An Old Place in Loudoun County, Virginia.

I'm a refugee from Loudoun County. I sold a one bedroom condo for an ungodly sum and came down to not-so-laid-back Cary, NC. Nice enough place but too Mr. Beaver like.

When I first came to Loudoun, it was rolling hills, cow farms, cornfields, old barns, country stores, and small sleepy towns where a dog could sleep in peace in the middle of the street.

Here's an old, old place, very typical of old Loudoun houses, painted brick, some parts before Civil War, some even before the Revolutionary War. Not restored, just lived in continuously for for over three hundred years by different families and owners. It's a big house. The church had it for awhile and they added on a wedding chapel and a preacher's study. It was even bigger then that but the kitchen addition from the 1890's had to be taken down. The materials from the demolition was used to build a small cooling house.

The barn was built in the early Twentieth Century, but typical of many structures of the time in Loudoun, quite of bit of it came from an earlier barn, and the older posts and beams have been remarkably free from rot.

The garage is unusual in that it is a post and beam oak frame filled in with oak studs and poplar siding. We used concrete nails if we wanted to hang anything up.

This grey building is just a storage shed, gray, T-111 siding and just shows how structures are added as needs dictate.

Unique to the area. is the use of tin roofs, or more properly, the standing seam metal roof. The roof on the house dates from the 1880s and and gets a fresh coat of paint every ten years.

This is pretty rare that so much has survived here, not untouched, but surely appreciated by it's occupants over the years.

Leaving the Driving to Me

I gotta to go up to Northern Virginia this weekend. I'd rather not. It's cold up there. Who knows, wait a day, it might even warm up?

Three hundred and thirty one miles on our nation's highways.

Flying is out. United could get me there in less then two hours, but that's flight time. Then there's paying for parking, the two hour check in, TSA screening and whatever their prohibition of the day is, then getting to the other end and getting a taxi. By the time all is said and done, think 500 bucks and at least seven hours each way. Ouch.

Don't even think American, Delta, or Jet Blue. They will fly me a thousand miles to go three hundred. I get to cool my heels in the Midwest, or the former Confederacy, or Yankee-land as I wait for the second leg.

Ok, there's Amtrak. Cary to Harper's Ferry. Bike on down to the station...not, cold. Leave at Oh-Dark AM and get to DC at eleven AM. Spend five hours in DC and then get to Harpers Ferry by seven PM. Sixtysix bucks each way.

Greyhound is much the same but the closest station is in Frederick Maryland. That's thirty miles from where I need to be.

So I'm driving. Even after 9-11, The Iraqi War, Peak Oil, and all of that nonsense, it's less then forty bucks of fuel to get me up there. As for all the other costs, I'm already having to pay insurance, maintenance, and taxes on the Subaru. Seven hours tops, and I have my transportation at the other end.

A lot of people puff away and say you can take the train, the bus, the plane, a bike. Just one problem. The US of A is a BIG place. Even at three dollars a gallon last summer, it was still cheaper and easier to drive then being politically correct and socially responsible and using semi-public transit. Also, sometimes one is employed, one is not. Cheap is as cheap does, and right now, the cheapest ride is my Subaru.

Rewriting History Blogwise.

Remember those old Soviet history books and encyclopedias? Every now and then Moscow (not Idaho) would send out additions and instructions to paste in that article, cut out that paragraph, and block out that line. Same is with blogs. Mine was getting too political war-wise. So one post went "poof" and one got trunicated.

Suffice it to say, that The Iraqi War is an unfortunate business, that we had to know about the WMD, and while we were at it, remove Saddam from power. Of course we did have to put a gummint in place after breaking the old one. Then there was a minor problem of a completely broken infrastructure. Well, they got a gummint now, elections, an armed force of sorts. If they are having a civil war, twenty thousand more troops ain't gonna do much. Time to pull a Nixon and declare victory and then get lost. Four years there is quite enough.

