This Old House

This one should be short, but it won't be too sweet. Didn't exercise today, didn't eat very well, and overall, not a lot of highlights. I did, however, have the chance to spend an entire day with my brother (the one that concentrates on work so much, most of my friends and acquaintances forget about him, so I dub him Other Brother). We drove 3 hours down to a house to view the contents he and two other guys would be hauling away on Tuesday. It was the first time either of us had laid eyes on the place.

The house was in a nice wooded area in eastern Massachusetts, surrounded by many historical and immaculate houses. The outside looked okay, but inside it appeared someone had thrown some sort of tantrum. I'm not sure of the entire backstory, but to me it was like someone had left semi-abruptly.

There was not a lot that was salvageable, but there was some decent furniture my brother would be able to sell, in addition to a few other items. Plus I found what I believe to be a gusli, plus a book and a cigar box I really liked.

In addition, we had a vigorous search for a row boat that was said to exist, but we could not locate. We checked the house at least twice, including closets. What, you can't hide a row boat in a closet? Have you never read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe? I rest my case. Nevertheless, we did not find a row boat. I did find a schooner. It's 8 inches long, and after painting the pieces, I can probably put it together in about five minutes.

After a few phone calls, it was soon discovered that one of the painting crew members had taken it, as his boss was under the impression it was garbage with a slew of other items. They're bringing it back and putting it in the garage so my brother will be able to take that as well. As Rob put it, he was not going to give up what he called "the highlight of the whole deal here." To which I responded by spraying my mouthful of Mountain Dew on the inside of the passenger side window.

We headed back north, and fully enjoyed the experience of a brilliant traffic pattern - twice - before finding the highway we needed and just as we breathed a sigh of relief, we came to a halt in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Eventually five lanes merged to two, and traffic let up considerably once we passed a slightly-more-than-minor fender bender. After a brief stop in NH, it was smoooooth sailing to the home base.