It seems Smokey the Bear did his job well. This year, the two most devastating fires to hit the U.S. have been set by firefighters - just to keep them busy. Terry Barton had been previously charged with setting fires that spread unchecked through Colorado. Now, Leonard Gregg, an unemployed part-time firefighter from an Indian Reserve in Arizona has been charged with starting one of the two blazes that has resulted in Arizona's worst-ever fire. Gregg was hoping to get work fighting the fire he started. Instead, he was identified as the culprit and had to be stopped from admitting his guilt during the arraignment.

The second fire in Arizona was caused by a lost hiker who started the fire to catch the attention of a helicopter passing overhead.

We went shopping today at the Builder's Box. It's a place where do-it-yourselfers shop for home improvement ideas. I had suggested making a trip there because we would be needing some basic fix-up items immediately after moving into the new home. As soon as we walked in the door, there was a sign advertising the various X10-compatible devices at the store. We've been using X10 devices for quite some time in our home. Some, like the X10 XCam2 camera are for fun and entertainment. Others, like the X10 lamp and appliance modules are used to enhance the lighting choices in our living room. In the new house, we will be converting the family room into a master bedroom. Family rooms generally don't include ceiling lighting, and in the case of this room, there were no light switches on the wall. Using the X10 capabilities, we can surface-mount a remote controlled "light switch" that has the ability to control several lamp modules. By plugging light modules into various electrical plugs in the room, we can control a variety of lights from the single light switch. That should make things more convenient.

We also took a look at various microwave ovens that had hood fans built in. The new house does not have a range hood/cooking light over the stove. By buying one of these combined units, we can get a range hood, as well as update our 15-year-old microwave oven at the same time.

Finally, we went to the carpet store to get an idea of how much it would cost to buy carpeting or other floor covering for the new house. Although it will probably cost us more than we had originally budgeted, it is still something we have decided to do. We plan to ask the real estate agent to grant access to some carpeting contractors a day or two before the official possession date, so we can get the floor done before our furniture is brought to the house.

No longer homeless

The scariest time for us was when it was confirmed our house was sold, but we had not yet found a place we wanted to buy. Yesterday, during our second viewing of a particular house, we decided to make an offer. And tonight, it was accepted (we're waiting for all parties to sign, but we have verbal assurances from the listing broker that our offer was accepted).

So tomorrow, or Tuesday (Monday is a bank holiday), we will try to get financing for the house - hopefully a formality, since we had already been approved for the deal that fell through - and by Thursday of next week, the deal should be done. We'll then need to make a post-deal amendment to our sale, moving the closing date up to August 8th (from the current August 23rd).

We were particularly excited about the possibility of owning this new home, because it also has a pool.

I can't be the first person to have thought of this.

DNA is used all the time now to establish paternity, as well as guilt or innocense in trials. Has anyone been working on decoding how DNA affects appearance?

For example, given a sample of DNA at a crime scene, is there anything predictive that can be surmised from the sample? Can you determine the sex, or ethnicity of people from their DNA? Unlike fingerprints, which uniquely identify people but don't offer any predictive clues to their identity (except, perhaps, their size), it seems reasonable to me that DNA, which carries the entire blueprint of the human being, should be able to yield some secrets about a person's identity.

If no-one is working on this, maybe someone should be.

Fireworks

The Windsor/Detroit Freedom Festival fireworks display ended just a few minutes ago. Much more exciting for me was the fireworks of the past 72 hours. The details are so convoluted, I'm still not sure I understand them all. One thing is clear, however: my house is officially sold.

Now, I just have to see where I'll be living. The conditions placed by the purchaser of my home were not lifted in time for me to finalize the deal for the home we had been hoping to buy. And when reality set in, we went to work trying to find another home. We've placed an offer on a second property - the offer to be presented to the current owner tomorrow. If it's accepted, this ordeal will be over. If not, who knows what we'll do?

On another note, my wife took delivery of her new Toyota Echo yesterday (a big change after having driven an SUV). Meanwhile, my car goes back tomorrow, and I have no plans to replace it until I get a job.

A clean getaway

Now, why didn't I think of that!

An enterprising bank robber recruited unsuspecting locals to aid in his getaway.

I'm not a soccer fan (if I was, I'd probably call it football), but a Brazil/Germany final in the World Cup has to be a "true" soccer fan's dream match. From what I've read, these are the teams that are #1 and #2 in the world in terms of most titles won. And I also understand they've NEVER faced eachother in World Cup competition!

Who do you think will win?

Can you *cough* believe this *cough* - North Carolina has a novel way of spending it's $4.6B (yeah BILLION) share of the settlement against Tobacco companies.

<sarcasm>I feel safer already</sarcasm>

The Windsor/Detroit border is one of the busiest international crossing points in the world. And the Detroit River separates the countries by less than a mile of natural border. Each year, the two countries celebrate a combined "Freedom Festival", which encompasses the Canadian (July 1st) and American (July 4th) Independence days.

The most famous part of the Freedom Festival is the fireworks display along the riverfront. This annual event routinely draws over 1 million people to the shoreline; a figure that comprises nearly 50% of the populations of Detroit and Windsor. This year, this spectacular light show will be simulcast on the internet, beginning at 9:00PM EDT tomorrow on this page.

This display rivals that of any other city, including New York, and the crowds are packed so close together as to be within 1/4 - 1/2 mile of the actual fireworks barges as they float in the Detroit River. Here are some pictures of last year's event.

Update:
Severe thunderstorm warnings for this area have led to the first postponement of the fireworks display in the past 20 years. The rain date is Thursday, 9:00PM EDT.

Today might turn out to be the most hectic I've seen in a long time. If all goes well, we'll be consummating deals to sell our house and buy another. The conditions are so complex and time sensitive, the stress is nearly unbearable and my wife could barely get to sleep last night. I don't want to jinx the deals, so I'll say no more until later.

In the meantime, if you haven't noticed, I've added a Comic Relief area to this screen. It will grow to include things I have found absolutely irresistible.

I certainly don't envy the task of a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. After all, as learned and impartial as they must be, they are still human; still have their own consciences, political leanings, and emotions to reconcile.

Today's ruling by the supreme court, striking down the death sentences imposed on over 150 convicted murderers, will have far-reaching effects.

I am of right-leaning political bent, and support the death penalty. Despite this, given the facts of the specific case before the justices (that a jury found the suspect of murder, but that a judge sentenced the murderer to death having heard additional evidence after the trial), I can't argue with their decision. But I do have a bone to pick with the way this ruling automatically affects so many other cases where no-one, not the convicted murderer, nor his lawyers, felt that due process had been abused.

While being a proponent of the death penalty, I don't know what it would be like to be a private citizen, with the power and responsibility for ordering the death of a fellow human being. If I wanted that responsibility, I would be a policeman, or judge, or executioner. I saw nothing wrong with a system where a "jury of your peers" could establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, then allow the judge to impose a penalty commensurate with the gravity and heinous nature of the offense. After all, to a lay person, all murders may seem heinous - how often are we brought face-to-face with such a situation?

