Indie Designs Online

Well, we’re having a winter this year.  (By “we” I mean ALL of us!)

But I remember snow forts and ice storms as a kid.  (It wasn’t just b/c I was shorter!)  Am I wrong to think that whenever we have a “mild” winter, as we have had for several years now, we’re lucky?  (By “mild”, of course, I mean it’s anything OTHER than a year like this one!)  We haven’t been visited by polar air in a while, yes, but it’s not like it NEVER has ventured this south in our lifetimes … ahhhh, we’re old.  I see now.

Or is that how soft we’ve become?  (That last “we” was the universal kind b/c I don’t have the guts to say “young folks”, or some other equally snippy-thing.)

But I hope everyone’s staying warm.  We’re fine, unless the Vortex is visiting with the Polar Air, in which case it just blows thru the house.

Just gotta keep waiting … Spring is bound to come!

No, nothing, as far as the acquisition/rebuild is concerned, but the Polar Vortex seems to have killed off those lingering mold spores!  (If it just happens they’ve only gone into hiding, please don’t spoil the clarity of my experience by making me consider anything so despoiling as that scientific reality!)

The freezing winds that were The Vortex were the only thing that, so far, made me wish we’d put the money into finishing the walls.  (But I don’t see putting money into a house that may yet be demolished!)  Polar air poured thru the walls!  We’d replaced insulation and re-covered it with semi-sheer plastic (for weird ascetic reasons) after we redid all of the electric.  But the old-insulation/plastic-thing was no match for The Vortex!

But the Polar Vortex seems to have killed the mold, so I can’t complain.  Needless to say, it’s been a MISERABLE couple of months, b/c of what turns out to be,  what?,  mold “toxicity”?   But I now have a few days until the effects of the January Thaw (that immediately followed the Vortex) make themselves known, whatever they may be, so I take a moment to say … nothing new.

Time marches.

Our house is trying to poison us!

We’ve  both been sniffing and sneezing, but I think THAT’s why I’ve felt like death for so long!

Black mold isn’t the same as black oil, is it?

Oh, goody, we’re now in for another deep-freeze – if I hear another dumb comment about how climate warming’s a myth …. !!!!  I guess Wendy, on our south-west coast, is the only warm one in the group!!

Will let everyone know about “Sandy benefits” as they continue.

As far as the acquisition, we’re still waiting …

IT’S A NEW YEAR!

Can’t be worse than the last, can it? (Does just asking that question doom me to worse?)

So, where can I move that will be kinder to painful bones, as far as low humidity and mild winters? Someplace that has compassionate medical marijuana laws, so that I can avoid dependence on synthetic pharmaceuticals for pain relief? That will NOT move me into the middle of nowhere, where I know NO ONE, which would, no doubt, worsen my already bumbling social skills (from lack of exercise all these years) to a point of no return. And someplace that isn’t overrun with cars. And traffic. And NOISE. I’ve lived in that for far too long! I’d like stars. Do those places still exist?

I can’t be north of NYC, so I’ve narrowed it down to Delaware, in the east, MAYBE Maryland.   And parts of northern Nevada, northern Arizona and California, in the west. Any opinions as to other places I should explore? (I’m trying to keep myself occupied and distracted. It’s going to be a long winter!)

Be safe and happy this year.

BE MERRY AND BRIGHT, and, of course, SAFE AND SNUG!

(Don’t drink and drive, and all that… Better yet, don’t drive at all – think of all the idiots out there that DO!)

My studio Alley, who lived in my trashed art studio, has transitioned into her next life.

(Yes, I’ve been watching a lot about Nelson Mandela’s “transition”.)

We’d kept each other company, but I finally had to let her go.  She took a turn for the worse, since she’s been back there, and it was just time.

OK, the blog disappeared for a bit, but we’re back again!

Don’t worry.  You missed nothing.

We’re still waiting to hear about the acquisition application.  But in the meantime, the state government sure wants to loan us lots of money to stay and rebuild!!  (Way higher, of course!)  First of all, the house, almost 100 years old & added onto over the years, isn’t raise-able – and if we demolish and build new, our taxes triple.  Secondly, the damage we experienced certainly qualifies us for this acquisition program – the state buys your property and, hopefully, can sell it someday when they need the money, b/c our properties can be built on.  (Some can never be built on again.)  So they have to send some engineers over to reaffirm that we’re damaged enuf…blah blah blah.

