Rawhide!

We took possession Saturday eve and have been moving heavy things since then. The sudden squalls today netted us a wet couch, love seat and mattress. Nice.

I'll most likely not be posting tomorrow. We won't have Internet until the cable guy gets to the new house (goodbye Charter, hello Comcast) and I'll probably be occupied in sweaty man labor regardless.

If I can find the digital camera I'll take some pics for the next entry.

Posted by: Jim at 10:10 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Congratulations on the new house.

Posted by: Kate at June 27, 2004 11:23 PM (FcPaN)

2 Hurry up. No one is commenting at my site.

Posted by: Jennifer at June 28, 2004 02:44 PM (DdBLw)

3 That is exciting... sorry about the couch/love seat/mattresses, but know that rocky beginnings are a sign of good times ahead. I tried to say that in a more clever way but I couldn't and I just made it up but I really hope it is true; that for every difficulty you have with the move, every little problem, you should have ten times the blessings in the years that follow.

Posted by: Rachel Ann at June 28, 2004 02:51 PM (9vaJp)

4 Thanks, y'all. The furniture dried out okay so no damage done there. Doesn't it figure though that the last load last night would have the dresser in the pick-up when another squall hit. I laughed and laughed and laughed. And people say God doesn't have a sense of humor! LOL

Posted by: Jim at June 29, 2004 05:30 AM (bmLWy)

5 Photos + sweaty man-labor = bring it on!!!

Posted by: Claire at June 29, 2004 06:44 PM (l1oyw)

6 Please tell me that you initiated the new pad in the...er...most appropriate way.

Posted by: Helen at June 30, 2004 06:02 AM (jqTFJ)

7 But of course! No pictures yet, though. ;-)

Posted by: Jim at June 30, 2004 07:27 AM (IOwam)

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I just deleted (permanently) about 20 emails that I needed to follow up on. Every morning I eradicate my overnight spam with extreme prejudice. This morning I highlighted all of the messages in the folder just like I do every day, held down the "shift" key and pressed "delete". When the happy little pop-up popped up and asked "Jim, are you absolutely sure that you want to delete these emails in a frightfully permanent, never to be undone manner? I mean - you will never, EVER see these again and that's no joke Homey. OK or Cancel?" I hit "OK" like I do every day. Imagine my perplexity when all of the emails in the folder disappeared but the number next to the "Junk" folder in my Outlook bar stayed exactly the same. Follow along with my thought processes:

that's weird...what just happened there...something wrong with the Outlook bar...did I just go through the delete sequence or am I so sleepy that I messed it up...mmmm coffee...folder's definitely empty so why does it still say there are unread messages...weird shit...oh, wait...when I click on the folder it's full again...was I even on that folder...where was I...what did I delete...sonofabitchshitdammitarghhhhh!!!

Damn. There were emails from Melissa (the car Pimpress) and some new Pimp Dogg in there. I think I can fake it responding to those though. At least 3 or 4 leads for Zero Intelligence just bit it and that hurts. Good leads aren't as easy to come by now with summer break in session. There were two for Memeblog; hope Simon will catch those. Oddly enough there were some work related ones too. How did those get in there...

If you mailed me and were waiting for a response please mail me again.

On the plus side, my Inbox hasn't been this clean in three and a half years!

Posted by: Jim at 07:50 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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It's time to impart some of the pearls of wisdom we've acquired up to this point.

Get the paperwork requirements early. Late last week after we had signed our agreements and everything was set between us and the sellers we got a package from our broker. (A broker can be of great help in acquiring a loan at an excellent rate, helping to get you through special purchase requirements like HUD, FHA and VA and otherwise make the money side of house buying much easier.) The package from the broker had a stack of forms to fill out and sign and a list of papers and receipts we needed to provide within 24 hours. WTF? Granted some of these could not have been completed until after the purchase agreement was signed but the vast majority could have been gathered and/or filled out at any time if we'd known about it. Turns out this is a standard thing in the industry because brokers don't want to spend money on your paperwork if you aren't committed (in writing) to a house. They only make money if you get a mortgage. Insist on the list right away because you'll pull out hair trying to gather everything at the last minute.