A Roof over My Head

I live in a small townhouse. It's not very well built, and the architects, if indeed this place had architects, did a rather mediocre job of shoehorning two bedrooms, two and a half baths, one stair, one kitchen, one pantry, three closets, space for a laundry (yet another closet), and a fireplace into just 1040 square feet.

It does have one stellar qaulity that is really nice. It's all mine. No mortgage, no home line of credit, no liens, ....just all mine, repeat, all mine. It was really just sheer luck and timing. First I sold my condo way up in Leesburg, Virginia for a lot of money. I knew my sister was down here in Cary and she liked it. So down I came. Found this little place for 87 grand and bought it. Of course it was worth every penny. Some days I think I stole the place, other days, I think that Scott, the previous owner made out like a bandit. Lately, after discovering the rot inside my chimney shell, the general opinion of me, myself and I, is that Scott did rather well. Still, My roof.

The condo was much better built, copper plumbing, nice big rooms, big kitchen, enclosed sunporch and lots of sunlight all day long. Seven years there, repainted and renewed everything. Still, people living below and people living above. The condo was mine too (well mostly mine, that thing called a mortgage) but I owned a block of airspace lined with drywall, wood and paint. So here in the townhouse, this slice of attached building sitting on a tenth of an acre, it's my kingdom.

It will be two years come March that I came down here. In that time, the kitchen has been rebuilt, the pantry, the coat closet, the laundry closet, the upstairs landing, and the half bath have all been redone. It's still a work in progress. The living-plus-dining room is now down to sub floor and there is that rotten chimney shell. The back deck needs attention too, not dangerous, but the railing needs to be replaced along with some of the steps.

It really depends on being employed or gainful income, on what happens here. If I'm working, one or two projects are rolling along, if not, tools get downed and only much needed repairs get done. Right now, unemployed, or temporarily retired, so here it sits, looking like some improbable rebuilding/demolition job.

Borrowed Books Reviews

Turned in all my library books but one.

That would be P.T Duetermann's The Scorpion in the Sea. Excellent book and it was his first. He's done other genre since then, mystery and detective, and even naval fiction. This is a well told sea story of going against great odds, as a maverick captain takes his old steam powered destroyer out against impossible odds, fighting not only the usual expected enemy, but also that one we know so well, politics. Truly fine. If you can find it, worthy of addition to anyone's permament collection.

The ones that went back.

Tom Clancy's Red Rabbit, Published 2002. Set when Jack Ryan is posted in England, right after Patriot Games. I tried to get into it but just couldn't. Kept going back and forth from Moscow to England. Right about the 100th page back it went. The best Clancy is the early stuff, Cardinal of the Kremlin, Red October among others.

Kotzwinkle, The Amphora Project. Sci-Fi about immortality and a junkyard moon. It was somewhat reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut.

Garcia's Casual Rex, a novel about a P.I who is a velociraptor. It still doesn't stop him from going through all the trials and tribulations that befall most P. I. 's including having to pay the rent and being used for target practice. Gives him a rather sarcastic slant on life. Good read, especially as a beach book.

There was one other but it was not memorable enough for here. That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

adminsolutionsgroup.net

That's right, careers@adminsolutionsgroup.net sent me an email.

Dear Sucker ,

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home. We offer the following:

    * $30 per hour starting pay (increases based on performance after 90 days)
    * Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits
    * Tuition Re-imbursement
    * Flexible Schedule
    * Student Loan Re-imbursement assistance 

Administrative Assistants can work full or part time. Part time assistants must 
work a minimum of 10 hours per week.

We are seeking both full and part time administrative staff. If you would like 
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Administrative Solutions Human Resources

Click here Non working opt-out link here


These also show up under USAVoice.org and goodgradesnow.com.

The best thing to do is just delete them. There are no paying jobs at the end of these messages.

Going to the Library.

One of the perks of being temporarily retired, is using the library. I spent almost ten years working for a library system. Being "retired", spending money on books is a real no-no. A review of some of the stuff I borrowed.

