work and the kids were still on Spring Break. When there, we saw lots of cool stuff (posted later) but it included stumbling on Lime Rock Park. There, the CT River Valley Porsche Club was having practice for the Saturday race. Admission was free, after filling in all of the requisite forms denying any liability if we were to get hurt, and each receiving this nice blue wristband. Once we entered, we drove over a bridge to the infield, then turned right and parked next to a fence to see what was going on. We were practically by ourselves. Then, off to the left, the Porsches started coming around the corner at 130+ MPH. We were literally 30 feet from the edge of the track and had unfettered access to watching the practice laps.

Very cool thing to just stumble upon – the right day, the right weather (gorgeous), and the time to watch.

Home, finally!

17. August 2008 · Write a comment · Categories: Connecticut, moving, South Windsor

We are finally home. We closed on the house Thursday at the lawyer’s office. It is always stressful knowing that you are signing away where much of your money is going for the foreseeable future, but comforting in knowing that you have signed away your money in a relatively safe investment. Well, that and you get to actually live there with your loved ones!

Early on Friday, KT and I headed to drop off Brewster at the groomer’s place so he could be out of the way, then to the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts to get coffee and donuts for the movers. The same crew arrived that packed and drove from Virginia, and the good news is that our items never even left the trailer, significantly reducing the breakage that we expected. Bob and gang were spectacular, considering we didn’t know where much of the stuff was headed. Our home in Richmond was very different from the Connecticut home, so we had tons more space, yet far less out of sight storage space.

We are still working on where to put everything, but have the basics down. We’ve cooked dinner almost every night, and I have slept in my own bed every night since Friday. After more than three months, I was finally able to get a good night’s sleep and my back didn’t hurt in the morning. The fact that my wife was next to me, and my kids were down the hall was just icing on the cake.

Saturday, in the park (on the pond)

09. August 2008 · Write a comment · Categories: Connecticut, LL Bean, South Windsor

On Saturday, Sue and I headed into South Windsor to take care of some errands. We are still living in the hotel, but only for this weekend and part of next week. Then, we will be actually living in South Windsor, CT. So, we headed to Evergreen Walk, the smaller but more enjoyable of the two malls in the area. It is an outdoor shopping mall, very similar to the Short Pump mall in the West End of Richmond. Mostly high end stores, but enough diversity to make walking around fun.

So, after the bank to get my signatures on new accounts, and the post office to pick up our forwarded mail, we headed to Evergreen Walk. Eventually, we made our way into the LL Bean store. Sue had been there with the kids, but I had never actually been at the mall. Outside of the store, they were having a good many activities to celebrate their one-year anniversary of being open in South Windsor. One of the things they were doing was giving shorter versions of their walk-on adventure classes for free. This included GPS Techno Treasure Hunt, flycasting, and kayaking. After talking with the kids, we signed up for the kayaking class. This was a somewhat shortened class, with about 50 minutes on the water after some basic instruction and transportation to the pond. They normally charge $15 per person for each of these adventures, a nominal fee for some good instruction, all equipment, etc.

The driver pulled up to drop off the previous class, then took the 14 of us to the pond. We were given safety instructions, PFDs, paddles, and sent off to our kayaks (instruction was good, stressing safety, how to paddle, and some warm up exercises). I was in a 14’ kayak, as was Jake. Sue and KT were in 12’ ones. We all had a great time paddling, getting to know how to turn, and trying to keep from running into each other much. Both Sue and I got some solo time with the kids to talk about the experience, if they would do it again, and if they would eventually kayak together. We have so much water around us, both flat and running, that we would be silly not to purchase two kayaks and start to explore the area.

I can’t say enough about the LL Bean crew. They ensured that we had a great time, and kept it very low key, the way kayaking is supposed to be.

http://www.llbean.com/outdoorsOnline/odp/walkon/odsSouthWindsor.html

A CD to remember

01. August 2008 · Write a comment · Categories: Connecticut, friends, music

Over each of the past six or seven years, each momentous occasion has been celebrated with a carefully selected collection of music. Each CD is picked by the celebration crew (whomever that is at the time), and presented to some or all of the participants. There are only a few people that mix the music, and it is always difficult to find the right order to keep the mood right. The CDs are cherished by all recipients, memories of the event, person, place, or time in their lives. Oh yes… listened to over and over again.

The CD entitled “Tiara Tunes for Sue” was lovingly created by her friends, and presented on her way out the door of Virginia for our new life in Connecticut:

Say – John Mayer
Game of Love – Santana
Whenever I Call You “Friend” – Kenny Loggins
All the World – Point of Grace
Eagle When She Flies – Dolly Parton
Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffett
Goodbye – Night Ranger
I Hope You Dance – Lee Ann Womack
We Are Family – Sister Sledge
Little Wonders – Rob Thomas
You’ve Got a Friend – James Taylor
Stay Beautiful – The Last Goodnight
Circle – Edie Brickell
Friends – Jump5
My Wish – Rascal Flatts
Something’s Broken – Tim McGraw
Stop! In The Name Of Love – The Supremes
Find Out Who Your Friends Are – Tracy Lawrence

Fun at the Bark Park

26. July 2008 · Write a comment · Categories: Bark Park, Brewster, Connecticut, South Windsor

Today we took our dog Brewster to a dog park. This park is less than a mile from our new home in South Windsor, CT. Brew was a bit hesitant to explore, sniffing at all of the fences, fire hydrants, and trees. He finally let loose and ran a bit. This was about as much excitement as the boy could stand as his little brain tried to take it all in. Hopefully, we will be able to take advantage of this free park many times while living in CT.

