Twenty-first century’s yesterday

[rolanni]

So, Saturday Steve and I went down to Old Orchard Beach, hoping to settle Point One of the Semi-Sekrit Project. Alas, the person on whom I had placed my best bet…is still in Florida. I did score his phone number from the on-site manager, so, not a total loss, but a bit disappointing, nonetheless.

We did stop at Michele’s for breakfast and to give them a copy of Carousel Tides. Michele came out of the kitchen (she never does this!) to give me a hug. We talked a little about the Semi-Sekrit Project, and she has some ideas, which she was going to check into and get back to me — which is beyond awesome.

We did a lot of exploring on the day — which was sunny and warm and just about perfect. Did you know there was an elk and deer farm in Scarborough? Neither did I. I made lots of notes about lots of things, of which more in a moment.

We had meant to have lunch in Saco and explore downtown on foot, but that failed to work out, so we kept on driving and eventually came to Whole Foods, where we decided to have our now-much-belated lunch from the buffet. That wasn’t a terrible notion, but it was so noisy and so crowded that I managed rather the worst panic attack I’ve had in years; this close to putting everything down and running out the door. Deep breaths and a grim determination not to run won the day, which was, after all, for the best, ’cause, hey, lunch was good.

We decided not to shop afterwards, though.

Regarding taking notes, above, I had Cygnus with me, naturally, and had started making notes using the word processing program on-board. Unfortunately, this process is much, much slower than scribbling notes on a pad of paper (which I defaulted to, Steve having brilliantly brought a pad of paper with him). I know there are handwriting applications for Android devices — anybody have a favorite one they can recommend?

And? I want to live here.

Oh! It was discovered yesterday that Socks’ has acquired a new title — all of our cats accrete titles over time — his first in Maine: Silversocks, Overseer of the Daffodils.

Some have asked how the daffodils are doing under this new and benevolent oversight. The answer is: Since Socks is an inside-only cat, his oversight is — oversight. He has, in fact, adopted as his own the window that looks out over the daffodil patch. The daffodils appear to be prospering, since we have several dozen that look like they’ll explode into bloom this afternoon — some weeks ahead of their usual schedule.

We’re looking forward to a fun-filled week ahead of us here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory. I intend to finish up the SRM end of year financials today, and move on, tomorrow, to compiling the 310,000+ words of Liaden short stories into two volumes to be sent to Baen. That should keep me occupied for a couple days.

We’re also expecting some Interesting Deliveries; Mozart is on-board to get his Summer Haircut; and I’m determined, starting tomorrow, to get back into both the bread-baking, and the gym-going schedule. No, I don’t know how we stand the excitement; just naturally high-energy, I guess.

Originally published at Sharon Lee, Writer. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[saruby.livejournal.com]

Nice townhouse. Won't you miss the daffodils? OTOH, nice not to have to deal with home maintenance and snow removal. You ARE talking about the brownstone, yes?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Well, I won't have to miss the daffodils; I could have a bowl of them growing in the kitchen -- or all over the house.

It's not exactly a brownstone (which to me means a rowhouse); it's basically a two-story apartment inside of an old mill building, on an island in the middle of the Saco River.

But, yeah, it is nice, isn't it?

[mothadventures.livejournal.com]

But is the building cat friendly?

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

First question that popped into my mind, too!
Second was : how close to the river .... and how often (and high) does that river flood?

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

The mill stands above the river by a considerable distance. But, I thought I remembered that the river did rise high enough in the last couple years to get the floor wet in some of the lower units. I can't find anything on the web, which is frustrating, to say the least...

Flood maps

[psw456.livejournal.com]

We just had our house appraised for a home equity loan and the report included a FEMA flood map showing 100 year and 500 year flood zones. I assume that any qualified appraiser has access to the FEMA flood map data base - from a quick Google search, individuals can't request one.

I thought the virtual tour of the property was very nice - also thought about the cats. Good luck with your plans

[readinggeek451]

The FEMA flood maps (FIRM) are available for viewing online, although they're a pain to use.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

That is something I need to find out from the condo association, yes. Because the cats are not negotiable.

Socks Title

[catherine ives (from livejournal.com)]

Overseer of the Daffodils.
I'm sure they appreciate being overseen.

Re: Socks Title

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

Daffodils would appreciate the attention, I expect *nods*

[spiritdancer]

I expect you would have a fair bit of wiggle room on the price of the townhome - Zillow shows it on the market for over 180 days. Interestinly, the initial asking price was $20K less than the current asking price. Either of which is WAY less than the last purchase price in 2004, so I'd definitely look into the flooding possibility/issue.