Flippy - I Rant, You Read
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
mid-afternoon
The Fun of Losing Your House To Foreclosure - Part (too numerous to keep track of)
Last week, I received an email from the realtor who has been trying to sell our (former) house for the outrageous price of $194k (we’ve had one person look at the house in two months), telling me that the house was going up for auction on April 24th. Great, another auction for the house. They really want to get rid of us, I guess. The fun part of that was that they were insisting on three open houses (12- 4p) before the auction date. Yes, four hour open houses with an animal sanctuary in the house. It sounded like tons of fun. Obviously, it was just stressful finding out about the auction, but adding the open houses to the stress was above & beyond. I received an email a couple of days later saying that a Fannie Mae inspector was in the area and needed to inspect the house that afternoon for the auction. Well, since I don’t usually pick up my email until the middle of the night, he was out of luck. Several days later, I received another email from the realtor telling me that the auction had been cancelled. Could we really have been that lucky that I pick up my email so late and that the house wasn’t able to be inspected on that particular day? Did they cancel the auction because it wasn’t inspected with a certain group of houses?
Our goal has always (well, almost always, I guess) to attempt to buy our house back with the help of an investor, and to then rent it back from them. Or, we were hoping to be able to figure out some things to sell or to maybe possibly hopefully get my disability case finally settled (after about 9 months of waiting for them to get all the records they wanted, my case has finally gone to the medical examiner) and use the backpay as down payment on the house. There is NO way that in this market that this house is worth almost $200k. Not even close. Fannie Mae paid $135k for it, and with broken pool pumps, flooring that needs to be replaced for someone else to live here (unless, they too, have a parrot room where they want linoleum), a leaking sprinkler system, a collapsed cabinet in the garage, and our big (granted, broken) hot water heater that was replaced with a tiny one w/o the recirculating pump that we used to have, etc. Geez, I didn’t realize how long it took to get hot water without the recirculating pump - man, what a waste of water. Anyway, for someone else to live here, the house is a big fixer-upper. There are lots of extras that we paid for to upgrade the house, but those will just be our little secret. They’re things that aren’t immediately obvious, and we’re not about to make the house more appealing to someone else.
We’ve been looking at houses in AZ, in an area that looks like it’s on its way to becoming what our area of Las Vegas is now. Right now, it’s the semi-boonies in a suburb not far from Phoenix, where the houses are a decent size with large yards, and the prices are currently 85k-95k for a single story, which would be our preference now. It would cost less than moving across the country, we’d still be able to avoid winter, my disability lawyer practices there in case I need to appeal (in general, most people are turned down on their first try for disability, but I’m hoping that my lawyer’s good reputation will help, so that the SSA won’t want to spend money on an appeal), we have a possible roommate set up to help with the rent, and we also would have help finding new doctors. It’s not as cheap (housing-wise - although it’s not far off for non fixer-uppers, as we’re currently not in any condition to work on a house) as moving to the Mid-West, but it’s also not as expensive to move our stuff, nor would our aching bodies have to deal with freezing winters. And hey, it’s cheaper to clothe yourself in t-shirts, shorts, and Crocs, than buying winter clothing and shoes. Although, it blows my chances of fireflies in my back yard. Oh, you laugh - I once almost moved to Georgia mostly because of fireflies. Well, and it was pretty there, but mostly….the fireflies.
Our goal is to eventually move closer to Leigh-Ann’s family (it’s her turn to see the little ones grow up), and we didn’t want to get there in two moves, but if we can have an intermediate move to a place with an airport, an NHL team (that is actually doing well this season!), an NFL team, a MLB team, and some colleges nearby, that’s not too bad. That’s one thing I dislike about Las Vegas - no professional sports teams. Yes, we have some minor league teams, but it just isn’t the same…and they’re not televised either. So, there are good reasons to stay (although, fewer and fewer these days) and good reasons to move.
Stay tuned for a zillion “30 Second Book Reviews”. We’ve kept our library busy. When you’re feeling crappy, books are not only handy when you’re in bed, but they’re a nice escape. Then again, I’m not sure that I could call “Lovely Bones” a nice escape. I prefer my fiction with less child rape & murder.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
mid-afternoon
Help Animals & Honor a cool chick - Edith Layton Memorial giveaway, auction and fundraiser
Shamelessly & lovingly copied from the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog. In memory of Edith Layton, Jane and I are hosting a fundraiser/auction/giveaway to benefit the North Shore Animal League. Layton’s daughter Susie Felber told me that while her mother was very quiet about her battle with ovarian cancer, she was not at all shy about “her insane love of animals,” and so the family decided any memorial contributions should be directed to the NSAL. With some help from friends and authors, we’re putting together a three part effort.
