Back to Ohio: Why do the Roads in Central Ohio Suck so Badly?

There was a common joke I heard in my youth, that the state flower of Ohio was the orange construction barrel. Every spring, the barrels would spring up, complicating any work commute in every direction. When I moved to Las Vegas in the early nineties, I realized that it's not a geographic thing, particularly. For the entire two decades I lived in the Vegas valley, I don't remember a time when Interstate 15 didn't have construction somewhere along its stretch through town.

Upon my return to Ohio this year, I had another revelation. There are huge differences between these two places as to what's going on behind those barrels. In Las Vegas, if there is a choke point on a highway, they fix it. If there is too much traffic trying to join or exit a freeway ramp on a daily basis, they build new interchanges, either replacing the existing exits, or adding new ones at different intersections. Complicated pinch points yield astonishing changes, like fly-overs, superstreet intersections, criss-crossing (and high-flying) ramps, extending and expanding roads that were previously inadequate, access roads, express lanes, and other improvements. Yes, Vegas still has The Spaghetti Bowl, and the Rainbow Curve--nobody's perfect--but by-and-large, if a section of town experiences terrible traffic, NDOT goes to great lengths to find a solution, and usually a quick one.

Not in Ohio. Sure, there have been changes. During my 20 year absence, State Route 161 was rerouted and expanded (with the efforts of Limited owner, Les Wexner), I-670 was completed as something of an innerbelt from Downtown Columbus to the Airport (it peters out in the suburb of Gahanna). I'm sure there have been other improvement projects (I saw a novel interchange at Roberts Road and west I-270, for example), and roundabouts have sprung up in both logical and unnecessary locations. Roundabouts seem to be a prestige thing for some reason, even in Las Vegas. But there are a distressing number of congested areas that are absolutely inadequate, and were inadequate in 1990, 1980, 1970.

Many of the freeway exits and junctions, for example, are of the original design: cloverleafs. They force drivers to cross each other, often requiring not only cooperation with other drivers (yeah, right), but also snap decisions. One in particular, at I-270 and State Route 3, allows almost no time to complete the maneuver. It's been that way since it was built. Traffic jams abound, and need have no other cause beyond competing drivers trying to cross each other to exit and enter.

Getting off the freeway, things can be just as bad on surface streets. Traffic jams can happen anywhere, at any time, and have no obvious cause. I can't tell you how many times I've found myself driving on a major road, and having to make a snap decision, because my lane is coming to a sudden surprise end or "turn only." Attempting to drive about three miles down State Route 256 (a major road), I had to change lanes three times to continue south, and this occurred no matter which lane

you're travelling in. Going through the town of New Albany (Les Wexner's baby), there are sequential intersections where through travel requires shifting lanes twice, neither particularly intuitive. I find this all over the place, left lane, right line, or middle lane (if there is one). Even in prestigious areas like Grandview Heights.

And while I'm on a rant, I'll point out that this is a state of few legal U-turns, and many intersections with signs that say, "No turn on red, except curb lane." Both of these things cause traffic tie-ups, the former because it forces drivers to make snap decisions, and the latter because many Ohio drivers are clueless, and read the sign as simply "No turn on red." That's a problem that funding roads can't fix, I suppose. Many Ohioans can't properly yield either, whether at roundabouts (something that I admittedly had problems with at first), or on continuous turn lanes. People in Ohio are also permitted to talk on the phone while driving without the assistance of Bluetooth, which is a huge traffic issue, just from my own observations.

But because of these side-issues about the driving-challenged in Ohio, improved infrastructure is just that much more important. And it's not getting done. I just wonder why. Yes, it's expensive. But it's important. I'd also like to point out that in Las Vegas, we had no city tax, no state tax, and property tax that was about 1/3 the amount in central Ohio. With all of this extra cash at their disposal, where does the tax money go in Ohio? Sure, those orange barrels are out all over the place, so clearly a lot goes to fixing the existing roads after the harsh winter destruction every year.  But here we are in the middle of May, and every excursion out of my house in Reynoldsburg is like a driving obstacle course. So, even that isn't getting done at a very rapid clip.

