Thursday, April 30, 2009

You little...


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Cane Toads

Sunday, April 26, 2009

This Week

Well, sorry, I've gone too long without a regular post. But this is what it usually is, nothing much happening.

As for the house, we signed a bunch of papers at the bank this past week, but just waiting for the most part. We have to call utilities this week to set things up for the new place, and decide on an actual moving day. We have over a month to leave the apartment, and can get into the house in the middle of the month. Alot to do, just not quite time to do anything yet. We have started packing, but that will go fast once we can get into the house. We plan to move things like glass, picture frames, and the computer, by ourselves pretty much right after closing. Then let the movers get all the big stuff and regular boxes.

I did call in to Dr V's show Friday night. But it was late and I was exhausted. It was really hard to hear him on the phone as well. I was the only caller this show, but he did have a piano theme going. Actually, I think he sells himself short on the piano. No, he's no pro, but there is alot more to music than technical accuracy. My varied tastes in music point that out obviously, to me anyway.

And please, feel free to leave any comments, I'd like to know if somebody is listening out there. I know a few people check. But Mike, Gary, Scott, Lane, and anyone who hasn't checked in, please feel free. It should be simple: see my post on commenting. First names only is a good policy, this is the internet after all. No registering or anything is required!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Also, Dr V...

...is live tonight at 10:00 pm. (Most) Every Friday at 10 the show goes live, at other times you see the latest show rerun, I believe. The link is on the right under 'My Other Favorites - The Dr V Show.'

I told him I'd try to stay up tonight and see it live. Maybe, just maybe, I'll call in to the show. But he said he's pretty beat tonight so it might be a rerun. I hope not.

Earth Day late

Bill Sticker had a nice post about Earth Day. Follow the link in his post - It's funny to see the predictions made in the 70's:

http://williamsticker.blogspot.com/2009/04/earth-day-then-and-now.html

(I haven't learned how to put the link into the text yet.)

Monday, April 20, 2009

Regular Everyday Normal Guy

Warning: Adult Language

Nothing exciting...

...Going on lately. Just the everyday doldrums. Pencilling in plans for closing date and after. Surviving work, collapsing at night.

Had lunch with Dr V yesterday. He's taking care of himself well, still playing basketball with the 20 somethings once a week. My workout? Well, besides physical therapy (I threw my back out again some time ago), I just bought a house! My workouts are planned as mowing, raking, weeding, insulating, removing carpet, do I have to go on? Still, it would have been good to be good at something -anything- athletic. But I'm not throwing away any of my smaller pants yet.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Quicksand Giraffe

Friday, April 17, 2009

Inspection!

We had the house inspection this afternoon and all went well. Of course there were several small things we should work on, expected lifespans of things like the roof, furnace, etc. But overall, we were all very pleased! The house inspector was a very nice guy, engaging me in conversation throughout. Showing me the little things, what to watch out for, tips on fixing things to be better down the road. It was obvious our realtor has worked with him before. It almost seemed like we should be starting the grill and getting a beer!

So, yes, we were very pleased not to hear any "Uh-oh"s or see any real looks of concern. The house is nice enough that many of our first changes/updates will be aesthetic, like uncovering the wood floors and removing wallpaper to paint. We need to worry about things like furnace and roof, for example, several years down the road--Not that we won't start saving for them now, though.

It has 2 medium sized lilac bushes in back, so shortly after we move in we'll be enjoying those. There is a perfect place for a garden behind the garage. I don't think we'll be doing any planting this first year, however. We want to see what's there now. There are still plants coming up yet so we'll see what we have to work with this year and plant (and remove) accordingly.

My wife is anxious as hell, in a good way. 26 more days til closing.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Doctor V

You've all heard about me promoting him before, now there is an easy link if you wish to watch. This week, you'll like the cat on the piano part, I bet. I thought it was pretty cute.

http://http//www.greatdome.net/drv/

He is now listed in my favorites list on the right. I think he does a regular radio show now, too. I'll have to get a hold of him to see if there is a link to that, as well. Unfortunately, I haven't kept up with him too well lately. Hopefully linking to him will make up for that.

