A better day

Yes, the Monterey Aquarium was a good idea. Watching the fishies was very relaxing. More about that later.

Posting about the house was also a stress reliever. I no longer feel like I have to keep it all to myself.

SallyB's comment about how her buyer had a heart attack at the closing, and died a few days later, sure tops anything we have gone through.

Thanks for the advice. We have suggested our buyer get a bridge loan, and he is looking into doing that.

The long delay caused by the buyer's buyer, came as a surprise to him as much as to us. Before accepting his contingent offer we drove by his present house, which is very nice and in great condition. We checked him out on LinkedIn. His credentials are all good. Our agent knows his agent very well and they have been in close communication throughout.

We let him move some of his stuff into the back garage four days before his closing was scheduled. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time: one weekend. Then we told him he could use the front garage and one bedroom as well. It seemed quite reasonable at the time. He was emptying his house so it could get cleaned for his buyers to move into following their closing. It was no imposition on us, and otherwise he would have had to get storage for just a week and move everything twice, and his stuff is not in the way of our showing the house if it comes to that.

We are quite confident we will close with this buyer. It is just a mater of getting the other property closed, and that is beyond our control and out of our buyer's control too.  He is as stressed as we are.

Last night we got an email from our realtor saying the extension paperwork was in progress, and a very nice note from our buyer thanking us for our patience and willingness to work through this. A few nice words go a long way to reassure me.

Now on to my "fish tale."

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the best in the country. We have visited it many times over the years, and it's one of our favorite places to take out of town visitors. Monterey is about 45 miles south of here.

This week to celebrate their 50th anniversary, residents of the counties surrounding Monterey Bay were invited to visit the aquarium for free.  Free is always a good excuse for me!

Although we did have a light breakfast befor leaving home, Craig was hungry when we got there.  There are many restaraunts near by, and we choose Bubba Gump's, a seafood restaraunt based on the Forrest Gump movie.  We have walked past it many times, but it was always so busy we didn't stop in.

This time, being early for lunch on a non-holiday Tuesday, there was no wait.

The decor was fun and the food was great.

I tried my very first Shrimp Po'Boy.  It was wonderful, but I would have like a bit more lettuce.  I'm not sure where they would have put it!  Craig had a yummy shrimp taco plate.


On past visits to the Aquarium we have had to wait in long lines and jostle with crowds of people to look at the exhibits. That is the price one pays for going during a holiday week.  But this time we were able to walk right in and enjoy the tanks without the crowds.  

I always find the large kelp forest tank peaceful as the fish seem to float weightlessly and cruise by in their own time. 
No rush!

This is a three story tank that is located at the center of the Aquarium so you can walk all the way around it and see different views of the vast space.

The occupants of this tank are all from the Monterey Bay.

Big and small.


Pretty and not so pretty.

This guy was huge! He came up to the glass and seemed to be looking at us, while we looked at him.

His relative was not as curious.

There are many interesting exhibits: sea birds, penguins, octopus, and invertebrates. My personal favorite was the cuttlefish.

This still image can't show the graceful movements of this creature.  He looked like he was from another world, and I guess he is: from the world of the deep.

And then there are the Jellies: the most spectacular of the exhibits.

Once again, much is lost in these still images.

Whenever I go to a zoo or a wild animal park, I feel torn between being able to see the animals, and wondering if they wouldn't be better off in the wild.

Whenever I go to this aquarium, these questions don't arise. The animals are healthier and in no danger of being eaten by others. They live longer than they might in the open ocean.




So ... This was a better day.  Thanks for stopping by.