It's a daily aggravation, for me. I can only assume that your average Ohioan has come to accept the status quo as "just the way things are." When stuck in a traffic jam on East Broad Street out in the relative boonies of Blacklick to Pataskala at 2pm on an odd Saturday, they must just shrug, and think, "it's always been this way." But it doesn't have to be! I've seen it done better! There are many things about my Vegas experience I could bitch about, but attention to infrastructure isn't one of them. Why does Ohio allow this woefully inadequate condition to go on indefinitely?

Behind the Blogger: You Can Go Home Again. . .But Everything is Smaller

As I've noted many times in this space, I've recently transplanted myself from Las Vegas--where I'd spent two decades of my  life--back home to central Ohio. The move had been many years in coming, with the timing only becoming "right" in recent months. And yes, the timing was right in several ways, primarily economically, which had not been true until very recently. It was also spectacularly bad timing for some other reasons, not the least of which was landing in Ohio during some of the worst of winter, and in the midst of some coincidental personal turmoil happening amongst some Las Vegas friends' lives.

But on the positive side of the line, we found a house that is already feeling like home. And spring is on the horizon (though I had forgotten Ohio's very moody, very changeable early spring climate). As I live out this stretch of days, wherein I acclimate to my new--if familiar--surroundings, and The Other Half continues to commute back "home" to Vegas for an uncertain amount of time, I still wander in a slight haze. As of this writing, there is no rush for me to attain permanent employment (which is  sweet, don't get me wrong). I've got errands and the many chores of new house set-up, along with my part-time work. I have had no shortage of things to do. And I've still got to get my blogging bug back.

Our poor, desert cars, after just over a week in Ohio.

Mostly, I'm still trying to shake the notion that I'm "just visiting." Every year of the past twenty, I've spent at least some time visiting Ohio, sometimes two or three times. A portion of my (seldom paid) vacation time almost always entailed "coming home." Because of this, and the gauzy reality I feel like I'm living in at the moment, I still don't feel completely gelled. So, I've wandered out quite a bit, to get a stronger feel for my area, my family's areas, and everything in between.

I've done much more driving than I'm used to. Which is necessary, because there's so much more land to travel than back in the Vegas Valley. There, outside of town there just isn't much besides desert and mountains. And my friends were almost exclusively within 5 miles driving distance. A "big day out" for me was the 11-mile drive to Costco I'd occasionally take on the weekends! Sure, once in a while I'd go out to Calico Basin, Valley of Fire, or venture to Primm or down into Arizona for lottery tickets or something. But mostly, I lived inside a 5-8 mile little area. All the time.

Now, in Ohio? Everyone is 20-30 minutes from here! Trips out to the store and back (beyond the grocery down the street) typically take at least an hour, something that really wasn't the case in Vegas. I'm much more likely to group my trips, plan them better, and have had to fill up my gas tanks much more often. At the same time, however, it's kind of startling how close things are.

A) Downtown Columbus B) My Old Stomping Grounds
C) My New Digs: Close together, worlds apart.
(Click to embiggen)

I know that's paradoxical, but what I mean is, areas that my memory holds as "worlds away" from each other, are actually smack-dab beside each other, often with no buffer whatsoever. For instance, I grew up in the small enclave of Whitehall. I'm now in Reynoldsburg, a larger suburb to the east, at one time considered an "outer" suburb. In truth, it's only separated by a ribbon of freeway and a thin strip of Columbus (which long ago oozed between the cracks of any other community here, just about). Moving west from Whitehall is a rather depressing--and Whitehall ain't joyous these days--strip of Columbus again, bumped up against the still quite frou frou Bexley. Then, train tracks and boom, you're in Olde Towne East/Franklin Park/Bronzeville, a hodge podge of enormous Victorian homes that range from dilapidated and condemned to gorgeous and renovated.

