Archive for the 'Fun' Category
Resolutions for 2012
Dear Amy and Kyle,
I hope you had enjoyable holidays. Based on the number of parties you attended and all of the comings and goings I saw and heard about, it seems that you were festive and merry. Good for you.
Recently I’ve been listening to you banter back and forth about potential New Year’s resolutions for 2012. Lose some weight. Read more. Spend less time watching TV. You know, the kinds of things that all humans consider as worthwhile endeavors at the beginning of every year, only to quit them within a few weeks.
Well, as you know, I just turned 100 years old in 2011. I thought it might be a good idea to come up with my own resolutions for 2012, seeing as I’m heading into my next century of being and all. I haven’t really had resolutions in the past, but I see this as good of a time as any to start. Since I’m a house and don’t really have income or moveable limbs in order to help myself, you’re going to need to assist me with these items. I figure it’s the least you can do since you live within my walls and keep me busy on a daily basis. In no particular order, here’s what I’d like to work on for 2012:
1. Be less dusty. I know you have a kid and a Labrador, but maybe this can be a mutual goal. Dust me more and you can lose some weight?
2. Have fewer weeds in my garden beds. Again, seems like a mutual goal. You lose more weight, I keep my self respect with the neighboring properties.
3. Get some insulation. Kyle keeps the heat really low and I’m freezing my bum off. If you can swing it, I would also appreciate a new furnace and hot water heater. I’ve been doing some research for you which I can pass along if you’d like…
4. Watch less HGTV. Honestly, I’m getting a complex by listening to the whiney people on TV talk about new homes with open floor plans, granite counters and remodeled bathrooms. Why aren’t old houses ever good enough?
These seem simple enough, if you ask me. I consider these goals the least you can do given all that I do for you. So raise your dust rags and weeding implements, here’s to a happy and successful 2012!
Warm regards,
Your House
Decorating for the Seasons
Ah, it’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, at least according to the crazy Target lady and most other retailers.
Do you buy in to decorating your home for the seasons or holidays? Some of us pick and choose which seasons to dress up our homes, while others use any excuse they can get to display a new wreath, flag or some type of bric-a-brac to celebrate each passing holiday and season.
I enjoy looking at peoples’ exterior seasonal decorations. Everyone has different styles and often you’ll see clever creations. I find that we don’t do much exterior decorating at our house though. In the spring we’ll put some planters on our front and side porches that will last through the summer. Low maintenance, but offering some color and cheer. Nothing happens on the outside of our house during the fall because of our battle with the squirrels. No pumpkins, no ghosts, nothing. Bah-humbug!
The winter/Christmas season seems to be the time when people go through the most effort to showcase the exterior of their homes. We spend a lot of effort decorating the inside of our home, but for the outside go with two simple wreaths that stay up until at least April. Not because they’re seasonally appropriate, but because we’re lazy.
Many of our neighbors, and maybe yours, or even you (!) tend to go all Clark Griswold on their places. Driving around residential areas in the evenings is always a fun activity. Who has the inflatable winter wonderlands? Who goes for twinkly lights only? Our daughter, who is two, really enjoys this and exclaims “Christmas!” every time she sees lights.
Do you put a lot of effort into seasonally decorating the exterior of your home? Why do you do so? Because you enjoy it? Family tradition? Keeping up with the Joneses?
NOTE: The house pictured above is one of my very favorites in the West End of Hartford. The owner of this home does a remarkable job every season. Everything they do is tasteful and visually interesting. If you get a chance, do a drive through some evening and see if you can find it. It also looks very nice during the day. 
A Biking Real Estate Agent
About a month ago I wrote a story about wanting to use my bicycle more for real estate. We have many regular readers who are bike enthusiasts, who were all very supportive of my effort … thank you for that.
I’m happy to report that I’ve made good progress on my goal. Most importantly, I’ve eliminated some of the physical and mental barriers that I felt were keeping me from truly embracing the bike. The most important turned out to be finding a more convenient place to store my ride so that it’s easy to just get started. A close second was figuring out a way to secure my pant legs so that they would be less likely to get greasy. Beyond that, most of my concerns were mental issues.