Keep off of the bank account. My Mom wanted to help us by paying for our inspection and she also wanted us to get some nice housewarming things. She sent a check. We deposited it. BIIIIIIG mistake. You see, if there are any unexpected deposits or withdrawals the lender wants to know what they're for. They want you to PROVE what they were for. They need to know that you didn't just incur an additional debt or that you aren't paying on an undisclosed debt. This is a hassle, especially when you find out that it is needed on Friday evening and the closing is on Tuesday. And the check was a gift from your out of state Mom. And because it was from her credit union account and they have barely mastered paper processing and are terribly frightened of any terms starting with an "e-" so there's absolutely no way to get a copy of the canceled check. You end up having to forge your mother's signature on an affidavit saying that the check was a gift but take the time to write her name out a hundred times or so in order to get a smooth flow since you haven't had to forge it since you were in Junior High.

Ask for the world, their draperies and their pets. House Lady was really good here. She asked for absolutely everything we could think of and added some things we didn't think of. When you put that offer in the only way it can go is down. If you don't have things that can be cut off of it then you are not going to get some of the things that you really want/need. Plus if they're desperate enough you just might get their pets.

Don't ever think of skimping on an inspector and get a good one. Another place House Lady came through for us was hooking us up with an excellent inspector. Earl knew his shit and based on his inspection we had a long dozen things (actually it was a dozenty-three things) that we wanted repaired. Similar to the point above we asked for everything to be fixed, even stuff we really didn't care about. They gave us everything. He shoots, he scores! (There was an issue with one fix - a 30 amp fuse that didn't get placed but that was ultimately by my choice.)

Posted by: Jim at 01:45 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The deed is done! Or, more precisely, the deed has been transferred and then put in hock for the next 30 years. Either way we're now homeowners.

Damn, what a relief it is. The paperwork crunch over the past several days (including last night at 8 PM) has almost driven me to drink. But all that's over now and all that's left is the move.

We had a celebration dinner and our first stop at Home Depot to buy things for the house - fire ant treatment and plant killer. No fire ants now and we want to keep it that way. The plant killer is for the poison ivy in the back yard. It's not bad (just two plants) but I want that stuff dead in a very final manner. We also bought wall anchors and hooks 'cause you can never have too many things on the walls.

Right now I'm debating whether to open the bottle of champagne that the lawyer gave me at the closing. I'm sorely tempted but I think we'll save that for our first night in the new place.

Everybody should be planning on being in the Atlanta area some time in the early middle of July for our breaking-in celebration. I'll let you know when we get the date set. :-)

Posted by: Jim at 06:47 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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In approximately an hour and a half my Lovely Wife will be picking me up from work. We'll go home and have some lunch. I'll then travel to a lawyer's office where I will sign my name for close to an hour straight. At approximately 3:30 PM I will be a home owner.

I am so freaking totally butterflies and needles right now.

Hot damn!

Posted by: Jim at 10:42 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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As you can probably imagine, getting ready to move into our first house has kept the finances tight. As a result I wasn't expecting any Daddy's Day prizes. My Lovely Wife is not one to be put off by something so simple as lack of cash though.

I ended up with a big-ass Coleman propane grill with side burner, 2 magnolia seedlings and a 2-stroke gas powered weed whacker. I was also in temporary custody of a stuffed shark, a marble, a Barney car and a bag of rubber balls. The little people reclaimed the smaller gift items throughout the day.

How'd she finagle such largess? She found this group called FreeCycle that connects people who don't need stuff anymore with people who could use it. Very, very sweet. I need a fuel line for the whacker but that's no big deal. The grill needs a propane tank but our broker (may the angels smile upon him) is donating one of his extras.

Is my Lovely Wife awesome or what?

Posted by: Jim at 11:38 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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My eyes are giving me a headache. Let me expound - I've had a headache for a few days (obviously stress related from the house and the job) but since yesterday it's been getting worse with light. Bright light builds up the pain to unbearable levels and no drug I have access to can touch it.

