Today marks five years since I moved to Vallejo and closed on my home! While most of the last two years have been a nightmare, as I have NOT been able to live in my home that was severely damaged by fire. Supposedly I’ll be back before the holidays, but that’s still many months past the intended move. It’s still ridiculously too long by all accounts, but despite that major setback and the horrible loss of life that day, I am so glad I’m here in this town that has been so good to me with a community that really had my back when I didn’t realize I needed them while I was in a haze after the tragedy in January 2024. The good news is that I have the rest of my life to not live in temporary housing that is suboptimal for my lifestyle. I need my garden back, my hot tub back, my three backyard sliders back, my carpet-less floors back, my one story life back, my non-popcorn ceiling back, my spacious kitchen back, my better flow home back, my walk-in shower back, my three car garage back, my corner home, my flooding of light in all parts of the house and places to sit and nap in the backyard at all times of the day in or out of the sun, my back deck to listen to occasional rain fall while outside with my coffee, my smart home music system emanating from every corner when desired. I’m struggling with these last few weeks in this rental, but it feels like an ever-moving target because I’m a pawn between the insurance/claim adjusters with their agenda and whatever is happening with the contractor, which includes tariffs and supply chain issues that this most corrupt of presidential administrations has contributed to. On top of that, I’ve had to spend a lot of money out of pocket just to move things along, since I’m trying to do things the right way, without going nuts on the improvements. Due to poor American leadership, due to the idiocy of the majority of the American electorate, I’ve had to pay higher amounts than otherwise because of stagflation. I always remind people that all politics are local. This is an example. When I get a move-in date, I’ll scream it from the mountaintops. I’m so embarrassed by having to guess at a move-in date when people tell me, always adding the caveat now that “so I’m told.” The picture below is shortly after I moved in five years ago, with some Halloween decorations up (during Covid, so I didn’t expect any kids).