Another ribbon of highway to cross going west, and you're Downtown. The entire drive from my old stomping grounds to the center of Downtown Columbus is a little over 5 miles or so. Walking distance. But with at least five distinctly different areas, and several sub-areas, all of which don't fit in my brain into the same space. That's to say nothing of venturing north with the Downtown/Short North/Victorian Village/OSU Campus/Clintonville stretch, which to me has always blurred into one big thing. And I've been grafting onto these areas all of the places in between, shifting my young adult compartmentalized brain over to a middle-age cohesive whole. It's adding to the surreality  of everything.

And don't forget three big factors: a) the enormous amount of changes made to infrastructure and landscape in my absence; b) the simultaneous sameness--but subtly different nature--of many places around those changes; and c) the unreliability of decades-old memories. None of my memories, seemingly, can be absolutely trusted. As a navigator, I'm only as useful as my Swiss-cheese memory and horribly twitchy Android phone let me be. And on top of that, the scale of everything just seems off.

Google Earth promises a greener world than my camera
can currently deliver.

Whitehall in particular seems smaller. Much smaller than I remembered. Much closer to some surrounding areas that I'd have ever thought. And not particularly nice to look at. It's wedged in between two major thoroughfares, both of which were part of US40, the National Highway. And it was settled post-World War II. As such, there wasn't much zoning or thought put into beauty and
aesthetics. It's hemmed in by Columbus, and sits below and airport and a defense construction facility. There's nowhere to grow, and not much to beautify. When they tried, they shoe-horned in a completely anachronistic Victorian theme that still baffles me. But, I'm probably looking with jaded eyes, and at the tail end of winter too.

I know from experience (even with my unreliable memory) that spring and summer bring beauty, even to somewhat unbeautiful places. The dire looking bare trees and brown lawns will give way to gorgeous greenery soon. My mood--as it always used to do--will be buoyed by the sunshine, flowers, grass and trees. Depressing drives across suburbs and country spaces will start to feel more filled with optimism. I'll get there. And soon enough, the surrealness is bound to fade too.

I doubt my experience living 2,000 miles away in the Mojave Dessert will fade away for awhile. I'll be comparing things (notably traffic and traffic infrastructure, liquor laws, and shopping hours) to the way they do it in Vegas for many years to come. I'll continue to miss my friends out there. But I'm finding you can go home again. It's just smaller. And bigger. And different. But also the same.

Behind the Blogger: The Return of Greenlee Gazette (for the Last Time, Again. . .)!

Though I've slowed down gradually over the last several years, it's only been since the Christmas and New Year's holiday season that Greenlee Gazette has really hit an iceberg and become a derelict craft of a blog. Bobbing around in the ocean, looking for all the world as though it's going under. And who could blame me if it did?

I've been captaining this ship for close to eight years, sometimes accompanied by a poo-flinging ship's chaplain (thanks for stirring me, Rev. Stu'!). And in that time, I've logged thousands of entries, and thousands of hours of unpaid blog-mastering. Though it's a hobby I greatly enjoy, it can be a slog. And some of my favorite bloggers--much more successful ones too, mind you--are actually throwing in the towel this year. Is blogging even still a thing? I'd argue it is, it's just more fractured than it used to be. For all of the social media we have these days, it still largely links to destination sites, and I enjoy being one of those destinations.

Chez Greenlee

But as I've said a few times here, getting back into the habit is difficult. It's kind of like trying to jump back onto a diet, when your schedule is all out of whack. And this past two weeks spanned a time when I was in transition between my parents' rural, snowed-in, remote house and my new suburban one. Now, finally, we're really in, with the bulk of the living space at least partially finished. Staple goods are re-stocked. Utilities are settled, appliances and electronics mostly placed. We've got some blank spaces and some place-holder furniture, and other assorted things to do, but at last, none of it really feels pressing.

