Ease of Living

I still continue to be amazed at just how easy it is to live here. I was fully prepared for life to become more difficult in a lot of ways. I assumed that longer, colder, snowier winters, no city conveniences, and a 15+ mile drive to the nearest big grocery store would make routine errands a nuisance. And I was okay with that. I thought trips to Plattsburgh would be a near weekly, or at least monthly, occurrence. But that hasn’t been the case at all. We’ve been to P-burgh once so far.

For full disclosure, I am planning to head to Plattsburgh today. Not because I need to, but because I have a 20% Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon that’s burning a hole in my pocket and I’m dying for a steam mop. No, that’s not a joke. Ask Dave. I told him I was going to buy one and he looked at me like I was nuts and, like a nice husband, said, “Why don’t you buy something fun for yourself?” I tried my best to convince him that a steam mop IS fun, but I don’t think I was successful.

The errands I dread most in life include anything related to the car – oil changes, inspections, tire rotations, the DMV. Hate it. I already wrote about our DMV experience, so today I’ll tell you about my inspection experience. It was easy, that’s pretty much all there is to say. I drove 30 seconds to the garage just down the road, walked 2 minutes back home, waited 30 minutes for them to call to say it was done, walked the 2 minutes back down the hill, paid the man $10 (seriously, that’s all it was), and drove the 30 seconds back home. In Boston, I would have had to take half a day off from work to get my car inspected.

The only thing that’s even a slight inconvenience is the limited access to restaurants. But you know what? We’ve been eating more healthfully than ever and we’re both feeling better for it. It’s a trade-off I’ll gladly take.