Category: Columbia County Living

Survive Zombie Infestation w/ Map of The Dead

Power outages during storms are fairly common in our corner of Columbia County but today’s outage, on a clear day, instantly brought out the alarmist in me. My first thought, naturally, was that the zombie infestation had begun. One of the benefits of our underpopulated spot in Columbia County is that we are in a good position to ride out the Zombie infestation. However, we might have to journey out for supplies like booze or medicine, which is why this interactive map is so handy.

Map of the Dead – Zombie Survival Map uses Google Maps to point out some possibly life-saving services in your area. Just enter your location and the map will show you where the nearest hospital, hardware store, army location and beer distributor are located. You can also find out where the Zombie Danger Zones are so that you can plan your recon trip accordingly.

Check out Map of the Dead now to find out if you are in a danger zone and to plan your safe routes.

A Citiot Comes to Columbia County

Hi, I’m Kelly and I’m new to these parts. By way of background, I’ve been a Citiot (an idiot from the city) for most of my life. London, Paris and New York City are a few of the places I’ve been proud to call home. Sure, I spent time in the country as a kid and have visited friends up here in Columbia County for the past few years, but I’ll freely admit that I’m used to city living. I’m used to things being open 24/7. I’m used to vast, indestructible sewer systems that can and do handle everything up to and including small to medium-sized animals.  And speaking of small animals, I’m used to them being where I can’t see them (see aforementioned sewer systems) and not watching tv with me in my living room.

So when a New Year’s Eve party in East Chatham turned into “let’s stay a few days to check out that house around the corner”, which then turned into “let’s sign the lease and pack the uhaul”, roughly two weeks later, I didn’t really spend much time wondering what I would make of country living. Or perhaps more importantly, what it would make of me. I know I’m not the first to make this move, but hopefully I won’t manage to somehow break country living for those that come after me.

After two short months, I’m happy to report that I love country living. It has, however, resulted in several hilarious challenges for this Citiot. If I were keeping score, I would say it would look something like Columbia County: 5 / Citiot: 1. (I’m not sure what the 1 is for, but I am still here, with a roof over my head, and my dog is still alive, so that has to count for something.)  I’ll be sharing some of these stories with you here in my new column “A Citiot Comes to Columbia County”, but in the meantime, here’s my initial summary on country living:

Pros
1.       Dress code. My standard uniform of jeans and sneakers works much better here than on those fancy, high-heeled city streets
2.       The weather. The weather is super important up here. As an Englishwoman, this is a subject near and dear to my heart, and I can quite happily discuss it for several hours.
3.       Being a shut in. It’s perfectly ok to not leave your house for several days at a time up here.

Cons
1.       Critters. No surprise there.
2.       No 24-hour Kwiki Mart.  And it’s currently looking unlikely that the nature conservancy that borders my home is looking to install one in the field across the road anytime soon.
3.       Unemployment. Specifically, my personal unemployment. So, if you know of a job that will pay me lots to do little, I’m your girl.

My First Trip to Meissner’s Auction

I’ve driven by Meissner’s Auction House in New Lebanon 100s of times but, until this past Saturday, have never gone in.

Having no experience with the world of offline auctions, I was always hesitant to check out Meissner’s because of a few ill-conceived presumptions. For one, I always thought that the prices at an auction would be way more than my frugal budget could afford. I also assumed that walking into Meissner’s would be like infringing on a private club of old friends who wouldn’t take kindly to outsiders. Finally, I figured that there would be too many learning curves and obstacles to me taking part in something that I had never done before. I don’t know how to play poker but know enough to never sit down at a high-stakes game in a casino and I was worried that walking into Meissner’s or any auction house would be a similar mistake.

I could not have been more wrong about what lay behind the doors of Meissner’s. I stopped by earlier in the day with some friends to scope out the scene. We weren’t chased out (I really thought that might happen) or hassled by the staff who would know at a glance that we didn’t belong. In fact, we were left alone and allowed to stroll around and check out the items that would be coming up for auction that afternoon.

My friends and I spotted a few items that we loved and, after a lot of talk, decided to head back at 5pm for the auction. I still didn’t think that I would be able to afford anything but figured it would be fun. When we got back to Meissner’s at 5, the parking lot was packed and the auction house was filled with people checking out the items and buying food from the kitchen window. We still had no idea what to expect but registered for the auction and sat down.

The auction began with “box lots”, which were boxes of random small items. These boxes ranged from a collection of terracotta pots to stereo equipment to kitchen utensils and were selling for anywhere from $5 to $50. After the box lots, an endless parade of auctions items began making their way to the floor and people were winning all sorts of items from large cabinets for as little as $20 to beautiful, ornate mirrors for 100s of dollars. Finally, the item that I had my eye on–a leather, wing-back chair–came up for auction and after a few tense seconds, I won it!

My new leather chair

It took me years before I went into Meissner’s but I can guarantee that it will be a matter of weeks before I head back.

Meissner’s holds auctions every Saturday at 5pm. They are located on Route 20 (near Route 22) in New Lebanon, NY. You can stop by before the auction to check out the items or look at the listing online at MeissnersAuction.com..

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