Apologies

Yesterday, much to my surprise this morning, I had inadvertently published something that said (in its entirety) “killit”.

This is something I name a file when I need to have it temporarily so that I remember to delete it when I am done doing whatever it was I needed it for. In this case, it was a work file I generated and needed to send to my home account so that I could examine it later. Instead of sending it home, it would seem I sent it to my email posting on the BLOGGER account (thanks, Outlook!).

Fortunately, BLOGGER didn’t know what to do with the attachment and it was (I hope), lost in the ether. So for those of you that were wondering what was going on – well, so am I really.

OOPS! SORRY!

Watch out for that next step.....

We spoke to WellsFargo Financial last night.  The person we spoke to obviously didn’t have a clue what it means to expand a house, and the rate he quoted was extremely high.  Perhaps when I was in my twenties and didn’t have any sort of credible credit rating, I would have jumped on it, but we’ve worked hard to keep our rating on the high side of good, and frankly we deserve better.

 

I went through a period of being overwhelmed and depressed and thought seriously that the addition wasn’t worth the stress, but after speaking to a friend of mine, I think I have a better perspective.  WF obviously has the problem, not us, and I’m setting out to prove that by getting a good deal.

 

(Just as an aside, my friend thinks I’m over reacting and that I should just make a decision and go with it.  He just doesn’t understand the fine enjoyment of stress related illnesses.)

 

I think that what it’s all coming down to is next step.  Instead of trying to anticipate issues, I need to concentrate on the next step; in this case it’s detailing whatever other expenses I want to cover with the loan (for example paying off the car so that the car payments can be reallocated to the new loan), then decide if we want to give our designer the go-ahead.  Once we get a price from him, we’ll know how much we want to borrow.

 

OK, getting ahead again.

STOP. 

BREATH. 

Continue.  

The next step is to go to the gym, go home and have dinner.  I think that’s about as far as I want to project.

 

I once knew a man who, in his younger years, drove in stock car races – strictly amateur, small-time stuff.  Someone asked him if he’d ever been in a high-speed crash, and what does one do in such a circumstance?

 

He replied, “Just put your head down, close your eyes and wait for the noise to finish”.

 

Someone tell me when the noise is over.

First meeting with the designer

We spoke to our draftsman last Saturday.  He brought along some of his work so we could see what he’s done.

 

This guy’s good.

 

He’s obviously in love with what he does; he grew extremely exited over the “potentials” of the property and he started scratching some lines on paper while he was sitting there.  This wasn’t to show us or to impress us; this is just how the man thinks.

 

What finally sold me, I think, is something he said that first upset me.  I had mentioned that I would do the flooring, the drywall, the paint, the fixtures, and so on.  His concern about that was if I did take that part on, I might not be willing to complete it in a timely manner.

 

I was put off by this to say the least.  This is MY house, and if I decide to live in a hollow, unfinished room with exposed 2x4s and a single slab of cement – then that’s MY business!  Who was he to dictate “timely” completion to me?  Who’s hiring who?!

 

It finally dawned on me that this is HIS house.  If he’s taking on this project, until it’s complete this is his house, his progress, and his “baby”.  That is exactly the sort of person in whose hands you want to place your equity.  If he’s that concerned about me keeping up my end of the expansion, he’s going to be even MORE committed about his.

 

His idea is to start with EVERYTING and pair down from there.  What you want vs. what you can afford. He has a brilliant sense of space and a very keen eye.  I got excited about this all over again while speaking to him.  

 

I talk to the loan company this evening.  I wonder if my excitement will begin to wane. 

 

We have a start date for 2 weeks.  That’s when he begins the measuring and the designing.

 

Gak.

 

Deciding to decide - maybe

OK, we started to get together on just what it is we are looking for, and SURPRISE, we really did have almost exactly the same ideas, we just weren’t quite explaining them right.  On the other hand, if I cannot explain myself to a woman I’ve known for 25 years, how much success am I going to have explaining it to a man I’ve never met?

 

Ironically, we received no less than THREE “refinance your home now!” junk mails yesterday alone!  These people are fighting amongst themselves to give us credit (the fools!), and yet one of the letters we received started off with the message “Even though you’ve been turned down by other creditors for one reason or another, we’ll work hard to get you the money you need”.  Really on the ball, aren’t they?  Oh well, that’s one reason we have a shredder.

