Food For Thought, Holiday Edition

I have found that no waiter or delivery driver takes offense at the phrase “Merry Christmas” when it is accompanied by a $20 tip.

Restaurant To Another World, 2.12

Our Mystery Guest grants the chef a boon that worries Aletta, then Our Prince and Princess celebrate with a full crowd of regulars, with careful attention paid to the character art. Bonus panic moment for Aletta at the thought of losing her other job, but in an adorable way. A fine ending to an excellent show, with lots of tasty closeups. Of the food, too.

Note to self: parties at Nekoya feature the finest cheesecake in the other world, but while most of them are single, they’re not necessarily available…

(pony-maid waitresses are unrelated)

The Witcher, 2.1-2.4

Worthwhile, but with enough dark spots that it needs a unicorn catgirl chaser.

(witch, witcher, close enough)

Friendship is magic

The upcoming season includes a show where Our Heroine’s dream is to wear the uniform of a prestigious school… and make 100 friends. Seriously, what is it with this trope?

(if you need friends, there’s always another fish in the tank…)

The headline says it all…

NYC COVID inspector booted from bar for failing to show own proof of vaccination

Lipstick On A Pig: The App

Decorate the notch on your new MacBook Pro.

Fun with houses

In the latest house recommended to me by Zillow, there is a good-sized island with power at both ends associated with the kitchen. Note that I did not say in the kitchen. The refrigerator isn’t even in the kitchen by more than a few inches, because very little of the 2,800 square feet was originally allocated for cooking, and the galley design is book-ended by load-bearing walls that left them very little room to expand. They did put in nice cabinets and countertops. And carpeting.

In other news,

I’ve made an offer on the house I previously mentioned that isn’t listed on the market yet. There are updates I’d like to make over the next few months, if the stars align and the ships unload and the supplies chain and the Brandon regime stops actively destroying the country, but honestly, the only tool I’d need on-hand for moving in is a caulking gun.

Amusingly, I count five different pizza chains within a five-block radius, and seven more within a five-minute drive. And that doesn’t count non-chain pizza shops, or the wide variety of nearby restaurants serving things other than pizza. 😁

It’s easy to get to, as well, something that wasn’t true for some of the others. Get off the highway at a main road, drive about a mile, make two turns, and you’re there, much like my current house. But much nicer than my current house.

Interesting note: two of the three comps we used to evaluate the price had sales more recent than the ones Zillow knew about, which means their “zestimate” value for the property was guaranteed to be off. I’ve always treated their estimates as at best a rough guideline, and now I know it’s true. Especially in a rapidly-changing market, not knowing about sales from 2-3 months ago is a serious flaw.

It’s actually hard to find nearby houses that are really comparable, because not only does it have one of the largest lots in the subdivision, the property includes one of the other largest lots as well (the owners really liked their privacy, and didn’t want a neighbor on the other side). And comps don’t tell you much about the quality or condition of the interior. You can get a pretty fair idea from the pictures of the most recent listing, though, and by that standard, hopefully-my-house is better, inside and out.

The other reason it’s hard to compare is that it’s got over 2,000 square feet of unfinished basement space that it could take me years to completely utilize. I can use it for exercise and storage right away, and run structured wiring, power, and gas everywhere I want them, but how big should the vault be…?

I don’t know anything about the only nearby neighbor, because they just bought the place, and got the keys exactly two weeks ago.

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