Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

I had two goals going in to Sunday - to wake up Monday morning with no "Beast" car in my driveway and to have a deision on how to sell/donate the items still left in my father-by-marriage's house. So today as I wake up, take my shower and bring my mind back up and running, one of the two were accomplished. I am still waking up to a "Beast" in my driveway. Not for lack of trying, though.

My "Beast" is not a topiary, it is a rust-bucket.
It is time for it to go...

My nephew and his friend Chris came by around noon to try and get "Beast" operational. They spent almost an hour working on the engine, finally determining that the brake lines weren't something they could trust on the road. They then discussed bringing over a car trailer which another friend owns, but taking a careful look at the underside of the car, they determined that the frame was completely rusted through. That makes the truck completely unsafe and, basically, not repairable - at least not as a "project" piece. So...the "Beast" is still with us. I'll be contacting the Disabled American Veterans today. According to their advertisements they take any vehicle and will tow those that do not run. They are welcome to whatever they can get from the scrap value, I just want a clear driveway again.

I suspect that the DAV's tow truck will be a bit more modern than
this one, but this one is a beauty, isn't it?

While standing outside watching the boys doing their car thing I had a chance to meet the wife of our next door neighbor. Chris and Colleen have three young children - Annika, Braden and Jake.  They seem to be a very nice family. We spoke for a while and they left for their home. Shortly afterward a lovely dog came by to say hello - a real sweetheart that I hadn't seen before. Looking at his collar, I found out his name was "Charli". Taking a chance, I escorted "Charli" next door and asked Colleen if he belonged to them. Apparently they are dog sitting for her brother while he is on vacation. I'm happy "Charli" came to visit me. It would have been a shame if he had just wandered out in a strange neighborhood. He's home safe now.

Charli had a look similar to this Golden Doodle, although
I don't know exactly what breed he was. He was a very
friendly dog, though, and I'm happy he is back home now.

After all of this excitement we went to my father-by-marriage's house and I called Boyd Christenson to come over and take a look through the house. Boyd's name was given to me by Chickie who shares cycling classes with him on Friday mornings at the local YMCA. She said he was a really nice guy and he was. He was at the house a short time later and we went through room by room, floor by floor, looking at everything. He'll send me a contract and I think we'll sign it.

He'll photograph everything, group them into lots, and put them onto an on-line auction that will run for about ten to fourteen days. Then he sets a day/time frame for final bidders to collect their items, collects the payments, and about five days after that, pays us the proceeds minus his commission. I'm absolutely willing to have him do this and send these items to new homes where they will be appreciated, or to resellers who want to put them into their second-hand shops or on-line sales. More power to them. My goal is to have the house ready to put up for sale by the end of September and Boyd's auction will allow us to stick to that schedule. After the items are collected we'll give the house a good clean, donate the last few items to Goodwill or throw them out, and contact Jim and Mary, our local real estate agents. By the end of October the entire thing may be wrapped up and life may return to normal...so to speak. Just in time for NaNoWriMo...yeah, normal may be a total pipe dream.

My bar had this on tap, so no bottle. I chose it because
it was a dark stout, and also because it comes from
Colorado. Would I buy it again? It's almost too sweet for
my taste, but it wasn't bad. I'd seriously consider another glass.

We ended the day at Grumpy's with beer and food. I usually have Guinness, just because I love it. But in honor of my friend Ann (just_ann_now) who adores beer and craft beers, I tried a crafted stout after my first glass of Guinness. I wrote the name down because I knew I wouldn't remember it. It was called Left Hand Nitro Milk Stout, a dark stout with a slightly sweeter taste than Guinness. It was quite good, but I'll return to my Guinness next time - I guess I know what I like :-)