SOLD

And tonight the SOLD sign went on the reator's sign in my grandparents'
soon to be former home.

Well, there's the sign I was waiting for. Saw it this evening after I
came home from voting after work.

I left around 8:25 am and it wasn't there, so some time between then and
10 am or so, someone came out and placed it there. Pisses me off nobody
came to the door to tell mom about it. We've also been trying to contact
my sister in Florida about stuff that needs done with the house in
Bayard. It's got electric and maybe phone - we just need running water
through a softener. Stupid her sold my grandfather's house with our
softener as being installed (it's not). We're going to need that.

I have this Friday off, so I'm going to see about moving stuff already
in boxes during that day. I don't know how many loads I'll be able to do
by myself. Good thing I got more Ibuprofen.

30 days or so and counting...

I have this Friday off so I plan to do as many loads of stuff still
packed up from our move out of the Euclid house and this will be what is
being moved first. I'd like to move our refrigerator and get it set up
at the "new" place. I also may need help ripping out carpet in the
kitchen. Yes, you read right, carpet in the kitchen. We had carpet in
the kitchen and bathroom when we first lived at Euclid, and here we got
it again.

If I end up moving stuff by myself this Friday, and it doesn't rain, I
got a lot of boxes I want to move that I need to do by myself anyway.

I'm also going to need to see about the next month or so that I need 2
days off in a row, culminating with my week's paid vacation that I
should have earned by now. Also I need to see when I'm supposed to get
my raise. I'm looking for the Rurdev letter that has info the store
provided to the US Government about said raise, and if they lied on that
form they sent back to the rurdev people, then I've got a case to
present to people. I want my raise!!!

The week I will get off I will be renting a Uhaul van to move the rest
of the big stuff. Anyone showing up with big vehicles is still muchly
appreciated. I'm hoping this time we can follow through with the Thank
You party we should have had 2 years ago. I guess we'll make it a good
one for this time.

A lot of cleaning will also be needed. If I can borrow a power washer,
all the better. I plan to get our air cleaner in there ASAP as well as
getting the dehumidifier going again, maybe with a new fan I have on
hand, and getting that over there. I'll likely have to buy a bunch of
light bulbs and bring a sweeper.

As long as my older sister gets running softened and filtered water
going, and hookups for mom's waster and dryer, we could be good to go. I
have to find out how to get our digital dish moved there as well and for
free.

Sorry for lack of updates... but...

Well, life still sucks but at different rates.

Even though I got more of a response from the rurdev office, my mom
can't co-sign for a loan because of her bankruptcy. Or any other loan
for at least 2 years afterwards. I got another envelope from the rurdev
office, but I haven't opened it. I'm not going to.

Erroneous stuff on my credit report is going to be excised, just as soon
as I can remember to do it and not fall asleep sitting around the house
on my days off. I hate my job, like what's new with that.

So at any rate, I've decided to not pursue getting a housing loan
anymore. My older sister instead found a HUD Repo property and the bank
needed only $20,000 on it.

The lady trying to buy my grandparents' house had her credit fall
through, and the lady who said she'd help her refused. So the house went
back on the market and at a higher price than before. Just as soon as
that happened, bam - we had 2 more couples look through it in the same
day. Good thing I had just cleaned up around here. Also had to give
Tinkerbell the boot. She's outside, but she had been peeing and pooping
on stuff in the basement. 2 days after that, I saw more of that and
blamed Griz. However, I'm going to work with Griz because he's a
sociable cat. We were going to get rid of Tink anyway before we moved.
However, the times she had gotten out when we were back in town, she
mainly stayed around the house or whatnot. This time she's clearly run
away for good. I haven't seen her in the 2 weeks since I let her run
away. I'm trying to feel sad about it, but I hope she's found another
home.

One of the 2 couples who saw the house 2 weeks ago put a $500 holder
thingy on it. The previous family didn't do that.

So the upshot of the whole thing: My sister buys the apartment building
that is/ was the HUD repo. We move in and she tries to charge us rent.
When the house sells, the loan on the repo is paid off, rendering any
"need" to charge rent moot. The property should be in my name anyway.
It's going to need some work before it's really ready, and we may have a
friend lined up to rent one of the other 2 apartments already. I don't
have a decent paying job that would let me pay rent and cover my bills
and I'd still be able to live, basically. I think we'll be moving later
this month.

My older sister says she may try to get more properties in this manner
and fix them up and turn them into housing that can be rented out to
people with subsidized rental vouchers from the government. She wishes
the place we'll be moving into was ready right now to help people
displaced by hurricanes. At least we get to keep our phone number, and
I'm taking the digital dish with us!

The other upshot of all this would be I'd be her building manager (aka
Kanrinnin) and therefore I'd get free rent for watching over the
properties. I'm still looking into getting another job, or a better
paying job altogether. I don't like the prospect of working without a
union contract, though.

It's been a year since I left that horrid restaurant. The abuse I
suffered at the hands of customers and bad management. Those corporate
jerk inspectors, too. Getting out of that place was perhaps the best and
worst thing that happened to me. I know what I'd like to see happen as
revenge and it would be perfectly legal and sweet. Heh!!

