Randomness

[tiggymalvern]

We're in Walla Walla this week on an anniversary trip, and we were just wine tasting at Kyle MacLachlan's winery. We were chatting with the winery lady about his career and got to talking about David Lynch's Dune.

Winery Lady: I never read the books.

My SO: I read them all. I always tell people to read the first three then stop. After that, they're all backstory and world-building without much plot.

Winery lady: (looks confused)

Me looking at this casually dressed middle aged woman who knows about wine-making processes in excessively nerdy detail: It's like the difference between reading The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, if that makes any sense to you.

Winery lady: Ah, I see!

Sometimes you can take a pretty good guess about someone you don't know at all.

Comments

[bymyverytoes]

:)

Sorry not to have watched your recent dive videos. Been occupied. We took a short break to the seaside which was just wonderful, and now we want to move to the seaside :)

Am looking forward to watching them, however :)

[tiggymalvern]

Which seaside did you go to? A move might make your regular swimming easier :-)

We picked a bad week to come to Walla Walla. The weather last week was good, the weather next week is supposed to be perfect, and what we have right now can favourably be described as 'mixed'. We went on a scenic drive in the mountains earlier and got hailstoned on. Now of course the sun is out again (but no guarantee it is up there). Good thing the wine tastes good even in the rain!

[bymyverytoes]

"Which seaside did you go to?"

One just fifty minutes' drive away from our home, but one I've never actually stayed at, as opposed to making day trips. Not having to spend hours flogging up and down the highway was nice, and we did some great birdwatching! You can swim there, and even on a line-guarded beach, but I no longer trust sea swimming. Too much shit washes down the drains and straight into the ocean.

Buying is likely to be impossible without a loss of quality of residence and a lot of cost upgrading (we've *just* got this place perfect, and anything in our price range at the seaside would need the same kind of expenditure). So it might have to wait until we downsize or one of us dies or something :(

Sad about the weather, but sitting drink good wine while you watch the rain is far from the worst idea for a short break I can think of :)

[tiggymalvern]

Yes, people do like to live by the sea, it does things to house prices. You've been in that house a long time, I'm glad you've now got it right, but wow, that's been a slow process.

Yesterday we had significantly better weather.Today's going to be gorgeous, but it's also the day we're leaving!

[bymyverytoes]

"people do like to live by the sea"

The important thing is that people like to *retire* to the sea, especially to this formerly cheap and unfashionable destination. The housing stock is older and when people retire, they don't typically spend a lot on those properties. So the housing stock is either much older there, and in poorer condition, thus needing a lot of work we don't feel like doing, or it's brand new flash retirement style homes which are well above what we need and can afford right now. We'll move there when we're downsizing.

"wow, that's been a slow process"

To be fair, we've been renovating and maintaining two other houses for a while now. And our knowledge of what works has been evolving. It's taken a long time to work out how to beat the climate without just installing aircon in every room, and to convince the SO that some of this stuff is necessary.

I hope you enjoyed the nice farewell weather!

[tiggymalvern]

Yes, learning as you go can be a factor... I'm glad you not only managed to learn, but to persuade your SO too!

We had lovely weather for the first half of our drive back, then hit the rain as we approached the mountains. Now we're back at home where it's damp and grey again.

[tameiki]

So, how was the wine? :)

Funny that I understood your reference to The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion right away. XD

[tiggymalvern]

We bought a really nice rose and a really nice cab sauv :-)

Today in better weather, we went on a tour of a winery where they drive you around the vineyard while pouring you wines from the vines you're looking at. That was delightful!

[tameiki]

Sounds like a safe and fun way to drink and drive! How many vineyards did you tour?

Happy anniversary, by the way. FH and I will actually celebrate ours for a change this September. We can't believe we've made it 30 years! :P

[tiggymalvern]

That was the only vineyard we toured, we did tastings of two others plus another still to come (one wine tasting a day is enough, honestly. Two is a max, any more and you're just getting drug and can't tell about the wines any more.)

Awww, congrats! This was our 30th too - not our 30th of being married since we didn't do that for 10 years, but it's the 30th anniversary of when we hooked up.

[bymyverytoes]

congrats to you two, too!

[tiggymalvern]

Thank you :-)

[bymyverytoes]

Happy not wedding anniversary, hon!

[tameiki]

Thank you! If we can make it through these next few weeks, we should be okay. A couple weeks ago we discovered that we've had a slow leak under the sink of our powder room. Long story, but it was only when it leaked downstairs in the second bedroom that we found it. Just got the asbestos test result - no, there was none but it's a state law that everything must be tested. Mold test came back positive, thankfully, it was a low count but we won't know until they get into the walls and subfloor. Joy. Since it's not an immediate, "OMG! I have a leak!" thing, it might not be covered under insurance. We won't know until the adjuster comes out for inspection.

FH and I sharing one bathroom is going to be a true test of our love for each other. *laughs*

[bymyverytoes]

Ugh, bathroom leaks :( My condolences

Spouse and I have never had more than one bathroom, and we've together 33 years.

On the other hand, we hate each other's guts, so there's that :)

[tameiki]

Got a call from the lovely insurance company. This isn't covered since it's not "immediate" but rather, "happened over some time." In any case it's got to be fixed so...the whole thing will be around $10,000 when all's said and done. Hopefully, that's on the higher end and it'll be a little less. We can always hope.

I've been working on emptying out everything in the little half bath (I didn't do the toilet cabinet side before). It's a good time to throw a lot of things out! And...I'm also having to clear out everything on the other side of the bathroom wall that's inside the actual bedroom/office. That's taking a bit longer. *sigh* Right now, I'm so fed up that I'm throwing stuff out that I would normally want to keep. There are also a lot of stuff going to donations like a neck massage machine, several wireless keyboards and mouses, all kinds of charging cords, ear buds still in unopened cases... So much fun! Ugh. :P

If FH and I hadn't had separate bathrooms for the past 27 years, having to share one now wouldn't be a problem. Maybe. But he's taken over that bathroom and there's no room for my stuff.

You and your SO are too cute together, I've never seen a couple so laid back and in tune with each other.

[tiggymalvern]

Ugh, sorry about the expense and the hassle. Mould is a nightmare. As is having to test for asbestos that you already know isn't there because you built the place! Some of the local regulations we've had to deal with in our planning have been ridiculous. We have to have a pest controller come out and lay traps for 4 weeks before we start construction in case there are rats. We've lived here for 20 years and there are no rats. What we do have is a lot of native wildlife like pacific jumping mice and creeping voles that I would very much like not to have eradicated...

Our house has three bathrooms - one is used by us, one is used by our occasional guests, but mostly bathrooms two and three are used for rinsing and drying diving gear!

[tameiki]

I was wondering about that, it didn't sound right that a house your size would only have one bathroom. *laughs* Thanks for the explanation.

Yes, the asbestos thing was ridiculous - to the tune of $335 just for them to come out and $35 a pop for each test, which they had to do three to make sure we didn't have any nonexistent asbestos. We were super careful of the materials that were used but what the hell do we know. Bleh. The good thing (I guess?) is that they were out there already so we only got charged half the $335 of the "yes, we get paid just to show up" fee. Then, $50 for each mold test, of which there were three. Then, once all the repairs are done we get to pay another $335 and $150 for the "we're just checking to make sure there's no more mold" test. There goes a grand right there. FH is having kittens over the prices. XD