The Other Half goes off on another extended work jaunt tomorrow, and my goal is to jump-start the blog--again--along with the diet! So, wish me luck! With all that is going on in the news, getting a few posts up should be no problem, and I'm itching to add my two cents.

For tonight, I'm staring down a 4 am call to get TOH to the airport, so it's early-to-bed. See you back here for the re-booted blog on Monday morning. Promise!

--Ed.

Behind the Blogger: Back to Ohio, Winter Update

Okay, so I've been back to Ohio now for roughly three weeks. After driving for the last four days of January from Las Vegas to Central Ohio (with a couple of stop-overs in Iowa to visit family), we managed to stay ahead of a big winter storm that had basically followed us all the way. We safely ensconced ourselves at The Other Half's sister's house on the west side of Columbus that first night, and then stayed for one more night before moving north to my parents' manse in the woods.

Since that time--all of February--I've been up here, in various stages of "snowed in," mostly. I picked a weird time to move from the Mojave Desert, didn't I? I know, because I kept my Las Vegas weather app on my phone, and can see the seventy-degree temperature gap for myself! At first, I was like a typical Las Vegan, one who had rarely or never driven on snow: a bit freaked out by the prospect. Odd, when you consider my very first experiences driving solo were in a very snowy winter, circa 1982-83. My sister--an experienced hand at both driving on snow and in a big honking diesel pickup truck--has been awesome about driving out here, (where the only access to the road is a half-mile long driveway in the woods, along a cliff) to tamp down the snow a bit for me.

Our poor cars, which have prior to now only known the desert.
Mine was cleared off 8 hours prior to this shot.

So, with the occasional melts, and my sis' efforts, getting out hasn't been 100% impossible. I've ventured out a few times, and in fact for one whole afternoon was unknowingly driving around in a level 1 snow emergency. I've--somewhat--got my "snow feet" back underneath me. Now, however, we've been buried under snow again. And I say "we" euphemistically, because in reality, I've spent most of my time up here in Frozen: Ohio Edition mostly alone. The Other Half went off to do some back-to-back-to-back trips for his work over a week ago. And he's not due back for another week!

The view from my temporary bedroom this morning.

Ah, so I have all this time on my hands. I'm not working, other than some few-hours-per-week tele-commuting design work. So, why am I not blogging? What in the world am I doing with my time? Aren't I bored? Yes and no. I'm finding that it's entirely possible to "do nothing," and still have a day zoom by. I'm managing to diet and exercise, including time on the treadmill, and the one-mile round trip in the snow for the mail. I've been cooking and cleaning up after myself (fortunately, I suppose).

Initially, there was the house hunt, and all that entails, including getting the financing, inspection and all of that. There was also the flurry of socializing with local family, though that's been largely curtailed because of the weather. So, right now, I'm in a holding pattern on the house, and pretty much a hermit under the snow. I had to go out to a funeral yesterday, but have no social engagements lined up. I have some work that's likely to come in, but probably won't go beyond a couple of hours' time in the next few days.

So, I'm going to try to get back into the blogging habit! For real! I hope. Here's the surprising thing: after blogging nearly daily for almost 8 years (even given the gradual reduction over the years), I've completely fallen out of the habit. It was a compulsion, a personal obligation for so long, I'd actually feel guilty if I skipped a few non-weekend days. I'd feel compelled to put up something, anything to let people know, "hey, I'm still here!" But I found out, once you willingly put yourself on hiatus, and then return with a "I'm going to slowly come back to this" disclaimer? The daily tug? Evaporates. I've utterly lost the feeling--when I'm once again sitting at the keyboard doing nothing in particular--to blog about this.

The new abode, assuming all goes as planned. Obviously before
the snow-mageddon.

