Settlement for the house in Alexandria is set for Sept. 16. Inspection is on Friday, here's hoping we have no problems.

Well I for one am in a daze over New Orleans, et al. I am sure I am not nearly in the same daze as those who managed to live through it. It's simply incomprehensible to me. I mean, amazing, really. A whole city is there one day, gone the next.

This is eerie in its own way... look at this: http://www.neworleansrestaurants.com/
No one will ever dine at Arnauds again. Anyone who thinks New Orleans will simply be re-built I think is wrong. Why chance it? Some new city *may* be built but it won't be New Orleans nor is it likely to be built where it used to be. New Orleans is now gone forever.

Well, we met halfway, so it looks like it's a go! I should have the initialed and signed new contract some time tomorrow by fax.

I would do cartwheels but the news that New Orleans is about to be destroyed by Hurricane Katrina is dampening what would be a more celebratory mood. Ugh. Those poor people.

Ze good news is I have an offer on my place! Ze bad news is that it's for $1.46. =)

Actually it's not bad but it is under the asking price by about $20k. It seems they are interested in the place but want to add a newer kitchen with granite this and that and so on, which I am told has become a hot selling feature in the DC market. Well those who know me know I don't care much about what the kitchen in a place looks like just as long as the fridge works. But I also realize, I am not the same as others in this regard. So I am countering with a split-the-difference maneuver, which is fairly standard. I will drop $10k and then see what they do.

Stay tuned, the answer will be known by the end of the day.

Praise God, I now have DSL!

Wayy funny... Rochester has made The Onion with this.

Phew. All moved in, but still have boxes to go through and stuff to toss. I have my books for this coming semester and all. What I don't have yet is DSL at home, so I am here in the library at school doing the 'net thing. I forgot how much stuff you can get with a student ID card, like Internet access.

The cats are adjusting well, and are glad to have the whole place to themselves. Last piece of business: the house in Alexandria. I spoke to my realtor and she says after discussing things with other realtors, the pricepoint is good and the house is entirely sellable. However it seems the market is just real slow in DC this August and so we hope to sell by mid-Sept. Two months on the market in DC??! Unthinkable just three months ago! My how times change. :)

The settlement on the new place was today and it went off without drama, and so I am now back in D.C. The plane ride todaywas uneventful, though the SuperShuttle got pulled over by a cop for running a red. The driver managed to talk his way out of the ticket-- neat trick, wish I knew it!

So, the next step is to get the wee furry babies up there. That is set for Friday. Boy were they glad to see me, he who bears apposable thumbs and knows how to get the kibble in the dish!

Me behind the wheel of an SUV?? I still can't quite grok it.

So, the move is done, except for the cats. The movers came and in about 2 hours everything from the van was in the house. So now I have the closing tomorrow at 10 AM, hoping there are no pitfalls or last-minuite tricks of the light (if so, it would be plenty inconvenient to have to move out of the place, yes?). Then, I fly back in the afternoon to let the kitties know that the day has finally come. They'll be good and doped up for the trip, lucky little devils. =) The drive up should take even less time (knock on wood) than Sunday's trip, since it'll be in an SUV.

A rented SUV. Just this once. Honest.

Well, here I am in Rochester. I made good time, even with hauling the car behind the truck, and arrived at around 7:30.

Much better than an SUV at keeping cars away from you on the road is the ol' rental-truck-and-the-car-carrier routine. Nobody wants to get near you. When you think about how insane it is to allow an otherwise ordinary driver have a rental van and give them a car carrier with it, you can really see why people stay the f*ck away as you cruise down the highway. When I see someone doing what I did today, I make every effort to stay far away. Too bad you can't get that with an ordinary car!

I have a feeling after Saturday's labor mishap, Tuesday will go fine. The dispatcher felt so bad about the screw-up. Well at least he isn't blase about his job. The only thing that can mess things up now is something going wrong with the closing on Wednesday. Here's hoping the bad luck streak is over.

The good news is the truck is totally loaded and the car carrier is fine; I will have to put stuff in my car, there's so much stuff to haul. The bad news is my original laboring help for today didn't show up. It wasn't until 5:00 I had two guys to help me from a totally different labor company. So the entire more-leisurely evening I had planned went out the window.

An adventure in moving indeed.

Happy to report that the closing on the place in Rochacha is finally scheduled for Wednesday, two days later than hoped for but not anything I can't work with. Now if my fortunes can only hold through this week-end and the trip up goes off without a hitch (no pun intended).

On a totally unrelated topic, I guess this pretty much defines the word "compulsion", doesn't it?