Since the initial post I’ve ridden many places, and to different types of appointments. Most have been short jaunts where biking is just as fast as driving, but there have been a few longer ones too. I still believe biking is better for trips that don’t involve client interaction, but I’m beginning to come around on that front too. Especially since, as a couple commenters pointed out, biking gets easier as you get in better shape.
I’m hoping to keep riding as long as possible this season because it is a nice way to travel. I’ve been impressed that distances seem shorter on the bike than they do in the car sometimes – perhaps I’m enjoying the trip more? And when my destination does not have easy parking in front, riding is really nice because I can usually lock up outside the front door and save a meaningful amount of parking and walking time.
Thanks again for the encouragement, and enjoy the mild weather!
Burgers Around Hartford
The Hartford area has become a hot spot for hamburger restaurants. We’ve always had the fast food places, like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and the like, but over the past two years there has be an explosion of more upscale places featuring the burger.
We like burgers, and have tried many of the options (though not all … yet). Each offers something a little different, and has their own strengths and weaknesses. In alphabetical order:
- The Burger Joint: West Hartford Center
- The Counter Burger: West Hartford Center
- Five Guys Burgers & Fries: Avon, Farmington, Enfield
- Goldburgers: Newington
- Jake’s Wayback Burgers: Rocky Hill, East Windsor, West Hartford*
- Max Burger: West Hartford Center
- Mooyah Burger: Downtown Hartford, West Hartford*
- Plan B Burger Bar: West Hartford, Glastonbury, Simsbury
- Red Robin Gourmet Burgers: West Hartford, Manchester, Enfield
* Announced, but not open, as of 11/10/2011
Another Note: This is not the complete list of places to get yummy hamburgers, just a list of restaurants with a strong burger theme. And it’s not even complete in this subset. At the time of the writing, a place called Burger Baby was announced for Downtown Hartford (hopefully the website will be up by the time you read this)
For me (Kyle), there is no one place that has the best of everything. If it were possible to mix and match a meal, I would get my burger at Five Guys, onion rings at Counter Burger, and a shake from The Burger Joint. The Five Guys fries are also top notch, and the price is at the lower end (since it’s more like fast food than fine dining), so I tend to gravitate there even though milkshakes are not available.
Amy agrees that there is no one restaurant that hits the magical burger-fries/rings-shake trifecta. She is partial to the Plan B burger, the Five Guys fries, and the Counter Burger shake. She also noted that she felt like she needed to do more research into the matter since we haven’t thoroughly vetted all the options. Mmmm, sounds like delicious work…
So readers, what do you see as the best-of-the-best out there?
Biking to Work
It would be great to be able to bike to work. Amy almost had to do it on marathon day because of road closures, but we found an open route from our house to the office so it was unnecessary. That’s the most recent time it’s come up, but by no means the only time. We know lots of people in the area who use their bikes for transportation, so this isn’t breaking new ground or doing something dramatic and radical.
Basically, it comes down to the old Nike tagline – “Just Do It.” Making excuses is easy, here’s a sample. I don’t want to get all sweaty since I’m meeting clients. My bike’s chain is exposed and tends to get grease on me and my clothes. My showings are in distant towns, or there are long distances between homes. I don’t have a good way to carry my stuff. My house doesn’t have a garage, so I have to haul my bike out of the basement each time I ride. I could go on all day.
Rather than focusing on why I can’t ride a bike to sell real estate, I’m going to start focusing on opportunities when it is possible. And it’s not always going to be possible. I’m not going to ride in bad weather. I’m not going to ride long distances. I’m probably not going to be riding on weekend days in the spring when we’re busiest.
I’m going to start small, and I’m going to start today. I’m writing this on a Tuesday in October. It’s a relatively slow day, so I’m going to go on broker’s tour on my bike. There are only a few houses I need to see, and they’re all in Hartford and West Hartford, so it’s manageable. Moderate distance, no time constraints, no client interaction. Just do it.
We’ll see how it goes…