My friend who won the 2005 Monbusho research fellowship grant left for
Japan a few days ago. I see by his blog he's doing well. ^_^ I hope to
see him in Tokyo sometime next year, as well as a penpal or 2.

So far...

Well, all that other info got back to the office. August 9th, the
underwriter for the rurdev office did some figuring. I got a letter that
basically said, yes, I could get a loan through Rural Development. Only
thing is I couldn't get enough to buy a house.

So the figures go on my monthly gross, use 29% of that, then use $150 a
month in estimated real estate taxes and $35 a month in insurance. That
would leave a payment that qualified me for only $4,977.00.

First off, I wouldn't even consider a place that required $150 in taxes.
One house I want to get is $72 a month in taxes. Cheaper house might
also mean cheaper insurance. Mom figures if we can make a downpayment of
$10 to 15K or so, we would need to borrow much less. How we get the
downpayment, I'm not sure.

Distraught and depressed, last Friday I wrote a letter back to the
rurdev office requesting an informal review and suggested some
alternatives. I also wrote a letter and sent copies off to TV stations.
Hopefully I'll hear from one of them soon. I also tried contacting a
local Habitat for Humanity office via email. I haven't heard anything
back from that, so I will end up having to call them.

Might be talking to the real estate agent who has this one loan officer
coming into her office at the end of this week. There's gotta be a way
for me or us to get a loan to buy a house. I want to get a federally
subsidized loan like my mom got through Farmer's Home Administration
years ago. I should be able to do this.

I'm also considering alternative forms of employment. One is a 2nd part
time job, and the other is getting management training where I work for
getting me out of that store and into another. If one friend who used to
work there can get it and pass the test, I know I can do it, too. I'd
likely end up in a salaried management position, which would suck. After
getting burned on one non-union protected job, I don't want to work
without it ever again.

I don't know if I'm going to get screwed over or not

Well... I've begun the process to apply for a Uniform Housing Loan
through the government's USDA Rural Development office. I sent in at
first an incomplete application, then I got it sent in with the $30
credit reporting fee and additional info they requested.

A week after that, I got an envelope with a few other papers (credit
reporting disclosure, Truth in Lending data), and sent those back in.

Now they're checking info with my current landlord, my current employer,
my past employer, and the bank.

Two of those bits have replied. I called on 8/2 about how things were
going, left a message on the processor's voice mail about how if things
were looking good that I had a house in mind and where it is. The
processor of my application called back saying the landlord info was
received as well as my current employer.

But the thing that caught me off guard was them checking my past
employer. My heart sank when I heard they were checking that. I have no
idea what info they'll be asking for, or if how my employment with them
ended will make any difference. I hope all they need and get is how long
I was employed by them. I also hold no hope for their timely response.
If the errors in my credit report with the Bank of America account I
never had doesn't mess things up, this thing with my previous employer,
for whom I worked 10.5 years, just could depending on what info the
rurdev people ask for.

I woke this morning feeling like crap and with a bit of a sore throat.
Autotoxemia? Heh, I wouldn't be surprised. I've started getting boxes
from where I work now, but haven't begun packing anything, and I got a
lot to pack.

Damn.

Hoping for a future

A few days ago I sent in the application for the Rural Development
Uniform housing loan. Or something much to that effect. I hope I hear
from them soon so I can snap up one of a few houses I have en eye on.
The house we're currently in went on the market in April without our
consent. My older sister claims she's upset that mom's upset for that
happening, but I know better. It's crockadile tears. Then, just because
it's been... what, 3 months? since that happened and the house here
hasn't sold? She's trying to blame the unsold house on us? I heard talk
of her wanting to kick us out so the house will sell. All I know is,
when the name on the deed for the house is mine, my older sister will
never be in my house ever again.

Something of a revelation

After reading over the text of stupid customers that I had saved, I
realize something but only after having some exposure to Gordon Ramsay
and his Kitchen Nightmares, Boiling Point, and Beyond Boiling Point, as
well as the current Fox series Hell's Kitchen - I should have had
complete free reign and control of how I wanted to deal with stupid
customers when I worked at the restaurant. When that one stupid woman
complained of "cold fries" when the dish had just been dished up from
product that was still under the hold timer, I should have been given
the right without retaliation, much like Gordon Ramsay, to go right up
to her and ask what the problem is.

"What's the problem?"

"The fries are cold."

"Oh really? Let's have a look at one then."

Pick up a fry, break it open (crisp fries should snap open), and have
hot steam come out of the broken ends.

"That certainly looks like a hot french fry. I can grab some of the cold
ones out of the freezer if you need something to compare these to.
Satisfied now?"

Oh man, the things I wanted to do. Gordon Ramsay is like an idol in
regard to how chefs should be. Perfectionist, demanding of respect, and
willing to fight for the quality and reputation of the food they create.

Damn straight.