Well they finally straightened everything out. It looks like settlement on the new place will happen Monday, or Tuesday latest.

As for the house down here... back to St. Joseph, I guess...

I have to remind myself here that I am 1. not starving to death, 2. not in Iraq or someplace worse, 3. unlikely to ever miss a meal except by choice and 4. otherwise not in any real agony. Why must I do this? Because I am getting ready to eat hot metal, that's why.

My close date of Aug. 15 on the new place is in danger because of a clerical error with the commitment letter. Thus, it has not been finalized yet. Now, in NY, the money to pay for a place has to be in the buyer's lawyer's escrow acct. by the closing date. This transfer of money from the lender to the escrow acct. usually takes two business days. Today is Tuesday, so the wire has to be in process by tomorrow(let that read "close of business today" for all practical purposes) in order to be reasonably sure it will be confirmed at my lawyer's account on Friday. In the meantime, the seller's realtor and lawyer are both flipping out that we don't have the letter. My realtor is flipping out that we don't have the letter. My insurer needs the letter to finalize the policy on the house, something that, again, I need on Monday to close the sale. The insurance people are not flipping out, but I am.

Oh yeah, another thing-- the contractor can't clean and stain my deck today on my (now twice-price-lowered) house here in Alexandria because it's raining and will be until Friday, according to the weather report. This also bodes ill for foot-traffic through my place, at least until this week-end.

*ahem*

"Ahhh Sariputra, the Boddhisattva of Infinite Forbearance is here with you to teach you an important less....." gggrrrrhjksdfjfppfghurhehjdhfgjkesrfjhgsdlkpfgoirioeosgjokf! $#^^&^&*&(%(&&*&^ DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!! ARRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!

*sigh*... I guess it's not working. =)

Rats, almost had one! Had a prospect put an offer on another place with mine being their second choice and drat all the luck, they got their first pick. Actually I am happy for them, whoever they are. It feels good to get your first choice of anything.

I have had some good feedback from other realtors on my place. The good news is, they say the place shows great and should sell soon-- depending on "XYZ", of course (keep reading...). The bad news is is that foot traffic through the place and in the no. VA area in general has been slow in July and it seems the trend continues into this month, but that the comments they get back consistently from visitors include this: the kitchen isn't filled with just-installed applicances, and that is holding people back from feeling all-that about the place, despite the new paiting and carpeting. I spoke to my realtor this AM and she said that as important and necessary as is steaming and staining the deck (which is planned for this Tues. and Wed.), that it's impractical at this time given my moving plans and so forth to start replacing applicances and re-doing kitchen (which would be another $10k into the place anyway). I agree. So after reviewing comparable sales and prices again in the area we concluded that since other places with garages are going at slightly higher than what mine is listed at, dropping another $5k would make the place more attractive.

So the doldrums of summer have taken their toll indeed; I should have followed my realtor's better advice of earlier, which was "Sell in June, young [hey, is 37 still "young"?] man!". But we all must learn the hard way, yes? So, off comes another $5k. The new price though is only $15k less than the original list price and really, that isn't much of a drop for this area. Houses elsewhere, yes, it's the entire margin on the place and a cause for the rending of garments and gnashing of teeth, but here in the wilds of DC suburbia, adding or dropping $15k on a house ain't nothin'. So hopefully, this will win the trick.

BTW, my moving plans are in place. I plan to close on the new house next Monday, after driving all my stuff up to Rochacha this coming Sunday. The whole of next week will pretty much be devoted to buying a house and moving into it (and with luck, selling a house, too!).

Hey, is anyone else out there really bummed out that Peter Jennings just plain old died? I mean, I knew he had lung cancer and all, but did anyone expect his condition to deteriorate that rapidly? Poor guy.

My Zen-like facade of coolness is cracking. I am getting pi$$ed. Why is this place not already under contract? OK, now, I must learn to be patient. "Grasshopper, patience is the key." According to this local realtor, houses just at or above my range are on the market at this time for 30-45 days. So that makes me feel better. Still, one freaking offer by now would make me feel a lot better. The truth is, I want things to proceed at my schedule, and The Market will not suffer such arrogance. It knows only one thing: what it wants. It is a great seething merciless beast that shows no remorse or mercy. It's not unlike a really bad case of food poisoning or sea-sickness.

Well, assuming closing is a month away at least from any signed contract, I just have to resign myself to the fact that I will have to fly ("I don't like airplanes, Hannibal!") down here again from Rochester to sell this place when in fact it does sell. Is having to close a sale on your old house a valid excuse these days for skipping a class or two? Guess I'll find out the hard way.