He's a man with a cause I respect. The war on drugs is a crime itself. Just look at the cost:

http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

House stuff

No time to do much the last couple of days. Working and running and emailing and phoning, trying to do all those little things necessary to get this house. The Inspection is Friday afternoon. We'll both be there, along with our realtor, so we should find out everything there is to know about the house. That's about all for today. Good evening.

Feel free to check out U.D.O. at the bottom of the page!

commenting

I guess there's been some confusion as to how to comment, so I'll explain. Just click on comments, type your note. Choose name/url and just enter a name (and your own website where it says url, if you wish), and post comment. You could even do it anonymously, but I hate guessing. I even removed the 'thing where you have to type the letters you see in the box' security part. If I start getting spam comments I shall have to bring that back, however.

I have read other bloggers complaining about blogger.com, but its free and as fancy as needed for most. And I guess I took it for granted that other people knew what to do. Hmm, maybe I spend too much time online. I'm sure that time will drop once we're in the house. My wife has a few projects in mind already, of course!

Monday, April 13, 2009

We got the house!

Almost. I don't want to get too excited until the closing. But other than that, it looks real good!

They got back to us today with a very good counteroffer that we couldn't say no to. So we signed the papers! An inspection is set up soon, then we let the agent and banker work for us. I'm not sure, I've never bought a house before, but I have become familiar with all the steps. It's kinda a pain in the ass, eh?

I want to post the pics I have but will hold off for a while. There should be nothing to gum this up, but I don't want to jinx us. My wife and I can hardly wait. Our own 4 walls!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Comments

Okay, I think I have it set so anyone can comment easily. Thanks Kelly! Also the times are correct now. See, I can figure stuff out, eventually!

For my upside down world..



This looks like fun. It reminds me of an old story about Ace Frehley, a hotel room, and lots and lots of super glue.


http://www.djmick.co.uk/really/in-pictures-the-upside-down-house/

Friday, April 10, 2009

Many houses

We saw many houses today, 7 or 8, I lost track. Probably half of which were eliminated almost immediately. A few others were in basically good shape but were not as move-in ready. Good structure but needed alot of updating (work work and more money). Two, maybe three were okay but not quite right. We saw several odd shaped, hilly, and sometimes almost non-existent yards.

There is one that stood out. We like the neighborhood, and the house feels very good to us. So we made an offer. We won't find out until after the holiday, but we expect it to be counter-offered. Hopefully, we can meet somewhere in the middle. We'll see.

More traveling tomorrow. It's my father-in-law's birthday and my wife is making the cake! No plans for Sunday (easter, for those that celebrate it), except maybe the Brewers/Cubs game and a nap.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Finally, a night to rest

No househunting tonight. Rest, food, sleep. In that order. Tomorrow afternoon we will be looking at several houses, hopefully we'll find our dream home!

Good Friday.... aren't all Fridays good? Tomorrow is a half day of work. That sounds like a great Friday! Although I kinda despise organized religion, I'll take the half day.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Househunting

Well, I'm trying to find my way about. Anyways, since I'll probably tell my mom about this soon (and she will tell others, as is meant to happen), I will try to post about our house search for now. We have looked at about 9 houses, and actually put in an offer for one that was turned down. That's okay, we have a real estate agent that has impressed me so far. She seems to work very hard and seems very good at what she does- and came highly recommended.
We have a new list to work with now, and will probably look at alot of houses Friday afternoon and this weekend. I think we may find something out of this next group of homes. Thankfully not as rushed now, we extended our lease by a month so we have until May 31 to close. In fact, if I keep this up with our search I may let her know about this after the fact so she can see our thought process through all this.
Hmm, Blogging may have its good points, after all. Already it seems just a little fun. Maybe..

Scoakat's Blog

Hmmm Totally started by accident, but it's free and, hell, people who want to know can find out what I'm doing without always calling me is a bonus! More to come, once I figure more of this shit out.