Bringing It All Together

Seems like the fun in my neighborhood never stops. From goofy construction and more goofy construction to new restaurant openings, there is always a source of excitement. I don't think I ever posted anything about the houses that became conjoined twins, but I stumbled upon it/them again the other day, surfing the web.


When I first saw the "improvement" from the street side, I thought to myself, "Wow! What a bunch of halfassery!" Then I found out who was responsible for the design and it all started making sense. The city got back to me regarding the project next door and it sounds like although the footprint matches the permit, the permit tech has stated what is being built is not what he approved. It should be interesting to find out the outcome of this one, especially since the first coat for stucco has been applied.

In all the drama surrounding the snow cone booth/guard tower/Dr. Who Tardis the real positive is that I have gotten to know some of the neighbors better. Two doors up, the neighbors are always on the front porch in the evening for cocktail hour. After nine years of walking past with only very brief exchanges, I made it up to the porch for a drink. It was amusing finding out their thoughts on the neighborhood, their first impressions of me when I moved in, perspectives on Herman's Hideaway concert goers, etc. It is nice to maintain the neighborly relations in an age when the trend is to enter your house through the garage, shutter the windows, and keep to yourself.

Road trip preparations are complete and I am just about ready to leave town. As long as it doesn't dump on us this weekend, it looks like it should be lovely in Wyoming. We won't have the same excitement of being in a double-wide like last year, but Brian is going to try to convince Zac to jump off the roof for entertainment purposes. I am also hoping that we don't have to do a car switch like last year when my A/C died just before the highway. I'd prefer not to spend another $1400 to have it fixed.

I also started preparations for the road trip to Lawrence next weekend. I am now fortunate to have a copy of every studio album put out by Kansas. I'm sure somebody will crack 45 miles into the state when they hear Carry On Wayward Son for the 9th time in a row, before we move onto other classics like Dust in the Wind and uh, uh . . . a little help . . . anyone?