Who invented this treadmill? I know it's a treadmill, because it just keeps going, and going, and going, but never goes anywhere!
Well, we finally got the preliminary report back about the Appraiser's look at the house we want to buy. It says absolutely NOTHING about the value of the house. What it does say is that he wants a Structural Engineer to look at the brickwork on the front porch, because there is a section of it that has worked loose.
We knew about that, from all the way back when we took our first tour of the house. It is NOT a load-bearing part of the porch, and the porch is not even an area of the house that affects our ability to live in it. I was completely fine with our waiting to get it fixed until later, and had every intention to do so even though this is a cosmetic problem only. This request (for the Structural Engineer) is - IMHO - pointless, except for allowing another person to get in line to hold a hand out for money. Hell - if me, myself, and I can tell that it's not a load-bearing support of the porch, surely that a**hole of an Appraiser can see that!
Anyway, we were supposed to close on Friday this week. Because the Appraiser has asked for the SE, we're now looking at sometime next week at the earliest. We have no idea, yet, when the SE will be able to go look at it. Oh, and they said we could add the SE's fee to the closing costs. I want to know why WE have to pay for the SE if the Appraiser is the one who wants his opinion? Tell the damned Appraiser to pay for it!
2010/07/07
2010/06/22
Interesting developments . . .
It's starting to look like we're for sure going to get the house we're wanting. But, there were some bumps on the road.
I've said previously that the house & garage need the roof replaced, and both need roof vents installed. My wife and I asked the realtor to kick that back to the sellers, because we weren't comfortable financing any more than we already were, and we don't have the money to pay $4k for a roof up front.
Our realtor sent the proposal for the addendum to their realtor - and got a tearful phone call from one of the sellers! Remember, our realtor told us that she's known that family since they were all kids. While it's highly irregular (even considered crossing a line) for a seller to call the buyer's realtor directly, she still talked to them to get an idea what the problem was, then reported it back to their realtor, who is the listing agent.
The gist of the story is, because this is an estate sale, there are multiple people involved on the seller's end, and some just wouldn't agree to "taking a bite out of their money" to get the sale. So, our realtor has been scrambling, and talking with our lender, to find options that won't kill the sale.
The lender found the magic button. We've been paying $465/mo in rent, plus renter's insurance, where we are. We've been saying all along that we're not comfortable going over $500/mo on our payments, and (depending on what the final interest rate is) we're already looking at $515/mo. So, our having to pay for the roof was looking like a deal breaker.
Turns out - we weren't considering that a lot (almost 1/4th) of that was the insurance and taxes. Even if we pay for the roof, we're still only paying $411/mo on the mortgage. And, since the insurance is built into the final total, we can drop the renter's insurance too. And, the lender says he can write the roof bill into the deal so we don't have to pay anything out-of-pocket for it. Oh, and because we're paying for the roof, we get to choose which contractor does it. Sweet, right?
I just got off the phone, and left a message for our realtor. We're going to go for it.
I've said previously that the house & garage need the roof replaced, and both need roof vents installed. My wife and I asked the realtor to kick that back to the sellers, because we weren't comfortable financing any more than we already were, and we don't have the money to pay $4k for a roof up front.
Our realtor sent the proposal for the addendum to their realtor - and got a tearful phone call from one of the sellers! Remember, our realtor told us that she's known that family since they were all kids. While it's highly irregular (even considered crossing a line) for a seller to call the buyer's realtor directly, she still talked to them to get an idea what the problem was, then reported it back to their realtor, who is the listing agent.
The gist of the story is, because this is an estate sale, there are multiple people involved on the seller's end, and some just wouldn't agree to "taking a bite out of their money" to get the sale. So, our realtor has been scrambling, and talking with our lender, to find options that won't kill the sale.
The lender found the magic button. We've been paying $465/mo in rent, plus renter's insurance, where we are. We've been saying all along that we're not comfortable going over $500/mo on our payments, and (depending on what the final interest rate is) we're already looking at $515/mo. So, our having to pay for the roof was looking like a deal breaker.
