05.17.2007

one step closer to owning a condo. went to the inspection of my condo yesterday and boy was that riveting. i felt like a five year old following the inspector and watching him test every outlet and shake the shit out of window frames. it kinda also freaked me out because i feared he cause more damage than he'd discover. though he was very professional and thorough, i did get him to open up to me once. i asked him if he had any mishaps in the past while performing inspections. turns out that he almost flooded a mcmansion on the north shore.

while the inspector collected some "boring" numbers on the hot water heater and furnace, i sat in the living room with the sewing circle. after interrupting discussions of raw food and jdate, we attempted to nail down a closing date. at the initial viewing, the seller's realtor offered that the seller would ideally like to close before 5/29, the due date of his shotgun-wedding-inducing baby. after much deliberation, he returns with an offer of 6/22. though i want to be in as soon as possible, he travels the globe and wants to be present at the closing, which apparently isn't necessary. i strongarm the realtor into letting me close on 6/18. this allows me to move in during the week and have my roomie move in prior to his berfday of 6/25. i play hardball and i win. well, i may have earned some street cred, but lost some points in the eyes of these ladies. i guess i'm not as excited as i should be about this condo. it probably won't hit me until the seller turns over the keys to me. as of now, i'm super stoked. i just don't know how to show it.

i think i know the root of this ire. here's my take:

• this might be more related to the seller than the realtor but it's still asinine. the seller's fiancee is due to give birth on 5/29. when did the seller list the condo on the mls? 5/6. 23 days before giving birth, he lists his condo for sale. on the other hand, he must have been pretty motivated because he and the realtor priced the condo very well. in six days, they had 25 showings and at least two offers. not a bad deal. saved some stress there. in summary, the baby really complicates the matter, yet i'd appear awfully misogynistic if i didn't take the single(for tax reporting standards)-mother-to-be's feelings into consideration.
• while the inspector was checking out the parking spot, the realtor warned me, "don't let your roommate drive home drunk some night and park sideways wrecking the neighbors' cars." i don't know where that came from, but i assured her that there were plenty of bars that are within walking distance, accessible by public transportation, or close enough for taxi cabs that driving drunk is never an option. i feel like that was inappropriate and she improperly assumed our irresponsibility.
• lastly, her demeanor really turned me off. throughout the inspection, she sprawled out on the couch reading a women's magazine. and she had her boots on the couch!

oh yeah, so the inspector didn't find much wrong with the place at all. just the following items were even relatively unsatisfactory:

• the GFCI outlet or whatever in the master bathroom didn't function. no wonder all the hair curlers and blow dryers were in the second bathroom. i found that a little strange initially;
• there is a moisture stain in the master bedroom on the southwall just above the exit to the perfect-for-entertaining deck;
• the jacuzzi tub hadn't been run in a while, so a lot of black flakes of idleness came out when it was tested;
• one of the slats on the deck appeared warped but it's nothing that a couple of clumsy young professionals couldn't tackle;
• the right cabinet to the right of the bathroom mirror has a door that's somewhat bowed and not flush with the wood;
• the folding doors to the water heater and furnace are difficult to close when opened all the way;
• the knobs on all folding doors are on the "wrong" side such that more torque is required to open and close them;
• the door-length blinds in the master bedroom open improperly; and
• the walls in the master bedroom could use a little touching up the removal of hanging pictures have left marks behind.

yikes, now that i list all the issues i have with the place, i sound like some ungrateful jerk. no, i'm just a perfectionist. as nigel barker would say, it's the imperfections that make the place special.

other highlights:

• meals:
• breakfast - none
• lunch - mccormick & schmicks: a cherry limeade with freshly squeezed limes; a couple oysters on the half shell (my first time) that tasted like cocktail sauce; mixed greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette; and the shrimp bella with asparagus, tomatoes, penne, and a ton of unexpected butter
• dinner - chipotle barbacoa soft tacos with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, pico de gallo, and corn salsa; chips and guacamole to boot
• purchases:
• mailing my mom's birthday/mother's day gift - $5.70
• dinner for me and hugnkiss - $16.80
• 24-pack of miller lite - $20.11
• two bags of cat food for hugnkiss's asshole cat and cinnamon toothpaste - $12.79

