So now that we have electricity in our new house, we discovered the source of the nasty funk emanating from the garage. It appears that the previous owner left not one, but two bags of food when he was cleaning out the refrigerator... using rather thin plastic trash bags... which he left untied... on the floor of the garage, so that trash juices seeped through and made a puddle on the garage floor... which broke when I was moving it which spread trash on our neighbor's lawn since they allowed us to stick the trash bags in their trash cans....
Ew, ew, ew, ew, EWWWWWWWWW!!!
And the worst of it? He left a bag of frozen chicken breasts in the trash can... LAST FRIDAY!!! So by today, it was a gross, stanky mess that left Whateley gagging like crazy while he tossed it away. It was soooooo incredibly gross!
We were a bit pissed and we're seriously not thinking of returning any of the crap the guy left behind. Or else just toss it on to our front yard and tell him to come get it.
On a better note, Whateley's happy that he got the tables for the gaming room today. It's going to be epic. D&D nerd beware... it's going to be hard to resist!
We also arranged for tile estimates from Home Depot. We picked out the tile and grout (which came in all sorts of colors... even bright red which was called "lipstick" which we were wondering who would ever use), and they should call us sometime soon to arrange a time to measure. The tiling, aside from the closing costs of the house, will be our largest expense for the house. Our savings are starting to dwindle... though we were saving diligently precisely for this purpose. But alas, I get a bit antsy whenever I have to fork over a big chunk of change.
Anyway, we have until the end of April to move and get out of the apartment. I'll keep everyone updated through this blog!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Wow. We love our new house!!!
The seller of the house was moving in to his girlfriend's fully furnished house. So when we went on our final walk-through, he was still packing and offered us a nice couch, his dining table set, and a few other items. The couch is fantastic (he says at retail it was worth $2000, though with the stains on it, you certainly couldn't sell it for that much) and it's actually long enough for Whateley to stretch out in. The dining table set is better than what we have, though to be fair, our set is third-hand (we got it from our old roommates who got it from someone else) so it's not much of a comparison.
Well, when we got the keys and walked in, we were rather surprised. I guess he figured since we were taking him up on all offers of furniture, he was going to leave behind everything he didn't want, and letting us take care of disposing it if we didn't want it. Well, that and he had a lot of stuff and not enough time to move all of it out and get rid of junk.
Anyway, the biggest thing he left behind that we didn't expect was the refrigerator. That will save us about a grand, though Whateley is a bit disappointed since he really wanted to get a stainless steel one from Costco (it's just black). But it's a good refrigerator, and it just doesn't make sense to pass up saving a thousand bucks. He also left a bunch of stuff in the kitchen such as a crappy little microwave, a deep fryer, one or two slow cookers (there was one high up on a shelf that looked like one), and some dishes and mugs. He also left a coffee maker, a whole bunch of cleaning products, and I believe he didn't take a single trash can with him. Though they are nice-looking and stainless steel.
He also left a DVD player, and in the bedroom, the TV stand, complete with a TV and a VCR. Suddenly, we've become a three-TV household. He also left his workout bench and a couple of dumbbells. We were thinking of canceling our gym membership and making a home gym, and with those we pretty much decided we're gonna do it. We got a pretty good deal on our membership before we got married, but it's still not worth it if you're not using it. It's been hard trying to make it to the gym after an 11-hr workday.
The seller was also a big hunter, so we're now the proud owners of a set of deer antlers mounted to the wall. I'll leave that for Whateley to play with. Who knows, our D&D group may encounter a giant-antler-monster in the coming weeks. With the exception of a few generic photos which the guy obviously didn't take, he took all his photos. Well, except the one of his now ex-wife on their wedding day. We found that funny. I think we're going to put some photos from our wedding in the frame. It's a nice frame. I wonder if it's disturbing to paw through the souvenirs of another man's failed marriage, but hey, he left them behind.
The garage was full of junk too. There was a shovel, a watering hose, and I believe some potted plants. I couldn't quite tell since the electricity was shut off so we couldn't turn on the garage lights. In the backyard, he took his rusted smoker, but left his gas barbecue. It's a nice-looking barbecue, though it's crusted with dirt and other stuff. He did us the great favor of dumping the charcoal ash in the weed-ridden grass and taking the propane tank out. Yaaaaay....
We're thinking one of the improvements we would like to make eventually would be to make a covered patio outside. Currently there's just a small concrete block, just big enough to hold a barbecue. The door to the backyard hasn't been caulked or sealed, so there was some water damage to the door frame from all the rain that falls here. Whateley thinks having a covered patio will at least keep the water away come the rainy season. I was just thinking if it would be feasible to have my dad come visit us for a few weeks and build it for us. He may be sixty years old, but he's still pretty spry. But it's probably not feasible since he wouldn't be able to bring his tools with him out here. That and I don't know what he'd do with himself while we were at work with our wacked-out schedule.