Turns out - we weren't considering that a lot (almost 1/4th) of that was the insurance and taxes. Even if we pay for the roof, we're still only paying $411/mo on the mortgage. And, since the insurance is built into the final total, we can drop the renter's insurance too. And, the lender says he can write the roof bill into the deal so we don't have to pay anything out-of-pocket for it. Oh, and because we're paying for the roof, we get to choose which contractor does it. Sweet, right?
I just got off the phone, and left a message for our realtor. We're going to go for it.
2010/05/25
Is it just me . . . ?
I hope I'm wrong, because if I am right then we're all in serious trouble.
The more I hear from President Obama, the more I think he has an extremely severe psych problem. It's not just that he doesn't agree with certain points of view - he honestly believes that those people would agree with him if he could just get them to listen to him. To put it another way - he's convinced he's always right.
The inability to consider that he might be wrong would be a serious problem. He's not just our President, he's the Commander In Chief of the most powerful military in world history.
The more I hear from President Obama, the more I think he has an extremely severe psych problem. It's not just that he doesn't agree with certain points of view - he honestly believes that those people would agree with him if he could just get them to listen to him. To put it another way - he's convinced he's always right.
The inability to consider that he might be wrong would be a serious problem. He's not just our President, he's the Commander In Chief of the most powerful military in world history.
2010/05/08
Current events . . .
There certainly seems to be a lot going on of late, any event of which would be worthy of some sort of diatribe.
However, most of it is - shall we say - window dressing. Distractions to keep you from really paying attention to what is going on that IS important.
For example - let me take a look at the new immigration law in the state of Arizona. Unlike some of the knee-jerk mouths out there, I have read what I could find online of the actual law itself. The main point that I want to make about the law is - it makes FEDERAL law on immigration enforceable by state and local agencies. All they are doing is saying that what is already law will be enforced in Arizona, by all law enforcement officers (LEO's) within the state. Not really a big deal - unless you're in the USofA illegally.
So, why all the hoopla? Well, let's look at it from an international perspective. How do you think Germany would feel if it woke up one day and realized that 10 MILLION US citizens had sneaked into the country? None of them had visas for anything; most didn't have passports. These US citizens accounted for 30% of all convicted criminals in their prisons, and those prisoners were getting free room/board/health care at the expense of German citizens as well as costing the country a lot of money through the courts.
Germany would consider that an invasion - and they would be right. Every country in the world expects visitors to that country to carry their ID papers and permits with them at all times, and to follow local laws while they are in that country - except the US. Slowly but surely, the US is loosing it's right to a sovereign identity and becoming . . . a property? A territory? Isn't that what you call a piece of land that allows it's laws to be made by someone outside it's jurisdiction?
Right now, in the halls of Congress, we have US elected officials who think we should let Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, England, France, Russia and/or The United Nations decide what US law should be. If the day ever comes when the US ceases to make decisions about US Law on the basis of what is right for the US, (International laws be damned) that will be the day that the US has ceased to exist. Some might say we've crossed that bridge already, but I remain hopeful that we can recover our identity and begin to forge our own future again.
However, most of it is - shall we say - window dressing. Distractions to keep you from really paying attention to what is going on that IS important.
For example - let me take a look at the new immigration law in the state of Arizona. Unlike some of the knee-jerk mouths out there, I have read what I could find online of the actual law itself. The main point that I want to make about the law is - it makes FEDERAL law on immigration enforceable by state and local agencies. All they are doing is saying that what is already law will be enforced in Arizona, by all law enforcement officers (LEO's) within the state. Not really a big deal - unless you're in the USofA illegally.
So, why all the hoopla? Well, let's look at it from an international perspective. How do you think Germany would feel if it woke up one day and realized that 10 MILLION US citizens had sneaked into the country? None of them had visas for anything; most didn't have passports. These US citizens accounted for 30% of all convicted criminals in their prisons, and those prisoners were getting free room/board/health care at the expense of German citizens as well as costing the country a lot of money through the courts.
Germany would consider that an invasion - and they would be right. Every country in the world expects visitors to that country to carry their ID papers and permits with them at all times, and to follow local laws while they are in that country - except the US. Slowly but surely, the US is loosing it's right to a sovereign identity and becoming . . . a property? A territory? Isn't that what you call a piece of land that allows it's laws to be made by someone outside it's jurisdiction?
