Poll #1523587 1973 Japanese movies!
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 1

Which of these movies released in 1973 should I include as a chapter in my book?

( the list so far )

Thoughts on home-ownership

... or why is Bob so damn tired.

So I closed on the condo less than a week ago... Friday to be specific. The same day I was planning on going out of town to visit my family in Indiana. Oh, well, at least I had Friday and Monday off work. Little did I know how exhausting those four days would be.

Closing was actually a breeze, we were in and out in 30 minutes then we stopped to get lunch and ate it in our very own home.


Then we swept ALL the floors and taped off the first floor to be painted and ran out the door to see my dad's family in Indiana, who had been calling ALL day asking if we had left yet. While we were gone, my mom shampooed all the carpets for us. We got to Indy late Friday night, spent Saturday with the family, breathing their smoke. Holy fucking Christ! They ALL smoked! Except Ronda, my dad's wife; she's a sweetheart. I'm going to have to tell Dad that next year we aren't coming out unless he cuts back. Elsa has asthma and even MY eyes were watering.

We left EARLY Sunday morning (to stop at IHOP on the way) and got back in time to put the first coat of paint down. Monday, we had to get up early again to take my cat in to be neutered, pick up more paint and put down the second coat. We had just enough time to pick up the U-Haul and meet some friend to help me move the furniture.

I'm tired.

I'm also a very lucky man.

I may be broke now, but five years ago I was broke and had nothing to show for it. Now, I have a home. And not only a home, but a great deal! There is absolutely no way I could've afforded this place if it hadn't been for the economic collapse. I guess I do have to thank the Bushies for something. If they hadn't run the economy into the ground, I wouldn't have been looking at fire sale prices. I seriously bought this place for less than it would cost me to rent! I do have to give myself a little credit. As much as I hated moving back home, I used the time wisely. I got my feet back under me so I wasn't just stumbling anymore, I RAN. I got myself out of the economic hole I had dug from 1999 to 2006. I improved so much that the bank actually said I had EXCELLENT credit. I had the bank start taking money out of each paycheck a few years back. I couldn't afford much to start, but the trick was to set up the account so it was hard for me to get to it. The bank... that's another thing that went in my favor. I was about to tear my hair out from all the delays, but at the last minute, they switched me to a different mortgage package that actually reduced my downpayment AND my monthly payments! SCORE!

I'm also lucky in that I'm with Elsa. In slightly less than 8 months, we're to be married. It's very odd. In some ways, she reminds me of Mouse, my first fiancée. She's unabashedly geeky and sensitive. But I know, all the way through me, I can trust Elsa. She is the very definition of faithful. She puts as much into the condo as I do, she is my partner.

So closing is roughly eleven hours away and then I will be a homeowner. Tomorrow is going to be busy. The whole weekend is going to be busy. On top of the closing, Mel & I are going to Indiana to spend a late Christmas with my family out there, cleaning the condo, painting it, moving in the furniture, watching this week's movie AND getting my cat fixed.

Craziness. But it's a good crazy. I'm making something of my life. I've clawed my way back up the cliff I fell from. Five years ago, I was about as low as I had ever been. Over the next year, I decided what steps I needed to take to get out of that place and now, after hard work and some CONSIDERABLE luck, I am witnessing the fruition of those plans. I am extremely grateful for that second chance.

We had the walk through of the condo Sunday. It needs a fresh coat of paint, but otherwise looks good.



I posted the interior pics over on facebook but here's the outside.

The plan is to close on Wednesday now. The move of the big stuff will be Friday. It kind of screws up my plans to go to Indiana this weekend to visit my family out there, but ...

Script was finished in time for the auditions... which pissed me off. We had 18 people say yes, that they were coming and 31 maybes. 13 showed up. One person even talked to me the night before about seeing me there! God, I hate unreliable people. We have almost all the roles covered though. Hopefully we'll pick up enough people to plug those holes. Randy turned out to be a bit of a blessing. I was worried about how serious he would take it, but he acted the hell out of the auditions. If I get the same level out of him for the show, he's going to be the breakout character. I was really hoping to get more people than we had roles so I could be picky in who got what. As it is, I had to make tough decisions. Some people were good all around whereas others only were good at one or two. The readthrough on the 6th will be a big help and let me know if I picked right.

So the condo is driving me nuts.

We were going to close today (Friday) so I set up a moving date for Sunday. Then the closing got pushed to Monday so I was going to move that night. Now, I'm told the closing has been pushed back at least another day. So I may push moving back to NEXT Monday since I'll be in Indiana next weekend.

This is getting nuts.

Auditions for the play are tomorrow. I finished the script Monday night and then trimmed the rough cut on Wednesday. We'll see how many turn out, but we might end up with a huge cast. That would be nice so I could be picky on who gets what roles. If they are crap, then they don't get a good role. Period. Before, we were so desperate for actors that we had to take whoever we could get.

