To The Metal

Well we signed off on the ‘official offer’ on the house yesterday and took our favorite contractor for a walk through to see if any dealbreakers really stood out.  Besides a few trouble spots and a roof that might need a new set of shingles in the spring – the place got a fairly clean bill of health.  Next up, should the offer be accepted – is to have an actual licensed home inspector go through and give us a report.

If all goes well, in the next month or two, we’ll be in our very own house!  WOOT!

After watching season 1 of Battlestar Galactica as well as the miniseries and part of season 2.0…  I’m wondering.

In an all out hand to hand battle, who would win – a Cylon Centurion or a Terminator T-800 (the Arnold looking model).

Personally, I think the average T-800 could wipe the floor with just about every Cylon model out there.  They’ve got thicker, heavier armor and are generally more efficient when it comes to destruction as opposed to the Cylon’s who simply start shooting at everything in sight.

What do you think?

My latest ride, an ’89 Chevy Silverado Z71 is affectionately called Bessie. That’s right, I’ve got a Chevy. I figured with the plan developing to get a house, as well as regular car rentals, all adding up to benefiting from the convenience of a second vehicle – when I saw Bessie go up for sale, I had to have it.

She needs some work, a few of the dashboard functions aren’t working, the front struts are shot, and there’s a little more rust than I’m comfortable with – but she’ll get me from A to B. As time proceeds I’ll work to restore the Bessie from Beater to BEATER so she’ll be in better shape than when she left the assembly line back in ’89. At least this one is registered, insured, and drivable unlike my ‘ol Buick ~sniff~.

Speaking of homes, we’ve made an offer on a home outside of Middletown, NY. ~fingers crossed~. We’re both sick of renting, me more than ever. Wish us luck

On a trip to Great Britain while he was President of the United States , Bill Clinton had a meeting with Queen Elizabeth. During that meeting he asked her, “How does one manage to run a country so smoothly?”
“That’s easy,” the Queen replied, “You surround yourself with intelligent ministers and advisors.”
“But how can I tell whether they are intelligent or not?”, asked Bill.
You ask them a riddle,” she replied, and with that she pressed a button and said, “Would you please send Tony Blair in.” When Blair arrived, the Queen said, “I have a riddle for you to answer for me.
Your parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was this child?”
Blair replied, “That’s easy. The child was me.”
“Very good,” said the Queen. “You may go now.”
Sizing up his wife’s chances in her presidential bid, and thinking back on that meeting, Bill Clinton spoke to Hillary. He said to her, “I have a riddle for you, and the answer is very important. Your parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was that child ?”
Hillary replied, “Yes, it is clearly very important that we determine the answer. Can I deliberate on this for awhile?”
“Yes,” said Bill, “I’ll give you four hours to come up with the answer.”
So Hillary called a meeting of her campaign team, from top to bottom, and asked them the riddle. But after much discussion and many suggestions, none of them had a satisfactory answer. She was quite upset, not knowing what she would tell her husband, the former President. As Hillary was leaving her meeting she ran into her most formidable challenger to her presidential nomination, Barack Obama.
So she said, “Mr. Obama, can you answer this riddle for me? Your parents had a child and it was not your sister and it was not your brother. Who was the child?”
“That’s seems pretty easy,” said Obama, “I think the child would be me.”
“Oh thank you,” said Hillary. “You may just have ensured my nomination for the democratic candidate for the Presidency of the United States !” So Hillary went back to Bill and said, “I think I know the answer to your riddle.
The child was Barack Obama!”
“No, you Dummy!” shouted Bill. “The child was Tony Blair!”

I’m in the market to buy my own house.  I’m not exactly rich, neither myself or my fiancee’ are, but we’re working to make it happen.  Several real estate agencies provide some rather nice search tools which allow varied access to the MLS – a database of all available local properties.  I’ve got a pre-approval in my hand, one more on the way, an idea of what I want and an eagerness to get the ball rolling.

Now I’d already worked with one local realtor, a small independent shop, to locate rentals.  When that didn’t pan out after checking maybe a dozen rentals, we decided to go house hunting.  I considered working with the same realtor until we ran into her at the supermarket and she quickly pulled a 180.  Good to know the housing market is booming enough to be picky.

So I figure I’ll try the one the big name recommended.  After finally getting a hold of her a few weeks back, I send her a list of houses, a pre-approval, and then we make an appointment.  Nothing is available right now of course, so we wait until after the new year.  The day before the appointment, it’s cancelled.  This new realtor is still processing emails, and doing other things, but the appointment has been cancelled with no attempt made to reschedule.

So I contact her… And contact her… and contact her yet again.  Finally she says “I’ll call you back after this meeting.”  No callback.  No return email.  Next day I get in touch again, first she asks what my schedule is like, and then refers me to an entirely different broker.  At this point, unbenounced to me 5 of the 8 houses I wanted to look at are no longer available.  4 weeks of communicating with someone, and I’m no closer to even looking at a house.

I decided to end that relationship as well.  We’re now on to realtor #3, who works with a very small independent agency and hopefully will be showing me some homes tomorrow, as well as assisting us to move the process along.  While I understand that the process could take a few months, the fact is – if I find a house for sale I want to look at it as soon as possible.  If you’re going to cancel my appointment for anything short of death, you RESCHEDULE.  One thing I’ve learned about sales is, you either want the sale or you don’t.  Obviously I’ve run into a string of salespeople who don’t particularly care to do their job.  Maybe it’s because I’m not in the market for a half million dollar home, maybe it’s because I’m young, I don’t care.  I’ve got money to spend and a need to fulfill.  Hopefully 3rd is the charm.

Wish me luck.

Apparently some nitwit lawyer in Chicago spotted a car with military plates and military stickers on it.  Unable to control his anti-war sentiment, he proceeded to key the car and get caught – by the Marine owner who is set to leave for his second deployment in Iraq on January 2nd.

Anti-Military Lawyer Damages Marine’s Car on Eve of Deployment

The arrogance of some people never ceases to amaze.  What people are willing to say and do these days is absurd.  Call it arrogance, stubborn pride, or just sheer immature stupidity…  People used to have boundaries, now anything is possible if the cowards can get away with it.  We’ve got a nation of dittoheads who will happily nod and agree with any idea or action as long as they agree with it or are simply too scared to scream “BULLSHIT!”

In any event…  Best wishes and God Bless Sgt McNulty’s family, and please – make it home safe and sound from Iraq.