Well, I'm going to try to get it back. I know I don't want the blog to go permanently dark, and I know also that there's not much point to a once-a-week blog either. I never want it to be a burden though, and I don't want to have a random assemblage of posts that only exists to fill some space. It's still got to interest me, and it's still got to be (hopefully) interesting to others. Now is as good a time as any--in fact, it's not going to get more opportune--for me to find that blogging desire and voice again. Barring an emergency or an unforeseen amount of work obligation, I'm going to re-train myself to blog again, and it begins this weekend.

 

A Rocky Mountain Mike 2-Pack of Song Parodies

Sorry for the dearth of posts. The preparation for the move has my time divided, as well as my attention. But Rocky Mountain Mike has posted (or re-posted?) a couple of tunes, both Beach Boys-tinged. And if you like your political humor bi-partisan this will kind of cover the spectrum. So, enjoy! And I'll drop by the ol' blog when I can. . .

For more the complete tunes, go here. And buy his album, Politically Incoherent on Amazon!

 

Back to Ohio: Changes Afoot at Greenlee Gazette

See, here's the thing, kids. Mommy and Daddy aren't breaking up, and it's not your fault. But we are moving. We're Leaving Las Vegas, and moving on. After 20 years in the desert, and about 17 since the original experiment almost uprooted me, I've decided that the Mojave has given me all it's going to. I'll miss friends made here, and those who made the initial journey with me. There is no doubt of that. But there comes a time when "home" shifts. And "home" is now moving eastward.

I will always have a soft spot for Lost Wages. And as long as my adopted family members here in the valley remain, I'll always want to come visit. But when they've gone as well? I doubt that Vegas will hold much interest for me. I quit gambling accidentally when I quit smoking at the end of 2010. Most of the tourist traps never got me. I avoid those areas like the plague already. But I do cross Las Vegas Boulevard almost every single day. I can see Mandalay Bay and Luxor from my office window. I came here when Luxor was birthed, and helped with the delivery, along with that of Stratosphere, New York-New York and more. Las Vegas will be in my blood for a long time.

But 2,000 miles eastward lies the Buckeye State, the land of my origins. My bio- and step- parental units reside there (when they're not sunning in very separate sites in Florida), as do my siblings and one of The Other Half's sisters. How weird is that? Couple that with the facts that a) all of the rest of the family is within a day's drive of central Ohio, and b) that the remaining nieces and nephews are growing up so fast, we almost can't keep up? No brainer. Since we found ourselves in a position where we can afford to go? We're going.

I'm going to have to start at least pretending that
this means something to me.

However, dear reader, the fact of the matter is, all of these changes makes daily blogging a challenge! Not only are we preparing for a total upheaval in our lives (beyond the unfortunate termination of a beloved family pet), we're also running out the remaining days of both long-term careers, jostling the holidays (our last set), and trying mightily to squeeze in every last gathering we can with beloved friends. The period between now--early December, 2014--and the end of the first month of 2015, are going to be packed solid.

I will continue blogging throughout. I'll likely track our journey, our eventual arrival, and everything along the way and after. Greenlee Gazette will survive, and continue, becoming an Ohio-based blog. I'd be foolish to think this concerns more than a handful of people, if that. Though I have a small following, it's unlikely very many people care where I am. And I suppose that really says it all. My career is likely to become almost completely location irrelevant. Why shouldn't the blog?

One thing that will go by the wayside is the What Happens in Vegas feature. But I suppose it wasn't appointment viewing in the first place. I might come up with a Useless Nut feature for my new Buckeye status. But largely, things will remain the same. I'm leaving this post up, may update it, and may future-date it, just so that people realize that there is a transition going on. But I'll be both back. . .and never really leave. I'm just moving! Come with me? We've got eight or ten weeks to get there. Thanks!

Home Improvement: the Easiest, Cheapest Upgrade that You Never Get Around to (Shower Heads)

Ugh. . .we were taking showers through that!

Here at Chez Greenlee, we've put a lot of money and effort into upgrading the joint. Initially, it was due to a renewed pride of ownership after a seeming eternity upside-down. Back in the black, we thought we needed to freshen the place, and make it a more happy place. We finished some time in the spring.

