Moving up

It's been a while, so I wanted to check in. I can't say anything exciting has been going on in our lives, but we have certainly been busy with mundane stuff--cars, houses, family.

Our Volkswagen Golf died quite suddenly last month, just after its 7th birthday. Luckily the car went kaput within a mile of our house and at the end of David's 60-mile daily roundtrip commute. The experience has taught me to replace the timing belt for an interference-type engine (such as a turbo) anytime after 50,000 miles when you have a thousand dollars to spare, regardless of whether the manufacturer says car has reached time to replace it or not. Much advice was sought about what to do with the dead car. We faced as little as $2,000 in repairs, more likely $5,000, and possibly a whole new engine. David was out of town a lot right after the Golf died, so we got by on one car and a very nice loaner from dad for a while, but last week we had to bite the bullet. When we did the math on fix/keep/sell/trade-in, we decided trying for good trade-in could be best for us, and I began negotiating with car sales people (always a pleasure). Amazingly, VW offered a fair value for the Golf, and we moved up into a silver 2008 Jetta SE.

It's basically the Golf with a trunk, (heated) leather seats, Tiptronic option, built-in iPod thingy (not the actual name), and a 6-disc CD player. It's like we just remodeled the car. Alas, with 10,000 miles per year, Jetta (to be named) will be used on a scheduled-mileage basis only. Now knock on wood that our 1996 Subaru (which has 171,000+ miles on it) keeps going strong. (Have I mentioned lately how much I love my Subaru? And that I am also welcoming to newcomers? I don't want the new car to feel unwelcome.)

Our move-up plans for the car were unintended, but moving up in residences is a planned event. These past few months most of my weekend afternoons (and several weekday ones) have been dedicated to scouting out houses in Redwood City, San Carlos, and San Mateo. Moving 20 miles north will do wonders for David's commute, and allow us to move David's grandfather in with us. We've been looking primarily at 3 bedroom, 2 bath houses, but that turns out to encompass a very wide variety of options (and a dizzying array from slums to mansions). Not knowing these three cities all that well, it's taken a while to figure out what's a good deal and what's less important to us than others (realtors are all gaga over San Carlos and its schools, but I find the houses there overpriced and small, and the area rather pretentious).


Last weekend we went to the open house for a place in Redwood City that seemed to fit all our basic wants/needs: it's affordable, has ground floor bedroom, is in a good neighborhood, has a rental unit, and has two living spaces (living room, family room); plus it's got a lovely yard. Today we went for another look, dragging family along with us for a second opinion. I have not set my heart on it, so others' honest feedback will not shatter me. Take a look at 402 Upton and tell me what you think. If you are really interested, I can share the ups and downs of the property, according to our opinions and the inspector's report.


In family history news, I have made contact with another Eugeni in the world (he might be the reason for my doppelganger; we didn't get personal enough in our chitchat for me to question his wife's naming rights). Anyway, I've not uncovered any known connection between Eugeni clans yet, but it's exciting to learn anything new for my genealogy work. Then last week I identified a long lost relative, though only her first name.


My great grandfather Costanzo had a niece named Gina who sent postcards from Italy between 1917 and 1920 (my cousin showed me these postcards, not understanding who they were from). Gina would be my first cousin twice removed. Hopefully this info becomes useful in connecting to distant relatives at some later date. Maybe I'm even related to Barack and Brad. Now there's some motivation to keep up my genealogy searches. :)