Conversation

It is a strange feeling, how quickly and easily I can open Google Maps and zoom out from my house in Amsterdam, scroll a bit across the Atlantic, zoom back in on the Appalachians and find the three little rectangles that represent my late grandparents' house, workshed and barn on a dirt road in the woods 5500 kilometers away

that dirt road in New Hampshire doesn't even have Street View; my other, equally late grandparents' house near Boston does, but I had to walk up and down the street view several times to even find it, because some jackass cut down the trees, tore out the gardens and added a cheap-looking absurdly large garage that is bigger than the entire actual four-bedroom house

and the current owners have put up a big angry sign complaining that they're suing the town because the property evaluator didn't disclose that this cheap, shoddy garage is a huge fucking fire hazard 🔥