No Chaser

Feelin' hot, hot hot

. . . to quote that utter goof, David Johanssen . . .

But that is indeed what it has been in the Midwest of late. Overly hot really. Heat advisory hot. This is the kind of heat in which people die. The kind of heat that keeps you sitting by the air conditioning unit, making multiple trays of ice daily, and struggling to stay awake.

Clonk, the wonderboy, has continued to work on the house throughout this heat while the dogs and I lie passed out on the living room floor. How does he do it? I think it's steroids. Nothing else could explain his extraordinary powers. Unfortunately, they don't test for steroids in academia. "Hmmm, that professor has unusual stamina. He's outperforming all of us! He can write a book a year *and* remodel his kitchen! He must be taking performance-enhancing drugs . . . Test him immediately!"

posted by: NoChaser at July 26, 2005 06:27 | link | comments |

Home Repair

Now that I'm working lots, I am relieved from home repair duty, at least until this weekend, when I have to paint the kitchen. But, in the meantime, Clonk rides on, unfazed at my absence, getting browner and sweatier daily. A few days ago, he forgot to use his patented hydration system while working in the sun, and was delirious by the time I got home. After drinking about a gallon of water, though, he was all better. Still he hasn't been quite the same since. I sense a deep weariness in his bones. Fortunately, he's almost done, and you can check out the new pics on his blog.

As he alludes in his post, the sink is a heavy mo-fo.  Old cast-iron Kohler, and huge. We had to lift it in and out of it's tenuously-cut-out hole in the counter, oh, maybe seven or eight times as the hole became less tenuously cut out. You should see my newly sculpted arms!

Ain't that old Clonker doin' a good job though?

And check out those appliances! Whoo!

posted by: NoChaser at July 22, 2005 08:25 | link | comments (2) |

Oh joy

We just got back from a tandem ride into downtown, where we had the most delectable dinner.

A few highlights:
fresh watermelon juice and prosecco
chilled english pea soup with dried carrot (yes, a riff on keller)
fresh corn and zucchini risotto with tarragon pesto

And, the bike ride is very pleasant -- lots of trees, a quaint brick downtown, a nice large park, and lovely late 19th & early 20th-c homes. I am really getting to like this place. For dessert, watermelon on the porch watching the fireflies. Too bad we don't have a bottle of prosecco.

posted by: NoChaser at July 19, 2005 17:57 | link | comments (3) |

New Job

So, I've started my new job, and I am doing all the things I did as a graduate student with these remarkable differences:

1) I get paid for it,
2) I am suddenly an acknowledged authority to whom faculty turn for advice, and
3) I am not expected to conduct research and produce publishable texts on top of it all.

Awesome.

posted by: NoChaser at July 19, 2005 14:51 | link | comments |

The latest

Last night we rode the tandem right down our street to a local IGA, which miraculously had a very large and very good whole foods/natural foods section and quite good produce. Loaded up the panniers and rode home, most of which was a slight downhill. It could have been uphill for all I cared, I was so exhilirated to have finally found a decent market.

Yesterday, Clonk dug post holes, I lugged posts, and we set the posts for our new fence. The dogs need a fenced yard ASAP as they are getting into some bad habits and need to go back to their old routine. Also been pulling up carpet like my pal randomgirl although I have not encountered the gross-ness she has, thank goodness. Our carpet drama entails the installer having just purchased a brand new staple gun which s/he decided to use every 1/4 inch or so on the stairs. I wish I were exaggerating. What a disaster. I still have two stairs to go. The good news is that the wood underneath is in great shape (aside from the million or so staple holes), and we now have a beautiful staircase.

