A few days ago, Autumn struck Western Pennsylvania. The red maples exploded into the blazes of color that they are known for, other trees started to slowly change and the first leaves started to fall.
A few days ago, the woods were alive with the sounds of migrating birds, and I wish I had taken out my phone to record the sounds, I found myself thinking of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds. Although I never had that sense of foreboding or dread, I just wished that I could have seen them and recorded the moment.
It was also a morning where I awoke to fog and the sound of small arms fire, which to be completely honest, I mistook as fireworks. I'm not sure if they were hunting squirrel, which is in season now, or just shooting to practice, but it was a little odd for me.
Susan just chuckled and told me to wait for deer season in November.
I am enjoying some parts of country life, other parts...not so much.
Yesterday morning Susan told me that I didn't seem happy living in the country. It's actually a complicated question for me. It's been a month and with the exception of her family, and a relaxing afternoon with my family, I've not seen anyone. Well anyone that I used to know.
Part of that is because of the distances involved. I'm an hour drive from Pittsburgh. In fact, I'm away from everything. The nearest place to pick up anything that may be useful and necessary is at least a 30 minute drive away. It used to take 10 minutes in Tampa.
When we go grocery shopping we end up taking a cooler to make sure that our frozen products stay frozen. If we forgot something or run out of something, it now becomes a chore. We simply do not have the time or energy to kill a hour out of our day to drive back and get kitty litter for example. I am learning that we have to buy in bulk. We already had a freezer, now I'm thinking that we will have to buy a second refrigerator also.
We actually spent part of the weekend building shelves and organizing the basement of our home to hold these balk items and will hopefully be able to find them in an organized and quick manner. Since I work from home, and Susan will have to go out for her job and other obligations, I'm going to be left alone sometimes and will have to forage for lunch or dinner on my own..
Because of that I wanted to get some quick easy meals for myself that I could either pop in the microwave or make fairly quickly. The problem with these meals of course is that they are either fattening, high in salt, or calories. Three things I've been trying to avoid. So do I give up convenience for health or learn to make some healthier meals for myself? So far I'm managed to make two Ramen dishes and a few sandwiches.
I slowly realize that I have no choice, I'm going to have to learn to cook.
In addition to that, I've found that getting something done here depends on the contractor's schedule and not ours. For example, when we moved in we knew that we were going to have to get the roof on the house repaired, and went out seeking estimates. Working in the insurance industry, I wanted someone that was not only a licensed contractor but had all the approite insurance. So we had lots of offers, but few companies that could provide me with proof of insurance. Even fewer companies showed up to actually look at the roof.
The same thing with the chimney sweep and the stove. We need to bring it up to code, I understand that. However their only seems to be one chimney sweep in all of Mercer country that is licensed and insuranced. Our realtor didn't inform us that the house had not been lived in for over two years when we before we bought it. Nor did we realize that the wood burner was instilled in 1983.
Being smart practical people and not wanting to die from CO2 poisoning, we decided to have it cleaned and looked over. To be honest I sort of regret that decision now.
It is possible for him to install a new wood stove but he won't be able to get to it until Mid October, and the cost to install the stove and bring everything up to code is about $5000. He was supposed to stop by last week to pick up half of that for parts, etc. It took three different phone calls from me, and two from my wife before he even picked up the phone and agreed to do the work. He's supposedly stopping over with the contract on Monday, we will see if he does.
Frankly, I can't trust this guy. However we have no choice. I want the work done before it gets cold, and we have already had two frost warnings.
It seems to me that, here at least, you either have to do something yourself or "know a guy that knows a guy." Having a good connection with the Amish, who have a reputation for doing quality work right the first time, is not a bad thing.
My job assignment is winding down and I officially start training form my new position on October 5th in the same company. The problem is that I have little to do till then. Basically I have to be attached to the computer but am staring at mostly blank screens. I know I should not bitch, after all I'm moving into a new position with higher pay and daylight hours (I currently work till 8 PM every night)...but I'm easily bored. .
I guess things can and will get better. Thanks for letting me vent anonymous people of the internet.
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