Hey, here's a question I'd like to throw out to my readers:
Which room should we use as our guest bedroom? One is bigger and it's right next to our room, the other is smaller and across the foyer. It's also partially over the garage, so in the summer it will bake and in the winter it will freeze. So the bigger room will be more comfy, but it shares a wall with our room, and then we can't be... ahem, loud... in the middle of the night.
I'm also thinking that when we finally squirt out a CHUD baby, we would rather make the bigger room his or her room. So if we make that room into the guest bedroom, we'd have to move it once we become in a family way. And if there's one thing Whateley and I are, it's lazy. We'd much rather not have to move furniture around later.
Anyway, to wrap up our initial visit to our new house (we couldn't stay long since it was getting dark and there's no power), we called our realtor and told him of all the stuff that was left behind. One of the things is a basket full of clothes and a really nice hunting knife. That made us wonder if perhaps some of the stuff he meant to take with him and just forgot. I'm figuring, he left it, it's now ours. But if he does contact us and want some of his stuff back, we're not going to be dicks and say no. But we're not giving back the workout bench or the TV.
The seller of the house was moving in to his girlfriend's fully furnished house. So when we went on our final walk-through, he was still packing and offered us a nice couch, his dining table set, and a few other items. The couch is fantastic (he says at retail it was worth $2000, though with the stains on it, you certainly couldn't sell it for that much) and it's actually long enough for Whateley to stretch out in. The dining table set is better than what we have, though to be fair, our set is third-hand (we got it from our old roommates who got it from someone else) so it's not much of a comparison.
Well, when we got the keys and walked in, we were rather surprised. I guess he figured since we were taking him up on all offers of furniture, he was going to leave behind everything he didn't want, and letting us take care of disposing it if we didn't want it. Well, that and he had a lot of stuff and not enough time to move all of it out and get rid of junk.
Anyway, the biggest thing he left behind that we didn't expect was the refrigerator. That will save us about a grand, though Whateley is a bit disappointed since he really wanted to get a stainless steel one from Costco (it's just black). But it's a good refrigerator, and it just doesn't make sense to pass up saving a thousand bucks. He also left a bunch of stuff in the kitchen such as a crappy little microwave, a deep fryer, one or two slow cookers (there was one high up on a shelf that looked like one), and some dishes and mugs. He also left a coffee maker, a whole bunch of cleaning products, and I believe he didn't take a single trash can with him. Though they are nice-looking and stainless steel.
He also left a DVD player, and in the bedroom, the TV stand, complete with a TV and a VCR. Suddenly, we've become a three-TV household. He also left his workout bench and a couple of dumbbells. We were thinking of canceling our gym membership and making a home gym, and with those we pretty much decided we're gonna do it. We got a pretty good deal on our membership before we got married, but it's still not worth it if you're not using it. It's been hard trying to make it to the gym after an 11-hr workday.
The seller was also a big hunter, so we're now the proud owners of a set of deer antlers mounted to the wall. I'll leave that for Whateley to play with. Who knows, our D&D group may encounter a giant-antler-monster in the coming weeks. With the exception of a few generic photos which the guy obviously didn't take, he took all his photos. Well, except the one of his now ex-wife on their wedding day. We found that funny. I think we're going to put some photos from our wedding in the frame. It's a nice frame. I wonder if it's disturbing to paw through the souvenirs of another man's failed marriage, but hey, he left them behind.
The garage was full of junk too. There was a shovel, a watering hose, and I believe some potted plants. I couldn't quite tell since the electricity was shut off so we couldn't turn on the garage lights. In the backyard, he took his rusted smoker, but left his gas barbecue. It's a nice-looking barbecue, though it's crusted with dirt and other stuff. He did us the great favor of dumping the charcoal ash in the weed-ridden grass and taking the propane tank out. Yaaaaay....
We're thinking one of the improvements we would like to make eventually would be to make a covered patio outside. Currently there's just a small concrete block, just big enough to hold a barbecue. The door to the backyard hasn't been caulked or sealed, so there was some water damage to the door frame from all the rain that falls here. Whateley thinks having a covered patio will at least keep the water away come the rainy season. I was just thinking if it would be feasible to have my dad come visit us for a few weeks and build it for us. He may be sixty years old, but he's still pretty spry. But it's probably not feasible since he wouldn't be able to bring his tools with him out here. That and I don't know what he'd do with himself while we were at work with our wacked-out schedule.
Hey, here's a question I'd like to throw out to my readers:
Which room should we use as our guest bedroom? One is bigger and it's right next to our room, the other is smaller and across the foyer. It's also partially over the garage, so in the summer it will bake and in the winter it will freeze. So the bigger room will be more comfy, but it shares a wall with our room, and then we can't be... ahem, loud... in the middle of the night.
