Housing Homily

And so it came to pass. Bert and I went to the Social Security Administration office in Walnut Creek this afternoon and after losing our way on Highway 680 and Interstate 24, and a one hour wait, got our Social Security Numbers. Yay. Now we can do things like get cellphones, apply for credit cards, go for driving test, buy a car, ...

And we have settled on the house. It is a small two-storey "semi-detached" - don't know what they call it here but it only has one common wall with the neighbouring house and is certainly much smaller than a semi-d in Singapore. The built in is only 1600+ sq ft and there is a stamp-size front lawn and a teeny weeny backyard but it is good enough for us. It is still fairly new, only 6 years old and very well kept. There won't be a lot of space for all our barang barang so the garage may become some sort of store-room. But it is cosy. And it will be home. The house is fully carpeted, even the master bedroom toilet! The living room is small - if memory serves me right, it is probably just a tad larger than Nic's bedroom in Li Hwan or maybe not. We may have a bit of a squeeze in the master bedroom with the dresser and display bookcase we shipped over from Li Hwan. Will have to see. I must remember to bring the camera for the house inspection and will post some pictures when I have them.

We would need to spend a fair bit on electrical appliances - a fridge, washer, dryer for starters. The house does have central heating and air-conditioning already. It is fairly close to the office so the commute should be fairly easy which helps. I am hoping that since it is still in San Ramon, that we will be allowed to keep Ryan in Iron Horse Middle School next year. May have to appeal for a transfer from the school to which he would otherwise be assigned.

Come Sep 29 and we will be moving our furniture into the house. I have not heard from the shipper but the container should be arriving sometime around Sep 10 or 11. Don't know how long it will take to clear customs but hopefully the timing will work out alright.

It is the weekend again and this time, we won't need to spend the time crawling the net for homes and driving around with a compass checking to see if the main door faces NNW. What a relief. Maybe we will go shopping - for a computer and cellphone for Bert, maybe a jacket so he can stop wearing the Microsoft one that I bought at a TechNet symposium many years ago.

My cellphone is active now and I will terminate the SingTel number early next week so folks in Singapore can still make local calls to us for only a few more days. Hee hee.