Better!

But this fall, we made a decision that we're finally going to start planning for a future move. That move could be anywhere from months to years away, but we want to be ready. So, we started looking room-by-room, for things that need fixing. Outlets that don't work. Grout that needs cleaned and sealed. Paint that needs patching. Doorknobs that need replacing. A water softener so that all of our lovely sinks, faucets and appliances don't get crusty. And showerheads. Because they're already crusty.

Also better!

I've been meaning to replace them both for years, and especially meant to during our recent renovations. But we just--for some reason--never got around to it. Today, I went and bought a couple at Home Depot. I didn't want to go nuts, since we won't be in the house for all that much longer. So, we got one for the guest bath for $20, one for the master for $35. One's a Water Pik, the other a Delta. Both installed with little effort. If you can work a wrench, you've got it. It's the cheapest, easiest upgrade you can do, and almost everyone gets by with the crap ones the builder put in!

Here's the embarrassing part: those old crusties that you're used to? When you have guests, they see them. Up close, when they're showering. I know, because I've seen them at others' houses! Rusty, limey, yucky showerheads. I was once one of you! No more! And I tell ya, if and when we get a new house, if those ones are crusty too? Out they go, first couple of days.

 

What Happens in Vegas: Goodbye to Stupid Monkey Planet

I've just left Rev. and Mrs. Stu of Stupid Monkey Planet, at a going away party of sorts. Earlier, I helped the good Rev. with some of their heavier items, and they should be on the road to their new environs by early Saturday morning.

Packing to go. . .

I've known them both for over 15 years, and they've been very good friends. They may be psuedonymous here, but they're very real, quite wonderful people. The Las Vegas valley wasn't very nice to them in recent years, and they decided to find a better place and a new adventure. Fortunately, while this was a physical (and embarrassingly weepy) goodbye, today's interconnected world means that we'll still be in contact. The Stupid Monkey Planet Church of Primatheism will continue on Facebook, and from time to time Rev. Stu will cover for me here, as always.

Truth be told, our relationship has been largely online for some time, since his former residence was all the way across town. It was Mrs. Stu that I may have been weepiest about, since we've been having lunch every Wednesday for nearly a decade (sometimes with her husband). That will be a weekly reminder that they aren't here anymore, and that will continue to make me sad (crying again as I type this). I'm not a particularly emotional person--I've been told I have the compassion of a rock--but this one got me.

I want to wish both of my dear friends the best of luck, and am hopeful that this journey leads to great rewards, or at least boundless happiness. I know their menagerie of pets will enjoy their destination, if not the trip itself. And I'm confident that their new town will be better with the two of them in it. And it is Las Vegas' loss. It's not going to be the same around here without them.

Bye, guys.





Stupid Monkey Planet and Greenlee Gazette can be liked on Facebook using the buttons at the upper left of this screen.

Sunday Update

UPDATE: Well, after cannibalizing the oldest computer and my old Dell, I've got the new computer up and running. Now, I'm installing some software--which will probably end up costing me $20 here and there. And I have no sound. I don't know why. But I'm not a newby to this stuff, so I'll figure it out. Meantime, the blog will probably not see many--or any--new posts for a little while.

Original Post:

Well, since the beginning of the year, I have not had a slow weekend. Week one, I moved my home office and guest room furniture out, to swap the rooms. Last weekend, we painted, cleaned carpets, and put the rooms back together. And this weekend, I bought a new computer.

Every new computer is anti-climactic. You lust after a new one forever, but when you finally get it home, it's a lot of work! Right now, I am still trying to use "Windows Easy Transfer" and having no luck. It keeps getting stuck, but offers little help in getting started again. I'm just about to give up and do everything manually.

And then there are all the cutesy hand-holding "helpful" features built in to any new computer. I don't need them. I don't want them. I don't want sixteen extra toolbars in my Internet Explorer. So, I have to clear out all of that. Then, I have to reinstall all of the software I like to use, software updates, little things I forgot I had, rearrange toolbars and settings. Sigh. So quick from happy to sad!

