Umbral Echoes Blog

…to the Notheast Side? We signed on the house yesterday, which would have taken 25 minutes (we were signing the papers faster than the lawyer could handle), except we had to wait around for an hour or so for the confirmation on the wire transfer that was supposed to have taken place earlier that day. But that finally came through, and all was well.

The previous owner had some stuff left in the garage still, so when he came to get that afterwards, he also gave us a walkthrough of the house — showed us how to work various things, told us about any little quirks, etc. He also let us pick through some of the stuff he was about to move out, in case we wanted any of it, and he even gave us a pellet gun (we live in a wooded area, and squirrels are a problem). The women out there will probably have horrified expressions right now at the thought of shooting a cute little furry thing. Squirrels are tree rats with bushy tails, and some have even taken up residence in our chimney. I plan on getting in a lot of target practice.

Awesome Features of New House

Cell phone reception - Not a featuer per se, but we didn’t get this at our old house. This will be very refreshing.
Lots of room - This house technically has 5 levels — Garage, then basement slightly above that, then main level (kitchen, great room, dining room), then the bedroom level (master + 2 spare), then the loft. Plus the deck, of course.
Deck - Speakingof the deck, it’s a quite nicely constructed deck, and also a great vantage point for squirrel-sniping. It also has a…
Grill - Old owner left the grill, whbich he actually converted to natural gas, and hooked into the house’s gas line. Se we don’t have to worry about buying propane tanks (apologies to Hank Hill).
Water softening system - Something new for us; once we figure out how to program it and set it up, anyway.
Large driveway - We’re in a cul de sac, plus the driveway is wide enough to park 3 cars side-by-side. This will be handy for parties.
Star Trek HVAC system - Well not really. But the thermostat has all sorts of advanced controls for making the house different temperatures on a schedule (can set different schedules for weekdays and weekends, as well as summer and winter). So we can use less energy during the weekdays when we’re not here, and in the middle of the night, but still wake up/come home to a nice temperature.