If all prisoners currently on death-row are given automatic commutation of their sentences, it will be a blow to the rights of the victims, who are counting on the vengeance of the state to somehow ease their pain. And the inmates who feel the weight of death sentences being lifted from their shoulders will (for the most part) be grateful to enjoy the accommodations of the state until they live out their lives. Even if commutation of sentences is not automatic, surely each and every prisoner now on death row will have cause for his own appeal.

At most, this ruling will result in the permanent stay of execution for many people who probably deserve to be put to death. At least, it will add immensely to the litigation loads in the 38 states currently supporting the death penalty, and add years to the time it takes to re-sentence these offenders. Overall, I think this ruling will cause great harm to our justice system.

What do you think?

Life's Lessons Take Hold

Nothing makes a parent prouder than to see their children succeed. Success means different things to different people, but in this case, I am referring to the triumph of morality over peer pressure. When Jon, our youngest, moved out, my wife was devastated. Convinced that she had lost him and his spirit to the darker elements, Jon appeared not to be interested in any of the moral teachings that my wife and I had tried to instill in him. Yesterday, he returned. Three months older, three years wiser.

Jon had experienced his first glimpse of the adult world without benefit of his parents' shelter, and apparently did not like what he had seen. During his time away, he had been living in a basement apartment in the home of one of his friends. He learned to become self-sufficient, holding a steady job, buying and preparing his own food, and paying rent. Without the influence of parents, he no doubt did things we wouldn't have approved of, but that's not the subject of this post.

What is the subject of this post? Jon witnessed behaviours played out under his own roof that he had only seen on the street, or at parties, where he could grimace and walk away. Now, he was in a position where these activities became part of his everyday reality, and he was disgusted. Disgusted enough that yesterday, he called us and told us he had had enough.

This wasn't a cry for help from someone who had failed at becoming independent, and wanted to run back to the shelter of the nest. Rather, it was an admission that his departure was premature - that he had to put more thought into where he would live, and with whom he would share his space.

So, for now, Jon is back home. He's no longer a baby, and he won't be treated that way. We will have to enforce minimal restrictions for our own sanity (i.e. the Marilyn Manson music will have to be played at near-inaudible levels, and rock posters will no longer adorn his bedroom walls during our limited time left in this house), but for the most part, he'll have his freedom to come and go as he pleases, just as if he were living away from home.

This morning, he did not need to have his mother wake him with a knock on his bedroom door. She didn't need to remind him to make his bed, so our house would remain presentable for those people who come to our door without warning. By 6:30AM, when my wife was just getting out of bed, Jon was heading out the door to work.

Welcome back, and have a nice day!

Thanks to my sister-in-law, Elaine, for bringing Digital Worlds to my attention. It has been added to my list of art links.

Did you ever try the bumper cars when you were younger? Those things were absolute fun... back in the days before people cared about political correctness and whiplash in children.

Apparently, there are some older people who still enjoy this E-ticket ride.

This story was originally linked by Candi

Warning! The content of this post is NOT SUITABLE for children!

This is one MasterCard commercial I'd love to actually see on television!

I'm always in amazement of Jodene and her ability to ferret out the truly magnificent the internet has to offer. This is so funny, I'll have to figure out a way of making it a permanently visible feature on my page.

The author of the 2D production, Bruno Bozzetto, has his own website, with other information you may find interesting.

As long as Israelis as a nation continue to be governed by laws and morality, there is hope yet for peace. Despite being embroiled in bitter conflict, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are man enough to admit when they've made mistakes. Taking responsibility for acts such as these goes a long way in proving to others that they do not have massacres or domination as their goals.

In the meantime, there is evidence that Yasser Arafat has lost control of the militants among his population, making more violence likely.

Today's news carries what I see as a possible message of hope for teens considering violence as a way of expressing displeasure with their life.

Setting aside the triggers that cause human beings to become killing machines, nothing quite offends my sensibilities as murderers who hide behind defenses like mental illness to escape punishment. That's why I am pleased when people take responsibility for their actions and plead guilty to save the time, money, and stress to the victims' families which would result from a protracted trial.

I don't know if the justice system offers any "reward" for early pleas (not the kind of plea sought by the prosecutor or defence attorney during a trial, but the kind that comes voluntarily at the time of arraignment). Perhaps there should be a system that allows defendants to be partially rewarded for being truly remorseful and repentent.

What do you think?

It's time to add Jodi's blog webspot to my list, because I say so!

I'm quickly learning the workings of the Unemployment Insurance system. They like to receive premiums and minimize payouts - sounds like the typical insurance company.

I had mentioned in a prior post that my unemployment claim had been rejected. That letter gave me 30 days from the date of mailing to challenge the ruling. I had assumed that the whole issue of that letter was dead, because I was now claiming unemployment through the Canadian system. Little did I know that the Canadian system won't pay if the American system (from which the payments ultimately come) have rejected the claim. Luckily, I had another reason to contact the office today, and I found out that the challenge must be filed. The deadline for the filing is tomorrow.

So, I got all my paperwork out, in support of my application, and on the spot put together my response to the assessment. And as instructed, I faxed the response to the Unemployment Agency this afternoon.

The way things have been progressing, I may either be reemployed, or dead before I see a penny of unemployment insurance money.

I had an interview today. The VP of Product Development for the company in Vancouver called and we had a heart-to-heart about career progression, roles and responsibilities of the available positions, salary requirements, relocation issues... all the infrastructure stuff that needs to be handled before things can proceed.

He indicated that the timeline for acting on the opportunity is flexible. If the technical interviews go well, and I'm amenable to an offer, things could go in a matter of two weeks or less. If the interview process becomes protracted, things might take months. I'm of two minds about the whole thing. My wife really doesn't want to relocate. Given her druthers, she'd want me to accept a position - any position - that would keep us in this region.

Staying in the house is out of the question. Our second open house is this weekend. There are three parties that have shown reasonably serious interest in this home (excluding the offer that was killed due to an unacceptable possession date). Of those, two have serious financial issues that could scuttle any quick sale. I'm placing my biggest faith in the last family to go through the house - a family with five children - and if not them, perhaps someone who sees the house this weekend.

Time will tell.

The Truth - You Can't Handle the Truth

Benway finally reveals in public what he never bothered to communicate in private. It's typical behaviour from the arrogant person I used to call "friend". At least, after all this time, I am "facing my accuser" with the opportunity to address his grievances...

I was reading Melly's blog tonight, when I came upon a comment by Jodi. I visited her site and enjoyed the read. I think I may have a new link to add to my list soon...

Things are getting worse for Terry Barton.

It may be that she didn't burn a letter from her estranged husband at all. There's doubt such a letter even existed. Investigators have found that the Colorado wildfire was started deliberately, using far more material than simply two sheets of paper.

Now she looks to be in real trouble.

It's Hard to Stay Neutral

I was sent an email a couple of weeks ago. It was authored by a New Zealand resident (someone I've never heard of) who was trying to make sense out of what was happening in Israel. The author, a self-described non-Jew atheist, stated that if Israelis truly wanted to rid themselves of their Palestinian residents, they had the military might to do so. The fact that Palestinians were still there was testament to Israel's not wanting to eradicate them. The author also pointed out that the stated goals (both in words and actions) of the Palestinian people was to completely destroy the "Zionist" state.

