As a retired career bureaucrat, I am in awe of the paperwork and clearances required these days to buy and move into a high-rise residential building. The CIA probably issues security ratings with a less intricate review process. They stopped just short of fingerprinting and a DNA sample. But only by a hair. At any rate, I wish to tell you that buying a house is a walk in the park by comparison.
But, at last, we jumped through all the hoops, moved our meager possessions into our new home, and began the process of furnishing it and connecting it to the world. That meant (gulp) dealing with the cable installation people, IKEA, and a host of specialty stores. Two trips to IKEA later, we had dishes, organizers, lamps, and some furniture ordered. Both trips were on a weekend. The experience of visiting IKEA alongside gazillions of families with small children, hipster young professionals, and clueless college students may be among the most arduous endurance events Al and I have ever participated in. Then two days of telephone calls and waiting produced working TV and WIFI in our little home. Connected to the world again! In a few days, we'll even have place to sit down. (Maybe. If things are delivered on schedule...)
Our bikes are parked everywhere around the place. Organizing them and the bike and touring gear is my next project.
But we are settled in Miami. It is home. We live in the neighborhood called Brickell (pronounced BRICK-uhl). Brickell runs along Biscayne Bay from the Miami River, south to the Rickenbacker Causeway that leads over to Key Biscayne, and stretches maybe a half mile inland. The biking is very, very nice...
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| The Miami River in Brickell |