 

At this point I’m torn between do we want to refinance and be able to deduct the interest on the new loan – or is it better to do a home equity line of credit so that I don’t end up with too much or too little refinanced?  Another benefit of the home equity line of credit is use of emergencies (medical bills, dental bills, auto/home repairs, etc).  I am open to opinions <<< hint>>>.

 

I think we are going to take a section of our addition and put in an exercise room. Nothing fancy or elaborate, just enough to hold an elliptical and maybe a Bowflex; a place to put the weights I’ve had for years and never had the room to use.  The benefit is that it could be considered another bedroom (Maybe) – bringing us to a total of four. Also I would no longer have to spend $50 each month on gym membership – which monthly fee then can go into loan payments.  Additionally, it has often happened that I have wanted to get some exercise but haven’t been able just due to the fact that getting to the gym, changing, and getting home again takes too much time.  I’ve had enough time to work out, but not enough to get there and back as well.

 

Tonight, we’re sitting down with a crude drawing I’ve done, and we’ll cut and paste our way into something looking like a plan.  Then Saturday we’ll see how much of that plan we can afford.

 

Of course, we may just forget the whole thing. 

On the other hand, we’re exited. 

On the other hand, let’s not do it at all.

On the other hand, let’s ONLY remodel the kitchen. 

On the other hand …..

GAK - what a lovely sound

Trying to do this by the email post – we’ll see what happens:

 

Our expert engineer/draftsman/designer guy comes on Saturday afternoon and just this morning, my wife and I discovered that we have two very different views on how we want the finished house to look.

 

The basic shape of the add-on and where what rooms go are pretty well decided (I think), but how much of what wall is going to be left and where which door is or isn’t going to go and are we arching or door-ing and what about windows and……

 

As I said before: GAK.

 

Here’s a bit of irony: last night a salesman called our house.  He was calling from our bank asking if we’d be interested in a home equity loan or line of credit.  Sometimes I suppose these “cold calls” pay off, and though I apologize to the entire civilized world for encouraging this behavior, I told him to try calling back on Monday.  At least this way, I don’t have to try and figure out what number to dial or what store front to visit for information.

 

I need to check on the feasibility of the design, what our expert thinks the cost of our desires (should we eventually agree on them) will be, and shop around different financial institutions. Saturday we get the expert’s general opinion, Monday I get my first offer on loans and I spend the rest of next week fielding different rates and terms and other financial quandaries that are going to leave my head spinning.

 

I should be able to work myself into a tizzy (yes, I used the word “tizzy”!) by the beginning of May.

 

I am trying to concentrate on work, to put this behind me, but as I am writing this at work*, I don’t think I have succeeded.

 

GAK.  It’s become my slogan.

 

 

*NOTE: If you work where I do; I wrote this on my LUNCH time!

 

IT'S OVER! The tales are done.

It’s time to change the BLOG.

I originally began this BLOG as an outlet for writing, a place where I could stretch my creativity a little. What I found instead was a small community of people I have begun to cherish who are interesting, witty and friendly.

So, although I have now gone to writing purely fiction and that only for my own creativity’s sake rather than general distribution, I did not want to loose the virtual connections I have made.

Instead of telling stories, I thought what I might do in order to keep up the appearance that I am still alive, and to stay a part of the community, is to chronicle what may be one of the best or worst decisions I have ever made.

We have been living in the same home for many, many, MANY years now. In the last ten years, the value of the house has TRIPLED.

GAK!

As we owe a bit less than a third of the current value (!), we have decided it’s time to take a part of the equity and reinvest it into the house.

Our house is currently a two-bedroom-one-bath-tiny-925-sq-foot matchbox sitting on a 10,000 sq foot lot (about a ¼ acre). It’s time to enlarge.

So – I thought that perhaps instead of months-long silences, I would take this BLOG space, this little section of the web, and regale anyone who cares (I did say you folks were friendly) about the progress of our expansion.

To this end, let me begin here by saying that we are having a meeting with a gentleman this Saturday. He’s the husband of someone I work with, and he’s a designer, structural expert and experienced in home expansion and landscape design. He’s going to help us draw up plans, get coding and permits and even help us hire contractors.

This is exciting and frightening. This is either going to turn out GREAT or be the biggest nightmare I ever backed into.

Either way, I’ll try to be sure you get a front row seat for all the action.

Lucky you.