Change isn't always pleasant. Or even desired.

Some of you may be wondering how my house search is going. Well, I'll tell you that in a minute, but something else is bugging me that I want to kvetch comment on.

There was a nifty little comic book store in my town. It went from a big store in the mall to a little store in the lake front shopping district to a slightly larger store down the road. They had been in business for ten years. I found a few neat comic collections and discovered a few new writers.
Because I have been trying to save money for my new house (more on that in a bit), I had to abstain from buying non-essential items, like comics. I hadn't been in that store for the past three months due to this new goal.
I had swung by the place on an idle whim today and had discovered that they shut their doors for good about a week after my last visit. I had assumed that after I got my next home, I could go back to this safe haven of nerdiness. Considering how the only kind of store around here that ever seems to last involves either beer (because of this town's high alcoholism rate) or antiques (due to all the snowbirds to come here to live out their twilight years. Also, to get drunk.) I now regret not going to this store more often.
We always assume, on a subconscious level, that the places and the people we love (or at least like) will last as long as we want them to. On a conscious level, however, we know that to never really be true. Stores close. Jobs get lost. People die.
I know perfectly well that I can buy the same comics at Amazon, but the comics store gave this grubby little burg I live in some class. Oh,well. All I can say is; if you've been putting off that visit to a relative, friend or place you like to shop (comics, crafts or otherwise), don't wait. Tomorrow may be too late.

As for my house-search? Yuuucchh! I have had two nice house-picks get refused by my government housing program due to repairs being done on the house without permits from the city. One house was almost good enough for me to buy, but the idiots who tried to sell it forgot that it's not 1950 anymore and you can't have a fuse box with only four breakers in it.
The biggest problem with the house-search is that the program will only allow pristine-condition houses to be sold to me. Considering how much fraud and laziness goes on in nearly house's construction/reconstruction history, I'd have an easier time finding Queen Chrysalis in my bed than find a house that the owner didn't play fast and loose with.
It's just as rough out there for people who aren't near the poverty level, either. It's almost impossible to find a house that doesn't have some kind of hidden problem. When the hurricanes hit Florida extra hard in 2004, people fixed up their houses themselves, without telling a soul, because they were too broke/bent to play it smart. When the economic crash of 2008 hit the housing industry hard, a lot of houses got gutted for copper and other metals. It was a lot easier to buy and sell a house a decade ago, I'll tell you.
The search goes on, but I'm not holding my breath. I'm just trying to save my money, biding my time and keeping an eye on Realtor.com.

One of my favorite stores may be gone forever, but I'm hoping my next home will be my last home. I hope your days have been better than mine. Be good to each other, folks. We are all we have.