Anywho, here I sit at my mom's desktop working on files for a CDrom and all, and I realize something. It's Tuesday before Anime North, but I'm not doing something I feel I should be: gathering at a friend's house with all of our group that goes to Toronto around this time of year, waiting to leave Wednesday morning, an extra day or 2 ahead of time so we can do shopping at Pacific Mall before the convention. This feeling is odd. It may also relieve the tensions of crossing the border into Canada as well as the post-convention blues when coming back and all. Everything tells me something is wrong. I should be somewhere else feeling good - but I'm not. It's kinda depressing. I don't have my camcorder ready with charged batteries or blank tapes; I didn't get any clothes ready; I don't even know what panels they'll be holding. I'll have to ask my anime friend in Toronto to see if he can get me an additional program book. I never really expected to go this year. I didn't even pre-register! Instead, the Wednesday before Anime North, I have to get ready for work, then a day off, then I work during most of the convention. And things at work aren't the greatest either, so I will likely not be in the best of spirits right now. I have my friends and I work with people I like, more or less. It's just sad.

Everything right now says this is wrong. My friends' plans also imploded, which in turn imploded my plans. I have money that I won't be spending where I want to spend it. My exposure to Asian and Japanese culture will be lacking. This was not how 2005 was supposed to be like.

Anywho, I must plod on. Somehow. I'm going to miss all those people in costume. Damn.

Pioneer DVDs marked down at Valu City

A friend on a whim for something else went to a local Valu City store
and noticed a rack over by the toys and small appliances with Pioneer
DVDs on them. Of note, a Card Captor Sakura DVD, one CardCraptors DVD, 2
Adventures of the Mini Goddesses (Urd and Skuld files - dunno why they
can't just number them), Black Heaven. $5.99 each. There may have been
others, I don't know. I know of one other Valu City store and may try
checking it out to see what they got.

Interesting to see stuff like this popping up almost all over. Dollar
General, Big Lots, and now Valu City? It was a few years or so ago I
found MEAD's Sailor Moon design notebooks at Valu City and ended up
collecting all 6 designs. It's nice to see stuff like this still popping
up. And it sorta makes up for our group's destroyed plans for Anime
North this year. T.T

change of plans all around

First off, there will be No Anime North trip this year. We will try to
plan something else instead, and maybe shoot for Anime North in 2006 if
things work out all around. I am also hoping to shoot for a trip to
Japan possibly in 2006.

Secondly...

"OK, change of plans is in the works."

"First off, I may have use our union influence to finally get the
position I've been screaming for. They put people in there and they
don't exactly want to be there - then they get someone like me with
experience to be there and I get totally ignored!!!"

Scratch that - Management at the store is using "customer service
issues" as an excuse to not let me go to Hot Foods (which I have
experience doing - 10.5 frigging years of experience!) NOR to train me
on registers! Bastards! I have another ace up my sleeve, and I will not
reveal my plans just yet. I had one of the union stewards pound an
explanation out of the HR person, and even then they got the brush-off
and got lied to as well. I have written down notes of this whole ordeal
so I don't forget any details. I have not given up fighting.

"There may also be a plan in the works that will allow mom and myself to
buy a house. It will end up in my name, and if I can get something in
the price range I'm thinking of, this could go well. I'll have to start
praying I can find something where I will like it. I liked living on
Euclid, so perhaps there will be something available. Heh."

These plans haven't changed. I'm still working on this.

"Been selling on eBay pretty steadily for the past month. Some items get
no interest, while some do surprisingly well. Up to now, all my JEM
listings have sold the first try. I fear the Star Stage won't, and only
because I haven't been able to find one piece. T.T"

My last few listings came and went. The buyer of the Psygnosis lot says
disk 1 of Awesome is missing. While I don't think that's true, I will
look to see if it ended up staying here. My brother in law took in
almost $500 for the remote control model airplanes he had me sell for
him on eBay, with one seller being a bit of a fussbudget. Might block
them from future listings.

Been working on graphics from CDroms a friend sent me. The Prototype
Generation BBS collection, the Venice Perfect Memory collection, as well
as some assorted sound and video files, and "Digital Pink" which has a
terrible rate of duplicate images and other stuff. Compressed a bunch of
uncompressed KISS files into LZH archives. Today's KISS software has the
ability built in to uncompress from LZH archives. ^_^ Also working on
converting .AU files to .WAV or even MP3 if the file is big enough.

Most of the pics in JPG format needed better compression. All pics are
getting the BBS stamp removed. Some get softened to make them look more
like a computer graphic rather than a poor grainy GIF conversion or bad
scan. Improves the overall look as well as the space saved on disk. Some
of those JPGs were huge. Criky.

Testing with Veggie Sloppy Joes

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup lentils, sorted and rinsed
2 cups water
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
3/4 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
10 kaiser rolls, split and toasted

PREPARATION:
Sort over lentils and combine with water in medium saucepan. Bring to a
boil, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Place in 3-4 quart crockpot
with remaining ingredients except for vinegar, mustard, and kaiser
rolls. Cover and cook for 10-12 hours until thickened. Stir in vinegar
and mustard just before serving. Make sandwiches using toasted buns. 10
sandwiches

There was a skillet version that didn't take as long...