I like riding the DC Metro. I guess because I don't have to do it every day, it still has some of its "fun and adventure" quality to me. It's relatively clean, and safe, and it's architecturally pretty nice. It's not very expensive, and it saves me the trouble of having to drive all the way to and from DC, and worrying about a place to park, and driving during rush hour, etc.
I have three things I really like about it, that may seem a bit odd...
First, I love the lights on the platform that flash slowly when the train is coming into the station. It's genius.
Second, I like when you're in an underground station, and it's kind of quiet, and there aren't a lot of people waiting for the train. Suddenly, out of the darkness, comes the headlight of the ghost train.
It looks like any normal train until it gets closer to you. It slows its pace some as it comes into the station, but it's still going too fast to stop. Then you notice the windows are all dark, and there are no passengers. The dark car windows flip by like frames in a silent movie. And then the train is gone, and the station goes back to the quiet of waiting. You'll know when one is coming because the arrival signboard will just say "Train" and however many minutes until the ghost train comes by. It's just a little eerie, but I love when it happens!
The third thing I like is the new "zoetrope"-like ads they've installed in a few stations. As the train reaches its traveling speed in the tunnel, and you look out the window, you'll see an ad that looks like a movie playing. It's an illusion based on the motion of the train and "frames" that have been applied to the tunnel walls. It looks super-cool. It's hard to describe, so you can see the link of someone's footage here.
They have that one for Lincoln, and I've seen ones for Target on the Red Line. I think they're fun!
Wednesday, October 18
Tuesday, October 17
Pie in the Sky, Part II
Sorry for the lapse. Life's been busy. But Craig said something again last night that made me think some more about those goals...
Two weeks later, the job is still in the air. They've hired the managers, so I'm just waiting for my interview. The other people on my team seem pretty confident that I will still have a job, but I'm still taking the wait-and-see approach. I wanted to start looking for a job but I can't really imagine telling a company that I will need to put them on hold for another 30 days until I have a finite decision.
So that brings me to the problem I'm facing. I can't plan anything further in my life until I know, at the very least, my employment status.
Craig told me the other day that this job is the best job he's ever had. That made me so happy, because I know how much he's really wanted a job that he doesn't loathe going to every day, especially since I saw him at his last job which he HATED. So it means a lot to me that he keep it for a while. That means we won't move anywhere soon.
Looming Unattainable Goal 1: Buy a house
After I lived in apartments for a couple of years, I learned some rules about renting a good place. Don't ever get a place underneath someone else, for example. Top floor only, when possible, end unit, hopefully there's an elevator. Make sure it's got the basics: dishwasher, icemaker, central heat/air, adequate parking. You get the idea. But after the first 5 years, that got old. And now I'm going on 11 years that I've been renting. I want a place I can make my own. I want to paint. I want to put holes in the wall. I want new appliances. I want to spill things on my carpet without worrying about what's going to happen to my deposit. I want a YARD and a garden. All understandable wants and needs.
So where do we live?
In the most wealthy county in the United States. No joke.
Does that mean we're wealthy? Right.
In the last 5 years, Loudoun County's median house price rose from $198,000 to $409,940. Neighboring Fairfax County: from $215,000 in 1999 to $425,700 in 2004.
How do people afford houses that cost that much?? I don't think, in my wildest dreams, we could ever be able to afford that. Not that we'd need too much house either. But you won't find a home here, that's not a townhome or a condo, or a place that's practically in West Virginia, for less than $300K.
To be fair, I haven't determined that perhaps those homes don't really exist, but the realtors don't want to try to sell them. They're obviously not going to make as much money on that house, so why put the effort into it? But I'm also thinking that $200K might just get you some sort of roach-infested firetrap.
Compared to Charlotte, NC where the median home price is still $194K. Some days I really regret leaving...
So that puts my time window for buying a home way into the future. I will have to continue to try and be content for now. Which still means we're getting raped on the price of renting, because if a home costs that much to buy, you can imagine how inflated rent is here too.
Looming Unattainable Goal 2: Have a baby.
Let's face facts: Craig's 28, and a guy, so he can have kids whenever. But I'm 35, and my eggs ain't gettin any fresher! I don't want to be having my first child at 40. And what if he really did get the unfortunate side effect of sterility from the chemotherapy? The longer we wait to find out, the slimmer the chances get that we will succeed.