I understand that there is a vast difference between Jewish Israelis and their Palestinian neighbours, both in culture and education. It is much easier to persuade misinformed and uneducated people that a particular cause has merit. But even taking all this into account, it is difficult for me to maintain any kind of neutrality when I see the carnage that is occurring. I've spoken before about the propaganda making its way to Muslim lands not directly in the mid-east, and how some people continue to believe the lies spouted by fanatics.

Today, following another murder/suicide in Israel, an accelerated effort to erect an electric fence around the West Bank has begun. Assuming for a minute that there are only a few radical extremists in the West Bank who wish to disrupt efforts for peace with Israel, how will they feel when they realize that the only thing they've managed to "win" through their efforts is death for themselves and complete isolation for their surviving family members.

Many critics speak of the poverty of those in the detention camps. I won't try to deny that conditions there are worse than in the cities of Israel. But there is no one to blame for this situation than the residents themselves, and the neighboring states that would rather see them live in squalour for political gain than to help them invest in their futures. What would things be like if the money invested in weapons were instead invested in farming, commerce, and education?

If Israel is forced to put a wall around these areas to protect its citizens, it will only lead to more isolation, more unemployment, and more despair in the camps. But if that's what is needed to help ensure the safety of its citizens, then Israel will do what is necessary. Israel had hoped to avoid putting up a fence - because such a move, by its very nature, defines a boundary that Israel does not want to acknowledge exists. Perhaps this will give all parties what they want - peace and security for Israel, and a de facto border for a Palestinian state.

But once the fence goes up, who really believes there will be any incentive for Israelis to consider the Palestinians to be citizens of Israel, with the privilege of working within its borders.

Dazed and Confused

Will this never stop? I've never had an unkind word for anyone in blogland. I've been banned from a chatroom for reasons no-one will spell out in detail (I have a published email address - why not do me the favour of educating me privately, but completely, so I can learn from my mistakes), and now it's been suggested there are other people who would prefer I not post comments on their sites.

Every time I post a comment, I leave my email address. If someone is so upset with my behaviour that they would complain about it to someone else, don't you think it would be much more effective it I were to know first-hand? You don't have to be rude or embarass me in public. Simply click on the email link, and spend two minutes telling me how my comments are inappropriate, or why they are unwelcome.

Which do you think is worse behaviour: unknowingly causing people pain and discomfort, or knowingly causing pain and discomfort. I haven't done anything that deserves the treatment I've been receiving, and I wish people would be adult enough to confront me face-to-face (via email) with their issues.

Thank you.

There's apparently a video store chain called Megaflicks in Florida. As this picture shows, they might want to consider using a different font on their store signs.





Only one thing. I tried to look up the store in the Yellow Pages and couldn't find it, so I don't know if this whole thing is a gag.

Well, if you live in San Francisco and your neighbor has ferocious dogs, you might want to move right now. Two lawyers whose dogs mauled a neighbor to death while they stood there and watched have had their 2nd degree murder convictions overturned. The new verdict is 4 years in jail for hubby, with wife scheduled for sentencing in July.

The judge must have vicious dogs of his own.

If you're a criminal, you'd best steer clear of buses.

The supreme court has ruled that police officers can ask to question or search you if they board a bus; and there's no obligation for them to inform you that you have the right to refuse to answer and the right to refuse the search. So, you'd better bone up on your lawbooks, stop using public transit, or stop carrying drugs with you onto buses.

Men ultimately get blamed for everything. So it will be when Terry Barton goes on trial for setting one of the worst fires to ever strike Colorado's wilderness. Apparently, she received a letter from her estranged husband and decided the only proper thing to do was burn it, in the middle of a forest, in the middle of a severe drought.

I guess an ordinary person might be so overtaken with grief and/or rage as to let their emotions get the better of them. Thing is, Terry is a Forest Ranger, responsible for patrolling the forest to ensure no-one sets any fires.

Quoting from the news report: "Barton, who has worked for the Forest Service for 18 years, had told reporters last week that she wouldn't rest until someone was arrested for starting the illegal campfire."

Nice to see she got her wish!

My dad doesn't want anything to do with computers, so there is absolutely no way he will see this message. But I just wanted to scream from the rooftops that he's been (and continues to be) the most loving, supportive, and inspirational father a boy / man could ever hope for. Thank you dad, for being you.

Happy Father's Day.

It's back to square one. We've allowed the first offer to expire, because we can't be out within 30 days, and the second couple to indicate an offer would be forthcoming has backed out. My wife is a bit worried, but with an average of 5-6 people calling each day to view the house, there is no reason to panic at this point.

While visiting Mike's site, I saw that he had joined the Google Challenge. It sounds like fun!

I think I'll sit this one out, though. My command of the english language is limited to eighth-grade vocabulary, and I don't really want to enter a contest where I have to use words that need to be looked up in the dictionary.

I think I may have hit the motherlode. The last link I added to the artwork area, digalart.org is actually a directory of artwork on the web. It looks to be really cool, and I'll have to check it out thoroughly when I have several hours to kill.

I'm in the process of adding some more artwork links to my page. I found one person who's an artist and musician and lives in England. I sent him an email to introduce myself and ask his permission to include a link to his site.

Detroit Red Wings are Stanley Cup champions. Things are pretty wild around here, even though I'm in Canada. Being just across the border from the biggest celebration to hit this area in years, we get some of the overflow crowd...

Now, if only the Detroit Lions and Detroit Tigers can win in the same year. Oh wait, that's the signal for Armageddon. Never mind...

I had intended to leave the link there for historical purposes, but now that it's returning an error, it's time to remove Lee's old link. I'm sorry to see it go.

(And yes, the only way I knew about the error is that I still click on it every day).

I'll miss you, Lee.

My ISP had a 14-hour interruption of service yesterday/today, as the main fibre link that supplies this part of the country had been severed. I called the ISP to find out how long the outage would be, only minutes after it started. I got the same answer then as I did nearly 14 hours later: we're aware of the problem, and are doing everything we can to fix it. I called the billing department to voice my concern, so I could receive a credit. Their response: the problem was caused by vandalism - something not in our control - so we're not responsible. There will be no billing adjustment.

OK, with internet service gone, I thought I'd just settle in with the TV. No luck. All the premium services use the same fibre link to deliver services to the digital cable box. No internet, and no TV movies for 14 hours! I think I finally understand what tobacco withdrawal feels like.

I found this site during random meanderings around blogland. It's worth a look.

Introduced at the Monterey Racetrack in 2000, the first Saleen S7 Supercar (built in the U.S.) was delivered to it's new owner this month.





According to the manufacturer, only 300-400 of these hand-built cars will be produced - ever! Still, at $395,000 US (MSRP), it should turn a tidy profit and cement Saleen in the annals of supercar history. According to the specifications, this car is longer, but sits lower, than a Lambourghini Diablo.

It's hard to believe we don't have a fully-executed offer on our house yet (there are two floating out there somewhere), but today, yet another serious couple came through. They have a family member who is an official appraiser, so, after taking the tour, they'll be asking him to take a run by here to ensure we haven't overly inflated the worth of our home. Since we have a signed appraisal, that's not the case, and we have nothing to fear.