05.16.2007

on tuesday, my mortgage broker e-mails me saying that she'll call me tomorrow (i.e. wednesday). in business, when someone says she'll call tomorrow, i expect that call to occur some time prior to lunch or at the least, 2pm. oh no, she calls at exactly 5pm. yes, it was during 5.16.2007 but a little later than i had hoped. i was waiting anxiously the whole day. is that how one treats a client/prospective client? the broker then asks to send a messenger to pick up all my financial documents, which could have actually have been addressed on monday, but that's a whole other story. perhaps i'm just high-maintenance? perhaps i'm more reliable? perhaps we got off on the wrong foot with our initial phone call on good friday? regardless, the seller's agent said that in a perfect world, the seller wanted to close prior to may 29th. i was trying to do everything in my power to make that happen (the phrase of the week). little did i know that others would drag their feet.

other highlights:

• the case i've been working on ever since i started my job has finally come to a close and the big boss has testified. good news: i get to re-claim my desk and ship the 29 ubiquitous boxes off to iron mountain. bad news: my desk will be bare and appear as though i don't work.
• i completed the new york times crossword puzzle in 9:15. one of my best wednesday times.
• meals:
• breakfast - none
• lunch - potbelly turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, giardiniera, mayo, and mustard; and a bowl of loaded baked potato soup
• mid-afternoon snack - coffee cake muffin
• dinner - lou malnati's thin crust sausage pizza and spinach salad
• purchases:
• lunch - $8.69
• television:
• america's next top model - why does tyra f with these girls' heads? taking natasha to the final two. how did she stand a chance against jaslene? i need subtitles even when she speaks english. jaslene's "my life as a cover girl" commercial looked scripted. i think it's hilarious how she was all cha-cha-cha when she first came in to audition, but the energy gradually waned throughout the show. i guess it's tough being a model. from day one, you could nearly tell it was going to be jaslene in the end. i'm not ruling out tyra and jaslene making out.
• lost - best episode in a while. good work making me care about charlie. but desmond didn't say "see you in another life, brother" once.
• deadliest catch (1.3 episodes on dvd) - great show, but watching more than one episode might be overkill. there are only so many times i can watch an less-than-full pot dumped with 12 crabs, 3 fish, 4 tins cans, and a floppy boot.
  

05.15.2007

yesterday was my mom's birthday. what did i get her? well, it's a surprise because i don't have much foresight and haven't sent it yet. nevertheless, i was wondering if she forgot her own birthday. i called her cell phone and the home phone, left messages on both, and didn't get a response. once i do get this present off, she will hopefully be impressed. remember: quality, not quantity.

other highlights from yesterday:

• i have five raging canker sores in my mouth
• three on the inside of my lower lip
• two on my lower gum
• all in the front
• i gathered all my financial documents in prep for securing my first mortgage. luckily, i am a pack-rat and already had these documents in place, so collecting the documents took about one hour.
  
• pay stubs for the past two years
• bank statements for the past 18 months
• 401(k) statements for the past 6 quarters
• tax returns for the past 4 years
• student loan information
• miscellaneous mutual fund and credit card statements
• schlepped my mom's package around the loop for 30 minutes after the 20-person line at the post office dissuaded me from waiting. i suppose everyone was buying two-cent stamps with the recent price hike. or, like me, maybe they were mailing belated mother's day packages.
• meals
• breakfast - none
• lunch - chipotle steak fajita burrito with pico de gallo, corn salsa, cheese and lettuce
• dinner - avocado and tomatoes with balsamic vinaigrette (great for the canker sores); corn chowder; a bowl of corn pops; and a bowl of smart start cereal
• purchases
• lunch - $6.17
• listerine for canker sores - $3.79
• windy city home inspection - $270
• total - $279.96
• not a bad day given that i'm going to spend enough on a condo in about a month

worst decision ever: shredding all my checks from my last address. i haven't maintained a checkbook in about a year and have been writing checks online from my bank's website. i knew this was going to culminate in some cluster when i *needed* checks. with having to write so many checks for closing on a place, i once again lacked foresight. now i have to get certified checks from the bank for $5 apiece. i thought i was going to save money by not ordering checks for $22. as long as i don't have to write three more checks, i'll be in good shape. can you please just bill me later? i promise i can get you a check if you allow me to write it online. it'll take just one week. please be patient with me. i guess i should have anticipated this. and what's the lead time for ordering checks? can i get them overnighted to me? maybe i could just order some checks and keep my old address until i use up all 500 that come in a lot. grrrr!

daily recaplet

television without pity provided me inspiration for this blog. it'll be pretty boring but can serve as a diary and save me from having to think so hard about what i did two months ago.