Calico drove a 26-foot rental truck for our last move. Much of the drive was interstate and I worried that it would be difficult. Maneuvering the truck on narrow roads and side streets turned out to be far harder. Bridges presented an unanticipated problem.

Some of the bridges on less travelled roads were not intended to carry the weight of the truck and maps don’t identify them. Their sudden appearance had Calico searching for detours on more than one occasion. Right before our house, she encountered a bridge for which there was no detour. She crossed her fingers and prayed that it’s rickety appearance was covering a firm foundation with incredibly strong steel rods and tension bolts. She made it safely across, but it’s not the kind of chance you like to take.

Height limitations can create problems too. Fortunately, underpasses accommodated the truck. I’m not sure that would be true in a more rural location. Covered bridges could also provide a challenge, although Calico didn’t recall seeing any while on the house hunting expedition.

On a brighter note, our garage is looking better every day. We’ve marked a large pile for disposal and another for donations. We even uncovered tools that have been missing since the move and a wide selection of hardware – everything from hinges to screws and other assorted fasteners. We’ve got them consolidated now, so hopefully we’ll be able to find them in our next house, wherever that may be.

We’re trying to keep our sense of humor during this time of upheaval, although the tension may creep in between the lines of my posts. I’ll try not to bore you with the details, although at times, the abridged version seems to elude me.

In Georgia, we had a spacious two car garage with a huge partitioned storage area at the back. It held everything from tools to Christmas decorations. It even kept boxes of photos safe and dry. Our current garage is a converted carport with a perpetually damp odor. It is barely wide enough to hold a car and certainly not intended for storage. Our car has only seen the inside of the garage on a couple occasions, when Calico raced to rearrange all the stuff stored there, in an attempt to avoid damage by hail or high winds. Once the danger has passed, the car goes back out in the yard and the garage reverts to its storage unit status. Faced with the unthinkable possibility of moving all that stuff, we have made a pact to do a ruthless cleaning.

Speaking of cars, Calico will be searching for better auto insurance rates. Again. I’d like to know why our rates keep going up. We are good drivers – clean licenses and not a single accident in all our years of driving. Living in a city with a notable crime rate could account for a higher rate, but we changed to our current insurer after we moved here. Each renewal has brought another increase. I checked out our state’s website to see if I could find more info on rate changes. They had a chart that showed rate changes by insurance company for the years from 2010 through 2012. While some insurer’s rates had lowered or remained static in 2010, the subsequent years have brought rate increases for many insurers. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ website offered a page explaining factors that increase auto insurance costs, but none of them seemed to apply to us.

Searching for a new insurer is a bit of a pain, but it generally results in a lower rate. At least for a while. Calico says she will wait until after we have the garage cleaned. Then when they ask the question about where the car is parked, she can truthfully say “In the garage”.

Can you guess how many names there are for a pacifier? Check out this link for an answer.

Succinctly Yours offers a weekly photo and word as inspiration for your microfiction. How low can you go? Choose the 140 character or 140 word option.

This week’s word was treasure.

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Photo for Monday, May 14th

Word of the Week:treasure

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We had done some preliminary online searches. It didn’t seem as though we were asking for a lot – three bedrooms, no carpeted floors and okay with pets. We created a list of contenders and Calico made one of those nifty Google maps. Pushpins mark house locations, so it is easy to plot a drive-by route. Clicking on a pin will bring up any information and pictures that Calico has added for that house.

The initial drive-bys yielded some winners and some losers. They stopped to peek in the windows of the most promising and eliminated a few more. Some properties are listed, as having hardwood floors, but the hardwood is limited to the foyer or a single room. Some wouldn’t be very friendly for me. Rough or hilly driveways and sidewalks were a common problem. A few possibilities remained at the end of their route and Calico began contacting the owners or property managers.

Some owners have yet to return her call. Others didn’t want pets, but had failed to include that in the listing. One of the major property management places doesn’t allow any pets and another allows three – no exceptions. We made some jokes about which of our four pets would have to be left behind, but that just isn’t happening.

Despite more eliminations, Calico and Miss Muffin’s favorite was still a contender. The property management firm gave them an access card and they toured the inside. They loved it and Calico snapped many pictures. I loved it too. They returned to the management office prepared to sign the paperwork. Unfortunately, that property was not owned by the management firm, just managed by them. While the management firm allows pets on their properties, the owner of this house didn’t want any pets at all. You’d think they would have known that. There are still a couple of prospects, but they won’t be available for a few weeks. The property manager is even willing to remove carpet to make them livable for us. We just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, we’ll continue online searches and packing. We are getting good at this. Yesterday, we weeded yarn, Chinese painting and rubber stamps from the craft supplies. Nobody has used them in years. The gemstone beads made the cut. Three out of four isn’t bad. Wish the odds had been that good for the house hunting.

The Missing Piece

Guesses ranged from laxatives to newspapers and everything inbetween. It would have been a lot easier, if I hadn’t cropped the photo. The missing piece is shown below. Hope you enjoyed the guessing game.

The first Pond’s product was an extract of the witch hazel plant. It was supposed to be a cure for a variety of illnesses. Pond’s facial creams didn’t make an appearance until a few decades later. I wonder if this advertisement was intended to help with the transition from medicine to facial cream.

How low can you go?

Use the photo as inspiration for a story of 140 characters OR 140 words.Click For Details

Photo for Monday, May 7th

Word of the Week:impetus

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This is a public domain photo of an old advertisement. What’s the product? Leave your guess in the comments. I’ll post the answer on Tuesday.

We have always tried to encourage her curiosity. Answering questions is a part of that process and she has had a lot of them. Some were easy. “How do you bake a cake?” Others were more complex. “How does a thermal receipt printer work?” In the beginning, we gave simple answers or a demonstration. Then we helped her find answers for herself. Today, she researches anything that interests her, although she still asks the meaning of words she doesn’t understand. She knows how to use a dictionary, but prefers our explanations. Occasionally, this is a bit disruptive to our conversations, but it has certainly been effective. As she approaches her tenth birthday, she has a vocabulary that far exceeds many high school graduates.

Last night, she took us by surprise, however. Calico had been reading comments from parents in other parts of the state. One group was upset because their proposed testing site was located over a bar. Miss Muffin interrupted to ask, “What is a bar?”

I’m sure most ten year olds could have answered that question. I’m pleased that Miss Muffin had to ask. Even happier that she wrinkled her nose with distaste, when Calico provided an explanation.

How would you explain a bar to a ten year old? I’d love to hear your comments.

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What are three signs that your dog may be pregnant?

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Can a dog do your laundry and cook your breakfast?
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