Cherubs
Here’s an architectural detail from the Fortress of Solitude. These guys remind one of Loyal Readers One and Two, no? Except that there are three of them here. And they’re a little bit smaller. And they look completely different. And they’re not wearing any clothes. Otherwise, the resemblance is amazing.
Well, there’s certainly a lot to report today. Things are really hopping in the Morrowlife Fortress of Solitude. Let’s start with the most important one, shall we?
Loyal Reader Number Two went to Utah to visit his friend Jay for a couple of weeks. Boo hoo for us! We miss you, LRNT! While you’re out there, how about recruiting a new Loyal Reader? And have fun! And don’t worry about us! And have fun!
Now to the second most important order of business. We found a new Morrowlife Secret Undisclosed Location on Saturday. We started off with the intention of looking at a townhouse near the Fortress of Solitude, but they wouldn’t even let us look at the model. Apparently, they won’t sell any more of their large models until they get rid of the remaining small ones. So no townhouse for us. Instead, we decided to just drive out to Modesto and look at what was available before we decided on someplace closer, just in case it turned out we really loved it out there.
On the way there, we saw a sign for houses in Manteca (pronounced man-tee-ka by the locals), so we stopped in for a look, although I had previously announced my Unshakeable Resolve to never live in a town named Lard. The first sales office was decidedly unpromising – the houses were too small and the models were miles away anyway. There was one more set of models nearby, though, so we drove on.
Well, they turned out to be absolutely great. There was a gigantic (3500 square feet or so) one we fell in love with at first. It’s really cool, but the price is quite high and there are some serious issues with the layout – for example, the entrance from the garage goes through the laundry room, which is right next to the master bedroom and way across the house from the kitchen. Then there’s the front door opening directly into the dining room. Et cetera.
Then we saw the second-largest one (link warning – this picture is correct in its basic layout, but it’s missing a lot of stuff, including the third car garage). It’s a little over 2900 square feet and laid out much better. It has five bedrooms and three full bathrooms upstairs, plus a nice large loft. Oh, and the laundry room. Downstairs, there’s the usual stuff. There’s also a covered porch in the back – not huge, but a nice touch. And then there’s the gigantic three-and-a-half-car garage. The third bay has doors in the front AND the back! Wow. It’s affordable too. We picked out an already-framed house on a nice lot that’s on a curve, so there’s more space between houses than elsewhere in the already generous (for California, anyway) neighborhood. The exterior colors, roofing, and cabinets have already been chosen, but we get to select everything else.
We love new houses and we’re really excited about this one. It will be truly nice. The big downside is the commute distance for me, but there’s a commuter train station about five minutes’ drive away. We checked out the ward on Sunday and it seems fine. There’s not much shopping in Manteca yet, but it’s pretty close to both Tracy and Modesto, both of which should be okay in the store department. All in all, we’re excited about it.
Loyal Reader Number One believes we should change the name of our software company from Gardenville Software to Lardville Software. I disagree.
Work continues to improve every day. I’m starting to get a vague idea of what’s going on around there, and the boss keeps giving me more assignments. So I’m busy, which is a good thing. I’m starting to get to know the people too.
Well, the time has certainly gotten away from us tonight, hasn’t it? Time for bed. See you tomorrow.