It's gone dark.

Yesterday driving home, I saw a sign up that said 'Utility Work Ahead' but didn't think much of it even when I passed by the big truck from the power company. That night Jim commented that all of the street lights were out. That's never happened before but since there is construction in the area, sometimes power goes out (usually during the day) so we didn't think anything more of it.

Tonight, I noticed the lights were still out but they were on in the neighborhood next to us so I called into the power company hotline. While I was on hold, I walked out to get the mail and found a letter from the home owner's association. Apparently the real estate company that did manage the subdivision up until the early part of January hadn't paid the bill to the tune of $1500 past due.

Our newly minted HOA officers are looking into options including using some of our yearly dues to help pay for it or having it partially managed by the county. What I want to know is how can the neighborhoods next to us still have their streetlights on when they have been sold back to the bank? Perhaps the builders associated with the subdivision are still paying the bill.

I know the builders in this subdivision haven't given up hope completely because they just finished four new houses. Of all the neighborhoods along our road, ours is the one that's the most filled in but it's still quiet at the model home, at least when I'm home.

We're still absolutely thrilled with this house and overall the neighborhood. I'm concerned what kind of construction may go on in the forest to our north since they cleared a lot of it but it's possible they were just logging as well. Some of it looks like spaces for home lots but I can't imagine they would want to put more houses on this road.

In the interim, we've turned on all our exterior lights and I've noticed many neighbors have done the same. We're not in a high crime area but it's a bit creepy just the same. One positive note is that even though the stars are very bright here all the time, now they are even brighter. Make your own light!

Occasional hypno-victory!

At work, when I see an opportunity to do something out of the norm, I pounce on it. Over the weekend, I had the fortune to work on a website for a recycled fashions store that specializes in retro wear. Their logo was a bit on the wild side and their current print advertisements didn't really lend well to how people read information on websites, i.e. typically not with a hot pink, swirly background.

One thing they really wanted though was an effect on their site so it looked like their logo was twirling or moving. They had supplied five different color versions of the logo so it was almost a no-brainer to set this up. Anyway, I had a lot of fun with it and relish the idea of working on another fun site soon.

The consultant got back to me today and said the advertiser really loved it it too so that was groovy. Beware the swirling logo!