The Big Calamari (Cocktail sauce on the side, please)

The original state. Not bad for 130, but maybe a little 'work' is in order.

Lots of pictures and few words in this post. We had the house painted, you see.
Sure, I know there was lots of talk about us painting the place ourselves, but after standing out in the hot sun for fifteen minutes deciding where and how to start, the Goose and I decided to have a quick Gin and Tonic to revitalize ourselves and the next thing you know, there's a painter standing in the living room making golden promises about how his work will 'rejuvenate our home'. The details about how we reached that point are still somewhat hazy, but rest assured we soon had a contract and were due to start work by the first of the week.

So Mike the Painter set to work on the place,

scraping and scrubbing and caulking,

no nook or cranny too small to escape the notice of his assistants.

While Mike himself attends the details.

Progress...

And more progress

And Behold!

The Old Place in all it's new-found glory!

I can't complain. The paint work is good, but it's just not what I envisioned. You can't really see it in these pictures, but there are still lots of lumps and bumps even after days and days of scraping. However after talking to many people, it appears that lumps and bumps are all part of the old house experience. Evidently actually stripping and smoothing and getting down to original wood is more than just a paint job, it's something akin to the painting process for the Golden Gate Bridge, and only slightly less expensive.
And I have to say, the place looks really good from the street. The painters used plenty of caulk and replaced a few odd pieces of siding and the quality of the paintwork itself seems top notch, so I think the old place is good for another ten years. 

'But what' you may ask 'does this have to do with an appetizer popular in many Italian restaurants'?
Well, I'm gonna' tell you. 
The other day I was perusing the news of the weird and I noticed a blurb about fishermen and a Giant Squid. 
You know what they say about 'inquiring minds', so I linked on over to it and behold, it was the coolest video ever of sharks snacking on cool white chunks of fresh calamari, straight  from the fisherman's net. In fact I think I'll link to it here so you can see it in all it's splendor:

Now again you'll ask, what's all that have to do with anything? Well, since we sold the old house I'm beginning t feel like that squid in the video. I swear to God, every time I turn around someone wants a bite of me. The painters took lots of my dough, but that's nothing compared to the vampiric real estate agents. I could have painted this house twice for what those blood suckers charge. (Need to throw in a quick edit here. If I could have given the whole real estate commission to the incomparable Madonna Moody, Realtor extraordinaire, it would have been money extremely well spent. But Oh No! The commission has to be split between a couple of useless brokers and the swine that represented the buyers.)   Then there's the escrow and title companies,  in league with everyone from the loan servicers down to the overnight couriers. There's insurance companies, and even termite inspectors. Not to mention the city wants ninety-two bucks for a permit so I can put up my workshop. The death of a thousand cuts I tell you, or at least nibbled to death by the Sharks and their pals the Lampreys.

So that's what Calamaris have to do with this house. I'm just a Giant Squid and everyone wants a bite of my cool white flesh. 

But this is all giving me pause, and reminding me that there's nothing in the house for dinner. I think I'll grab the Goose and pedal on down to Rocky's. They have real good beer there and I can get a plate of Calamari with cocktail sauce on the side.

Live Long and Prosper,

Fish