So I've been sitting here in my brightly lit cube with my brightly lit monitor feeling the shearing grip of pain extend through my head like a tentacled horror burrowing through my skull. All of a sudden I had a V-8 moment. You know - when you slap yourself for not thinking of something so obvious as to be ridiculous? Yeah, one of those moments.

I've turned off the lights in my cube and reduced the monitor brightness to "way low". The overhead lights provide plenty of light for anything except novel reading and since I don't have any excellent works of fiction here that's quite sufficient. With the monitor turned down low it's actually almost soporific to gaze upon.

Ah...feel the fingers of bright shiny pain receding...

Posted by: Jim at 11:27 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The closing won't be tomorrow but it will be on our original planned date of the 23rd. That's Wednesday. I'm going to be a homeowner.

Holy shit, y'all!

Our broker is just fan-freakin-tastic. Not only has he bought down our rate (this is banker talk for "I'll give you money now instead of later), he's finagled the closing numbers so well that our out of pocket expense for buying this house is hovering at or below zero dollars. Yeah - at or below zero dollars to get into this house.

As in, pay no money and get into the house. Have a month on us and just pay your mortgage starting in August.

The appraisal also came in at just a hair under $135,000. Our mortgage is for $130,000.

We're putting zero dollars down to get into a house that we'll have almost five grand of equity in as soon as the ink dries.

I love the Navy. I love the VA. I love my broker.

Posted by: Jim at 03:26 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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We had our team meeting this morning. This was a bit odd since our Product Architect and temporary team director (did I mention that there's STILL no executive in charge of Development yet?) is in Hawaii. The reason became clear when Project Manager Girl ran out of things to say and admitted she was dragging it out because President Guy had said he wanted to stop in on the meeting. For all y'all who aren't in a corporate setting this was the equivalent of Project Manager Girl standing on the conference table and screaming out "This is a set up! This meeting was only held because President Guy wanted y'all for a captive audience while Product Architect is away!"

Except she's stubbornly clinging to her Pennsylvania speech patterns so she wouldn't have said "y'all".

He wanted us to know how proud he is of our product and how important it is to the company. He went on and on about how the quality of the product is so fantastic that we are in a position to leverage our synergies to extemporate our marginalizations, or something like that. The vast difference in product quality since release X.0 was mentioned a couple of times. How life was horrible at X.0 and earlier but that now we've only got legacy issues left from the bad old days. Everybody who's using X.1 through X.4 loves us to tears and wants us to have babies with them.

Know what the big addition was after X.0? The big change that was made to address the massive quality problems? The one constant that has been in place during the increasing reliability and decreasing incident versions of X.1 through X.4? A dedicated Quality Assurance Analyst. Me. I came in to a product that had devastating quality problems. Now we have a product that is so reliable they don't even need to think about quality any more. So they're getting rid of the QA Analyst position.

Stupid mother fuckers.

I'd like to say that I don't hope the product tanks when I leave but that would be mostly a lie. It doesn't really matter what I hope for anyway. Programmers working as part time quality people are not going to put out a reliable product. They already proved this in the pre-Jim versions.

History will repeat itself and by version X.6 this product is going to be a dog again.

Posted by: Jim at 01:07 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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These are movies that are so bad you killed them (had to turn them off or leave the theater because you could not stand to watch them any more). I'm pretty tolerant and have a high pain threshold. I can generally watch even really bad movies (like Lifetime channel ones). Either I'll mentally ridicule it and amuse myself that way or I'll just use it as a two hour brain nap. But even with my inhuman resistance there are movies that I simply could not finish watching.

I want to work up a list of these killer movies, sort of a "worst of" list. I'll start it off with one of mine and then y'all pile in on the comments and I'll update the list periodically. No rules except you must literally have walked out on it or turned it off, never to return to it again. Let's keep it limited to first run movies too. If it was direct to video even the distributors knew it was lousy. Give some sort of clue why it was so bad, too.

