OT: Finally getting settled down in Minnesota

[shuttermutt]

Ever since I moved from Maine to Minnesota in mid-January, my new company has put me up (very generously I might add) in a nice extended stay hotel. My wife and I have been spending our time trying to find a place to call home ever since. Today I think we struck gold!

Most of what we looked at was either too damned expensive for what it was (a 1945 2 bedroom with light pink carpet and wood paneling for $1,400 a month?!?), didn't allow dogs (a problem for our 3 year old doberman), or was too far away from work.

Today we went to look at a house in St Louis Park (a suburb of Minneapolis and about 20 minutes from work). It's a very well maintained home built in the 1950's. It has real hardwood floors, a full (partially) finished basement, two bedrooms, a fully finished attic, a really nice two-story playhouse (for our daughter), a fenced yard, and a 1-1/2 car garage with electrical service and a garage door opener.

The owners are nice folks and, as it turns out, the husband is in the exact same line of work as I am so we hit it off immediately. We filled out the application on-the-spot and they called us just two hours later to offer the property. Naturally, we agreed and all we have to do is call back with a move-in date.

So my daughter gets the entire upstairs as a bedroom/playroom and a sweet two-story playhouse, my wife gets to keep her dog, and I get a garage just itching to be filled with my woodworking tools and truck projects. The whole family gets a quiet neighborhood just three blocks from the primary school, reasonable rent, and the peace of mind that comes from having some place to live!

Anyway, I wanted to give everyone an update and let the Minnesota crew we're one step closer to that "truck and beer and meet and greet" while I'm waiting on the new release of KDE to compile on my linux box. Oh yeah, does anybody here have a truck? It seems I'll be moving soon...

[hgs_notes]

Congratulations. I really like it up there. I hope you got a chance to take your daughter to the ice palace.

Beware the salt.

HG

[shuttermutt]

Yeah, we saw the palace. Pretty impressive. Even more impressive is the alarming rate at which vehicles turn to brown globs of swiss cheese thanks to the D.O.T.

[too much stuff]

So, is it cold enough for ya? Just keep us posted on the beer meeting, we should all just try to get together at some point this spring/summer. Glad you are getting settled in! Eric

[bumpster]

At least you have your priorities straight, trucks beer, and oh by the way, think i'll call dad and tell him we found a place to live. If the timing is right I may have to drive north just to make you buy the beer.

[botboy]

Hi there, glad to hear you're going to get settled in MN, need any parts from a '69 K10? I'm in delano about 30 mins away from st. louis park...

[da-burb]

Congratulations on the house. I am sure you will love St Louis Park. It is close to everything. Watch your speeding on Hwy 100, it has more than the usual number of speed traps.

I'd also like to help you move, BUT I just sold all my trucks and have flat tires on my car trailer, sorry!

But what I would like to offer is the name of a good wood supplier for your shop or if you ever need vehicle, boat, or parts storage I have a small business providing that service just 30 minutes west of you.

[shuttermutt]

Originally posted by bumpster
At least you have your priorities straight, trucks beer, and oh by the way, think i'll call dad and tell him we found a place to live. If the timing is right I may have to drive north just to make you buy the beer.

What can I say? You raised me right, old man! If you've still got time off scheduled in May, maybe that's when we need to schedule this get together. If you put my grill in the back of your truck, we'll even be able to eat!

da-burb:
Yeah, I saw three differnent traffic stops on 100 in the middle of the afternoon. Looks like they're pretty serious about that 55 MPH limit, eh? No worries, I'm sure rush hour traffic probably keeps that in check.

I'm always looking for good wood suppliers. I do a lot of my "scrub" work in poplar and red oak. For nice stuff I like maple, cherry, and walnut (when I can afford them).

Vehicle storage, you say? I'll be looking to tuck the BMW away for the remainder of the winter. I'll send you a PM.

[mrein3]

Originally posted by da-burb


I'd also like to help you move, BUT I just sold all my trucks and have flat tires on my car trailer, sorry!

Liar liar, pants on fire.

(JK, I saw the smiley)

shuttermutt -
I'm glad you found a place that works for you.

Be careful if you go to da-burbs place. I go looking for one part and come home with a car load.

[Don Loverink]

let me know when the beer party is too, im in brainerd, an hour and half north of the twin cities. don

[Paul72]

Sorry - just found this post. I've been off-line for a while and missed it!

Congrats on the home. I'm sure it's one less thing to worry about. My Blazer is going in storage on Saturday - between work, selling this house and building the new house, I won't have any time to get the work done on her that I want to! When all is said and done, I'll have a nice heated shop to work on it. There's always next summer :p

Good luck on the move! And keep us posted on the get-together.

Paul

[shuttermutt]

Heh, a little busy are we, Paul? I can certainly understand that. I've only been trolling here the last couple of months. Of course, now that it looks like we might get above freezing for more than a few days, I'll be spending more time turning wrenches. Heck, I changed the oil, cleaned out the carb, replaced a belt, and made enough noise to make the neighbors grumble just a couple of Sundays ago.

As for the get-together, I think we're still on for sometime this May. I believe the old man is still planning on making the trek. If so (and he remembers to throw my grill in the back), we're 1/2 way to a pretty decent party. I'm sure he'll chime in on this in 3... 2... 1...