I'm worried for my brother. His engagement seems to have been derailed. And that is bad. The woman he was engaged to was a very nice match for him and they'd been together for years. But her parents apparently didn't like him so they told her to call it off. He's in pain. But he's also a clam when it comes to his feelings so he's not going to say anything until he's ready. My heart hurts for him.

Elsa's grandma passed away Sunday and we had the funeral Wednesday. It's hit Elsa pretty hard because they were very close. To help pull her out of the funk, we went to see Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakuel and it did its job. I'm not going to pretend it was great cinema, but it got her laughing so hard she almost fell out of her seat.

This was also a trailer we had and it looks to be an overload of cute.



The new paperwork was FINALLY submitted to the paperwork to the bank. I've got a new guy because the original guy is on vacation. I wish I had him back. The new guy called me Tuesday morning to tell me he needed me to fill out the new paperwork and he'd email it to me. Wednesday evening, still nothing. My realtor called him up and chewed his ass. The paperwork showed up in my email in 30 minutes after that. So it's been submitted today, my realtor has the paperwork she needs and the selling bank has given up the approval. So now we just wait for MY bank's appraisal and them to finish the underwriting. It might not be until the end of January now, but it's pretty much done now.

Thank God.


Btw, why does the man in a Jewish household make the coffee?

It says right in the Bible, He-brews.

I know I haven't been posting too much, but there hasn't been much to update. Condo is moving forward, with a likely closing date in the last half of January. So not much to do until then.

Elsa and I picked the colors for the wedding - gold and deep red.

This is Elsa's likely wedding dress

This is the possible bridesmaid dresses. See? Not ugly!

I'm still working on the book, but I'm having to take notes on each movie and go back to write it AFTER I finish writing the script for the next play. We're casting next month and it would be good to have a script done.

I'm really super busy.

So the realtor FINALLY got the approval to participate from the selling bank today! That means that once my bank does its appraisal, I will be a home-owner. And their appraisal ought to come back approved since I'm buying the freaking thing at HALF its market value!

It's taken a ridiculously long time for their bank to approve the sale, but short sales take a long time. I hope to know the closing date in the next day or two. Then I can start planning for the move. So... two months later than I planned, but it's to a condo worth about three times what the original one was. I think that's worth the delay.

This condo is more than enough room for me & Elsa. We could even have a kid and it would still be a family home. It's that big! :-)

Party at Bob's!

Elsa likes this one.

So I restarted a diet. I need to lose more than 50 pounds by the wedding in October. I've been on it 2 weeks already and lost 6.6 pounds. It's really going to suck next week. It'll be worth it when we look awesome at the wedding. It definitely takes willpower. Elsa is starting her diet after the first and I'm worried for her. She's surrounded by temptation at her house.



That's going to be my outfit. Minus the hat.
Color is still to be determined by what dress she settles on.

I'm behind on the book, but I think, I'm going to have to put off writing the new chapters for a month or so. I'm still watching the movies and taking notes, but I need to get the play written for Thee Dyskworlde Players and we're supposed to be auditioning in January.

Time to snap to.

I don't suppose anyone has a time-turner like Hermione's they could loan me?

I'm way, way, way busy.

• Writing Blacula, Barbra and Bee Girls (which I'm falling a week behind on so far)


• Preparing for/moving into a new condo


• Preparing for a wedding


• Adapting a Carpe Jugulum into a script for our next Discworld play
  
• Directing said play


• Working the Mosura remix of Rocky Horror for the next April show

Oh... and working full time and making sure I spend time with Elsa.

Heard back from the first agent attempt and she passed (as expected). I submitted to two more today. Now that I got the first rejection out of the way, I can press forward.

I can't wait until I've moved though. Then I can keep my hours and get shit done instead of having to keep my parents' hours.

So, wedding plans are progressing. We've picked the outfits for me and the groomsmen. We're waiting for her final dress decision before we pick the colors on mine. They should be very nice :-)

Other than that, I am now in the valley of death for retail. For the next month, I'm going to be rushed off my feet.

No word on the condo other than it's progressing.

that is all, but enjoy that video!

Condo is coming along. Their bank is almost done with their paperwork... then my bank's paperwork :-(

I submitted a query to an agent last week. I'm not expecting to be accepted. No one get accepted on their first attempt, right? I should have done 6 or more all at once, but I'm letting this one play out first just in case I get an answer with tips I might use on the next attempt.

Other than that, life is same old, same old. Working retail during the holidays is a major ass pain but... I'm used to it.

The condo is really looking like it's a go. The appraisal is tomorrow and, unlike the first one, there's no way in hell this will come in under what I'm paying so my bank will ok it. I still can't believe the deal I'm getting. It's too good to be true. Elsa & I swung back there yesterday to peep the area and there are only two minor issues. First, unlike the first condo, there are no grocery stores within easy walking distance. Second, parking sucks. I will have a garage so it's not bad for me, but my friends could have an issue when they come visit... especially for any parties.

