Got an offer on the house. Hopefully these people won't back out like the jagbags who after inspection realized the closet in the 5th bedroom was too small.

Edited March 20, 201313 yr by luvdunhill

You got to keep the earnest money, tho right?

You got to keep the earnest money, tho right?

Yeah, $150. It was during the option period.

Good luck, Marc.  I cannot imagine the pain in the ass it is to sell a house.  Buying one was bad enough.

Selling a house is one of the worst experiences one can ever have.  Good luck Marc.

I've only sold houses prior to the current mortgage crunch, but it always went really smoothly (using a realtor).  That said, given that almost no one can get a mortgage these days, I'm sure it's painful.  I would have listed my house ages ago if I thought there was any chance I could sell it without a short sale.

Best of luck to Marc and Anurag, and when you're done with it pass it back here please

Good luck on the house sale.

I just had my annual brain MRI to make sure the cavernoma isn't changing. Yay for pinko health care. On the way to Brandon (a one-hr drive) I picked up the local crazy hermit guy, who was hitchiking. He smells the way you'd expect him to smell with twelve indoor cats and no running water.

Mmmmm smelly cats

Smelly of cats

 

Free health care, and with that level of monitoring and prevention is awesome.

 

I just spoke with Dan's investigator.  Answer to a lot of questions was, "I don't know".  I don't know how many children he has, their names, education level...wtf?  Ask me what kind of headphones or beer he likes, that I can answer.

heh, thanks for doing that.

Not a problem.

Mmmmm smelly cats

 

Hehehe, I knew someone would remember that tune, Steve

Speaking of withholdings, has anyone run into more frequent audits claiming over 9? I would like to up mine even more but have heard this from an self proclaimed tax experts.

Helped Joanne make a Space Rocket cake for book club.

 

EDIT: Book Club admires the finished result

Edited March 22, 201313 yr by Grahame

Noticed last night that one of the cockatiel eggs is starting to make "cheep cheep cheep" noises.  It was still doing it this morning.  I expect it will hatch into something really ugly pretty soon.

got pissed at the local post office.  im not sure who is worse, the people who work there or the people who run the USPS.  what a dated organization.

they always get the mail one address off on my street.

 

retards.

got pissed at the local post office.  im not sure who is worse, the people who work there or the people who run the USPS.  what a dated organization.

 

Similarly...holy shit rates have gone up.  I just shipped a 4lb package to CA, for a whopping $19, without insurance.  Woof.

the local office pulled the stunt where the line is to the door (mostly with idiots asking for 2 stamps or the person holding a bundle of items and doesnt own a roll of tape), so i attempt to leave my 2 pre-paid packages on the counter and am rebuffed as this is considered "target mail" apparently a fancy term for POSSIBLY A BOMB.  get pissed, leave and call the main office where I usually drive out to drop stuff off.  They inform me that its not allowed at ANY post office but they make an exception at their location.  Go back in, wait in line for 20 minutes.  Ask the guy when we'll be able to leave packages at the counter, he's instantly annoyed, says never - We have to make sure your packages are the weight it says on the label.  Me: "At FedEx they just check it later and bill my credit card if its wrong".  Him - "Well you can ship your packages by FedEx then."  Me - "Well i would have spent the extra $10 to do so if i knew i had to wait"

 

another thing i hate is the people who think the post office is socializing time so they start telling jokes when they get to the counter

 

now i have to keep my eyes on the tracking to make sure they actually ship the items.

Edited March 21, 201313 yr by justin

Similarly...holy shit rates have gone up.  I just shipped a 4lb package to CA, for a whopping $19, without insurance.  Woof.

 

the international rates are all up 30%, but they're still the cheapest way to ship international if you use air mail.  no customers are going to pay the list rates these days for international shipping since shipping from the U.S. is so uncompetitive that i've downgraded to air mail.  Priority intl is now a similar price to FedEx with a 55% discount which anyone with an account # can get.  and Express Mail is now more than FedEx.

 

i dropped off 30 Pico Powers on Monday, all international air mail.  would have been $1590 in postage with express, $1230 with priority, and it was $450 air mail.  so if a couple dont get there i'm still ahead of the game, this is the new way it has to be.

Edited March 21, 201313 yr by justin

I still prefer them to either UPS or FedEx.  The guys in Merrifield aren't bad -- they do a good job of keeping the line moving, yet friendly enough so as not to seem like complete proles.  And I've known some of them since I opened the box in...the early 90's?  Late 80's?

 would have been $1590 in postage with express, $1230 with priority, and it was $450 air mail.  so if a couple dont get there i'm still ahead of the game, this is the new way it has to be.

 

Wow, it's shocking that priority vs air mail is such a huge difference. Same with how close the price difference is between express and priority!

Last time I went to an USPS, they actually ran out of the international mail declaration forms and I had to go to another USPS.

How the F do you run out of those.. it's ridiculous.

And yeah the price, a small bubble padded envelope used to cost $4 and now it costs $6.

 

Priority used to be alot cheaper than express if you can fit the thing into their boxes. Now they are almost the same regardless the box used.

Air mail doesn't have tracking or insurance (impossible to add) as far as I know, which is why it's cheap.

Edited March 21, 201313 yr by jwzhan