I'm also thinking that when we finally squirt out a CHUD baby, we would rather make the bigger room his or her room. So if we make that room into the guest bedroom, we'd have to move it once we become in a family way. And if there's one thing Whateley and I are, it's lazy. We'd much rather not have to move furniture around later.
Anyway, to wrap up our initial visit to our new house (we couldn't stay long since it was getting dark and there's no power), we called our realtor and told him of all the stuff that was left behind. One of the things is a basket full of clothes and a really nice hunting knife. That made us wonder if perhaps some of the stuff he meant to take with him and just forgot. I'm figuring, he left it, it's now ours. But if he does contact us and want some of his stuff back, we're not going to be dicks and say no. But we're not giving back the workout bench or the TV.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Wow, we got the final figure for our closing costs. Whew! Good-bye savings!
We also renewed our Costco membership today. A slick salesman had convinced us to upgrade to the Executive membership a few months ago, so we thought we'd give it a go. Turns out, even though Costco is the Asian mecca, even I don't spend enough to justify the extra $50 per year. But then we realized that we were going to be making some large purchases this year (such as appliances and other home stuff) so we decided to continue it for one more year. That and we got two extra months free cuz we renewed through our work. Hey, whatever I can do for free stuff.
Speaking of Costco as the Asian mecca, as Whateley and Xeowolf (a co-worker and friend) were talking about Costco, another co-worker on our team, who is the only other Asian member of our team, was asking about the stuff they sold there. Well, I jokingly asked how he could not know about Costco since it's the Asian mecca. Whateley shushed me on that because apparently I have problems knowing what is appropriate or not to say in the workplace. And whereas I have always followed the I-am-Asian-therefore-I-can-make-fun-of-Asians rule, in a workplace of mostly white people, I should watch my mouth lest they determine it's an "HR issue."
Funny enough, when Whateley and I first got to Austin, I was worried that there wouldn't be a lot of Asians here. We read the statistic as anywhere from 3 to 5% of the population. Considering that I was more used to 10 to 15% (and waaaay more in school), I thought it would suck. And during the first few days, it felt that way as Whateley played the game of "Spot the Sole Asian" in the crowds. Well, as soon as we stepped into Costco, the Asian population just boomed. It's not as much as SoCal, but it's kinda comforting to see Korean being spoken as a middle-aged couple paw through the merchandise. And seeing Asian children run around and then get chided by their parents for being too loud.
We haven't been to the Korean market in awhile though. Mostly cuz we bought a large box of the brown-rice-green-tea instead of the smaller one. That and Whateley's developing high blood pressure (Damn genetics! The males in his line have been cursed for generations. In fact, by the time his grandfather reached Whateley's dad's current age, he had already had two strokes. I believe Whateley Sr. has actually outlived his previous generations' life spans.) so we're trying to not have ramen. And I know it's not that good for you all-around. But they're so convenient when you're trying to make a quick dinner!
Later dudes!
We also renewed our Costco membership today. A slick salesman had convinced us to upgrade to the Executive membership a few months ago, so we thought we'd give it a go. Turns out, even though Costco is the Asian mecca, even I don't spend enough to justify the extra $50 per year. But then we realized that we were going to be making some large purchases this year (such as appliances and other home stuff) so we decided to continue it for one more year. That and we got two extra months free cuz we renewed through our work. Hey, whatever I can do for free stuff.
Speaking of Costco as the Asian mecca, as Whateley and Xeowolf (a co-worker and friend) were talking about Costco, another co-worker on our team, who is the only other Asian member of our team, was asking about the stuff they sold there. Well, I jokingly asked how he could not know about Costco since it's the Asian mecca. Whateley shushed me on that because apparently I have problems knowing what is appropriate or not to say in the workplace. And whereas I have always followed the I-am-Asian-therefore-I-can-make-fun-of-Asians rule, in a workplace of mostly white people, I should watch my mouth lest they determine it's an "HR issue."
Funny enough, when Whateley and I first got to Austin, I was worried that there wouldn't be a lot of Asians here. We read the statistic as anywhere from 3 to 5% of the population. Considering that I was more used to 10 to 15% (and waaaay more in school), I thought it would suck. And during the first few days, it felt that way as Whateley played the game of "Spot the Sole Asian" in the crowds. Well, as soon as we stepped into Costco, the Asian population just boomed. It's not as much as SoCal, but it's kinda comforting to see Korean being spoken as a middle-aged couple paw through the merchandise. And seeing Asian children run around and then get chided by their parents for being too loud.