The List of Killer Movies:

About Schmidt (Trey): I hate him for peeing on the floor. I hate him for making me see those huge, gross boobies. I hate this movie because like Eyes Wide Shut it is boring, except instead of being about walking, this movie is about driving, which is just as boring. At least it's day time.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (Mark): As if watching Jim Carrey talk through his butt wasn't enough, there's a truly excreble love scene with "In The Jungle" in the background. My brother and I, though only having paid a dollar to witness this cinematic treat, raced each other to the car after that.

Battlefield Earth (Ilyka): My boyfriend rented it as an exercise in masochism. Turns out he's a much bigger masochist than I am, because he made it all the way through and I had to quit at about 45 minutes.

Blood Work (Trey): This is a movie about how some women really just want to have sex with really old, gross, wrinkly men. That's their business, but it should have been on the poster so that I would know to avoid it. Also, there is some boring talking. I swear I saw a boom mike come into the frame a couple of times. Oh, and there's a kid that stands as a good argument for abortion.

Cabin Fever (Trey): Ok. I take it back about there being an exciting movie about flesh-eating bacteria. This movie has that and it's just dumb. Dumb + about 75 million gallons of fake blood. It's a movie about how movies sometimes don't have any relationship at all with reality. The only good thing about this movie is that it's the movie TGD and I watched on our first date.

Eyes Wide Shut (Trey): This is a movie about walking. Tom Cruise is a good walker especially after dark. It was almost a movie about Nicole Kidman's Heiney, but it doesn't show up enough to make it worth watching. There are some other naked people, too, but they also do not outwiegh the apparent vast importance this movie places on walking. And also some talking about boring things. [ED - This one's on my list too. It's a terribly serious movie too. I turned it off when I realized I was waiting for a crying clown to appear.]

Farewell my Concubine (Simon): Had me wishing I was in a room with someone actually draggin their fingernails down a blackboard. Not only did my girlfriend at the time and I walk out, it was so bad it put paid to any chance of sex that night. Damn that movie.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (Me): Yeah, the definitive 'guy' movie was so bad I turned it off. It was shortly after Lee VanCleef's character beat some information out of a whore that I realized that this movie just flat out sucked. The dialog is too over the top to survive even the suspension of disbelief rule. The characters are so universally reprehensible that I was hoping for a three way shootout with no survivors. The dubbing and sound effects were unbelievably bad. There was at least a half-second difference between the video track and sound tracks and that gave it the feel of a Japanese monster flick. There were no sounds except dialog and guns and an occasional door. Just a horrific train wreck of a movie overall.

Insomnia (Trey): Insomnia is not an exciting affliction. Name a movie "Flesh-eating bacteria" and then you can talk excitement, of course, the movie would be much shorter than Insomnia, which if the movie IS insomnia wouldn't be a bad thing. Robin Williams isn't scary like Hannibal Lector. He's scary like Chester the Molester and that's also not good. I don't think there's a likable person in the whole movie. I want them all to die.

It's Pat (Emma): Proof that Hollywood hasn't had an original idea since 1940 and that not all SNL skit rip-offs are a good idea. Horrific.

Johnny English (Me): It was so trite, juvenile, predictable and plain not funny that even the promise of Natalie Imbruglia in tight cleavage-revealing outfits could not entice me to endure it.

Lost in Space (LeeAnn): Such horrendously "written by the sappy woman at the end of the assembly line" Hallmark dialogue that even Gary Oldman couldn't save it. One of the few movies I've walked out on.

Lost in Translation (Trey): This is movie about an old and not very funny man who fancies himself to be either not as old as he is or way older than he is and definitely more funny than he is. And he stays up late at night. This movie should be stopped after the "Lip my stocking, Mr. Hallis" scene. Again, boring.

Meet Joe Black (Harvey): Beloved Wife & I figured it ought to be good, what with Anthony Hopkins. Bleah! Bad dialogue, turtle-paced-plot, a lot of blank expressions, and conversations that did nothing to advance the plot or story. I think we lasted half an hour.