Check out the tagboard that Jodene found!

I found out this morning that the first couple to make an offer did NOT respond to my counter offer on time. So, if the second couple comes through on the paperwork, I can legally accept their offer without repercussions.

Another couple went through the house today and I thought they might make an offer as well. As of yet, they haven't, but tomorrow is another day. I'll have to call the lawyers in the morning to sort out just which offers are in play.

And on the job front, one of the companies that had called me has backed out of the hunt. Apparently, there are a few less-senior people also unemployed that are willing to take less money, and do not present the same obstacles (vis-a-vis obtaining work visas) as I do. So, that's one opportunity gone. The other local opportunity is still there, and they will be forwarding my qualifications to a potential client within the week. I'm not counting my chickens, since there are also others with my qualifications available for this position as well. The disappointment I felt today will help light a fire under me to start independent consulting again, so that my future is put back into my own hands.

On the vehicle front, my wife took her car for pre-handoff inspection, and the snarky dealership inspector tried to bully her into making unnecessary repairs to her vehicle. My wife's got very low mileage on her vehicle and treats the damn thing like family. Except for a couple of stone chips (not exactly something she has control over), the car is in mint condition. The dealer is angry that my wife has complained to the company about the poor service she has received, and this is the dealer's last opportunity to screw her over. It won't work. I have taken photos of the vehicle, in case they try to dummy up evidence of abuse.

Also on the vehicle front, we went shopping today for a cheap but reliable new car. We settled on the Toyota Echo - a little car that gets 50 mpg on the highway, and 38 mpg in the city. I'm not quite sure how we managed, but she managed to qualify for a lease on her salary alone.

On the unemployment insurance front, things may have begun to turn around. I placed my call to the automated system today, and found that my SSN was no longer accepted. On a whim, I tried to call a different number (which had been sent to me a couple of days ago when the cross-border application came). That number not only worked, but it recognized my SSN and login password - which means my account has been transferred from the office where I applied, over to the "out of state" bureau. That's the first good news I've received about UI payments.

The temperature hit 90 again today. At 11:00PM it was still 79 degrees. I love air conditioning. Too bad I have to keep the air conditioning in the car turned off. The fan is broken, and makes a blood curdling screeching sound that I simply can't stand.

Oh what a busy day!

I showed the house to three parties today, in addition to having a fourth party postpone. Two other parties who had seen the home earlier called to ask whether it was still on the market.

And one of the three that saw it today made an offer (technically, they filled out the offer sheet, but I suggested they see their lawyer before presenting it). So, all in all, things on the home sales front are going extremely well. I was too busy to call my lawyer today (to see if the first party to make an offer had accepted my counter-offer regarding possession date). If the acceptance was not delivered on time, we will exercise our right to go with the second offer, which is somewhat higher than the original offer, and has a more reasonable possession date.

There's an investment website I read often. One of the message boards is dedicated to discussions related to the company where I used to work. For those of you familiar with the Detroit area, the NHL Stanley Cup finals are currently taking place between the Detroit Red Wings and the Carolina Hurricanes. The Detroit Red Wings are owned by Mike Ilitch, president of Little Caesars Pizza. The Carolina Hurricanes are owned by Peter Karmanos, CEO of Compuware (if you've been watching the hockey playoffs, perhaps you've noticed the "Compuware" ads adorning the boards in Carolina's stadium). Anyway, both Karmanos and Ilitch make their home in the Detroit area. And the two have a long and acrimonious relationship. Here then, is a comic strip currently circulating around town...





I'm hoping that after the hockey playoffs, Mr. Karmanos can start focusing back on the business of running Compuware. Although I may no longer be an employee, I still have significant investments in their stock, and I would dearly love to see its value improve.

Photo Credit: Mike Thompson, Detroit Free Press (from this Photo Scrapbook)

There are some blogs that cry out to be read. As I've mentioned before, I tend to read the blogs on my list (and a few not yet there) many times each day (what else does one do when unemployed)? Today, it's about time I added Ordinary Morning to my official list. Melly is one of the regular contributors to Raising Hell Magazine, another link worth visiting often.

I'm just preparing the house for today's activity, after which, I may cut the grass (if the weather gets a bit cooler - I hate working outside in the heat).

The temperature broke 90 degrees yesterday. Humidity was also high. It was excellent weather to be showing an air-conditioned home with a pool. If this weather keeps up, I shouldn't have much trouble attracting additional offers. Our home was included in the latest version of the real-estate news. It appeared on a page directly across from another property, about three streets over from us, which also featured an in-ground pool. Their house has a nicer frontage than ours, and their pool appears larger in the photograph (though it's hard to tell, because their backyard photo only shows the pool - no surrounding yard). When I first saw their ad, I was concerned that we might have serious competition, until I saw that they were asking $25,000 more for their home than we were. I know what mine is appraised for, and that's what we've asked, so it's really not productive to speculate on why there is such a big difference in asking price. I guess I just have to satisfy myself that there are few people looking at my house that could afford to buy his.

And hopefully, people who can afford to buy his might look at mine as being a "steal", and offer me full asking price.... oh I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep at the keyboard and started dreaming...

It was a busy day Monday. Three parties called for appointments to go through the house. I had hoped that one of them might place an offer, so we wouldn't have to deal with the existing offer (that leaves us only 30 days to vacate). No such luck.

At 1:00PM, my wife and I visited our lawyer to discuss the offer on our home, as well as our offer on the other home. He advised us to counter-offer - in an attempt to modify the possession date. So, we proposed a 60-day possession to our potential buyer, which in turn allowed us to offer a 60-day possession to the other vendor.

The situation is this: the couple who want our home are ready to have a baby soon, and clearly want their new home before the baby comes. The couple who are selling us their home are waiting for another home to be built for them, and that home won't be ready for another 120 days. The driving force in both these deals seems to be the expectant mother, and frankly, it's causing everyone else lots of grief. I think we're all hoping this deal falls through (which it will if anyone else steps up to make a decent offer).

Tuesday, we have another couple coming through, and another booked for Wednesday.

I brought the marketing materials prepared by our consultant to show my parents, and they were very impressed. As a result, they've decided to sell their house "by themselves". That means I'll be giving the open houses, but there will be no agent's commission.

Hmm.

The open house went well. We had about 12 or 13 delegations come through the house on Sunday. Sizes from 2-11 people at one time. Of those, it seemed like two or three were more serious than others. One of those called back Sunday evening, but were not willing to place an offer knowing that there was another offer already on the table.

Meanwhile, I had a chance to speak with the lawyer, and will formally submit our offer to purchase, and our response to the other party's offer to purchase, by the deadline.

We've made significant changes to the conditions proposed by the original offering party, so it's possible they may withdraw their offer. Time will tell. If it's meant to be, it will be.

And just in case, I've shown the house once already today, with another party scheduled to arrive within the hour.

We're putting the final touch on the house, preparing for our open house today. The other homes in our neighborhood that are going to have open houses are not being advertised in the local paper (though they are on the web, and there will be street signage to direct people to these places).

The area where we live is characterized by a maze of streets, very unlike the remainder of the city, whose streets are laid out in very easy to understand grid patterns. The first time people venture into our neighborhood, they are often confused by the way the streets run. I will need to give careful thought to how I place the directional signs so that people won't get lost coming to my open house.


