Huntin'

The two week anniversary of our European return is tomorrow. Currently my husband is away on the Magdalene Islands, exploring via bicycle the islands connected to the continent by a five hour ferry. While he was away, I had one formal interview and an informal meeting at two potential employers. The interview went really well, and I started to get excited about the prospect of working there. The informal discussion, with the head of the Molecular Biology unit at the local governmental office, was friendly and sympathetic, but told me her hands were tied at the moment due to physical constraints on the lab (ie she has money and projects but no more room. I guess). So that left one job in my field, which is at a small start-up company in a small town with a small university. Same university where I did my undergrad, actually. So they offered me the position (at a higher pay rate than the government job) and I accepted. Part two of this week's adventures involved figuring out where to LIVE. The small town is 40 minutes from Hometown, but lots of people commute. The two housing options break down thusly:

1. Bank re-po within a five minute walk to an excellent middle school in Hometown. Potential resale very high, the area was once one of the sketchiest streets in the city (my FIL was once a furniture delivery man. He had standing orders to not enter any houses on this one street by himself) but has since seen revitalization. Big time. But the paperwork is slow, as the listing actually expired last time, so it isn't even technically on the market (I just found it snooping by chance) and is in rough shape, apparently. New windows, metal roof, but black mold everywhere and just getting worse. It would be a gut job, but potentially limited to items we can do (replacing roof, stairwell, insulation, drywall, siding) and not items we can't do (electrical, plumbing, foundation work). Would still need to commute though, which means two cars I think. Two NEW cars, since ours is dying (the mechanic delivered the news earlier this week)

2. Small place in University Town, was rented for students for years as it is so close to downtown. But man, I was just inside, and it is a wreck. No insulation, thermal pane windows, creaky EVERYTHING. Also a gut job. But, I could walk to my new place of employment, and we could rent it to pay off the mortgage if we ever decided to move on. It a good long term investment. I'll try to upload some pictures to give an idea of the gross condition, though. Big job.

Anyway, the cafe where I've spent the dusk is closing. Time to head back into Hometown for a solo Friday at my moms place. Good times :)