Things I Miss

Bill's pretty worried that I won't adapt to our new lifestyle; nearly every evening he asks, "Is it okay? Are you okay?" and I reply, "I haven't gotten cabin fever yet!" The adjustment hasn't been traumatic, in part because we've had five previous summers to get into our rhythm and learn to live without certain amenities. However, there are some things I miss a little bit:

1. My own washer and dryer! We've done one week's worth using the marina's facility. They have three washers and three dryers; one load costs $3.25 to wash and dry. We were lucky enough to have all three to ourselves so we filled 'em up and strolled over to the bar 'n grill for dinner, taking turns to check on the status and move the loads into the dryers. It's still a time-consuming process but, with our transportable wi-fi, we can multi-task on the laptops. (Nah, I'm not doing laundry right now!)

2. My easy commute! Formerly six miles from home to office; I could work a little later and not have to face a 45-minute drive home. So far I've tried three different routes and they are all within a few minutes of 45 and a mile or two within 26. I even finally got a turnpike EZ-Pass for the first time ever; pretty slick! I guess it's not so much the time or the traffic that annoys me, but the additional gas at 14.7 mpg. I am filling my tank every week instead of every 10-12 days. Rumor has it that the cost of a gallon will be dropping soon!

3. A climate-controlled environment. Blessed (!) with naturally frizzy hair, I spend more time than I should each morning trying to tame it. Previously I could go from an air-conditioned house to an air-conditioned car in the garage and make it into the office pretty much satisfied with the results. So far this past week I've had five bad hair days; one of my co-workers even told me how sorry he was that I looked like Peter Frampton. Nice.

4. Finally, I miss my cat Ocie most of all. I don't know if cats miss people the same way that dogs will pine for their masters so I hope that he is adjusting to being cared for by former neighbors. The new owners of our townhome already had two cats and declined to take on a third, darn them!

So, all in all, not a long list of things I miss and they are certainly outweighed by the benefits of being a live-aboard:

1. Less housecleaning! While I do have to vacuum, dust, and clean two heads (aka bathrooms), I can pretty much do a thorough job in less than 30 minutes, which is about three hours and 30 minutes less than what I used to do. That's 3.5 more hours each week to read, blog, visit and, oh yeah, help Bill with the exterior maintenance of the boat.

2. More socializing! We have great friends here on H-Dock at the Fox Chapel Yacht Club; there are four couples who have been here as long as or longer than us (shown below) and several more in the past two or three years who have joined this dock and they are all nice, courteous people, fun to be with. We celebrate the summer birthdays, have a potluck or two during the season, play lots of Scrabble and Rummikub, and get together at Christmas (thanks, Bob and BJ -- you are tremendous hosts!).

3. The adventure of it all! We hope to get 10 good years of living on the water before making a more permanent move back to dry land. God willing and our health remains good, you may have to put up with a lot more blogs from me!