Everything’s gotta be done and redone several times before there’s even HOPE of it ending.

…and as a gift, as of noon today, (wait for it ….) we got heat!

(yay!)

And hot water for showers at home, which means I only have to go to the gym to keep my joints loose!

(yay!)

And we can use the stove (we had to get), and the washing machine (we were given)!

(yay!)

(I hear the wait of 7 – 8 weeks to get connections is not unusual. And you’d be correct if you thought that that news is NOT going well up here. I think there’s going to be a riot soon! But elections are next week, so money is finally trickling down to us little individuals! Gee, you’d think they want our votes. Ya think?)

Now we wait for the results of the latest application we’ve submitted, to have the county buy us out. We can’t build new b/c our taxes would triple.  We can’t elevate b/c the house would never survive.  And there’s no way I would live elsewhere on the island.

So.  We’ve got some deciding to do.

But for now, I’m just gonna wash my hair.  At home.  With hot water. (And I thought having NOTHING for 3 weeks last year was tuff!  We’re SO spoiled!)

Oh, just saying that, TOMORROW, the one-year “anniversary” of the SuperStormSandy surge, the thing that did the damage, is the one we’ll, uh, think of? remember? forget?, up this way.

The current, very quiet, hurricane season is about to end and we’ve been spared.  They’re calling this the once-in-85-year-storm.  That means that, statistically, we need to get out in 85 years.  In reality…?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, ALL!

stay safe!

We’ve been back in the house for, going on, 3 weeks. I’m enraged that we STILL don’t have hot water (or heat or stove or washer, but who’s counting, right?) b/c the gas company…oh, never mind. It’s political, I’m sure, and a bit dickish, but they’re the type, I fear, that would take their ball and go home if we were to question their, uh, tactics. It doesn’t matter WHY, we just DON’T.

And that is why we joined the gym. For the hot water. (But I’m staying for the machines that keep my joints bendy!) Thank god it’s not freezing cold yet. Mmmmmm…I recall being exactly here last year!

(The running theme thru this whole experience has been something about bathing…!)

(But don’t mind me, I’m all out of rhythm. Even my circadian rhythm is severely screwed up! I can’t seem to go to bed before 3 am, which means, of course, that I don’t rise til later… I keep my brother’s (Eric) hours, but w/o the output (music)!)

******

The latest news, however, might (and I say MIGHT) be reason to hope.

New York Rising is a state organization that was formed to hand out Sandy funds distributed by the federal gov’t – most of those funds go for state repairs to, like, fix boardwalks, roads, etc, but a little goes to us, homeowners. They came and assessed our home, the work we’ve already done, and the work that needs to be done, to bring everything up to code (moving it up, raising it, rising…get it?).

Anyway, this structure is SO OLD that to raise it and then repair it is the stupidest waste of money I can think of! So, Bear & I would like them to BUY US OUT. (I didn’t think we’d be eligible for that, but we actually MIGHT!)

In all cases, however…nothing’s happening TODAY. And TODAY is all that matters when you’re talking to a “department” (as opposed to an individual!).

*******

Who knew I’d have to go thru such CRAP to finally learn to live in the moment!

I can’t believe it’s been 11 months!

It’s been brought to my attention that I sound rather sad. (And I thought I was being ironic!) Surprisingly though, I’m not. Both Bear and I have had tough moments, yes, but we’ve managed to always, eventually find the humor – or IRONY – in each individual step in this whole process. Even as we cry while writing multiple thousand-dollar checks on a daily basis (like this week, so far, and especially for stuff that MAY get demolished in a half a year!), … oh who am I kidding! It sucks! It all sucks!!

But, we’ve managed.

Because of the findings from that big fire at the Jersey shore – that it started in the electrical wiring damaged by the salt water from Sandy under the boardwalk – anyone flooded by Sandy (like, us) has to have pipes and wires touched by salt water replaced and certified as having been fixed.

The trailer is leaving on Friday, and we’re trying to get everything coordinated so that we’ll have all the normal amenities – like electric, hot water, sewer, gas, internet/phone, that sort of stuff – when we move back in. (Right now, the gas company is being rather dickish, so we’re not sure about gas for hot water and the stove…)

I’ll let everyone know how it went when it’s all over!

THEN we can start with the hoping that water surges from the last two years were simply an expression of the randomness of nature and that it won’t happen again THIS year, before we can do whatever we’re going to eventually do here!