The North Idaho Front Porch (Coeur d'Alene, Clark Fork: Thai, dance, channel)

[Clark Fork Fantast]

I always learn something new from Reziac's and Mike's posts!

[Reziac]

I like to learn one useless thing every day

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

I always learn something new from Reziac's and Mike's posts!

Here's one for you, CFF. This is why I love life here.

Honest to God, I once lived on a street that had two bagpipe players living on it.

One at one end of the street, and the other at the other end. One was an unemployed sheepherder, and the other a no-account drunk, and they hated each other. All was peaceful until summer came, but then, the war started. The war happened every Sunday morning.

They warmed up by shouting obscenities at each other first at the top of their lungs, but that was nothing compared to the real racket that commenced afterward. After the warmup, they would duke it out with each other playing the bagpipes badly at full blast.
For at least an hour, or whenever the cops showed up. If the cops came too quickly, they would go back in and brood, and then come out for another go-round later on.

There is no sound in the world quite like two out of tune bagpipes being played equally badly.
I once noticed my picture window was quivering during one of their battles.

Screams were heard blocks away, and birds fell stunned out of the sky.

I thought I would break up the bagpipe fight once by playing the banjo, out in front of my house, which was in the middle, but they both thought that was grand.
Only a banjo can power up like a bagpipe, but it took all I had to do it. All 3 of us ended up playing Scotland The Brave.
It was very terrible. The only thing that was missing was an 13-year old kid and an electric guitar with an amp turned up to 11 to make it perfectly terrible.

My neighbor threatened to take my banjo away and beat me over the head with it if I tried that again. I just said "Huh?"

They only stopped when the cops were showing up before before they ever walked out in the street after a few weeks. They were as predictable as an alarm clock and 14 times more noisy.

It's true. You can ask anyone who lived on Maple St. back then. Both moved away within a week or two of each other to parts unknown, but somewhere in Idaho, I'm pretty sure there was a band of terrified sheep running for their lives through the sagebrush that summer. I expect the other bagpipe ended up in a pawn shop.

Now, that's my idea of a real Idaho story.

[Reziac]

I see the problem. You went and put Idaho next to Oregon!!

Unicycling Darth Vader upgrades to Flaming Bagpipes - Keep Portland Weird - The Unipiper

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Reziac

I see the problem. You went and put Idaho next to Oregon!!


Unicycling Darth Vader upgrades to Flaming Bagpipes - Keep Portland Weird - The Unipiper

You beat me!
Both my sons live in Portland, and I've visited them there. It's definitely weird. The weirdest part of all is the weirdness is organic- it seems to grow like mold there, and it's everywhere.

But don't blame us for being next to Oregon. They were a territory first, but the Idaho Territory was older than the Montana and Washington Territories; Abraham Lincoln created it himself, in 1864.

Both Montana and Washington ended up with more population early on, and they both carved Idaho up until our present weird shape was all that was left before we all got to be states. Even Wyoming and Utah got a hunk of us before statehood.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

We are finally in escrow. During the hunt, we looked at 2 more additional properties with a 2 dog limit, and a half built house in a very new subdivision consisting of mostly bare lots with a 2 dog limit. Then there was the house without a dog limit but where you were not allowed to put up any fences.

Two nice houses on smaller properties where I could have dogs but no shop, even though there was room to put a shop on the property.

Is this some sort of Northern Idaho screening process where you only let in people with the determination and stamina to persist until they can finally find something to buy?

We still have to make it through escrow, but my son got his shop, tall ceilings, and gas heat (plus a 40 minute commute, which is a lot further than he wanted to drive to work). I get to keep my dogs, but didn't get the large kitchen I wanted. I was promised a canning kitchen to compensate me, so I can cook dog food outside when it is hot in the summer and I don't want to run the oven inside the house, so I am good with that.

Our agent was unbelievably patient, getting CCR's on everything we looked at and working through a difficult negotiation with the sellers and getting it smoothed out. He posts on Idaho forum as Shaner and I give him the highest recommendation. I've never had an agent work so hard or be so efficient. Plus, he has an enjoyable personality so he was fun to work with.

Inspection is Monday. After all the trouble to actually get a house into escrow, not much short of the discovery of an unexploded nuclear bomb under the house is going to be a deal breaker on our end of the deal.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

We are finally in escrow. During the hunt, we looked at 2 more additional properties with a 2 dog limit, and a half built house in a very new subdivision consisting of mostly bare lots with a 2 dog limit. Then there was the house without a dog limit but where you were not allowed to put up any fences.

Two nice houses on smaller properties where I could have dogs but no shop, even though there was room to put a shop on the property.

Is this some sort of Northern Idaho screening process where you only let in people with the determination and stamina to persist until they can finally find something to buy?

We still have to make it through escrow, but my son got his shop, tall ceilings, and gas heat (plus a 40 minute commute, which is a lot further than he wanted to drive to work). I get to keep my dogs, but didn't get the large kitchen I wanted. I was promised a canning kitchen to compensate me, so I can cook dog food outside when it is hot in the summer and I don't want to run the oven inside the house, so I am good with that.

Our agent was unbelievably patient, getting CCR's on everything we looked at and working through a difficult negotiation with the sellers and getting it smoothed out. He posts on Idaho forum as Shaner and I give him the highest recommendation. I've never had an agent work so hard or be so efficient. Plus, he has an enjoyable personality so he was fun to work with.

Inspection is Monday. After all the trouble to actually get a house into escrow, not much short of the discovery of an unexploded nuclear bomb under the house is going to be a deal breaker on our end of the deal.

Yes, you've got it. They only let people in who are willing to persevere. I looked at 30 properties; they let me buy #31! The secret is that if you call it "Northern Idaho" they apply the screening process. If you say "North Idaho" you bypass the screening!

Congrats on your purchase, and good luck with the inspection! Your dogs will be very happy! And, hopefully, so will you!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Did anybody on the Porch feel the Helena, MT earthquake last night? The news media say it was felt from Spokane to Billings. Fortunately it wasn't related to the Yellowstone supervolcano.

I hope everybody had a great 4th of July! Last year we were at the Clark Fork July 4th parade. That was so much fun! Still in SoCal this summer, but coming up soon!

[Reziac]

Not a quiver here in Laurel.

[Cnynrat]

Nothing here in Sagle, but we were asleep at the time.

Dave