We haven't been to the Korean market in awhile though. Mostly cuz we bought a large box of the brown-rice-green-tea instead of the smaller one. That and Whateley's developing high blood pressure (Damn genetics! The males in his line have been cursed for generations. In fact, by the time his grandfather reached Whateley's dad's current age, he had already had two strokes. I believe Whateley Sr. has actually outlived his previous generations' life spans.) so we're trying to not have ramen. And I know it's not that good for you all-around. But they're so convenient when you're trying to make a quick dinner!
Later dudes!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Texas sure has weird weather. The past week it fluctuated daily from warm, to almost-freezing cold, to rainy. Poor neglected Pip at least gets the bird poo washed off of her during the rains. Can't wait to have a proper garage to park her in.
Just waiting for closing at our end. It's the second weekend in a row where we didn't have to get up early and do yet another house-related thing. All the paperwork that needs to be turned in has been turned in. I had to get an un-official transcript for my last year at Santa Monica College to explain having only a part-time job during 2006. But to access it, I had to re-enroll. And then they wouldn't let me re-enroll because I still owed the school money.
It was one of those stupid stories. The short of it was that during my last semester, I had that whole issue where it looked like I made a lot of money when I really didn't. So I didn't qualify for the Board of Governor's Fee Waiver, which would waive all fees (except parking) for community colleges. Anyway, as part of that, I owed a health fee of $14, which goes towards the student health center on the main campus. But since I was at a satellite campus and never used the student health center, I was rather indignant about having to pay that fee and never did. Well, that came to bite me in the ass. I had to pay that fee before I can re-enroll just so I could print out a stupid unofficial transcript to explain why I made so little money two years ago. Yet another cost of buying a house! And I'm realizing more than ever, that this country will eventually collapse under the weight of all the paperwork generated by everything.
Anyway, Whateley and I are pretty anxious wondering when our closing date will be. I'll keep everyone posted!
Just waiting for closing at our end. It's the second weekend in a row where we didn't have to get up early and do yet another house-related thing. All the paperwork that needs to be turned in has been turned in. I had to get an un-official transcript for my last year at Santa Monica College to explain having only a part-time job during 2006. But to access it, I had to re-enroll. And then they wouldn't let me re-enroll because I still owed the school money.
It was one of those stupid stories. The short of it was that during my last semester, I had that whole issue where it looked like I made a lot of money when I really didn't. So I didn't qualify for the Board of Governor's Fee Waiver, which would waive all fees (except parking) for community colleges. Anyway, as part of that, I owed a health fee of $14, which goes towards the student health center on the main campus. But since I was at a satellite campus and never used the student health center, I was rather indignant about having to pay that fee and never did. Well, that came to bite me in the ass. I had to pay that fee before I can re-enroll just so I could print out a stupid unofficial transcript to explain why I made so little money two years ago. Yet another cost of buying a house! And I'm realizing more than ever, that this country will eventually collapse under the weight of all the paperwork generated by everything.
Anyway, Whateley and I are pretty anxious wondering when our closing date will be. I'll keep everyone posted!
Monday, March 03, 2008
A little more news on the house front. The mortgage lady is working to close by the end of the week. If not, then we have until the middle of March to do so. Then we'll be homeowners!
To answer your question, Bleusky, we probably won't start moving until April-ish, and if we can help it, we'll take a whole month to do so. The work never ends. After we close on the house, we have to set up utilities at our new house, and then transfer over our cable and whatnot. But probably not before we fix up the house a bit. And then we have to buy appliances, such as a fridge and washer and dryer. And then we have to move our tons of crap over, and then clean our apartment before we leave for good.
And then some time after that, we have to get TxTags just in case we're running late and we want to take the toll road instead of the non-toll one. There's just a lot to do.
And we're pretty sure we're going to have the guest bedroom ready pretty soon. So all of you that want to visit, you can have a nice bed to sleep in! I think Whateley's parents are claiming a few days in July, though personally, the summer is not the greatest time to visit due to the heat. And we can totally go see the bats fly out for the night! Hey, Austin has the largest urban bat population!
To answer your question, Bleusky, we probably won't start moving until April-ish, and if we can help it, we'll take a whole month to do so. The work never ends. After we close on the house, we have to set up utilities at our new house, and then transfer over our cable and whatnot. But probably not before we fix up the house a bit. And then we have to buy appliances, such as a fridge and washer and dryer. And then we have to move our tons of crap over, and then clean our apartment before we leave for good.
And then some time after that, we have to get TxTags just in case we're running late and we want to take the toll road instead of the non-toll one. There's just a lot to do.
And we're pretty sure we're going to have the guest bedroom ready pretty soon. So all of you that want to visit, you can have a nice bed to sleep in! I think Whateley's parents are claiming a few days in July, though personally, the summer is not the greatest time to visit due to the heat. And we can totally go see the bats fly out for the night! Hey, Austin has the largest urban bat population!
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