The most confusing event of my life

18. July 2008 · Write a comment · Categories: Amherst, Connecticut, moving

This week has been among the most confusing of my life. I have been dealing with, among other things, living by myself, assisting my wife with Richmond home sale activities, to the best of my ability from afar, managing a home inspection, well inspection, termite inspection, down payments, credit union communications issues, post office challenges, transferring funds, HUD settlements, and an ever increasing work load. It’s really too much. However, I am by myself again this week to deal with this. I’ve not been sleeping well, not eating well, and now am sitting in the dark. What a way to end the most confusing week of my life.

When I went to have the bank check written for the 2nd portion of the down payment on the CT home on Thursday, the bank’s network was down. Of course. It hadn’t been down for over a year. However, I will give all credit due to the credit union. They had every person possible jumping on the situation, trying to figure it out for me. The VP of Operations for the Credit Union walked the process through, wiring the money to the brokerage firm that is managing the sale in CT. No charge for the wire, of course, and everyone babysat the process to get it through. This is the reason why I have been, and will remain, a loyal credit union customer. The fact that my current credit union is literally 3 floors below where I sit helps make it so convenient. We are using them for our mortgage, even if we refinance when the market corrects itself.

It feels like I have worked little this week, when I have actually worked a great deal. One of my main co-workers left last Friday after several years on the job. I took over all of her open projects — close to 25 of them. That, in addition to the 18 or so of my own, makes for a really big workload. It’s not that I can’t handle it, but it’s tough right now with all of the things going on (see the first paragraph). Tomorrow, I need to find a place to do some laundry, spend a few hours doing at least the basic laundry, drive 40 minutes to work so I can spend 4 hours or so catching up on my open projects, and spend at least an hour charging my work to various projects. Sunday, I need to pack what I am taking for a few days since my family will be in CT late on Monday, so I will have to get ready for work Tuesday in a hotel in CT. Tomorrow, I need to at least do enough laundry that I can make it through Wednesday or Thursday.

One additional factor is that the laundry service that we have in the office has been closed all week, so I have only a few things left to wear for work without ironing. This will be tough, considering I don’t have an iron! I found a local cleaner this week that has a few items of mine now, so will pick them up tomorrow (hoping that they are ready when promised).

To top it all off, about 3 hours ago, we had a storm rip through Amherst, taking down a tree that landed across all three of the power lines running on my street. So, I am sitting in the dark, with 46% battery, figuring out what I can do until the power comes back on. The rain brought some cooling, but without fans, this is going to be a long, hot night. I think I will conserve energy soon and hit the hay, getting up early enough to start the wealth of tasks ahead of me tomorrow. At least I have an iPod with a few hours of battery remaining!

Fate or faith, call it what you will

12. July 2008 · Write a comment · Categories: Connecticut, moving, South Windsor

After two months of searching, we finally found a home. We had crossed the “more than 50 homes visited” without success until this week. Finally, we knew that we had to change gears, look south of Amherst into Connecticut and start the search again. We had a few locations in CT that we had looked at previously, but the feel of the community and, more importantly, the feel of the homes was not right. Of course, high school selection meant that we were not just looking anywhere, but in a limited number of locations. Finally on Tuesday, Sue was ticked off enough that she decided that she needed to head north and execute a plan herself. The Realtor that we were using in CT was on vacation and the back up was simply not able to execute within our ever constricting time frame.

Sue made reservations late Tuesday night, was on a plane headed for Boston at 6 AM, and took the bus to Springfield to arrive by noon. She had made a few calls on Tuesday evening, and received one from Donna on Wednesday morning, shortly after arrival in Boston. Donna found out the details, came up with an aggressive plan, and she and Sue hit 6 homes before the day was out on Wednesday. The extension of that plan was to visit as many homes as possible on Thursday since Sue had to leave first thing Friday morning. Six homes later on Thursday, and they hit pay dirt! The home is spectacular, has been owned and cared for by a lovely couple, and will make our family a warm home. Details to follow in a future post. I am so proud of Sue and how she took this into her own hands to fix. Oh yes, our wonderful new Realtor helped!

So fate or faith, whatever you want to call it… paid off. We didn’t find a home in Amherst because we weren’t supposed to find a home in Amherst — not even with a fantastic realtor there. We found a home — the home — that we were supposed to and will be very happy there for years to come.

US Sometimes There (AKA US Air)

15. June 2008 · Write a comment · Categories: Connecticut, Richmond, travel, US Air

Once again, I am trying to make my way out of a hell hole otherwise known as an airport. While the first leg of my flight was very uneventful, I now sit in the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina waiting for another US Air “issue” to be resolved. Today, the issue is a “maintenance issue” so has tacked a full 65 minutes onto my layover. Now I need to conserve batteries or find a plug to make the time last. What I don’t get is the fact that the originating flight left Jamaica on time, but there is a maintenance issue here. The funny thing is that since the plane has not landed, you have to wonder what that delay really is. If it was really a maintenance issue, would the plane have really taken off in the first place, or would it have returned to Jamaica to take care of the issue before endangering the passengers?

Personally, I think that this is the excuse de jour, equating to some miscellaneous issue that they didn’t want to explain.

The last trip, I had my originating leg canceled, then rerouted through Philadelphia, landing 3 hours late. The trip before that, my 30 minute layover at Dulles turned into a 4 hour delay, capping a 22 hour day. Every trip, I just need to expect pain and aggravation and add hours onto my expected trip. Good thing the people picking me up have cell phones…

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