Typical Street Layout





Our Neighborhood

A quick update

The trip to the bank was less positive than I might have wanted. I have no idea what they base their figures on, but the bank is basically saying that with only my wife's salary, we can only afford a mortgage 1/2 as large as I had hoped. That means coming up with a ridiculously large initial deposit. There are ways to deal with this, not to be discussed online.

After the bank, it was a long, depressing drive to the noon appointment. Caught in traffic on the main east/west artery of the city, we thought we might be late, so we called the agent and left a pager text message. Little did we know that the agent also changed his route based on our traffic report. We finally got to the house (on time, actually), but had to wait a good 15-20 minutes for the agent to arrive. I wish I could say the house was attractive on the inside (the outside was quite acceptable), but it wasn't, and we left knowing which home we would offer to purchase.

Less than two minutes out of there, we were on the phone with the other people. We asked if they had received offers thusfar (they hadn't), and whether we could pop over to discuss an offer. We knew what we wanted going in, and knew what we were willing to pay for it. The difference between the "lowball" offer I might have begun with, and the price I was ultimately willing to pay was only $2-thousand. So, to save time, and after a prefacing remark, I made the offer I wanted to make, then waited for the owner's response. It was positive. Our offer was verbally accepted. We'll structure the deal properly on Monday.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is Sunday, the day of our first open house. Judging from the very beautiful newspaper and "home channel" spread, I am anticipating a reasonable crowd, and possibly some serious offers. One can hope.

Mortgage Pre-Approval

Saturday morning, 9:00AM, will see us at the bank, trying to get pre-approval for a mortgage for our next home. We pretty much know which house we want to purchase. We're seeing one more home Saturday afternoon, and immediately after that, will be prepared to make an offer to someone. We just need to know how much of a mortgage we can handle on my wife's salary alone.

If we get a mortgage based solely on the single salary, it means that any income I earn from here on in can be used to build up a reserve fund (for the next rainy day), and to top up the retirement fund (which we will need to raid to get additional downpayment cash for our purchase). Why do we need to dip into retirement money? Because we'll be using the cash from the sale of our house to pay off every last dime of debt we've accumulated throughout our marriage.

My retirement account is pretty well funded (thank God for high salaries for the past few years), and if any of the money figures bandied about this afternoon actually come to fruition, I'll still be capable of putting a sizeable amount away for retirement purposes.

The Interviews

I've already mentioned that the first interview went well. The interview with the second client went even better. I really want to work for the second company. For one thing, it's a full-time on-staff job, as opposed to working as a hired-out consultant like my last job. The last job was for a company that had a reputation for not laying off staff that were not currently "out-for-hire". This is not the industry norm, however, and the company I saw this morning has no such policy. So, while I'm "working" for a client, I get paid; but the minute I'm not working for a client, the paychecks stop.

There's nothing inherently "unfair" about that policy, but it means that my earning potential is left in the hands of a marketing person who is not in any way responsible to me. I don't want to necessarily go through that again, unless I have no choice.

The company I interviewed with this afternoon is one I had previously worked for (as a consultant). I know their management, and some of their employees. And it's a staff position. Sure, there is still the possibility of layoffs, but the whole thing here is that they are hiring to fill a need for talent. Unless that need disappears, there's no reason to part with the talent. It's by far the better deal for me, long term, as it means working locally, and not having to do the "big move".

Meanwhile, as I half-expected, the Vancouver company did not call back today for the technical interview. I have come to expect them never to call back when they say they will. So far, they have always called back - just not on time! I wonder if this is something that should concern me?

The Offer

We got the offer in writing today. They're not wasting any time. Last night, they called me three times between 9:45PM and 10:00PM to verify that the price they were offering was acceptable. And today, just around 5:00PM, they hand-delivered the official written offer, which they had already taken to their lawyer AND my lawyer.

I'll be holding off signing off on the deal until the last minute on Monday. That should give any interested parties from Sunday's open house an opportunity to act (though, admittedly, it won't give them much time.

The written offer contained a couple of troubling conditions. First, they are making the offer conditional on financing (which is normal), but have added that their financing must be at an interest rate which is lower than any rate I have seen offered anywhere in this country.

Second, they are saying that they want us out of the house in 30 days, but they are keeping their financing window open for nearly 3 weeks. Theoretically, they could come back at the 11th hour (after we've already packed, made moving arrangements, etc.) and say "Sorry, the financing fell through".

I'm sure that's not their intent, but the way the offer is written, it's a possibility. We're going to counter-offer on the conditions... that we (my wife and I) have 30 days to leave after they remove all conditions. That will mean that until they have their financing arranged, the clock is not ticking on us having to leave. It's only fair, don't you think?

When it rains, it pours

This morning, I had the job interview in Detroit. It went well. They were already impressed with my credentials, based on the "reader's digest" version of my resume in the Michigan Job Bank. Today, I came prepared to talk about my accomplishments, but I also brought the detailed CV that had been prepared for and maintained by my previous employer. That impressed them even more, because it gave them a detailed picture of the breadth of my experience and a comprehensive list of the clients I have serviced. The only touchy time came when they asked me how much money I was looking for. I didn't want to price myself out of the market, but also didn't want to sell my talents short.

My answer was prefaced by a caveat: that if I accepted a salary that was inordinately low, I may start to look elsewhere when the economy improved. Perhaps to help me along, they asked what I had been earning. When I told them, they just about fell off their chairs. They said they couldn't come anywhere near that number, but they countered with a number that was higher than I had expected. I indicated that I would work for that figure, but that they would need to monitor my progress and adjust the salary in a timely fashion if they were pleased with my performance.

It was pretty exciting, so I called my wife from the car as soon as I got out of the meeting.

When she answered the phone, she was excited - and I hadn't even broken the news yet.

She was excited because a company who had offered to hire me away from my previous employer several years ago had heard I was available, and was calling to find out whether I was still interested in working for them. I have an interview this afternoon.

And I'm still waiting to hear back about the Vancouver job.

The plan now is to go through with the sale of our house. Whether or not I accept an offer for the Vancouver employment opportunity, we will move to a smaller house. If we stay local, we can save a ton of money by moving, and get all our debts paid off in the process. And if we have to pick up and move, well then, so be it.

Bad News - Update

The other day, I was talking about the tax bill I got in the mail. Yesterday, I took the notice to my accountant. He gave it a quick look, and proudly proclaimed: "They made a mistake.". After which he showed me the last four years of returns, all prepared the same way, and each one of them found to be acceptable by the US government. So, unless there was some really weird change in the tax law (this year, they're saying that as a foreign worker, I can't claim my wife as a dependent on my return), I may still get the refund I was expecting.

But the best thing is... they'll take care of the appeal on my behalf. It's all part of the service I paid for!

We're still going to have our open house this Sunday, just in case things fall through; but today, we received an acceptable offer from the impatient shopper.

He came through with a very pregnant young woman, and another man (probably a brother). The trio asked lots of questions, lounged a bit by the pool (they were pleased to see it was fenced separately from the rest of the yard). They even seemed pleased with the dog-door (which means I won't have to replace the back door as a condition of the sale).

