Huh. Apparently the key to Pubski is hidden under the door mat. Who knew? Dog I specifically took the day off work today because there are people here to work on the roof and the chimney of the house. It wouldn't be a lie to say my dog is territorial, which is fine. 99% of the time, it's not a problem. I still wanted to be here with her, to keep her calm, just in case. She's done good so far. A few growls, one round of barking, other than that, she's laying on her bed like a good girl. Honestly, I've had her for years, yet she still surprises me with how wonderful she is. Houses Speaking of houses, Dala and I haven't gone to any recently, not since we went to see the one in with the wacky funhouse floors and the neighborhood with the Waverunners. That said, two of the houses we saw recently are back on the market. One of them was for sale for about $70k. It now has a new coat of paint and some new floors and is now available for about $90k. The other was for sale for about $90k, was obviously bought and fixed up by a flipper, because it had new paint, new floors, new cabinets, and all sorts of bells and whistles. It also had pipes leading to nowhere, wall outlets and cabinets that weren't level, and the concrete patio in the back sloped towards the house which would cause water to pool at the foundation. It's now on the market again, for over $120k, and with the exception of a wood patio covering up the concrete patio (which I'm damn near positive wasn't fixed), I can't tell if there's a damn thing changed about this house. Not that I'd schedule a viewing to find out, because it's now out of our price range. In case you can't tell, I'm bitter about this. Metal Detectoring One of my friends wants Dala and I to buy ourselves metal detectors and join him on metal detecting adventures. Normally I'd be all game for this. Detectorists was a fun TV show and there's a scene where the club is getting together to discuss their finds and all they have to show for it is some buttons and a matchbox car and I turned to my wife and said "I'd love to do that! I LOVE BUTTONS!" I love antiques, Dala loves antiques, it'd be good exercise and a good reason to get out of the house, etc. etc. BUT, said friend is more interested in finding lost rings and valuables and shit and pawning them off which I personally think is sketchy and predatory as hell. At the same time, there's laws around metal detecting, mostly to protect the integrity of archeological sites and such, and I don't know how much of a hassle that is. That said, Dala is friends with a guy who does this kind of stuff as a hobby, so I asked her to get in touch with him. At the very least, we get to take him out to dinner and have a good conversation.