But who wants to have a baby while they're living in a rented place? Sure, people do it, but do I want to? Not really. That brings us back to goal number one...
Can we afford to have a child? People much poorer than us can do it, so I'm not terribly concerned. How much money should we save? Will I keep working? Do I still have a job? Can you see how this just goes around and around?
Also, I think we wanna make real sure we've done as many things as we want to do together before we put our lives on hold for the next 18 years. Sure, people say that's not how you should do it, but how many people actually live that way? I was lucky when I was a kid, because my dad was a pilot and my mom was a SAHM. So our family still traveled a LOT. I think we could, I just want to know for sure that we're ready. Or at least as ready as we can reasonably prepare for.
We talked about it again briefly last night. I want to be able to come up with some kind of game plan, and because I can't, I'm just incredibly frustrated.
Two weeks later, the job is still in the air. They've hired the managers, so I'm just waiting for my interview. The other people on my team seem pretty confident that I will still have a job, but I'm still taking the wait-and-see approach. I wanted to start looking for a job but I can't really imagine telling a company that I will need to put them on hold for another 30 days until I have a finite decision.
So that brings me to the problem I'm facing. I can't plan anything further in my life until I know, at the very least, my employment status.
Craig told me the other day that this job is the best job he's ever had. That made me so happy, because I know how much he's really wanted a job that he doesn't loathe going to every day, especially since I saw him at his last job which he HATED. So it means a lot to me that he keep it for a while. That means we won't move anywhere soon.
Looming Unattainable Goal 1: Buy a house
After I lived in apartments for a couple of years, I learned some rules about renting a good place. Don't ever get a place underneath someone else, for example. Top floor only, when possible, end unit, hopefully there's an elevator. Make sure it's got the basics: dishwasher, icemaker, central heat/air, adequate parking. You get the idea. But after the first 5 years, that got old. And now I'm going on 11 years that I've been renting. I want a place I can make my own. I want to paint. I want to put holes in the wall. I want new appliances. I want to spill things on my carpet without worrying about what's going to happen to my deposit. I want a YARD and a garden. All understandable wants and needs.
So where do we live?
In the most wealthy county in the United States. No joke.
Does that mean we're wealthy? Right.
In the last 5 years, Loudoun County's median house price rose from $198,000 to $409,940. Neighboring Fairfax County: from $215,000 in 1999 to $425,700 in 2004.
How do people afford houses that cost that much?? I don't think, in my wildest dreams, we could ever be able to afford that. Not that we'd need too much house either. But you won't find a home here, that's not a townhome or a condo, or a place that's practically in West Virginia, for less than $300K.
To be fair, I haven't determined that perhaps those homes don't really exist, but the realtors don't want to try to sell them. They're obviously not going to make as much money on that house, so why put the effort into it? But I'm also thinking that $200K might just get you some sort of roach-infested firetrap.
Compared to Charlotte, NC where the median home price is still $194K. Some days I really regret leaving...
So that puts my time window for buying a home way into the future. I will have to continue to try and be content for now. Which still means we're getting raped on the price of renting, because if a home costs that much to buy, you can imagine how inflated rent is here too.
Looming Unattainable Goal 2: Have a baby.
Let's face facts: Craig's 28, and a guy, so he can have kids whenever. But I'm 35, and my eggs ain't gettin any fresher! I don't want to be having my first child at 40. And what if he really did get the unfortunate side effect of sterility from the chemotherapy? The longer we wait to find out, the slimmer the chances get that we will succeed.
But who wants to have a baby while they're living in a rented place? Sure, people do it, but do I want to? Not really. That brings us back to goal number one...
Can we afford to have a child? People much poorer than us can do it, so I'm not terribly concerned. How much money should we save? Will I keep working? Do I still have a job? Can you see how this just goes around and around?
Also, I think we wanna make real sure we've done as many things as we want to do together before we put our lives on hold for the next 18 years. Sure, people say that's not how you should do it, but how many people actually live that way? I was lucky when I was a kid, because my dad was a pilot and my mom was a SAHM. So our family still traveled a LOT. I think we could, I just want to know for sure that we're ready. Or at least as ready as we can reasonably prepare for.
We talked about it again briefly last night. I want to be able to come up with some kind of game plan, and because I can't, I'm just incredibly frustrated.
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