All in all, a painless process.

Except they want the house very soon. I wonder if they want it to be all set up by the time the baby arrives.

I tried to use the new weed whacker today. It wouldn't start. So I called their 1-800 number for tech support, and got a voice-mail runaround. Finally, I got a human being who gave me a local service number. After loading up the machine, and travelling half-way across town, I talked to the technicians, who, it turned out, had never seen this brand new model before.





Good thing there was nothing wrong with it. The user's manual had faulty instructions (which I had followed to the letter). When I followed the modified instructions offered by the technician, the damn thing started and ran without a problem.

It did a marvelous job. I've never seen the long grass near the house and fence so trim!

I got a call this morning about a possible job opportunity in Detroit. If I turn out to be the correct candidate, the company is willing to sponsor my work visa. My interview is tomorrow morning. If I get this job, we don't have to sell the house. Wish me luck.

And I want to thank my brother-in-law and sister-in-law for their help. He's an electrician, and came over this morning to fix a light fixture that just stopped working a few days ago. And she's a web search addict, who has been bringing new and wonderful job / career sites to my attention in an attempt to help me find work.

What a strange day! I did some errands in the morning - like putting together our new weed whacker, and getting gasoline (two different cans - one for the 4-stoke lawnmower engine, and one for the 2-stroke weed whacker). I tried to do some minor repairs around the house, but only managed a small repair of a towel rack. Last night, I don't know what came over me, but I volunteered to be responsible for laundry. Since I'm at home, and my wife is working full time, I figured: how hard could it be?

Well, it's not rocket science, but the loads had already been sorted by my wife, and I didn't look too carefully to see whether she had made any mistakes. She had. There was one cotton item mixed in with a cotton/polyester load. I washed it, and threw the whole thing, en masse, into the dryer. I noticed the cotton item only when I was removing the contents of the dryer. Hopefully, my wife won't notice that her bra may have been shrunk.

There's only the two of us left at home, so I don't think there will be more than four or five loads to do weekly. I think I can handle that. And, by the look on my wife's face, it'll be worth lots of husband points.

Let's see, what else happened... Oh yeah. The real estate consultant came over and dropped off the open house signs, and a bunch of handouts for prospective buyers. Our first open house is this weekend. Meanwhile, this afternoon, my wife came home early (as she normally does on Wednesdays), and we decided to do some drive-bys. There were a couple of houses that looked promising, so we called for appointments, and made arrangements to see two properties this evening, two tomorrow, and one on Friday.

Just before leaving the house to go to the first appointment, the phone rang. It was one of the companies that has been talking to me about employment... the company that's located clear across the country. Two minutes before the phone rang, we were prepared to go see houses, and probably put an offer on one of them. Now, it's all up in the air again. I may have to move out of town for work. This did not sit well with my wife. Despite the phone call, we kept our appointments.

The first house was somewhat older (about 50 years old). Despite it's age, it was in remarkable condition, and had so many nooks and crannies, we actually could see ourselves living there and (remarkably) having room for all our stuff. It's major drawbacks were:

• lack of a garage (not for a car, but for storage)


• lack of central air conditioning (for my comfort and sanity - it gets very hot and muggy here during the summer)


• lack of a complete fence around the property (essential for keeping dogs in the yard)

The second house was one we had been through before. We had really liked it, and until we saw the aforementioned home, we figured it would be "the one". Now, we weren't sure. When we went through again, we noticed some good things that hadn't caught our eye the first time:

• there was air conditioning (we thought there wasn't)


• the bedrooms were bigger than we had originally remembered

We left that second home without placing an offer; not because we didn't want the house, but because we're now back up in the air about the out-of-town job opportunity. If I don't get this job, we will take this house (assuming it's still available - they're having their first open house this weekend).

A short while after arriving back home, and with my wife in tears (disappointment, stress, and PMS induced), the phone rang. It was someone who had seen our ad on the real estate website. He was in a hurry to come see the house ("can I come over right now"). We asked whether he could wait for the open house, and he said he wanted to see it immediately. He asked if we would take $160,000 (it's listed for $165,900), and I didn't answer because such a verbal offer is not one I would be able to enforce anyway. He was persistent about wanting to see the house, so we finally made an appointment for him to come tomorrow night. We'll just have to reschedule our own viewing.

Who knows? If this person is serious, maybe we'll have our home sold before the scheduled open house on Sunday!

As suggested by a couple of commenters, I've increased the font size, and improved the contrast on my comment box. See if that's any better.

I've been running scared lately. The thought of a hard drive crash on my system terrifies me. Let me explain. I believe in backups. I am fanatical about them. Until about a year and a half ago, while I was using my previous computer, I always made sure every computer I bought had a tape drive. And, if it didn't, I would add one. But as drive capacities grew, and things like portable drives became more popular, it seemed that the affordable tape drives started to disappear. The remaining affordable models either used the floppy interface (pulllleeeeze) or a separate interface that came with the drive. Throughput on those cards was much faster than a floppy, but still slow when you consider the capacity of the hard drive to be backed up. The standard formats in the industry QIC-40, QIC-80, TRAVAN I, TRAVAN II, ... seemed to change daily, depending on what capacity was needed.

Heck, I thought I had hit gold when I found a 10GB Sony Superdrive, and even that would not back up my entire system on a single tape. So, I would create a "master" backup of everything as of a specific point in time, then create "differential" backups each day of the week, until the end of the week, where I would again perform a full backup. That worked quite well, but in the back of my mind, I worried about the media... what would happen if I ever needed to actually restore anything.

I had the opportunity to do a few restores during the last few years. Some were more extensive than others. And there were times when the restore would fail, usually because the tape had been worn (what other reason, other than drop-outs due to wear can be cited). It was a scary proposition at best, and it was about to get worse.

When I bought my new machine in December 2000, it came with Windows ME. For whatever reason, the drivers for my Superdrive didn't want to work properly with ME, and Sony was no longer supporting the drive. So, I left the tape drive connected to the server (where it still sits to this day). And at some time during the past year, the little bugger just refused to work with my tapes. The tapes cost a fortune and are difficult to find. So, I've been doing without a backup for over a year.

Until my birthday. I was in the computer store and saw the Veritas Backup Exec program, which apparently is being marketed by a company called Stomp. The program has been renamed, and is now called Backup MyPC. I wanted to buy it on the spot, but was unsure about a couple of things... like, did it backup to CD-R disks as well as CD-RW, and could you mix disks during a backup session. The store clerk was kind enough to let me get to the product website from a kiosk in the store. There, I found that Stomp offered a 30-day trial of the product. So the decision was made. I went home, and decided to download and try the "free" version, then return to the store to purchase the full package if all went well.

The initial backup was called the "Disaster Recovery" backup. It included the creation of two diskettes that could be used to reboot the system in an emergency. The initial backup also included a comprehensive backup of the entire computer. In my case, there were 7.8GB of data to be backed up. I wasn't in a hurry, so I popped a CD-R disk in the drive and walked away. When I returned, the disk had been popped out of the drive, and the program was asking for another disk. The entire first backup seemed to take about 5-7 minutes per 700MB CD-R disk. But since I wasn't sitting there the entire time, it took significantly longer. I used 10 disks to do the job (there was some compression going on), and then the program asked to verify the backup. So, the 10 disks had to be fed back in, one at a time, until all 10 had been scanned.