Naked Lunch (Me): I only rented this because it starred Peter Weller. If Robocop was the star it had to be good, right? Oh man was I shocked when I discovered it was actually a porn/snuff flick featuring a lunatic fucking a typewriter. This one got turned off the first time Gizmak the Typer licked itself clean with its twelve inch tongue.

Passion of the Christ, The (Helen): I had thought it would be inspired, but instead it was like watching defrost meat get whipped on a kitchen counter. Dude, can you say "gratuitous"?

Punchdrunk Love (Trey): This is a movie about what if Adam Sandler were just a smidge more retarded than he already is and is still able to convince a pretty lady to put up with him for more than five seconds. If I were Adam Sandler in this movie, I wouldn't be retarded, but I just might kill everyone I know with a tire iron or a steak knife.

Scream (Mark): I also made my friends get up and leave the theater after the beginning of Scream (when the girl gets her throat slashed and can't scream to her parents) because I realized I could no longer stomache slasher films. We saw Beavis and Butthead Do America and had (at least I did, and I'm not much of a fan of Beavis and Butthead) a grand ole time.

Seabiscuit (Ilyka): I probably could have stayed with it if I'd tried harder. As it was I was mocking the condescending narration a lot: "Now y'see, back in the 1930s was a time known as the Great Depression, because it was very depressing not being able to find 'nuff to eat. But it was Great if you were rich." But I cracked and we walked out of the theater halfway through.

Starsky & Hutch (Susie): I think it was the first movie I literally walked out of the theater on since The Man Who Fell to Earth. Thank God it was playing at my theater and I hadn't paid anything to get in. The absolute bottom-scraping of "let's turn old tv shows into movies between making remakes and sequels because thinking is hard" school of film making.

Touch of Evil (Ilyka): One of mine is one which repeatedly makes the "best" lists by people who know far, far more about the art of filmmaking than I do: Touch of Evil. Couldn't watch the damn thing. Couldn't take Orson Welles' mumbling. Couldn't buy Charlton Heston (yes, Charlton Heston) as a Mexican. Couldn't stand the female lead. Couldn't even follow what was going on because, oh my God, did I mention the mumbling? So I guess I have no taste in cinema.

Toxic Avenger, The (Clancy): I remember being in the video store with my (then) girlfriend and looking at the (then) old campy movie section. A guy stranding next to me said, “Hey Pal, watch this one. I just say it and it was good.” So we took it home. And had to kill it about 30 minutes in. I still wonder about that stranger. Did he really think it was good, or is he still laughing?

Truth or Dare (Dopple-G): It was all about girlfriend secrets and stuff like that. I was really looking for tits and ass - you know, spank material - and this was targetted for girls and homosexual guys.

Posted by: Jim at 05:33 AM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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Possible problem with the new house (which is still going pretty smoothly and still scheduled for closing on the 22nd but our broker said don't count that day as gospel cause it could be a day or two later and why did we bother specifying an exact date on the legal documents if it's subject to change based on stuff we have no control over anyway but that's not what this post is about so I'll drop it for now). The current air conditioner isn't the original air conditioner. That's not a problem at all. Newer is generally better and in this case it's a very nice air conditioner. The problem is that the original fuse and breaker are 40 amps and they weren't changed when this new unit was put in. This unit is rated at 30 amps. More modern, more efficient, pulls less juice.

Is this a problem? We made changing out the breaker for a 30 amp breaker one of our requirements but the sellers have been advised that it's a no-use change (no reason to do it, in other words) so they don't want to do it.

Is there a real problem if the cutouts are rated at 40 amps and the unit is rated at 30 amps?

Posted by: Jim at 11:51 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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It was a bit too sweet and the hot fudge was too runny.

Actually I really did have one. I'll clue y'all in later after I flesh it out and talk to Lovely Wife about it.

