well…man, have had a long hard day today and I am about ready to take a nap after not sleeping well again last night…did the grocery run this morning first thing and then loaded up the car and headed out to the new house to get some cleaning done and I did get the stove and floors cleaned so that was cool…but, I did discover that with this melt, I won’t be able to drive the truck into the back yard to unload it…did that with the Miata this morning and almost buried it in the mud so everything will have to go in the front door or will have to be unloaded there…the sidewalk is clear around the house so I guess some of the stuff can go around there…the worst thing that happened today is when I walked back in here it smelled like an electrical fire and the blower motor on the furnace wasn’t working…so, I called the people who normally service this 70 year old furnace and set up an appointment but I just couldn’t wait for it so I tore into it and found that a wire had broken on the motor and shorted against the frame…so I took the motor out since you can’t get to the wires with it installed, re-stripped the wires and re attached them…and the damn thing took right off and is still working…it was harder than it sounded with having to stick my head into the plenum to get at the damn thing…but, I saved my son a couple of hundred bucks…my back and shoulders are howling in pain, though, and it better get better before Sat…so now I need to relax a while before I get back to move prepping….whew…

Well…damn, I’m exhausted this morning and got up way too early at 5:41….I guess I won’t get any good sleep until I get moved Saturday…I really am feeling my age the past few days and I don’t like it…it feels like I’m wearing out but I still have work to do…need to load the car up after the grocery run and take another bike to the new house and pick up the paperwork for the house that is being sent to me today…I did get the internet thing straightened out…I think…and that takes a load off so I can have a normal night when I get moved and I am going to need it….don’t hurt too much this morning and I should after moving all the heavy snow in front of the garage door yesterday….it sure felt nice to have some warm temps yesterday and it’s almost 40 outside right now and I hope it doesn’t get too warm and melt the back yard at the new house…I need it to stay frozen so I can get the truck into it…going to try to drive the Miata into it today…hope I don’t get it stuck…not much to do today…just the grocery run and then out to the new place to clean some more….more later…

Well…it’s finally over, I own a house! Man, what a relief…went down there today…or I guess it would be up there since it is north of gr and finally got to see the house for the second time….and it is an 80 year old house that has been painted about 20 too many times inside by people who didn’t know about masking tape…so I will be using gallons of strip and acres of sand paper to try to get to the point where I can paint the kitchen and bedrooms…and who paints their bathroom royal blue? I still like the house a lot and I think I got a good deal with how big the yard is…..I did get the garage door shoveled out but will need to have a door company come out since both cables are broken and there is some other damage that I don’t want to fix….so I won’t be parking inside for a few weeks but that is okay…need to be careful with spending for a couple of months until I get my cash built back up since I need to buy a washer next week and that is 500 bucks…and I would guess the door will be 300 or so….and I need a lawn mower in a month or so and that is 400 bucks or so…and the heat registers need to be stripped and painted and there are a lot of them but that shouldn’t cost much and I’ll probably paint them black…all in all, I can’t wait to move in and stop the stress from the anticipation of the move….I do need to have everyone help me move the fridge out of the dining room and back into the kitchen but it’s pretty light so three of us should be able to do that sat….one more step to go…

Well…another 3:41 morning this morning and I think they are going to keep up until I get the move done and get my internet up and running at the new house…today is closing day and I need to be out at the title company by 9 for that and then straight out to the house to get the keys from my brother….and then start cleaning the place up and getting the snow removed from the garage door and checking out if the opener works…they haven’t been able to find the remote for the door so it looks like I’ll have to buy one….need to see if the door will open with the broken cable and if not, I’ll have to see if I can fix it…..already have the car packed with buckets, mops and cleaning products and need to put the carrier on for the first bike that I’m taking out today…I did get the leak in the toilet valve fixed here and that is a relief….didn’t want to leave that for my son to fix after he gets here in 3 weeks….I still have more staging to do here to make sure I don’t forget anything that is too big to fit in the Miata but that won’t be until I spend a few hours out at the house…it looks like a run a day until Saturday and I really hope it doesn’t thaw too much this week so I can still get the truck in the back yard….I wonder if the alley is paved or not…will probably get pretty muddy in the spring if it isn’t but the water should run down the hill to the street….more later….

