On Houses

I'm home with a sinus infection today--already got the antibiotics, but the fatigue's just wiping me out and the sinus pressure's threatening to trigger a migraine . . . but I can type with my eyes closed, so you're getting updates. Woohoo! On the plus side, it's the first sinus infection in five months, and only my third of the year, both of which are near-records for me (at the very least, it's the first time I've been in this situation in some years)--so all the word medical professionals have been doing with me to get to the root of the problem seems to be helping.

So . . . there is a house. RH saw it driving by a historic B&B for work and noticed the For Sale sign months ago. But we've been having financing problems (the "temporary" status of my contract job and a couple places he's never owed money to deciding to send him to collections and then failing to clear it up properly), so we've been moping. Without pre-approval, we didn't have any good way of getting a recommendation for a realtor, and without a realtor, we didn't have any way of seeing the inside of the house.

One day, maybe 3.5 weeks ago, we were having brunch in a diner around the corner from it and I was moping and asked if we could drive by the pretty house. And we did, and saw there was an open house scheduled for the following day. We went and instantly knew we were in trouble (we were standing in the basement while the seller's realtor was upstairs with another couple, and I confessed to RH that I was already in love with the inside as much as the outside and we hadn't even seen the upstairs, yet). But we also came away with a recommendation for a mortgage broker (you wouldn't think that would have been so hard, but we'd been having a devil of a time finding one who'd return our calls).

The mortgage broker took our information over the phone, and three days later had us pre-approved for an FHA loan. We had one recommendation for a realtor from her and a couple others from RH's and my co-workers. A week from sitting in that diner, we'd picked a realtor. The following day, we went to a couple of open houses for similarly-priced homes in the area to make sure we weren't getting fleeced on the one we were interested in and that we really were in love with it (as opposed to just finding it in our price range and livable). The day after that, we put in a bid, and at diner+10 days, we'd accepted the seller's counter-offer.

We've now been through the horror of the inspection (which wasn't really that awful, but sure scared the heck out of us at the time) and we're embroiled in the back-and-forth where the seller agrees to do the couple of repairs we can't get an FHA loan without (safety issues) and decides what other things she wants to repair, and we see what kind of a credit against the price we can agree on for the issues she's not going to/doesn't have the funds to address. There are definitely issues with the place (if there weren't, we couldn't afford it), but it's structurally sound, and most of them, we can address on a piecemeal, ongoing basis.

In the wonderful world of serendipity and/or the gods looking out for us, in early September, I was offered the opportunity to cash out stock I had an an ESOP for a place I used to work. On the one hand, the stock was worth a good 25% less than it had been the previous year (when I wasn't yet eligible for a disbursement). On the other, I know enough about how that ESOP works and what their market share is like to predict that a) stock prices will continue to drop for another year or 18 months after the economy really starts to upswing again, and b) they will freeze the share price for those of us no longer employed there at the low point. So I took the cash-out, and even after a chunk was held out for taxes, we probably have enough to handle most of the unanticipated repairs the house inspection turned up that we think the seller will credit for, rather than repairing herself.

The big question mark right now is the loan. My status is still as a contract employee, and as far as the client company is concerned, I'm hired indefinitely and they're trying to convert me to a permanent, direct employee. But the company I sub-contract through is a mickey-mouse operation that may just have randomly picked an end date six months out or something--I have no way of knowing. I'm just trying to remind myself that one can generally obtain a loan up to 2.5 times one's annual income, and RH and I are only trying for once our annual income. And my mother was officially on contract with IBM for 17 years, with her contract sent to end or be renewed every December, and they never ran into trouble with houses or car loans. I choose to hope for the best, and see how I might deal with anything else if and when the issue arises.

We love the house. And we really want to move out of what passes for a ghetto in this area. (I came home to a very low-key stand-off between six cop cars and the house next door to ours last Friday). I'm bringing home boxes like a prayer, spell, or simple good luck charm. Positive thoughts are appreciated. :)

Okay, who's going to go test a Nook?

It may be me, actually--RH has complained before that he likes the idea of a Kindle, but would really want to try one before shelling out that kind of money. So I found out today that B&N is releasing a competing product, with a couple of features whose absence I've found to be a real deal-breaker in the Kindle. Wired.com's got a good general write-up and a blow-by-blow comparison posted. The release date is purported to be the end of November, and it looks like one can look at it in stores as opposed to having to guess from the online information and/or hope you have a friend who'll let you look at theirs.

It's not that I don't love my books, and gods know there are hardcopies I wouldn't ever let go. I own a few books worth well over $150--rare editions, limited released, signed by the author, etc. But every time I have to move, I move boxes and boxes and boxes of books. Not having to shift that much sheer mass around has begun to be a really appealing prospect. It's the readability/availability/persistence equation that's keeping me in hardcopy.

Is it still geeky when the US government does it?

Pop culture meets PSA

Things Not Usually Heard in the Office

Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

Foxtrot, paraphrased: "So there's really no problem with our wireless?"
Delta: "Can we replace the staff?"

*

Bravo, paraphrased: "How does it look up on the nursing units?"
Echo: "[Our cabling guy] is gonna be busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest."

Geek Heaven

When we met RH's folks in Washington, D.C. a month or so ago, we went to a couple of the Smithsonian facilities. And look! Look, look!



This is C-3PO from Episode 6. The real C-3PO actually used. (Yes, I made my husband take a picture of me). We went on to see all kinds of other cool stuff, but this was pretty much the first thing I ran across that day, and right away, I knew I was in geek heaven.

For geeks everywhere.

A little visual humor.

thought for the day

Red Shoe's Law of Fan Jackassery

economics and science writers

I find this concerning.

I am such a geek.

There Are 0 Gaps in Your Knowledge

Where you have gaps in your knowledge: No Gaps! Where you don't have gaps in your knowledge: Philosophy Religion Economics Literature History Science Art

Do You Have Gaps in Your Knowledge?

And before you ask, no, I did not google anything. I did guess between a pair of answers on one or two of them.

Squee! My mommy's new book!

The Aztec Eagle

I haven't read this iteration of the manuscript, yet, but I read an earlier one and I always thought this character was going to be the one that really took off. We'll see if I'm right. At least it's available in dead-tree format: The publisher's an electronic press, first, so that wasn't a certainty. And for my own personal collection, I prefer the dead-tree format. ")

Going Federal

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_re_us/us_gay_marriage

I'll be interested to see where this goes.

I find this very affirming, actually.

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Simple, Progressive, and Sensual

14 Ukiyo-e, -6 Islamic, 1 Impressionist, -12 Cubist, -1 Abstract and -7 Renaissance!

Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, Ukiyo-e), "pictures of the floating world", is a genre of Japaneseand paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries. it mostly featured landscapes, historic tales, theatre, and pleasure. Ukiyo is a rather impetuous urban culture that has bloomed in popularity. Although the Japanese were more strict and had many prohibitions it did not affect the rising merchant class and therefore became a floating art form that did not bind itself to the normal ideals of society.

People that chose Ukiyo-e art tend to be more simplistic yet elegant. They don't care much about new style but are comfortable in creating their own. They like the idea of living for the moment and enjoy giving and receiving pleasure. They may be more agreeable than other people and do not like to argue. They do not mind following traditions but are not afraid to move forward to experience other ideas in life. They tend to enjoy nature and the outdoors. They do not mind being more adventurous in their sexual experiences. They enjoy being popular and like being noticed. They have their own unique style of dress and of presenting themselves. They may also tend to be more business oriented or at the very least interested in money making adventures. They might make good entrepreneurs. They are progressive and adaptable.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy