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I should get my car back today, finally. The AC went out about a year and a half back, really not all that long after I got it- I think it died in winter and so I didn't notice right off. Anyway, it took til now to finally get the damn thing into the shop. It's gonna be a $1400 sting, but given Mom decided to dump money on me and my brother, not a big deal.

Better yet, I'll be able to kill ALL my debt, and start saving instead of spending everything from each check, so woot.

And, because dammit, I'm gonna splurge just a lil bit. Up to maybe $250. no more than that, and probably less.

After that, likely sometime around Xmas, unless my current one dies before then I'll get a new La-Z-Boy. :) With luck I'll hit one of Slumberland's 2-for-1 sales on recliners.

Current Mood: Okay
Current Location: Work (Baker Center)
Current Music: Jazz & Big Band

Well, next week is my birthday, and to celebrate I took the week off. So I get to loaf and be generally useless for nine days/nights. Woot. The only plans I have (so far) are to see Civil War and to game on Saturday and Sunday.

Other than that, we're close to the end of our time in the apartment. Chris is moving to just outside Green Bay, WI to live with our former roomie from the house, Anna, and I'll be moving with ANOTHER former roomie, Dave, in his house. The dates for our respective moves are slightly in the air, but he'll be mopving sometime in June, while I may be here through July and (if shit goes wrong) August.

I hate moving, but at the same time I hate paying way more than I should for what I'm getting. Especially since me alone in a two-bedroom apartment would just be too much. Other than that, life is life.

Current Mood: Getting sleepy
Current Location: Home (The apartment in New Brighton)
Current Music: None (the AC whirring)

... Since I last posted here. Me and Chris are doing decently, living in our apartment here in New Brighton. A lot has changed, but a lot really hasn't- life goes on with the routines continuing as usual... Just with fewer people around and less space!

Changes that have taken place include

joshuwain's Vanguard game of a year's length coming to an end, The Sunday Gaming Group going on an extended hiatus (we pick up again sometime in September from the looks of things), And my having eliminated a TON of accumulated crap from my life. 18 years in a house allows a LOT of accumulation!

Still, I miss the place. I had more space, and a lot more privacy- I can't play loud music here, for example, because of neighbors above, below and beside. I liked having my OWN washer and dryer, too.

The apartment does have SOME advantages- lower overall bills, INCREDIBLE water pressure and far less drama. Anyway, those are the highlights- I'll maybe try to post more often, but no promises. :)

Current Mood: Decent
Current Location: Home (The apartment in New Brighton
Current Music: None

In September of 1994 I moved into the house I'd bought at 722 36 1/2 Ave. NE in Minneapolis. For 18 years it was my home, as well as the home of a number of my friends. Today... It is no longer mine. The closing was quick and painless, and the check is in the bank. All that's left is paying off the debts, which happens next week about Wednesday. I want to wait til the check is definitely cleared.

I'm going to miss it, and I already miss the people I'd lived with. Dave, Dan, Angela, George, Sean, Ed, Margaret, Mike (not me, the FAKE one), Joe, Anna, James, Chris (who's still here in the apartment with me) and Max. I think that was everyone. To you all, thank you for the times, good, bad and average. Time for a new start in the new apartment, debt free. :)

Current Mood: Tired
Current Location: Home (The Apartment)
Current Music: None

Okay... We still have to wait on some things, but effectively THE HOUSE IS SOLD! Closing will be mid-next month, so it's finally over. :) We didn't get as much as I'd hoped for, but we got enough to kill debts and get furniture and stuff. Woo!

Just waiting on an inspection, then we go into the Labyrinth of Paperwork and Money. I should have the check in my greedily waiting hands at closing.

Finally.

Current Mood: Tired
Current Location: United States, Minnesota, Saint Paul
Current Music: None

Right, then! We are on the market with the house on Monday! We met with the realtor today, and the price has been set at $165,000. There is a bunch of little fiddly things left to do, with one or two things left that could be considered 'big': moving my possessions to a storage facility, and painting the garage. Other than that, it's just about done.

The realtor is VERY optimistic that the place will sell within a month, and as there's nothing for sale within a quarter-mile and NOTHING equivalent to the bargain that this monster represents (5 beds, 1 3/4 baths with 4 off-street parking spots and TONS of updates), I have a lot of hope too. :)

Just about done.

Current Mood: Okay
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Random stuff on TV

WE HAVE AN APARTMENT! It's at Hillside East Apartments, off of Old Highway 8 about 3/4 mile north of County Road D / 37th Avenue. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, second floor with 900 square feet and a small balcony. Its a REAL nice area, and we (Me and Chris) move in on July 18. Woohoo!

This is the layout: http://tinyurl.com/6o8kx9j

The work on the house approaches the finish line- the carpet will go in next week, probably Wednesday, and mostly what's left is little fiddly things. We'll be on the market the first week of June, I think.

I can't wait til all this is DONE.

Current Mood: Okay
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Fans whirring

I added two more userpics, and nuked one of the old ones. The one on this entry is of my character on the MUD Flexible Survival, and the other is one of likely two that I'll be using for entries pertaining to the Vanguard game- It will appear here and on (probably) the Vanguard_X LJ group, if we use it.

vanguard_x

Current Mood: Sore
Current Location: Home
Current Music: None

Wow. I've been SLACK here. A lot has happened since my last post, good and bad, plus a big decision was made... One that I really never wanted to make. Checking, my last post was... November. Huh. At least it was shorter than the break before that!

Anyway... For Chrismas, I sold most of my comics for the money for gifts. This isn't a bad thing at all- I wasn't reading them, and they were just taking up space in the closet. So, they're gone. I've been culling my possessions slowly but surely in general too, for more space and less clutter. Christmas this year, despite being the lowest-budget one so far for me was really good. The gathering with family was on Christmas Day, and the friend's party was on January 6th. I got some VERY cool stuff- Big Band music, a set of 50 Martial Arts and bad '70's flicks, the restored Metropolis (Fritz Lang's version- I have the anime), and the Lacakdaisy collection of online strips, Volume 1 were the prizes- bit ALL of what I got was cool!

Now... To the other stuff. I've for the last year been wrestling with finances. Not anyone's fault but my own, but there you go. Thus... In November I finally decided. I'm selling the house this year. I'm not sure exactly when, but the current aim is probably early Summer. I'll be cleaning and painting inside, and continuing the disposal of crap that I no longer want or need. I've already donated some furniture and stuff to Savers.

The work inside the house isn't TOO bad, but its daunting for someone who slacks like I do, and more daunting as I'm likely to have to do it all myself. The goal is to get a good price- which in this market could be dicey. I should be able to get enough to kill the mortgage and the credit card, which will be good enough.

I'm actually planning on getting a double-wide trailer in a park to live in. This SOUNDS bad, but the newer trailers are effing palaces. I've run the numbers, and I CAN afford a nice, if not new one for a total monthly payout of $950. That includes EVERYTHING billwise, excluding groceries, gas for the car, and the insurance on the car. I won't be living high-on-the-hog, but I'll be able to afford it MYSELF. Which is the goal.

So, that's where things are now. I'll try to start keeping this updated again, so people know what's up at Plague House.

Oh! Spaz and Lady are just fine, and are pretty much as they always are.

Current Mood: Okay
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Worlds Wildest Police Videos on TruTV

We'll start with the good. Last night we had a small movie party, watching one truly atrocious film called Vampires Vs. Zombies, followed by the short feature on the same disc called 'Heads Are Gonna Roll', and rounded out by the palate-cleansing Dr. Horrible's Musical Blog. Attending were myself,

zxizaraxii,

joshuwain,

khirsahdrgn,

mirrdae and

feezlekahn.

ataramos joined in on the food but didn't watch the show.

joshuwain made spaghetti sauce, which was combined with the requisite pasta and browned cubed sirloin to round out the meal, mozzarella and parmesan cheese being available as well as good chewy french bread. I made the sirloin, which was simply cubed, breaded with seasoned flour and fried.

It was a good evening, and at this point the cleanup is pretty much done. The plan is to do this more often, whether with a meal or just snackage.

Other than that, I got the tree down and packed away.

Now, the bad. At work we've been til now able to 'cheat' and bring in computers and such, and we abused the privilege by connecting to the internet. Now this would have been tolerable IF my coworkers had a single clue as to what they were doing. Apparently, someone managed to knock the entire net-connection for the Comm Center off line for the entire day today. So, the bosses know of the misdeeds of the guards now, and ALL privileges have been revoked. No computers in the office, no books, no nothing. Which means people falling asleep is going to increase exponentially. It also means that I'm going to start looking for another account, as without at least something vaguely 'nice' available, it's a hellhole.

I admit that this is partially my fault. I was stupid enough to listen to coworkers, INCLUDING one of the supervisors, who said that 'as long as we're surreptitious, no problem'. Well, now its a problem. At least I can honestly say that I wasn't a cause of the disaster, just a participant in misdeeds.

So this means I'll not be online for the foreseeable future from work, and it also means I'll likely not be doing much in terms of writing either, at least til I work out how to focus on it here at home with all the distractions here.

Am I complaining? Nope. We fucked up. No doubt. But I'm also not staying at Baker if I can help it. I've worked night shift long enough to KNOW you have to have something to keep you going. Even if its just a little music or a magazine or whatever. Maybe I'll try to get back in at Riverplace- no internet, but I'd be able to have the laptop. And tunes for that matter. I'll check into it on Monday after my shift. I may call Riverplace and talk to the supervisor there and see if they need someone too, today. We'll see what happens.

Current Mood: Annoyed and Disappointed
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Big Band & Swing

Finally. I got the front room cleaned and the furniture moved. Yay! One thing down. However... Around a year ago I got this HUGE desk from work, and put it in the front room. I've long acknowledged that this was a mistake. Its big, dominates the room, is ugly as sin and really isn't all that well put-together. So, it IS going to go away, especially since its real hard to work around to make the room look nice.

mirrdae,

ataramos and

khirsahdrgn want me to keep it... But Mirr is only in the front room for any real time about once every three weeks, Khir doesn't use the desk, nor does Ata all that often and mostly what the desk does is collect piles of mail.

I'll find something to replace it, likely a smaller and more manageable desk, but it WILL go away. I want the room back!

Thats a start. Next will be the back room and my bedroom, maybe tomorrow or Wednesday. Tonight at work I'll get the thing for work accomplished, then start the 7th Sea writeup. Roar. ;)

Current Mood: S'okay.
Current Location: Home
Current Music: How Its Made on Discovery Channel

Okay, the house is being painted this week. Yay! It's going from a hideous baby-shit brown to a nice soft grey. Today they started stripping off the old loose paint with a pressure-washer, and that process will continue today with more primitive methods like scrapers, sanders and such. It should be done by the weekend, I hope. I'll get the new house numbers on either Thursday or Friday, making them actually readable! I'm prolly going to install new porch lights as well. I should finally get the painting done on the garage doors as well.

Other things going on- cleaning. I've gotten the old white recliner out for the trashmen to pick up with help from

mirrdae, as well as the unusable computer stand I got back when I was working at Riverplace, the dead UPS unit and my old, now-dead space heater. The old brown rocker-recliner is now in

zxizaraxii's room, and sometime tomorrow I'll vacuum the front and back rooms and rearrange the furniture up front to finally get the new couch in a usable position.

Also on the agenda is more cleaning in my own room, which is still a pit. I have too much crap! O.o

In other news, I get to go to the laundromat after work- I've a ton of blankets and bedding piled up for washing, as well as my general laundry. The bedding is too bulky for my washer, and my dryer is still FUBAR'd.

So, laundromat. And that's about all of what's up. Gaming is off for both games this coming weekend- Half the Vanguard players will be unavailable or out of town, and we'll be down at least one in the 7th Sea game Sunday. So I have a weekend of nothing planned. Most likely it'll be a lot of City of Heroes and more cleaning.

Lastly, I should get going on the latest 7th sea writeup. That may happen tomorrow night.

Current Mood: Kinda here.
Current Location: Work (Baker Center)
Current Music: None yet.

I now have two cats. Well, one cat and one kitten. Lady is an 8 year old female (duh) who was named 'Mittens' before... Like fifty bazillion OTHER cats... So she's Lady now. She' currently hiding under the bed. She was one of those cats that hides- I knew she needed someone, so I picked her. The other one is a 6 week old black kitten now named Spaz. It fits- Critter has a rocket up his ass or something, I swear. I was actually going to look at another other than him, then he 'MEW'd' at me, tearing my still-beating heart from my chest. So I picked him. Spaz was the first of the pair, really. And Lady was the only other cat we looked at that tolerated his kitten-ness.

joshuwain and

foeclan actually footed the bill. THANKS again! Sometime in the next two weeks they go for a vet visit, and right now they're in my room acclimating. Spaz is loving the exploration, and I think Lady is happy to be out of the shelter, but is still real... I think 'isolated' is a good word for it. At least she no longer looks terrified.

Also with us on the catting-expedition was

ataramos. Right now she's napping. I can hear Spaz thumping about in my room as I type.

It was harder to be at the shelter than I expected. I nearly lost it a few times, but... I'm glad we went. I'll miss Luna, but its nice to have cats around again.

I'll put up pictures when A) Lady comes out from under the bad, and B) Spaz holds still long enough to get more than a blur. O.o

Current Mood: Good.
Current Location: Home
Current Music: The wind outside and Spaz thumping about in my bedroom.

Okay- Magera, my old G4 400 desktop has had what I needed taken off and dropped onto the laptop, and its been disassembled for transport to

feezlekahn's place- he's getting my old scanner as well, and I'm getting an 8 1/2 x 11 HP scanner from

foeclan. Yay! I've taken the table that all of this crap was on and I can now continue to the next step= vacuuming and rearranging the damn remaining cords and cables. I'll be painting Monday I think.

In any event, The two people mentioned above,

joshuwain and all of the Usual housemates save for

khirsahdrgn are over for pizza and TV/Movies- So thats a good thing. Tomorrow is Traveller, and I'm looking forward. :)

Current Mood: Decent!
Current Location: Home
Current Music: Talk and Top Chef

I've really not been in the mood to post much of anything of late, but I felt that I should at least put something up. I'm supporting the boycott or whatever that happens tomorrow, because really the content that we all put up IS the source of their business, and we deserve to know well ahead of time when major changes like the elimination of free accounts is being contemplated. As a heads-up, this post'll be a little rambly.

Anyway...

I'm still pretty depressed. I'm trying to hide it for the most part, and trying to cope as much as I can... But nearly everything I see seems to turn into another reminder of her. I know I'll pull through this, but right now all I feel is alone and empty. I have moments when I feel better or feel good, which is why I know I'll pull through, but those have been pretty damn few and far between. I'm also having to fight the automatic expectation of seeing her every time I pull up to the house after work, when I round a corner, when I wake up... And the vet's office hasn't gotten her ashes yet either. Mom and Dad are going to pick those up for me- I KNOW I'll come apart at the seams if I go there this soon.

Ive been cleaning my room, and I've gotten rid of a LOT of crap. I've kind-of stalled out, and I still have a lot to do, partly for reasons having to do with the above-mentioned grief-depression. I've sold off a lot of old comics that I'd not looked at for years (I got $170 which will pay for my NEW comics for some time), as well as my National Geographics. Those went to Half-Price Books, and I got $37 for them. I'll be culling through other things shortly as well, just to neaten things up and simplify the disaster that is my room.

In better news, likely I'll have the house still through the end of the year, and into next. How long past that I've no idea. I'll be doing my taxes and thereafter talking finances with the folks (their idea), and they might finally come through on the long-ago-offered carpeting for the front, back and my bedroom at some point. In addition, they got my brother a used Olds minivan. Why is that good for me? Well, he has a 1991 Buick that is a near duplicate to my parent's Buick, which I'm driving while dad futzes with my beater... And if the minivan turns out to not be a lemon, Dad'll sell mine and I'll get Paul's Buick.

And other than more general cleaning around the house, that's about all thats going on. And just to say it... Today marks the two-week mark of her passing.

Current Mood: Lonely
Current Location: Home
Current Music: None

This is the second try at writing this. The first was rambly and not to the point, so I redid it, and here goes.

On February 15th I had an argument with

joshuwain Up to this time I had thought that the way that I tried to convince people of my ideas was simply being forceful, trying to drive my point home so that they could see what I saw. Now I realize that what I was doing was browbeating and attacking them, trying to get them to surrender to my way of thought. This is what I did to him.

This is wrong. I was totally at fault, and while I can't say I was fully at fault in other arguments in the past, I can certainly see how my methods made things MUCH worse and caused more hurt than it could ever be worth. I am resolving to not do this again. I don't want to hurt anyone, nor manipulate them. I know where it comes from at least- I want to be listened to, and I want people to think highly of my ideas. In this, I try too hard to BE listened to, rather than doing things so that people have a reason to listen. I act in an agressive manner, and that usually just hardens opinions against me.

So, I'm not going to do that anymore. If I have an idea to present, I'll present it. But I WON'T try to ram it down someone's throat anymore, nor will I resort to pointlessly belittling or attacking their position. Instead, I'll ask that they consider it and give me an answer later. If its in a game or some other situation where an answer is required, I'll step back and let it go if I'm not agreed with. I have to learn to back down more gracefully, so bear with me if this doesn't come off perfectly right away.

So that's it. To those whom have had to deal with me being pigheaded in this way, please take this as my public apology, as well as my promise to improve.

Current Mood: Neutral
Current Location: Home
Current Music: None

Well, that was interesting. Over the last two days things have accellerated almost to the uncontrolled point in terms if the improvement projects. During the day dad decided to finish fixing the drop ceiling that had been partly removed to allow us to put in the egress window, put the kitchen closet bifold doors on and put the baseboards in. He didn't wake me til he started cutting with a powersaw... I kinda wish he had, so I could have helped.

Last night, I decided to fix the kitchen faucet. Not a big deal- easy job. Til I discovered one of the connector hoses was too short. And that the drainpiping was leaking and essentially shot. So, off to Maynerds (Menards) I went, picking up the stuff I needed plus the replacement ceiling tiles needed for

ataramos's old room. It was a pretty fast fix from there on.

Today, dad stopped out to repair an outside faucet that we'd installed. It had decided not to work, and we now know why- It had frozen and burst, despite the guarantee that the design prevented that from happening. O well.

While he did that I cleaned out the last of the stuff in Ata's room, moving her chair and the DESK FROM HELL to the garage, the last with the help of

foeclan, who stopped over briefly. He also kindly picked up teflon plumbers tape for dad when he ran to the store. :)

I then got a burr in my saddle about the old carpet. And decided to tear it out myself. UGH.
Hell of a job, that. But I'll now save over $100 cos they don't' need to yank the carpet now. Oh, that's right- the carpet arrives FRIDAY! Yay!

So, here's what's left- painting Ata's old room for

khirsahdrgn, fixing the ceiling tiles, doing the drop ceiling in the downstairs kitchen (no hurry there, thankfully), stain and seal the closet doors, paint the trim on the stairs, clean the upstairs, pack the remaining things of Ata's into her current room, (die of exhaustion), And prep for the party, which is basically a lot of cooking.

WHEE!

... I'm tired, I ache, and I'm having a pizza, dammit. :P

Current Mood: Tired and Sore

This morning at 7 AM was my last exit from Southdale Office Center. I'm now waiting to learn where I'll be next posted. I've kinda mixed feelings- I've been there for more than nine years, having been the second person on the account starting October 1st, 1996. I didn't think I'd mind leaving, given it WAS a pain on several levels... But I guess I will miss the tenants and staff that I worked with.

O well.

So, I'm now waiting to find out what my new posting will be. Hopefully, I'll find out sooner than later... As I've not been told yet, I'm at least not working tonight. Not good or bad particularly, that. I've already arranged for a 'safety net' if I end up being out of pay for more than a week, so I'm not terribly worried.

Tonight, if I get the ambition, I may head out to try to finish the Xmas shopping- not a lot left there, fortunately.

I think that's about it for now. :)