Well….ick…up at 4:18 this morning and couldn’t shut my brain off to get back to sleep so this is going to be a long day…not too sore this morning even with moving a lot of stuff into the living room yesterday and getting it ready to move….and, for the first time in my life I feel like I’m losing my capacity to do the physical labor of moving…I guess I just feel old and the stress from getting all of this stuff done is wearing on me a lot…and this next week is going to be a sprint until I get moved Sat….I need to get out to get the down payment check from the bank this morning but I need to shovel the driveway first since it snowed last night…and then I need to pack the car since I am going straight out to the house after I close at 9 tomorrow morning….then lots of cleaning and moving for the rest of the week…and I need to shovel out the area in front of the garage at the new house so I can get my car in it if the door will work with the broken cable…..don’t want to leave it on the street and the bumps are too bad to get it in the back yard…..but right now I need more coffee and to wait for it to get light so I can shovel….and this time it’s warm enough that this is going to be pretty heavy snow so it may take quite a while so I don’t hurt myself and I can’t move….more later…

Well…if you read the first post of the day, you know I was bitching about how cold it feels in here over the past few days….and I just discovered why that is…in the course of staging all of my stuff for the move in the living room, I put the carton with my bike trainer in it right in front of one of the heat registers and by chance it directed the heat right up to the thermostat where it gave it a false reading of 72 degrees when it was only 66 in here, and that confused it and kept the heat from coming on for longer than it should to keep it at least liveable. So, after I moved the carton, everything is back to normal and there is heat in here again…kind of funny….

Well…damn, I’m just so tired of being cold…haven’t been able to warm up for weeks and I am also tired of being under a blanket all the time….after living here in Michigan my whole life I’d be used to it…but this seems to be a new development over the past year or so…I know I keep this place pretty cold at 65 degrees, but at 65 degrees in the spring, I’m outside in shorts and a t-shirt and I’m sweating on the bike…I wonder if the cold is cumulative? Got a lot done for the move yesterday and I think I’ll do a little more today that will get me to the point where I’m ready for the big stuff to be moved Sat….I do have to go out and get a cashier’s check for 35K tomorrow for the down payment on the house so I can close Tuesday…finally…and then it’s wide open until Saturday night…it looks like I won’t have internet for a few days since my starter kit from Comcast got lost by UPS and I think they are going to lose the second one that is supposed to be delivered tomorrow at the new house…so I’ll be on the phone Tuesday afternoon and then out to the local Comcast office to see what I can do…that is the only problem I see in the move…just hope it doesn’t snow much this week so I can get the truck in the back yard…still need to shovel out the garage door this week….not much to do today…just packing later but right now I need coffee and to read the news…don’t feel too hot with not taking any allergy meds and breathing in all the dust…ans till not sleeping at all….more later…

Well…damn this has been almost all day of packing and I am getting tired of it…especially with no sleep last night…I am just worn out but I did get my bedroom torn apart and the tv and headboard out here…the living room looks like a junk shop with all of the totes and tables, lamps and stereo equipment….and this is what it’s going to look like until we load this stuff up next Sat….sure hope I can get the internet working when I get out to the new house so I can take the night off next sat and have some cocktails and just relax for a while….going to put almost 400 miles on the car next week with all of the trips out to the house and back but it needs cleaning and I need to get the bikes out there….but, I think I’m done for the day and need to eat something more even without riding…I could have gone out today but I have the bikes clean and don’t want to get them dirty before I move….want to be able to set one up on the trainer in the basement so I can start getting back into shape as I wait for spring…