Sundry Happenings in the Beach Area.

The economic crisis continues. House sales grind to a halt.
My condo remains on the market with nary a bite. I am the proud owner of two properties - median price $160k per. One of them I live in, the other sits spotlessly empty awaiting new owners. Please God let it sell.

I do have an alternative. I can rent it to a family member. In my case this would mean an ex-husband who historically is not the most reliable in the financial department. The other alternative is to rent it to a family member of someone in my complex. I may opt for this.

In my new place, I have installed heavy curtains in my living room to keep prying eyes and the cold winter winds out. Summertime is great for huge windows. Winter, not so much. I am loving the extra space. Is it worth 80k more than my last place? As long as that 80k costs me $500 a month it's cool. Otherwise - can you say: *ouch!

Each evening when I go to bed, I sigh happily as I nestle down into my cozy blankies. My room is excellent. My brother was going to come over and help me plan the adjacent patio , but that may be some time in fruitition. He is wonderful at intentions but poor in execution. I understand completely as I am exactly the same. In my life I have missed many many important events that I wished to attend due to various and sundry happenstances. All of them preventable, and, yes, inevitable.

Alas alas.

The buggery flu has come and gone, thank goodness. It was much fiercer than I remember other flus as being. The hard part was not having the flu, it was getting the damned flu to leave. Although my worst days were two weeks ago, I still have not got my energy level completely back. It completely incapitated me. How the resident elders of our community cope with it is a mystery to me. The flu is a killer.
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(In which I prove HTML is not my second language) :
The following table can help you determine whether you have influenza or a cold.

Symptoms	Cold	Influenza (the flu)
Fever	Rare	Usual, sudden onset 39º-40º, lasts 3 to 4 days
Headache	Rare	Usual, can be severe
Aches and Pains	Sometimes mild	Usual, often severe
Fatigue and weakness	Sometimes mild	Usual, may last 2-3 weeks or more
Extreme fatigue	Unusual	Usual, early onset, can be severe
Runny, stuffy nose	Common	Sometimes
Sneezing	Common	Sometimes
Sore throat	Common	Sometimes
Chest discomfort, coughing	Sometimes mild to moderate	Usual, can be severe
Complications	Can lead to sinus congestion or earache	Can lead to pneumonia and respiratory failure, and more complications in persons with chronic diseases
Prevention	Frequent hand-washing	Yearly influenza vaccine and frequent hand-washing
Treatment	No specific treatment is available; symptom relief only	Anti-viral drugs by prescription, which can reduce symptoms.

Details. Pesky, annoying details....

Ohhh moving is not for the faint of heart. It isn't even for the stout of heart. It is a necessary evil. Alas alas.

I am the third of three girls in my family of birth. My eldest sister shares only one trait with my second sister- a distain for silver, crystal and china. Being the third, I expected nothing at all from my mother in the way of heirlooms. Mother was always very vocal about lines of succession. It wasn't me. Naturally, I took a job at Canada's finest retailer of all things high-end and got myself possessed of the best I could afford, and even alot I could not afford of sterling silver dinnerware, teasets and fine bone china.

After my Mother passed away, my father remarried in a fit of loneliness. He was taken for a ride by the biggest poser I ever had the misfortune to meet. The only person she fooled was my father, and that for a mere year. As this person slowly but surely displaced my father from his waterfront home, every single thing that reminded her of the prior resident was removed or relegated to storage. Imagine my surprize when my father showed up at my door with two huge tubs on a dolly.
In the tubs was my mothers entire set of Royal Albert China in the "Brigadoon" pattern. 16 place settings and every other service piece available. My father told me that he had indulged my mother in this purchase as it reflected her pride in her scottish heritage. He had ordered and paid for all the china, and now that his new wife was installed with her own china, he had to pass it on. "Your sisters don't care about this sort of thing" he said "And I know you will use it and enjoy it."
Damned straight Dad.

My younger brother had received our Grandmother's Royal Worchester china which was her "good set." In a moment of self-reflection he called me to say that he would never use it and wanted it to go down the family line. He then told me that he was sending it, and the oak china cabinet it was displayed in over to my place. 954 square feet with a dining room 9 by 9. Around the same time Lady Di called me to say that much as she had appreciated using my Heintzmann piano, it was time for it to return to my nest. 9 by 9 dining room - upright grand piano, and china for days.
I had a floor to ceiling china cabinet installed. It was made to match my floor to ceiling bookcases that took up the entire living room long wall. I absolutely adored my cozy condo. It looked like a million dollars to me. Alas we do not all share the same tastes.

To sell my condo, it seems it was necessary to remove all the dark wood built-ins. Cabinets went the way of the dodo. This is where Joe came in. He removed the 8 foot highh book shelves. I had no way to transport them anywhere and Joe very kindly offered to give them to his son-in-law. This was a true kindness as I had no usable wall in the new place for them, and was going to call a removal service. In return for the book shelves, his son-in-law wired in my washer/dryer in the new place, adding a fuse to the breaker panel. A good trade. Joe also found someone to transport my beautiful washer/drier combo to the new place and swap over the ones resident there. This cost $100. My father tipped the guys $40 for the inconvenience of having to navigate two steep flights of stairs. A very good deal.

Now all that I loved was gone from my olde home. Next up was the dance floor which apparantly would stop any sensible buyer from buying. No one but us dances I suppose. And my colourful halls and bathroom had to be beige-i-fied. All traces of me have been expunged. This clearly means that my condo will sell instantly.

Please God.

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“There is no man, however wise, who has not at some period of his youth said things, or lived in a way the consciousness of which is so unpleasant to him in later life that he would gladly, if he could, expunge it from his memory.”
Marcel Proust