Sitting on the porch last night drinking beer, watching fireflies, and listening to the cicadas, Clonk and I discussed how strange it is to live here. In part, this is because of our new status as not-grad-students, and all that entails, including having enough money to have a rather nice and large house in a safe and friendly neighborhood. It's also odd to be in the middle of nowhere after always living in urban areas. At the same time, we are enjoying the slower pace, the bike-ability of the place, and the general sense of peace. I'm sure it will change when school starts up and the population increases with noisy frantic youth and our jobs swoop us up into the regular rush and tension of academia. Until then . . .

posted by: NoChaser at July 17, 2005 06:23 | link | comments (1) |

Notes on our recent move

Drive
Endless, exhausting

People
Chatty. You absolutely cannot get away under fifteen minutes in any interaction. Still not sure how I feel about this.
Very friendly. We have met the neighbors from five houses on our block. They have gone out of their way to introduce themselves and welcome us. Every one of them has kids.
Five kids is the average. These are the real breeders, and it freaks me out. The family of ten about did me in. While I personally think having kids is not a good choice for many reasons, I can understand people who want one or maybe two, and I especially support adoption or fostering of several. But having five kids of your own or more is just demented.
Racist, stupid, or both. The neighbors next door have some sort of Sambo gnome in their back yard. This totally freaks me out.

Shopping
The place is so small that you can go out and do a million errands to all kinds of different stores and offices, and it takes no time because the drive time to each place is about five minutes tops. This speed is somewhat counterbalanced by the time you have to wait to get stuff and the time you inevitably spend chatting with a given salesperson or fellow consumer. Almost everything big has to be ordered as the town is too small to keep much of anything in stock. We're waiting for an entire kitchen, but we did manage to get a cool couch in town, so we do have something to sit on if nothing to cook on.

Radio
There are a couple of interesting public radio stations. My favorite has a wild mix of shows, with pretty much anything you can imagine that is outside the Top 40. It has a Big Band show and a surprisingly informative "Broadway musicals" show, so that makes me happy and keeps me from missing "Swing Years and Beyond" too much. There's also a goofy old country show that amuses me, but mainly I am feeling thankful for my CD collection.

Food (what really matters after all)
Markets -- There's not much in the way of markets, which tend to emphasize the opposite of whole foods. The local natural market is the lifesaver. It's very small but carries the basics and some new delights, like strawberry-rhubarb jam and some excellent local bread (dense and light at once). It has a decent deli with good tofu sandwiches and some overly old school veggie dishes, curry rather than nutritional yeast being ubiquitous here.
Pizza -- pretty good in general; one cracker crust; strange way of cutting it (in a grid); lots of deep dish and "stuffed" pizza, which is basically cheese pie ... very scary.
"Ethnic" -- We are still not daring to venture to restaurants, and I must note that ethnic sections in grocery stores now means not just Asian, Mexican, Indian, and Kosher, but also British, Polish, German. Also there are specialty food stores for all of these essential food groups.
Restaurants -- There are some good mid-end restaurants with a few tasty if uninspired veggie options. There is a great innovative Mexican joint. YUM! The chef/owner is vegan and has two other restaurants in town we'll have to try out.
Cheese -- Most everything is cheese, cheese, and more cheese. I am not exaggerating. There is one restaurant which offers a sandwich with feta, swiss, cheddar, and jalapeno jack. YUK!
Beer -- limited options, but some very good ones, mainly all bottles. The kegerator may not happen. But, I will definitely begin brewing again.

Us
Clonk is in hyper-drive, and I am trying to keep up as best I can. He's tearing the house apart so we can have a decent kitchen. I am spending most of my time putting things together, away, etc. We get up by 6 every morning and go to bed around 10. We spend most of the day working on the house, and we take breaks to walk the dogs, shop for supplies, and eat. It's pretty darn hot most days, so we are fighting dehydration as we pour out sweat by the gallons. Clonk is covered in cuts; I'm covered in bruises. Both of us have sore backs, legs, shoulders, arms, hands, feet, joints. It's all utterly exhausting, and I think we will both be happy to get back to the life of the mind.

We are enjoying riding our bikes and walking to most of the places we have to go (except when getting large appliances or huge amounts of hardware and lumber). Downtown and the university are both very short rides and only somewhat longer walks. We are also enjoying the new wildlife, including fireflies, cicadas, bunnies, big scary hornets, and cardinals.

We thought we would not get cable internet here, but after just a few days, we decided we'd feel too utterly cut off with out it. And, as I write this, there's a man downstairs hooking us up.

posted by: NoChaser at July 11, 2005 14:12 | link | comments (5) |