I see by my outfit...

[rolanni]

...that this is going to be a very busy week.

Actually, today is rather laid-back (ignore the running around in circles and the declarations that this book will be the death of me; business as usual at this stage, and actually a positive sign), but things start to rev up tomorrow with a podcast interview, then two flavors of medical visits on Wednesday, and a end-of-week in-house interview with The Maine Edge.  We have also just been told that one of the old stone houses in Old Orchard Beach/Ocean Park is for sale at a price that is...above our touch, but not that much above our touch.  We need to think seriously about whether we can fit two writers and four cats in 1,036 square feet, with no basement.  And if we really want to add, "drive four hours round trip to look at a house" into this week's mix, especially because!

I really need to print out the penultimate draft of Alliance on Sunday and use next week to go through it for the final edit (The Final Edit).

So!  How's your week shaping up?

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Old stone houses can be hard and expensive to heat.

[catlinye-maker.livejournal.com]

My week is looking up! I put DH on a plane at o'dark thirty and sent him to pick up our new (to us) truck in the DFW area, and he's driving it to where we are in Tampa as we type, and very pleased with it overall. Seeing it in person has generated a whole new list of questions, like "how does the second fuel tank we didn't know it had actually work" and "has this truck been lifted, or have they just gotten taller since 2000 (current truck)" and "how do you install running boards anyway, and which ones are best?"

Lots of research to be done, always a good time! :)

As a full-time RVer I suspect my view of 1036 sq ft is warped not helpful. I _can_ conclusively say 2 adults and 3 cats can happily live in 350 sq ft, but boy, one sheds a LOT of stuff to make that happen.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I always thing that two-tank vehicles sound simultaneously Awfully Useful, and bad for gas mileage. Baji-Naji.

I'm not actually opposed to Shedding Stuff; I'm just not confident that I'll know which stuff to Shed. Obviously, the cats come with, though we'd have to work out where to put the catbox(es), since -- no basement. Obviously, the computers come with. Obviously, we'd need to weed lots more books -- which is. . .not impossible, but we are down to the place where we'd be weeding Lifetime Friends. The really hard one's the art; I don't think I've ever gotten rid of a piece of art...

Have fun doing research, and I hope the new RV works out.

[catlinye-maker.livejournal.com]

*grin* It's a diesel, ain't no such thing as _good_ fuel mileage. Though better than towing with a gasoline engine truck; we should get roughly 10-12 mpg towing vs 6-8 mpg for a gas engine.

What the extra tank gives you is flexibility, to be able to do a long day's drive and then fill the truck at a regular gas station after setting up the trailer, rather than needing to use a truck stop while towing. Or the ability to pass up dodgy diesel and drive a hundred more miles to a station you know is reliable; that sort of thing.

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

The art is simple: like museums, rotation and storage!

[margotinez.livejournal.com]

Re a house in Old Orchard Beach: In real estate, location is everything. Is this your very favorite place to end up? If so, go check it out now. You can always make a low-ball offer, and leave it to the ghods. In the book
The Bucolic Plague, the Beekman Boys made a very low ball offer for the mansion they fell in love with - and got it. I enjoyed their story, plus the follow-on fact that they, years later, won the Amazing Race on TV and were able to retire the mortgage. I don't know what it takes to add insulation to old stone houses, however.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

If Everything Were Equal, which it very much is not, I would happily move to Old Orchard Beach and never emerge again. I'm thinking we have to take the dragon by the tail here, though I'm obviously not going to buy a house that I can barely afford, leaving me therefore without any means to heat it. That would be Silly. The cats -- and we -- are far too fond our comfort.

That said, and as far as we can tell from the pictures and the disclosure papers, it looks like this one may have actually been insulated, already. Some of the old stone houses -- the Benoit Houses, as they call 'em 'round here -- actually have naked stone walls inside. I'm thinking those would be awfully cold, come 25 below zero.

This particular house also come with a heat pump, and the reported electrical usage is much above ours. OTOH, we don't know if the sellers used it as a summer house, and went Away down south in the winter, just leaving enough heat on so that the pipes didn't freeze.

Questions...

Heat pump

[doccolt.livejournal.com]

A heat pump looses efficiency drastically as the temp gets below freezing. Most have auxillary electric resistance heat which really makes the meter spin. It is possible to have aux gas or propane/butane heat but not common. At winter temps there I would expect the heat pump to run pretty much 24/7 with the aux kicking in and out regularly. The compressor will cost two thousand or more probably more to replace when it dies from constant running. It is possible to set the thermostat to emergency heat and use the aux heat only.

Re: Heat pump

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

Aha! That explains why they also had oil usage last year! So, they've got a dual system, with the heat pump being the new kid on the block -- the house was built in 1948.

Re: Heat pump

[doccolt.livejournal.com]

Right! A heat pump is really just a refrigerated air conditioner with a reverse cycle built in. In heating you are cooling the outside air and using the waste heat to heat the house. The colder it is outside the less heat there is to transfer inside. It should cool well in the summer and heat ok in moderately cold weather then also run the oil heat more and more as the cold deepens.

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

1036 sounds about right. Should be a good fit for the katz. Maybe they'll let you guys live out back :)

Sounds like it won't be too long until Alliance is ready for eArc!

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

OOB has an awful lot of condos and townhouses. Aside from the stone house there was another a little less -- same sq ft but claimed a 5000 ft loft. I wonder how that works.

[rolanni.livejournal.com]

I think someone added too many zeroes.

Most condos don't allow cats. Or they allow "two" cats. And there's the issue of condo fees, which can go up at whim, so I hear.

There are a buncha mobile homes in OOB, too, many of them for sale at Quite Reasonable Prices, but the land rent is $500 +/- and it, too, can go up at whim.

I like to fix as many of my costs as possible, being the freelancer that I am.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

Somehow I can't imagine you living in one of those condos -- sort of like beehives. Townhouses are not as bad inasmuch as many don't have pet restrictions if you are buying them. They also don't have condo fees. Their biggest downfall is the stairs -- the whole reason I moved from one to a ranch house.