And then, the really big news of the weekend, which is the tantalizing possibility of moving. We've been interested in moving back to the Midwest for various reasons, always setting the date three years in the future. But we now have the opportunity to buy a house in a neighborhood here in Las Vegas (Henderson, actually) where two sets of friends live. We weren't looking to move, but this house is across the street from one set of friends, down the road from another, and it is half-again the size of ours, while being about the same--or possibly even lower--price.

It's probably just a pie-in-the-sky dream. But we managed to sneak into the house, and take a look around. . .and now we're really intrigued. We'd lose a garage bay, but gain a living room. My home office would be smaller, but our master bedroom would be bigger. The master bath is nicer, the storage spaces are larger. The kitchen is laid out nicely, with lots of storage space and counter tops. . .but I'd probably lose all of my (recently acquired) kitchen appliances.

Grumble, grumble, sigh. Probably, much like the computer scenario, this will end with a combination of happiness and sadness. I won't be bummed if we stay in this house. I will be terrified if we get the new house and either a) we have trouble selling or renting this house, b) we have further job/paycheck issues, c) we spend all of our money on buying the house and moving, and can't afford some imminent catastrophe. Oy. Is it this angsty for everybody?

Busy Sunday

Blogging time has been slight today, as I put in yet another weekend cleaning, moving and rearranging things. My abandoned little old office has been slowly transitioning into a tiny new guest room. The Other Half painted it on Thursday, I steam-cleaned the carpet on Saturday (twice) and Sunday (once). And while I had the thing rented, I steam-cleaned the other two rooms in the house with carpet.

But it doesn't end there! After returning the steamer, I got it in my head to refurnish the room myself. And so I did. Not so hard, really, just tiring. And the room is on the smallish side--the better to discourage long-term visitors! It came together fairly well, though it still needs accents, and the window treatment is temporary. The Other Half will no doubt want to add things of his own (and will also probably scold me for moving stuff myself!).

And tonight, 24 returns, and is on at the same time as two of my other favorite shows, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters. So, blogging may be lighter than usual. 'Cause I'm pooped! And I gots to watch my stories. . .

New Digs for Greenlee Gazette

First photo, old office; second photo new office

I have a better excuse than usual for the lack of recent posts. I got the idea to switch my home office with our guest room, both for the change of pace, and because my office is always the hottest room in the house. Sometimes by as much as 15 or 20 degrees! And with no ceiling fan mount in that room, my options were limited. Mostly, I just sweat to death in my leather chair.

So, with the change to the front of the house, I'll have a more comfortable environment. And though the rooms are similar in size, the new office has an expansive entryway, making the room feel more open and less claustrophobic. You can't really tell by the photos, but the new office feels far freer, and less stifling. Plus, I have a view out the front of the house, instead of at our side-yard, with the cinderblock wall, and the back of the garage! Hopefully, it will inspire me to get a little more done, or to at least enjoy myself a bit more while I'm working.

The biggest glitch is that there are no cable or telephone jacks in the new room. So, I have Cox Cable coming tomorrow to install new junction boxes. Also, I'll have to figure out a new arrangement for our home network, since I hardwired (and drilled holes in walls) between my office and The Other Half's.

That dear reader, is why I haven't been blogging today. We had to dismantle the bedroom, store it in the garage, and then take apart my office, and move it to the other room. This entails moving a very large four-part oak desk, and other furniture. And with my cable modem/telephone box and network hub in the old office, my computer is now offline. I'm using our notebook computer to post this. It works fine, but I'm more comfortable with my desktop.

That's also why the "Christmas cheer" banner is still posted above. . .the regular logo is on my desktop computer! So, after the cable guy comes tomorrow, and things are back to normal, I'll probably post a few things to get this blog a little more up to date. Until then, have a great weekend!