on the personal front
¶ by Rob FrieselA crazy couple of weeks tearing by. Seems like we just got through the grand’rents’ 50th and then our own kitchen counters ordeal and things just keep grinding on. Aside from the usual hands full action (work for me, dissertation writing for A.), all the other down time is filled with those all-important projects like writing/revisions or else fitting in last-minute-ish things on the house.
But the sigh of relief comes in the first palpable steps toward halting the hour-each-way commute that we’ve each endured for the last two years. We’ve gotten pretty attached to Barre and would probably stay right here (in this little house) if it weren’t for that blasted hour door-to-door. So we got all excited this week as we (1) got the letter from the bank green-lighting us as “serious” buyers and then (2) got the paperwork signed to get us on the market as serious sellers. The part that got us a little down though was how discrepant the markets seemed to be between Barre and Burlington. I’ll admit to a near heart-sinking when we realized that the competitive price we’d extrapolated on our place based on Burlington prices fell a little dramatically when we lined it up a little better with the Barre market. Maybe that was just a mistake on our part. Still, the realizations over the past couple days illuminate why I’ve met so many people that commute 45-60 minutes here in Vermont. The factors start flying by: little to no public transport, geographically discrepant housing vs. job markets, lower apparent overall salaries (with only slightly lower apparent COL)…
I’ll just be glad when this phase of my moving process is over and it works out to be not nearly as catastrophic as I’m making it out to be. Wish us luck.
currently playing: a portable dishwasher marketed as silent is not nearly the case
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