Entering the busy season again
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is in 2 weeks? Where does time go?
Typically, Thanksgiving kicks off a really hectic, but mostly enjoyable, 5 weeks or so. There's something going on every weekend in December, every year. This year is no different, and once again, I'm forced to choose between my Bangor friends and my Portland friends regarding which big Christmas party to go to. Pending good weather, I'm going to the Bangor one this year. I had planned do attend that one last year too, but bad driving resulted in me staying South, and thus attending the big Jensen Christmas party. We'll see what happpens.
Anyway, even the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving are looking pretty busy for me. Tonight I have a Champagne/Port tasting to go to, followed by a Doyle Dykes concert down in Wells, and perhaps after that, depending on the time, I'll go out with some friends at the York Harbor Inn Pub, as some of them will be down there for something else.
Tomorrow, I'm going to Bubba's for 80's night!
Saturday of course I'm going to Newburyport, MA for a gigantic wine tasting. Sunday I'm either going hiking or perhaps going to play disc golf with my friend John.
The other thing that's starting to keep me busy? Apartment hunting. Yes, you heard that right.
I've learned something about the market down here over the past half year or so of looking; prices may be coming down a little, but that decline is only affecting houses in the $400,000+ range. Houses in the $200,000 - $250,000 range haven't budged, I guess it's an in-demand price range and prices have stayed stable accordingly. Rates are low, true, but that's still quite a stretch on my single income. So unless the prices fall for houses in that range, I probably won't be buying one soon.
My only options for less expensive houses are:
a) Really crappy, old ones that need tons of work
b) Decent places in crappy neighborhoods
c) Decent places that are way too far out of town for my liking. If I move too far out, nobody would ever come to visit me! At my age, I still really need to be right in town.
So, I'm starting to consider Condos, but have reservations about those too. I dunno.
One thing is certain though. I really need to get out of my apartment. I am so tired of living there, I don't like it at all, and have felt this way for a few years. I've blogged about my recurring dream where I realize I had forgotten rooms and stuff, and was happy to discover that I lived in a much bigger place than I thought I did, only to wake up to reality. I need to DO something about that.
I looked at one place last night, it was really big, not far from my current apartment, first floor even, which would be nice, but it had really high ceilings and kind of old, drafty windows, so I'd imagine the heating bill would be too much.
I'm looking at another place a few blocks away, over on Montrose Ave, tomorrow during my lunch break. Again, big, but I need to find out what the oil consumption is before I consider moving. In any case, if I do happen to find a nice place with decent energy efficiency, and month-to-month terms, don't be surprised if I move in the next month or two.
The month-to-month bit is a big deal, since I still want the freedom to move into something I'd own, should a good opportunity present itself.
By the way...be watching your e-mail boxes in the next couple weeks, as I'll be sending out invites to my 31st birthday party, which will be on December 27th. I've decided to do Spanish wines and Tapas this year, to help reduce the amount of food we have to eat!
Typically, Thanksgiving kicks off a really hectic, but mostly enjoyable, 5 weeks or so. There's something going on every weekend in December, every year. This year is no different, and once again, I'm forced to choose between my Bangor friends and my Portland friends regarding which big Christmas party to go to. Pending good weather, I'm going to the Bangor one this year. I had planned do attend that one last year too, but bad driving resulted in me staying South, and thus attending the big Jensen Christmas party. We'll see what happpens.
Anyway, even the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving are looking pretty busy for me. Tonight I have a Champagne/Port tasting to go to, followed by a Doyle Dykes concert down in Wells, and perhaps after that, depending on the time, I'll go out with some friends at the York Harbor Inn Pub, as some of them will be down there for something else.
Tomorrow, I'm going to Bubba's for 80's night!
Saturday of course I'm going to Newburyport, MA for a gigantic wine tasting. Sunday I'm either going hiking or perhaps going to play disc golf with my friend John.
The other thing that's starting to keep me busy? Apartment hunting. Yes, you heard that right.
I've learned something about the market down here over the past half year or so of looking; prices may be coming down a little, but that decline is only affecting houses in the $400,000+ range. Houses in the $200,000 - $250,000 range haven't budged, I guess it's an in-demand price range and prices have stayed stable accordingly. Rates are low, true, but that's still quite a stretch on my single income. So unless the prices fall for houses in that range, I probably won't be buying one soon.
My only options for less expensive houses are:
a) Really crappy, old ones that need tons of work
b) Decent places in crappy neighborhoods
c) Decent places that are way too far out of town for my liking. If I move too far out, nobody would ever come to visit me! At my age, I still really need to be right in town.
So, I'm starting to consider Condos, but have reservations about those too. I dunno.
One thing is certain though. I really need to get out of my apartment. I am so tired of living there, I don't like it at all, and have felt this way for a few years. I've blogged about my recurring dream where I realize I had forgotten rooms and stuff, and was happy to discover that I lived in a much bigger place than I thought I did, only to wake up to reality. I need to DO something about that.
I looked at one place last night, it was really big, not far from my current apartment, first floor even, which would be nice, but it had really high ceilings and kind of old, drafty windows, so I'd imagine the heating bill would be too much.
I'm looking at another place a few blocks away, over on Montrose Ave, tomorrow during my lunch break. Again, big, but I need to find out what the oil consumption is before I consider moving. In any case, if I do happen to find a nice place with decent energy efficiency, and month-to-month terms, don't be surprised if I move in the next month or two.
The month-to-month bit is a big deal, since I still want the freedom to move into something I'd own, should a good opportunity present itself.
By the way...be watching your e-mail boxes in the next couple weeks, as I'll be sending out invites to my 31st birthday party, which will be on December 27th. I've decided to do Spanish wines and Tapas this year, to help reduce the amount of food we have to eat!