Since I will likely be getting the condo next month (although it may be earlier than I thought!), Elsa and I are thinking of having a housewarming/engagement party after the holidays.

We've picked the date, btw. October 2cd for the wedding down at the Renaissance Festival and Oct 3rd for a reception up here in Columbus. (Oct. 9th is the back up if they're booked when we try to reserve in January)

I need to lose weight. I need to get back to where I was in '08 for the Going Postal play at MarCon... if not thinner.

The sellers accepted my bid!! Their bank has to approve the short sale which can take up to thirty days but that shouldn't change the fact that I'm going to own a kickass home!!

Elsa & I walked through 18 condos yesterday.

18.

The 18th one was the beauty.

I put a bid on it today.

It's a wonderful 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath with a one car detached garage. Wonderful finished basement with a gas log fireplace. And it's only 4 minutes from a bus stop.

I didn't know how I could have missed this one before until my realtor told me it had just been reduced in price to my range.

OH MY GOD, the price. It's roughly $7k LESS than the 1 bed/1.5 bath I was originally going after. It was appraised by the auditor as worth $139,000. The realtor did some checking for me since I was concerned about the price being so low. The couple who own it (and their baby) apparently lost both of their jobs and need to get out. I feel really bad for them so I didn't try to haggle the price; I'm essentially offering them what they want. It's too good of a steal already, there's no need to twist the knife.

The only potential bad thing is that it's a short sale, meaning the bank needs to ok it since they're taking a loss. That means delays. I should know by tomorrow if the owners agree to it, but the bank can take 30 days.

This one I really could have a roommate (or two) until Elsa moves in... Hell, it's so big, I could have a roommate after she moves in! After leaving my furniture behind when I moved in 2005, I don't think my stuff will fill the basement, let alone the other two floors.

Also, even though everyone knew Elsa and I were getting married down the road, yesterday we told her parents so that makes it a bit more official. That was a little scary even though they like me.

Stolen from Randy. This costume is made of AWESOME.

Well, tomorrow, after the movie for the book, Mel & I are going to have 7 condos to go through. We had a close call this week. I placed an extremely low bid on a condo that wasn't FHA-approved. What's the difference? FHA approved housing you only need to put 3.5% down, conventional loans I would need 10% down. My realtor (who is really scrappy) got them to cut their price by $15k which brought it right to where I needed it. However that did not include the closing costs. They wouldn't budge on that and I refused to go higher... because I couldn't really, so I walked away. At least I know it is still a buyer's market since they came down that far and even their asking price was $10k below the auditor's appraisal.

Finished my 16th chapter :-)

( here's the list )

Elsa & I are still going strong. We're going to go public soon and let our parents know about our plans. It's a bit scary. I wanted to have a house bought before we do that but, considering we were supposed to have HAD a home seven days ago....

Alright, the condo Mel & I were supposed to be seeing today and going to enter a bid on is a no go. First, the buyer wanted to know if we would let her rent the place for a month. Sure, no problem, I don't see an issue there. Now, it's been withdrawn from the market. It appears she lost her job at Nationwide Insurance.

This sucks. That makes 4 that have been really possible that have failed for various reasons. I'm going back to checking for other locations including ones that I had previously dismissed for less than ideal bus access, but I'm also going to make a play for the third possible condo.

That one failed because it wasn't an FHA-approved condo so instead of 3.5% down payment, it would have been 10%. I'm done being the guy who was trying to please the seller and myself. This place has been vacant since February so I'm going to do some haggling. I'm going to try to drive a fairly good bargain (almost $20k less than asking price) and do it the hard way with a conventional loan.

Time to draw on my inner asshole and get tough.

As for the book, things are going well. I forgot to post here that I think I have a title, Blacula, Barbra & Bee Girls: My Adventure Through 1973 Cinema. I think it's pretty good. Mel was reading the first 8 chapters for her choices of what I should send to an agent and she votes for "The Exorcist" and either "Charlotte's Web" or "World's Greatest Athlete." I was doing some rereading of earlier chapters while talking to her and I actually got pretty happy. There are some points that I actually turned a good phrase or two.

so that's the plan, rule the world.

We may have a condo.

Elsa and I will be going to give this one a second look tomorrow. I was there last week and really liked it so now I want her stamp of approval before I bid on it.

It's a 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath two story condo with wood-burning fireplace, patio, one car attached garage.

It may not have the location amenities my original pick had, but the condo itself is better. On the bus line and all that jazz.

What the hell?! I thought the hard part of buying a house was paying for it! I've had 3 condos that were very acceptable possibilities and all have failed. The first was appraised too low, the second had too many restrictions and this last wasn't on the FHA loan list.

good grief.