life as a dog…

So these past few weeks L and I have been looking at houses. (To rent, unfortunately, not to buy). This Friday we went and actually physically looked at three. First one… huge yard (great for dogs), but the house itself…let’s just say that the kitchen said more than anything…and that was…”yuck.” Third house, not horrible…but a weird setup and purple carpet in one room. It had a decent kitchen. It’s biggest negative though…you could see the noise walls from the beltway from the backyard. You could definitely hear it. Second house…. quiet neighborhood. Three levels. Hardwood floors. Fenced yard. Back deck. Very nice. We both came away knowing that was the pick of the three.

We were talking about different things in a house. And, for the most part, our views are identical. It’s got to be rare to find someone on pretty much the same wavelength as yourself in these things. We both know what things we would want in a house, we both have very nearly the same taste in styles (example…we both think glass coffee tables are…cheap and ugly).

I’m lucky that I’ve found someone like that. Very lucky. I know that.

Barring something catastrophic happening (and I do mean catastrophic), my address will be changing to McLean in a few months.

Very lucky.

I’m going to redo my photo page. After being inundated with porn spam on the photo pages (no way to turn off comments as a whole – I have to do it album by album), I’ve decided to go with different software. Since I’m going to do that, I’m also going to pare down the number of photos. Some categories may disappear (Wisconsin comes to mind), while others may be split or merged or whatever. It may take a little while to do it, but eventually I’ll get there.

L and I went to a gathering of whippets yesterday. I managed to get quite a few photos of the dogs coursing. It still amazes me how fast these dogs are. The photos are on my photo page.

I know I’ve ranted about the inability of some people in this world to drive…even basic skills. Around here in the DC metro, it has to be one of the worst in the country. Idiots sweeping across lanes, merging at the last possible second, cutting others off…I could go on.

I’m driving home at night. I get to a stop light. Next to me is a car in the left-turn lane. Then I notice he’s inching toward me. I know exactly what he’s about to do. Light turns green. I start up, and he cuts me off to go straight. So I flash my high beams at him. Sure enough, he pops his hand out the window and flips me off. But lo and behold, suddenly from my fight side a car zooms by and pulls in front of me….cop! Pulls the little shit over. I couldn’t stop laughing.

Yes, sometimes there IS justice in this world.

Every once in a while, it’s time to consolidate. We all have “stuff” that accumulates. I’ve started going through some of mine. It’s funny finding things you completely forgot about. Things that the last time you saw them, you swore you would need…”I may use that at some point.” I’m trying my best to avoid that. If I have seen it in 2 years, why would I think I’m going to see it for another two years? Obviously, it ain’t gonna be used.

One of the things I need to get rid of…my minidisc collection. I bought a minidisc player way back when I lived in Ohio. 8+ years ago. I did use it after I moved to Virginia. Before the iPod era, it was a good thing to have on trips. Smaller than a CD walkman, and it even gave the artist and song title. But I haven’t used it in several years. It’s been in a box. Most of the songs, I have on CD or on the iPod. But there are a few that I don’t. I have to convert them over before chucking them. Of course, I had to listen to a couple of them. I found one I had completely forgotten about, but really liked it. Back in Ohio, at 97x (BAM! The future of Rock ‘n’ Roll…RIP), there was a DJ who went by the name Johnny Beckett. He also DJ’d at Grafitti’s. Grafitti’s was the only place for the Bauhaus crowd (read: alternative crowd). There was one mix he had made that I really liked…even managed to get a copy from him. It had Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, and a bunch of old acid house. Lo and behold…it’s on one of my minidiscs. Now I’ll be able to listen to it again…on the iPod.

Funny how you can find things you completely forgot you had, even though they are only feet away from you most of the day.