James Rollins, wrote Ice Hunt, Black Order, Sandstorm, and a few others. Not a bad read. Kinda like literary fastfood. Funny how things always seem to burst into flame in his novels. Black Order, it was the churches catching on fire. Fire Marshall Bill Burns comes to mind when I read his stuff. Decent writer, much like Clive Cussler, with the notable exception that he is still writing his own stuff.

Larry Niven, The Ringworld novels, namely the second through fourth. Plenty of staying power even after all these years. Well written. In his later years he did farm some stuff out. The Kzinti can now be found in eleven books, called the Man Kzin Wars. The writing in those can range from excellent to "why am I reading this?".
The early stuff is best, though it can be said of Niven, there are no bad books.

Drew Karpyshyn, Darth Bane, Path of Destruction, novel about the rise of the Sith Lords. Mediocre, formulaic, wordy. Another licensed, branded Star Wars franchise novel. Readable if the snow is a foot deep outside and one has no pressing issues to attend to.
Still, a lot of good authors have been given their start by writing for Star Wars and some even got their start on Star Trek. After grinding out a few novels set in those "verses", they break away and start turning out the good stuff.

Committing economic crime.

This is a consumer based economy. So what am I doing right now. Not consuming. I am not supporting my fellow consuming Americans. Of course that feeling of guilt is absent. They aren't supporting me either.

Let's see the latest haul from the mail box.

The Discover Card. Fine print is pretty interesting. Oooh they can smack me for 29.88 percent. Ouch. Into the shredder.

Shopwise is here. Nope, haven't seen that missing kid. Nope, don't need cheap contacts, can't eat pizza, thanks, I build my PCs anyway, and don't collect quarters except in change....NEXT!

Food Lion...hmmmm. The Kroger is closer. Same prices.

Papa John's, pizza is not my food of choice anymore. This thing called Lactose Intolerance. Much cheaper to avoid the stuff then spend money on pills for it. Also, the best pizza is made by real Italians. Giovanni, how I miss your Sicialian!

Butterfly Life....nope, prefer to get paid to sweat, also for the other gender.....Next!

Farm and Ranch Auto Sales want's to sell me a used car..... already got one that works....and is paid for.

Vonage VOIP....hmmm. I used to have to support a network that supported VOIP. Still ruins my sleep thinking about it and I've been out of the trade for two years.

Another Butterfly Life....those poor trees. Isn't one flyer enough per person?

Two from Netflix. One's a huge envelope. Poor mail carrier. I see that guy in his truck. He really does need his truck. When employed, I buy used DVDs, when not, I watch the same old, same old.

Vanguard, yes I have Vanguard. Been making money like a bandit, but do they need to send info snail mail when it's bookmarked on my Firefox?

Time Warner Cable wants me to pay to watch advertising, get telemarketers over their VOIP, and semi-high speed on line. I know what the network is like here. Not good. Still, at least my TWX stock is finally doing well. Toss.

Dell....Intel inside. Sorry, AMD spoken here only. Also I build better machines cheaper.

Clearwire Wireless Broadband. Better open it just in case. Pass. I'm locked in with my current provider anyway. Also it sucks updating all the email addresses.

Campmor camping catalog. I quit sleeping outdoors years ago. Toss.

Midweek Values...A whole slue of stuff, unfinished furniture food, whatever.....dropped into the pile.

Sportclips...4 bucks off what price? Weird place that I walked into once. It had bleacher seats in the waiting area, old gym lockers and chain link fences. Theme is good for parks. Barber Shops....not.

The Cleaning Authority informs me that the wrong people are cleaning my house. Well, some days, no one cleans this dump! Maybe I should pay myself to clean this place. Bet I charge less......

Valpak. Thick sealed envelope that only gets opened because it would choke the shredder in one mass.

And that is it from the mailbox.

Blogging right along

Or not. I had an old blog. It's gone now.

I've started job hunting. So far so good. One to two responses that are good out of ten or more resumes. Have to filter the usual crap out. Hopefully something soon.

More troops to Iraq. It's like Vietnam more and more. I really wished they had asked the guys who had to go through that the first time.