The total process, in actual elapsed time (remember, I wasn't hanging around the machine) took 18 hours. Today, four days later, I ran my first differential backup. That process was run on a brand new, unformatted, CD-RW disk. Total time to format the disk and backup 554 files (168MB) of data was 27 minutes, including verification of the data after the backup.

For the first time in a long time, I feel good about the safety of my data.


P.S. The very next day, Internet Explorer on my WIFE's PC stopped working. Even reinstalling the software did not help. I finally found a technical note on the Microsoft website that addressed the specific issue (inability to access secure sites), but their recommended fix didn't work. Finally, remembering that our two newest PC's were purchased at the same time, I searched for the affected files on my PC, found the one I needed, and manually copied it to my wife's computer. After reregistering the dll, this fixed the problem (it only took seven hours of mucking around), but left me with the realization that her PC will also need to be backed up.

I guess I'll be making that purchase sooner than later.

One of my friends asked me about the weather today. It's been mild, though not up to the normal standards of early June. Normally by this time, I'd be swimming nearly daily. This year, the weather has been just a tad on the cool side for that.

I've noticed that the "weatherunderground" that supplies info to my temperature bar sometimes has limited information for my area. Whether that's because there are few weather stations around here, or whether it's common with this particular service, I don't really know. But it's disconcerting when I see temperatures of N/A or forecasts for temperatures in the below-zero range for a day in June. Perhaps I'll have to come up with a more reliable source for weather data.

We saw Star Wars Episode II yesterday. After really disliking Episode I, I had decided not to waste my money this time around. A small community theatre (which had closed over a year ago, and just recently reopened) was showing three first-run movies: Star Wars, Spider Man, and Sum of All Fears. I've been enjoying the Tom Clancy movies, so decided to take it in. Heavy traffic on the local highway (caused by construction - on a weekend no less!) had us arriving about 5 minutes after Sum of All Fears had begun. The next show to start was Star Wars. So, we went.

I won't get into the plot except to mention a couple of things. First, the fact that we already know what happens in Episode IV gives us a pretty good idea of what needs to happen in Episode III - which helps explain what's happening in Episode II. That "more direct" link in plot elements makes the story easier to follow, and more logical in its telling. Second, because apparently someone was listening to the criticism of Jar-Jar Binks in the first movie, and took appropriate steps.

So, I didn't hate Episode II, and am actually now looking forward to Episode III.

The perils of being lazy - Part II

There was another consequence to my laziness today. I didn't even bother to go to the mailbox. In a way, I'm glad I didn't, because it would have ruined my day. Instead, I got the bad news when my wife returned from work.

Bad News #1:

My request for unemployment insurance has been denied. Apparently, according to the government of the U.S., I had been working in their country illegally, and therefore am not entitled to unemployment insurance benefits. After a short cry of frustration and despair, I realized the possible reason for such a stupid conclusion (stupid, I say, because I still have my visa papers, duly signed and notarized, and a receipt for the filing fee, stamped by the Immigration and Naturalization Service agency). Each year, after renewing my one-year term visa, I had sent a xerox copy of the new paperwork to the corporate head office. This past year, I forgot to do that. So, the copy at my employer's office is out of date. If that is the copy the government is using to say I'm illegal, then it's not their fault. It's my fault for not forwarding copies of my renewed visa. Hopefully, it will be an easy mess to sort out.

Bad News #2:

Filing income taxes for both Canada and the U.S. is a sordid business. Ever since I started working in the U.S., I have used an accountant to prepare the returns for both countries' taxes. Not only can the expense be written off, but with their expert advice, I can generally come away with either a refund (rare in Canada when your basic tax is being withdrawn at a lower tax rate in the U.S.), or at least no extra tax to pay. According to my accountant's figures, I was due a substantial refund. I opened the letter, only to find I owe money - plus interest. The net effect is about a difference of $2000 CDN between what I had expected in refunds vs. what I now owe. Ouch. If I had opened the mail earlier, perhaps I would have been able to contact my accountant during business hours. As it was, the best I could do was leave a distressing voice mail.

The perils of being lazy - Part I

I'm really going to have to stop being lazy and get the heck away from my terminal for a minute or three.

Last night, while my wife and I were in the backyard showing our home, the real estate consultant called. She was having trouble with the email address we had provided her for sending us a proof of the ad. Today, I did nothing but sit at the terminal doing stuff that I should be saving for times when I have nothing more important to do. Finally, at 2:30PM, I decided to use the phone. When I picked up the receiver, I got that signal that there were messages waiting.

It was the message from the consultant, saying that she needed to have the draft back to her for 12:00 noon, today. Oops!

So, I phone her back, give her the proper email address, and within minutes, I have the proof. It was terrible. The layout was perfect, but the content was literally a copy (thinly veiled) of the template it had been modeled from. The consultant hadn't even bothered to change the name of the file. It still bore the name of the prior property.

Interspersed with more blog reading, I worked on the proof. By 5:15PM, I had a version that was almost perfect. It just wasn't as perfect as I wanted. My wife arrived home from work, and reminded me that we had an appointment to view a property we were interested in.

This property was one which had a glowing write-up on the real-estate website, but only a couple of pictures (the front of the house, and the lovely backyard). Well, now I know why those pictures were chosen. The inside of the house was awful. We were looking for 3-4 bedrooms that we could use as a bedroom, music room, and two computer rooms / offices. This house boasted FIVE bedrooms, so we thought everything was perfect. Well, each of the "bedrooms" was slightly larger than a typical walk-in closet. That is to say, barely big enough for one piece of small furniture. If you've seen the pictures of our house, you'll know that just won't do. We spent about ten minutes there - with the last eight being more out of courtesy for the present occupants.

When we got back home, it was time to return to the proofing. Just as I was going to hit the "send" button on my email, I took one last look, and noticed that I had managed to make the end of the ad move over to the next page. I had to spend the next hour trying to find out what words I could change to make just one line disappear from the page. I finally decided to combine two related features into a single descriptive line, and the problem was solved.

At 8:45PM, I emailed the proof back to the consultant. By 9:00PM, the arrangements were made. I should have my website totally updated by tomorrow, and have take-away sheets in my hand in time for this weekend's open house.

I've spent some time today re-reading comments on my blog, and examining some of the referral links on SiteMeter. I also gave some thought to the people whose sites I've visited and enjoyed, but who were not yet on my list of links. Though there are scads of sites that fall into the categories above, there are a few that stand out as ones deserving of an immediate link. In all cases, these people have something interesting to say (a change, I admit, from my own content), and I thought others who don't read my comments carefully or have access to my SiteMeter statistics might enjoy visiting these sites. So, please visit Eva, Deb and Lorien.

Blogger has been having some trouble retrieving Archive templates. I've been dying to make changes to the template, and recreate my archives, but there's just something happening with blogger that prevents that. Yesterday, I read about w.bloggar, a program that gives users an alternate interface for publishing. It works very well, supposedly with blogger, Moveable Type, and other blog-related tools. It even allowed me to retrieve the archive template from the blogger site and make changes to it.