Right now, in the halls of Congress, we have US elected officials who think we should let Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, England, France, Russia and/or The United Nations decide what US law should be. If the day ever comes when the US ceases to make decisions about US Law on the basis of what is right for the US, (International laws be damned) that will be the day that the US has ceased to exist. Some might say we've crossed that bridge already, but I remain hopeful that we can recover our identity and begin to forge our own future again.
2010/04/29
Something I haven't said before . . .
I'm posting this update early, because my wife and I will be out-of-town this weekend while she attends a conference for work.
I haven't told anyone this publicly, but I'm a volunteer for the American Red Cross. At our last meeting, I was appointed the Law Enforcement Liaison for our local chapter.
In keeping with that function, I thought it would be useful to make myself more valuable to both the ARC and the local LEO's. I've decided that the best way to meet both functions at the same time (apart from doing the liaison training that each agency might require, which I will do) is to get my Amateur Radio Operator's license. Yes, I'm going to become a HAM radio operator. I got the book "THE ARRL Ham Radio License Manual" from the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) in the mail today, and my wife and I will begin studying it together this weekend. We plan for both of us to get the license, as this will enable us to use Ham radios to stay in touch with each other if I get called out of the immediate area to help with disaster relief somewhere. I'm also going to have to renew my passport.
I haven't told anyone this publicly, but I'm a volunteer for the American Red Cross. At our last meeting, I was appointed the Law Enforcement Liaison for our local chapter.
In keeping with that function, I thought it would be useful to make myself more valuable to both the ARC and the local LEO's. I've decided that the best way to meet both functions at the same time (apart from doing the liaison training that each agency might require, which I will do) is to get my Amateur Radio Operator's license. Yes, I'm going to become a HAM radio operator. I got the book "THE ARRL Ham Radio License Manual" from the ARRL (Amateur Radio Relay League) in the mail today, and my wife and I will begin studying it together this weekend. We plan for both of us to get the license, as this will enable us to use Ham radios to stay in touch with each other if I get called out of the immediate area to help with disaster relief somewhere. I'm also going to have to renew my passport.
2010/04/24
On the advice of a good friend . . .
A very dear friend, who is also a published author, an artist of some renown, and podcaster, told me that I should start advertising, now that I've published a book as well.
Ok, here it is (the image is a hot-link) - - - - - - ->
This will be my introductory post. Please note that I'm not going to fill this up with useless drivel about my family, pets, or daily life (except as it relates to a philosophical point I'm trying to make). World events, US news, and other items that help drive home my points will be used when they are available and relevant. I plan to update this blog on a weekly basis.
My basic bio
I am (as of this writing) 47 years old.
I have a documented IQ of 149.
I look like a Caucasian male, though my heritage includes as much Cherokee Indian as it does Scotch/Irish.
My formerly dark hair is now very salt-and-pepper.
Although I was raised in the United Methodist Church, I do not identify myself as a Christian. I believe that no one person or group holds a monopoly on truth, and thus real truth will be found everywhere. That includes Pagan groups, Buddhism, athiests, scientists, Democrats and Republicans. With the caveat that in the last 25 years, the only thing Republicans and Democrats have seemed to agree on is that the middle-class US government has unlimited funds to spend (which I disagree with).
Ok, here it is (the image is a hot-link) - - - - - - ->
This will be my introductory post. Please note that I'm not going to fill this up with useless drivel about my family, pets, or daily life (except as it relates to a philosophical point I'm trying to make). World events, US news, and other items that help drive home my points will be used when they are available and relevant. I plan to update this blog on a weekly basis.
My basic bio
I am (as of this writing) 47 years old.
I have a documented IQ of 149.
I look like a Caucasian male, though my heritage includes as much Cherokee Indian as it does Scotch/Irish.
My formerly dark hair is now very salt-and-pepper.
Although I was raised in the United Methodist Church, I do not identify myself as a Christian. I believe that no one person or group holds a monopoly on truth, and thus real truth will be found everywhere. That includes Pagan groups, Buddhism, athiests, scientists, Democrats and Republicans. With the caveat that in the last 25 years, the only thing Republicans and Democrats have seemed to agree on is that the middle-class US government has unlimited funds to spend (which I disagree with).
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