Wasps and Knobs

There are wasps all over the place. They have been looking for places to live, and unfortunately they've been looking where we live. Those stingy little fuckers hover endlessly around our windows and deck, exploring all the nooks and crannies. Our deck, by the way, is not even wood- it's that plastic stuff, so no tasty wood pulp to lure them there. Scott has doused the doors and windows with his Crazy Wasp Killing Spray, and took a few wasps down, too. That shit is potent! As soon as the spray hits 'em, they fall to the ground dead. Awesome. This morning a wasp found it's way into our room, and wasn't too pleased when we told him he had to go. There was a battle, but Scott won. I hope they eventually find other places to live, and leave us alone.

The weather is pretty awesome today... it's in the mid-upper 70's and mostly sunny with a gentle breeze. If only every day of the summer could be like this. Hopefully there will be a few more weeks of mild weather before the oppressive heat and humidity settle in. I have high hopes for this year... 2005 was super hot, 2006 wasn't too bad, 2007 was super hot, so maybe 2008 will be okay? And by "okay" I mean not 95 degrees with 90% humidity for two months straight, except for that day it rained. Like last year.

Yeah, I'm in the minority. Most people sit around all winter waiting for the warm, sunny days of summer, and they like to go on vacation in places like Florida, Hawaii or Vegas. Not me. I sit around all summer, with the air conditioner blasting waiting for the cool, brisk weather of autumn to return. The idea of vacationing somewhere tropical gives me hives- I'd rather go to Alaska, New England or Europe. I spend inordinate amounts of time plotting ways to move to Maine. Maryland is great, but from May to September it is just crazy hot. Is there anyplace in the US that is exactly like Maryland, but ten degrees cooler in the summer? That's where I want to go.

There's nothing new with the house. Scott tells me I should use our tax rebate to do my knitty room, so that will be the first room done. Well, except for the carpet- that will get done after we've finished all the painting. That's pretty much all we've done- establish an order of completion. First we do all the painting, except for the kitchen. Then we put in the new floors, except for the kitchen. Then we replace the kitchen counter top and sink. Then we paint the kitchen. Then we do the kitchen floor. It seems like there is a ton to do, since we have to repaint all the doors and trim too. And there are a myriad of other projects to tackle: replace/repair window screens, replace cheap blinds with respectable window coverings, replace hideous brass lighting fixtures, fix the furnace, and eventually replace the appliances with better, black ones. Oh, and replace the front door. I think that's all the major stuff.

No wait. There's more- like getting new furniture, getting new non-brass doorknobs, putting knobs and draw pulls on the kitchen cabinetry, and renovating all 2.5 baths. Haha, we also want to install extra cabinets in the kitchen (possibly get a rolling island), and buy a wicked pot rack. I've also got my heart set on replacing the switch plates with much cooler ones. We've got us some high expectations.

The knobs are my favorite part. I've been looking online, and learned that doorknobs are lot more expensive than I realized ($40-130!), but they are so great. We hope to put a different knob on every door. And on every cabinet door or drawer too (they'll probably be all the same finish but different designs)! That way we can match each doorknob to the room. It just seems more interesting that way.

If we actually manage to accomplish any of this, I'll let you know.

Warning: Super Photo-heavy Post Ahead!

I managed to take a bunch of pictures of the drive home last week without killing myself or others, though many were pure crap. Apparently stuff wooshing past the window at 45 mph doesn't show up too well in photos. But here are the ones that were okay, they don't all have fun captions, as I'm just not that creative.

The first one is on the main road. Nothing really special.

Now we're onto the side streets, note the hidden abandoned building on the right side of the road.
This road is barely wide enough for two cars to pass. Ask me how I know.
Same road as last photo...
And again.
Now I'm at the next road- see the log cabin? It's white on one side.
Farm!
Turny road.
More turniness on the left, farm on the right.

This is Sugarloaf Mountain:
Farm!


This place is filthy with big, old, awesome houses. One day I will have one.

And now we're in Buckeystown, which is in Frederick County. It's a small, historic town.

And that's all of 'em. Hope I didn't kill anybody's interwebs with all the photos.

Ah, Frederick

Scott and I have been in Frederick for about a month now, so I figured it's a good time to tell you about it.

My drive to and from work has been the biggest change, growing from two to about twenty miles each way. The morning commute is sort of crappy- I have to leave at 6 a.m. and it's a slow, dull drive the whole way there. But the ride back is much more enjoyable, especially since I have a tendency to take the back roads home. There is nothing better than flying over hills and around farms on a twisty deserted road, with the windows down and the music blasting... I almost wish the drive were longer. It's sort of a gas-suck, as opposed to just taking the expressway, but it's worth it.

If you're wondering why I don't take the back way on the way to work, well, I did once. It turns out that all those twisty, hilly roads that are so great in the afternoon, are pitch. fucking. black. at 6 in the morning, and often shrouded in fog. I had to go well below the speed limit to avoid veering off the road, and it wound up taking nearly twice as long to get to work. Perhaps when the sun comes up a little earlier, this will become an option.

I'm toying with the idea of taking photos of the drive home- maybe snapping one every five minutes or so, so you can see how awesome it is. I just have to figure out a way to do this without killing myself (or others). It's hard to just stop on the side of the road, due to lots of blind turns and the fact that often there is barely enough room for two cars to pass on some of these roads. Hmm. I'll figure something out.

So what else... Scott found this spooky, abandoned house just down the street:

Can't say I've seen anything like that in Germantown. There are a lot of old, abandoned buildings around. I like them, they add character. There's also a lot of farms- there's even a farm down the street where you can get grass-fed Angus. Developers in Germantown like to buy farms, tear them down and build townhouses in their place. Farms are much nicer. Those in Illinois should note that the farms here are of the happy "what every farm should be like" variety, and not the sad, creepy factory farms you see there. Or ugly, flat corn fields. Picture rolling, green hills, dotted with horses, cows or sheep. I will try to get photos.

The weather here is even a smidge better. It's usually a couple degrees colder here, which can mean the difference between drizzle and flurries (I much prefer the flurries). Hopefully, it will also be a couple degrees cooler in the summer.

At night, the skies are full of stars. Granted, it's the luck of our location (newer area, not yet overbuilt, not too close to downtown), but it is nice to be able to see the Pleiades and other fun constellations. I'm always on the lookout for UFOs, being so close to DC and numerous military bases I'd be foolish not to. I thought I saw one once, but it turned out to be a goose. Maybe next time. I have seen several shooting stars, whereas in Germantown they were hard to catch even when there was a major meteor shower.

All in all, Frederick is far superior to Germantown. I plan on taking more pictures to better illustrate that point, if only I can remember to bring the camera when I leave the house...