But, I haven't yet figured out how to get w.bloggar to republish archives. If anyone that reads this uses w.bloggar, and knows how to republish archives, please let me know. I've read the FAQ section, and I thought I had looked through most of the menus (the icon interface is similar to blogger's), but I must be daft.

We're on the web

The real-estate consultant said we'd get a draft of the writeup on Monday or Tuesday, and that it needed to be back in her hands for a Wednesday deadline to appear in the Friday real-estate paper. And our first open house is scheduled for next Sunday.

I had said earlier that within minutes of our sign going up, we had a call... well, I think the same person called back this afternoon, and this evening, he and his elderly mother came by to take a look. It was so exciting, leading a "showing" of the home for the first time. Heck, we don't yet have the paperwork (offer sheets, takeaway flyers, seller's guide), since we weren't scheduled to even be on the website until Wednesday. I think the people who came over were very serious. And they were also pleased that the house had not yet been placed on the website (they had checked). It gave them the "inside track" on the house... they're the first to see it, and the first to possibly get a crack at making an offer.

So, imagine my surprise when my wife ran up to me just a few minutes ago and said: "We're on the web"

Let the games begin!

Today, I am reluctantly removing links to the first blog site I ever visited, and one that I still wish I was welcome to post to. The fact that I am no longer considered welcome there did not, to me, seem like a good reason to deprive visitors to my site the option of going to his.

And to this person's friend who wishes I would not post on their site, I will respect your wishes as well. And when you upgrade your comment script, you will find a delete post option and a ban option, and you will have the option of deleting any comments of mine you choose.

And just so I don't offend anyone else unintentionally, is there anyone else whose blogs I should not post comments to?

Thank you, Pegasong, for your birthday wishes. I hope to get to know your site better in the months to come.

It's Sunday, a day of rest. The past few days have worn us out, and with a good weather day today, we're hoping to take some respite from the preparation. Perhaps we'll take in a show.

What I did for my birthday

Can you believe it? I was so busy preparing for this weekend's activities, I completely forgot to write about my birthday. Yes, I did take some time to actually enjoy myself. My wife had taken the past three days off work to finalize listing arrangements, and since she happened to be around the house on Friday, I thought what the heck we may as well do something together. I had been planning to cross the border to pick up the last of my company-paid prescriptions, so I invited my wife to come along for the ride. And while state-side, I commented that it was too bad her season pass to the zoo had expired, because it was really a nice day. Then, I was surprised to hear the pass wouldn't expire until June 2nd! So, on the spur of the moment, we went to the zoo.

We weren't dressed appropriately. She had beach sandals, and I was wearing leather street shoes... not the kind of thing you like to walk around the park with. And we had no hats, sunscreen, or picnic food. Still, we figured we'd have a good time. My thought was that there would be very little crowd - it being a weekday, and not a holiday in either country. I should have realized that this close to the school year-end, there would be lots of field trips.

There were children everywhere, and each school had their own special t-shirts to make student identification easier. The only saving grace was that we didn't arrive at the park until nearly 1:00PM, so within the next hour or so, most of the kids had cleared out to head back to school.

The zoological society has been doing a marvelous job raising the profile of the zoo, and this year, a new exhibit, the Arctic Ring of Life opened. This exhibit contains both the Polar Bears and Sea Lions, each of which used to have separate, and non-neighboring pens; along with displays of an arctic fox and snowy owl. We had hoped the penguins would also be part of the exhibit, but their facilities are already quite impressive, and a big draw for children. I guess it needed to retain it's extra-large area. The really cool thing about the new exhibit is that it allows people to view the animals in their native habitat. Rather than having "trained" sea lions entertaining the crowd and swimming in pens only during shows, these creatures can now remain on their super-cooled artificial iceflows, and are free to enter the water whenever they choose. And rather than have the polar bears wander aimlessly on rock formations that seem more appropriate to mountain lions, they too have their iceflows and extensive pools.

And the public viewing area for the exhibit extends both over and under the areas where the animals are kept. So, you can enter a glass tunnel submerged within the swimming area of the polar bear. From this vantage point, you can watch the bear swim. At times, the bear will use the tunnel's roof as a perch - stopping there for a brief rest. When that happens, the humans below get an unrestricted look up the butt of the polar bear from a distance of about three feet. Many visitors were taking candid photos. Unfortunately, having decided to visit on the spur of the moment, we weren't carrying our camera. Other times, the bear will look into the tunnel, gazing at the park visitors. Still other times, the bear will use the tunnel as a pushing-off point, and we got to see the powerful legs and massive paws in motion as the bear swam above.

The sea lion portion of the underwater world is separated from the polar bear portion by a glass pane. Visitors in the tunnel can view the bears and the sea lions simultaneously. Both creatures can see eachother through the glass, but there is no way to actually get from one area to the next.

This exhibit alone would have been worth the price of admission, had we not gotten in free of charge. There was one exhibit that we did have to pay an additional fee to see. It was a simulator that allowed you to experience some of the day-to-day events in the lives of various animals, from the perspective of the animals themselves. The simulator caused you to move while a projected image showed the environment the animal would live in. The animals represented by the ride included a cougar, honey bee, frog, dolphin, and owl. The simulator had room for about 40 simultaneous visitors. My wife and I had the whole place to ourselves.

All in all, we spent about 2-1/2 hours at the park, just enough to see the exhibits without becoming sunburned or too fatigued. When we got back home, we went out for a birthday supper (the waitress that served us had her birthday today), then stopped by my parents' home for a short visit. That gave them an opportunity to express their own happy birthday wishes.

And today, I got a birthday phone call from my sister who lives out of town. It was her call that reminded me that I hadn't yet blogged about the occasion.

I've been busy

We'd been talking about listing the house for quite some time, and my wife has been busy for the past several weeks: cleaning, doing a bit of redecoration, sprucing up the place - all in preparation for "the day". The day when the real-estate advisor would come through to take pictures for the official website listing.

Being the lazy procrastinator I am, my tasks were left fairly late. But I still got to them. In fact, I did more in some regards than my wife would have expected. Yesterday was the day when I had to bite the bullet and get down to that final spurt of effort required to clean my private home/office. I had been doing well at it when I first got the inclination, but the inclination didn't last long. Yesterday felt like I was back in college, cramming for finals. I only wish I had thought to take a "before" picture of my room, because the "after" pictures sure impressed my wife!


   


The appraiser called back, and the figure he quoted was gratifying. We'd been warned that people often feel their homes are worth more than the market will bear, because of the love and attention they've lavished on them. That was a concern to us as well. And we were pleased that the official written appraisal was significantly higher than the free appraisal we received over the phone from a real-estate agent. The money we paid to get the "customized" appraisal was worth the difference we'll make on the sale.

So late this afternoon, the real-estate advisor came to take pictures, get official information about the property, and get the paperwork started. We expect that by Tuesday or Wednesday, at the latest, our property will be on the real estate website. And next weekend, we will host our first open house. The sign went on the front lawn, and within 15 minutes, we'd already received our first inquiry. Obviously, we have a curious neighbour.