Posted by: Jim at 07:19 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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There are a lot of sucky things about job hunting. One of the suckiest is that you have to give at least a cursory examination to all of your email. Even the ones that SpamBayes absolutely guarantees are spam. I know that SpamBayes is 99%+ efficient but if I miss a chance at Ultimajob because their HR guy uses too much marketspeak and SpamBayes equates his missive with a cia|is mailing and I didn't catch it before deleting it I would be seriously pissed. No, wait a sec. I wouldn't be pissed because I wouldn't actually know about it if I didn't catch it.

Ah, hell. You know what I mean - I don't want to miss anything and as a person looking at a lack of employment I'm motivated enough to do something that I haven't done in months - read the Subjects of a hundred or so porn and drug spams on a daily basis.

On the plus side I got a genuine giggle out of this one from Grover Oneill (no apostrophe please, thank you very much): The Beeeeeest Lubeeeee For Your Johnsooooooon.

Hehehehe. Now I can't stop thinking about my Johnsoooooooon and what the Beeeeeest Lubeeeee for it might be.

Hehehe - Lubeeeeeee. That's a winner.

Posted by: Jim at 07:15 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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I took today off. Filled out many, many online resume thingys. Many. My eyes are buggy.

We're still waiting to hear back about our list of things that need to be repaired by the sellers at the new house. It's been a couple of days. We're getting irritated. Grml brgl rmnl*

*That's sort of like the "robble robble" of Hamburglar fame.

Posted by: Jim at 04:09 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Hope something turns out for you!

Posted by: Lawren at June 11, 2004 04:19 PM (Gqz1r)

2 Don't forget to feed the Monster too. I got lots of hits from Monster...

Posted by: Clancy at June 11, 2004 04:21 PM (EGVPL)

3 Thanks Lawren. The Monster has been fed. A voracious beast it is, too.

Posted by: Jim at June 11, 2004 06:21 PM (IOwam)

4 Fingers crossed - after all they worked for H so why not you too!

Posted by: Rob at June 14, 2004 06:15 AM (kXZI6)

5 Thanks Rob. All good mojo is gratefully accepted.

Posted by: Jim at June 14, 2004 07:17 AM (IOwam)

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The inspection went well, more on that later. First we talk about the purchase. There's been a bit of back and forth regarding when the sellers will vacate. Last night featured the signing of the latest (and last, please Lord?) version of the purchase/sale agreement. The biggest change is that we'll close on the 22nd instead of the 23rd and they'll vacate by the 26th (Saturday) instead of the 28th (Monday). Pretty cool, eh? We get the house for the weekend move instead of taking multiple weekdays off.

And get this - it was their change! Yeah, Lovely Wife wanted to give them time to move out so originally offered 10 days between the closing and boot-out dates. Our House Lady shortened that up a bit and then the sellers themselves shortened it up more. Fan-freaking-tastic! Why in the world wouldn't they want the option to stay longer just in case? Don't know, not going to worry about it.

Back to the inspection. Earl was awesome. Talk about thorough. He showed me parts of a house that I didn't know existed. Old timers here may recall that I used to help build houses. Yeah, Earl was good. To make matters even better, he had that fantastic central Georgia drawl that just oozes confidence about construction knowledge and other things of a manly nature (inclusive of coon dawgs and NASCAR). He also looks like a slightly older Sam Neill and if you can't rely on Dr.Grant then who can you rely on?

The inspection turned up a couple of things. He found everything that we had noted, everything that the sellers had disclosed and a few more. Nothing big, which is very cool. There's a condensation line from the air conditioning that stops at the foundation - that needs to run a few feet away from the foundation. A couple bushes need trimming to give proper clearances. Ground cover needs to be cut back away from vents. An outlet cover is missing in the main bath. The crawl space under the house needs a moisture barrier put down. Windows are painted shut. Little stuff like that.

No major items, nothing that the sellers should balk at fixing before the sale. Can I get a "boo-ya!"?

Posted by: Jim at 11:08 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 Howz about a "Yee Haw!!!"