If you like romance novels, saving animals, remembering cool people in a way that would make them happy, please click on the above paragraph to find out how you can win some books, donate to the North Shore Animal League (or pet charity of your choice) in Edith Layton’s name, and find out how you can win the eBay auction for the upcoming bound anthology, Must Love Hellhounds, by, among others, Charlaine Harris (whose anthology contribution is the next installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series, on which HBO’s True Blood is based), a gift basket by the author of Dark Slayer, and a bound galley of Nora Roberts’ next book. I think Edith Layton would be thrilled that the North Shore Animal League is benefitting from the auction & raffle by those who loved and admired her. I think it’ll also help the Felber family, knowing that even though their mom is gone, her legacy of loving & supporting the North Shore Animal League lives on.
So, go check out the full details at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. And while you’re there, check out the site (and check out Dear Author, too, because they’re in on this SBTB) because it’s pretty entertaining, even for a non-romance novel reader like myself. Since I’ve never really given any romance novels a shot since perhaps reading one Harlequin romance novel as a kid, I figure I could honor Edith’s memory by checking out one of her novels. I know that her kids are awesome writers, so it stands to reason, their mom was, too. Plus, if I love it, it gives me LOTS of new books to read, because the woman was prolific. When she wasn’t helping save animals and spending time with her grandkids, she must’ve been writing constantly.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
lunch time
Our Library Opens Today!
We’ve only been waiting EIGHT years to get a library near us, and in just 7.5 hours, our library dream comes true. There aren’t any good pictures online of it yet, so we’ll have to take a camera. The place is huge and it looks like a shopping center. It’s a big box with gigantic windows.
CENTENNIAL HILLS LIBRARY 6711 N. Buffalo Dr. Las Vegas, NV 89131 Date opened: Opening January 10, 2009 Architect: JMA Architecture Studios Interior square feet: Library: 32,431; Operations Center: 13,124 Parcel size: 7 acres Parking spaces: 248 total: 9 ADA, 20 hybrid (cool, hybrid parking spaces!)
About the Library: The new 32,431 SF Centennial Hills Library is located on a seven-acre site at N. Buffalo Drive at the intersection of Deer Springs Way, on a campus that includes the Centennial Hills Park and the Centennial Hills Community Center. This state-of-the-art library offers a collection of books, music, movies and other resources for adults and children of all ages, as well as a computer lab for adults, a Homework Help Center and adjoining computer lab for kids, an art gallery, storyroom and used bookstore/café. It has been designed to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification, meaning it is constructed to reduce negative environmental impacts and improve occupant health and well-being. It also offers free wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi). Meeting Rooms: Multipurpose room, Storytime room, gallery, Used Bookstore/Café (so that means it’ll smell good!)
Sunday, January 04, 2009
the wee hours
Happy New Year!!!
I have a whole boatload of resolutions to write out, but the main one is…please, let me make 2009 way better than 2008, or 2007. Well, or even the end of 2005 (the end of September onward, to be herniatingly specific) thru 2006.
While I’m making up my list, Leigh-Ann got an awesomely funny book as a Xmas present (The Joys of Engrish
Monday, December 08, 2008
evening
I finally decided to put the library employees to work
Since we got our library cards a month or so ago, I’ve just been ambling around the stacks, choosing books that strike my fancy, and not liking a whole lot of them. Leigh-Ann has been smarter and has been going through her Amazon wishlist and requesting those books at the library. She also sent me the NY Times list of top books for 2008, so I went through those and through my wishlist, then I put the library to work. It’s great, you sit at your computer at home and request books and they find them for you (even at other branches), label them with your name, and then they shelve them in the room where you check-out. So, I had all of these books waiting for me yesterday.
Beautiful boy: a father’s journey through his son’s addiction by David Sheff. Patient by patient: lessons in love, loss, hope, and healing from a doctor’s practice by Emily R. Transue, M.D. (I really liked her first book) Black fliesby Shannon Burke. My custom van: and 50 other mind-blowing essays that will blow your mind all over your face by Michael Ian Black Celebrity detox: (the fame game) by Rosie O’Donnell. There’s nothing in this book that I meant to say by Paula Poundstone. Netherland by Joseph O’Neill. His illegal self by Peter Carey. Bright lights, big ass: a self-indulgent, surly ex-sorority girl’s guide to why it often sucks in the city, or who are these idiots and why do they all live next door to me? by Jen Lancaster Such a pretty fat: one narcissist’s quest to discover if her life makes her ass look big, or why pie is not the answer by Jen Lancaster The night of the gun: a reporter investigates the darkest story of his life, his own by David Carr. Are you there, vodka? It’s me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler (these last two are waiting to be picked up today) Tweak: (growing up on methamphetamines) by Nic Sheff (this matches up with his father’s book, Beautiful Boy - I thought the different perspectives would be interesting)
Now, I had a wealth of books to choose from, but didn’t know what I wanted to read first. It was between Paula Poundstone, Rosie O’Donnell, and Michael Ian Black, whose book I hadn’t requested, but just saw on the new books shelf. Rosie O’Donnell won out, but I’ve been kind of sleepy on this wild and weird rainy day today. Other than getting icky cramps and praying for a hysterectomy.
