We had a disappointing Open House yesterday: only one group of three came by, and our agent said it was only out of curiosity at seeing our sign that brought them in.

Because our agent does not want us around the house during showing times, we drove over to REI at Northridge to buy a car-top carrier for our pending drive across the country. We already have the roof rack and this will give us quite a bit more flexibility and space for all the pets. (Even though Baby climbed into one of the carriers on the rack in the store and demonstrated how well she fits in them, we'll likely keep her in the car with us. Sparky, on the other hand, we'll have to see about.)

We passed by the CSUN campus on the way over, and much to my surprise, it seems they finally got the funding for the new performing arts center there. The entire southwest quad of the campus has now been fenced in and torn up and all sorts of construction equipment moved in. This whole area is right next to the building where I used to work, and I'm pleased to not be there for during this construction! Missed it by ->that<- much!

Continuing my first day out of the house (past the end of the driveway) for the week, I headed up to play volleyball at the usual local place, only to find out that they had increased the cost from $3 to $15 to participate for three hours! Apparently they want to force us all to take out fitness center memberships or they only want to host us if we really want to pay. So, we had a revolt and some folks found a new place to play.

However, the new place ain't great at all. They used plastic tiles as the flooring material there (and diving isn't fun on that surface); the low-ish ceilings catch too many balls; the end-to-end double courts (when looking lengthwise) throw way too much light into one's field of view; and the other court's open to quite a few very loud basketball players. Going back is therefore doubtful, although I may do it once or twice more before leaving CA just to get some exercise and support the group.