Posted by: Claire at June 08, 2004 11:17 AM (l1oyw)

2 Yee Haw's work just as well. Thanks Claire!

Posted by: Jim at June 08, 2004 11:21 AM (IOwam)

3 I'm in my second house now. I hated this part of the process both times. Congratulations.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at June 09, 2004 12:05 AM (4819r)

4 We have one week to go. Aside from a home insurance agent (actually, his secretary) who was a complete PITA, our process has gone so smoothly it's actually scary. (I probably just jinxed myself.) I hope your process goes as smoothly...

Posted by: Clancy at June 09, 2004 07:58 AM (EGVPL)

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In about an hour I'll be going to the new house to run through it with the inspector. Almost $300 and it'll be about three hours. Yeah, I know that this doesn't really mean I'm paying him $100 an hour but boy does it feel like it at the moment!

Oh, wait. I'm getting ahead of myself. The last thing y'all knew was that I was expecting House Lady on Friday morning. She did indeed show up and we filled out many copies of the agreement to purchase. Then on Saturday we didn't hear that the sellers had signed. On Sunday we found out why - they had another exclusion in a newer version saying that they were keeping some shelves from over the front window. You needed to hold up my contract for this? Sheesh.

They were also concerned that they might get labeled for massive heating system repairs. That's warranty stuff, we just want the unit serviced with regular maintenance so we don't have to do it this year. That's straightened out now, fortunately.

So now we've got the inspection tonight and hopefully pick up our copies of the finalized agreement. Continue crossing fingers, but you don't have to squeeze as hard now. ;-)

Posted by: Jim at 03:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've uploaded the preliminary version of my resume. If anybody would be so kind as to take a peek at it and give some feedback I'd be grateful. Be as critical as you can - the better this gets, the better my chance of finding a job.

What's missing? What's superfluous? How's the formatting? Pleasing to the eye? Short enough? Too long? Lemme know.

This is in MS Word format. If you need it in a different format I'd be happy to oblige, just email me and I'll send it right to you.

Posted by: Jim at 03:02 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Thank you to everybody who's sent sympathy about the job loss. We really appreciate it.

House lady will be here in about two hours to sign the papers. We're going to buy the house anyway.

I'm much loved at work, so much so that they're keeping me in a job until the end of July. I'm confident that I'll be able to find something decent within two months. If I only find a middling job we have options - there is a lot of fat in our current budget. High speed Internet, cable with all the trimmings, private school for the little guys, stay at home Mom for the little guys. There's actually enough fat for us to get by just fine with me on unemployment. In short, it's not an absolute requirement that I be the single bread winner with a big salary. That's the ideal situation, but it's not the only possibility. It might be a bit risky to go ahead with the house purchase but it's only a little risk.

Also, if worse comes to worse, it's way harder to kick a family out of a house than it is to evict them from an apartment.

Posted by: Jim at 08:15 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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But not really that much. Cause things are not as bad on second look as they are on first look.

Still, I could use a good smoke. Y'all suck for keeping me honest.

Posted by: Jim at 10:55 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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We got the house. Yay! The sellers agreed to our last counter offer and we're supposed to sign a binding contract tomorrow morning.

I lost my job. Boo! They're eliminating my Quality Assurance and adding another Programmer. I don't program in ProvideX so...bye bye Jim.

Got a lot to think about before tomorrow morning.

Posted by: Jim at 07:12 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
Post contains 62 words, total size 1 kb.

1 ugh. Sorry to hear that - Nothing like the old 'thanks for all the hard work you've put in for the company - now get out'. I hope the Job Market is ok there, or the old credit score is likely to take a hit. On the upside, now you can focus on the kids, campaigning, and writing more.

Posted by: MojoMark at June 03, 2004 08:14 PM (E+LQu)

2 WTF...sorry to hear about the job. Yes - you have an issue!! I am very risk adverse , even though I work on Wall Street , so I'd say wait on new house - especially because I hear those carports are expensive $$$! Also it is tough, and costly, to get a mortgage if you are not employed (although maybe you will able to get the loan committment before your job actually goes away.) Anyway - I am probably not helping much - but I am thinking about you - good luck

Posted by: jimi at June 03, 2004 08:20 PM (lN8eP)

3 So sorry to hear that, Jim. But I'm a firm believer that things have a way of working out for the best. I'll cross all my fingers and toes for you to find an even better job soon.

Posted by: Jennifer at June 03, 2004 09:23 PM (kASx1)

4 As someone who was NOT in an especially skilled job and who spent most of 2001/2002 in and out of temp jobs -- things REALLY DO end up working out for the best. In the meantime, if you need someone to rant to, you have my e-mail address. Right? Hang in there, honeybun. My love to the lovely wife and kidlets.

Posted by: Emma at June 04, 2004 03:42 AM (NOZuy)

5 Damn, Jim, I'm real sorry to hear that. You're a smart guy. You'll land on your feet, I'm sure. It's just the uncertainty of the moment that sucks. Have another beer - It's friday now anyway...

Posted by: Clancy at June 04, 2004 08:35 AM (EGVPL)

6 What they said. I'm not worried about whether you'll be back up to speed in a heartbeat. You're just that good.

Posted by: Harvey at June 04, 2004 01:28 PM (tJfh1)

7 Oh fucking HELL Jim, I'm so sorry. You loved that job! I can't believe it never crossed their minds to simply teach you the programming language. You strike me as the sort who could pick that skill up in a jiffy.

Posted by: ilyka at June 04, 2004 05:13 PM (T/vdN)

8 Tough decision. I'd hold off or try to postpone, too. A mortgage is scary enough without the new situation you're in. Job-hunting with a mortgage hanging over your head can be done but it sucks. AllTheBest, Rob

Posted by: Rob at June 05, 2004 01:05 AM (uq+fR)

9 Sending you job finding prayers. We've been there and I know how it feels. We kind of need job finding prayers now ourselves; my dh does have a job, but pay doesn't equal expenses. Hope you find a good job soon.

Posted by: Rachel Ann at June 06, 2004 12:15 PM (mdQgD)

10 Jim, I feel your pain. I've been bouncing around trying to find perm work for over 2yrs. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Posted by: Lachlan at June 06, 2004 05:29 PM (OW2tD)

11 Here I am, days late and a few cents short, but I'm sending you a virtual hug {Jim} and wishes for an even better job...

Posted by: Susie at June 06, 2004 05:39 PM (tEteH)

12 I am extremely sorry to hear about the job, while delighted to hear about the house. I'm really feeling conflicted here. Why not harness the power of the blogosphere to see if you can find something else?? Tell us what you're looking for and we'll get the ball rolling.

Posted by: Simon at June 07, 2004 01:15 AM (UKqGy)

13 All y'all - Thank you so much for the words of support. It means a lot to me to know that there are so many people out there pulling for me. MojoMark - Unfortunately, the new job search is going to trump all three of those. Bummer. jimi - I'm in a job until the end of July so the mortgage isn't going to be a problem. Jen - Thanks, I'll see what I can do to get your digits uncrossed asap. ;-) Emma - No need to rant (yet), but I've got you on speed dial. Clancy - That was good advice that I was happy to follow. Nate - The job hunt is starting now and is going to go through the closing on the 23rd and the move. Should be interesting to see if I turn into a stress puppy! Harvey - Damn straight! Thanks for the vote of confidence. Ilyka - I probably could pick it up with little problem (how hard can business BASIC be after all) but they want somebody with grand programming experience for the new position. Rob - That was my first inclination but the numbers worked out much better for getting the house. There are some serious benefits to getting a VA loan. Rachel Ann - Thanks and best of luck on your own search. Lachlan - I'll definitely let y'all know how the search is going. Susie - Late's fine, that's why we have archive pages. ;-) Simon - I'm going to try to do just that, starting with getting some help finalizing my resume later today.

Posted by: Jim at June 07, 2004 05:44 AM (saeHM)

14 If its any consolation, my company is hiring QA people to its staff...

Posted by: pylorns at June 07, 2004 09:50 AM (FTYER)

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