8-27-11 Saturday (Are You Prepared?)

First, a house update.  The builder didn’t get the damaged wood floors replaced as quickly as they thought.  Apparently through some sort of concrete moisture test, the flooring company said it isn’t ready for the new floor quite yet.  So far, this has delayed the appraisal as well as the inspection.  The flooring is torn apart and looks pitiful.  Sigh.

Every couple of weeks a supervisor will walk by and hand out chips or candy… just because.   So Monday, supervisors came by with a two level cart filled with chips, cookies and candy.  It seemed a little excessive as compared to previous offerings but my junk-food-loving-self, smiled and graciously accepted.  Tuesday, supervisors came by with Good Humor icecream.  I thought to myself, self, cause I often call myself that, what’s going on?  A little later I see other people walking the halls with carts of icecream, assumedly to bring to their teams.  Hmmmmm, there must be something going on.  By the end of the day I find out it is employee appreciation week aka feed you fattening foods week. The idea was awesome and welcomed but they missed their mark.  It took me almost 2 days of asking people here and there to find out what the occasion was.  Perhaps I wasn’t told directly that I was appreciated because I was on a phone call?  Maybe I missed the email?  Was there a sign hanging somewhere?  I thank them back for what they do, but as I said I think they missed their mark.

On Thursday, we were treated again.  A couple of supervisors came to my cubicle.  The first thing I saw was someone holding a stack of small Dixie cups.  My first thought was, “oooooo shots!”  Then the cart appeared.  Nachos!  Yep, hot gooey cheese and chips.  The cup?  It provided a small cup of jalapeños peppers. 

On Friday, I came into work and found left over Bojangles and Dunkin’ Donuts from the morning’s employee appreciation.  I ate a cold sausage biscuit.  It was still yummy though.  Later in the day they received another delivery of Bojangles.  Even more later in the day I had indigestion.  Good times.

When I told Jim about all these “gifts”, his reaction was, “so, they gave you food when you work in a call center and have to be on the phones?”  It was a nice break, I enjoyed it.  Perhaps I’m a nerd.

Oh, by the way, I packed two more boxes!  It felt good!  It felt awesome to continue forward with this house.  That’s it.

Just a side note…  I found this website which happens to be from the CDC!  It’s funny they’d have this zombie preparedness for an apocalypse link. 

8-24-11 Wednesday (Boogers & Poop)

Yes I live in North Carolina but no I didn’t feel the earthquake yesterday.  I was at work and it’s not uncommon to feel vibrations throughout the day.  The vibrations are because the floor is somewhat hollow to allow for network cables and electric to run cube to cube.  So sometimes, someone with a heavy foot will cause a mild shake.

We did get word from our mortgage broker rep:

“We had a meeting with our regional director yesterday, and yes, NACA exemption will end Aug/29^th. We will have a gap until we obtain a broker license. This will not enable us to do NEW bank apps and register loans with lender until we obtain our license. The loans already in the pipeline and registered with lender under exemption will not be affected and will close normally.”

Yay!  What a worry that whole mess was.  Now I can continue packing too!

I got word from the builder’s superintendent yesterday that during some testing, the downstairs bath toilet over-flowed and some of the wood floors would need replaced (350 SF worth).  I did not ask if it was sewer water, “dirty water” or any other questions.  He said he just wanted to let us know so we wouldn’t be surprised when we arrived for the walk through today.  We have lots of questions but I didn’t ask them yesterday.  I think I was just numb over everything.

So I gathered up supplies for the walkthrough.  Flashlights for dark corners.  A ladder.  Tape measure.  Paper/pen.  2 picky bitches (that would be us).  A level.  The level is because we’ve noticed some of the outlets are out of whack.  The salesperson noticed the towel bar in the guest bath was crooked too.  So we don’t intend to check the level of everything but if there’s a “debate” about if something is fine or not, we’ll be armed with a level.

Before the walkthrough, Jim and I went to lunch at Mimi’s and had Mimosas to celebrate the mortgage news.  Well, we’d have those even if we weren’t celebrating.

We (us and the realtor) had the walkthrough with the builder superintendent.  He was armed blue painter’s tape to mark off our complaints.  Most of it was paint boogers… cosmetic.  The damaged wood floors are scheduled to be replaced later today.  We did confirm that the damaged floors were done so with clean water and not “poop water”.  Refreshing.

Todays photos:

Above: The floors are buckled.  Strange thing is that other than the board pulling up, it looked fine, like old wood floors…  except it didn’t match the undamaged floors.

Above: A better shot of the pretty banister.

 

 

 

Above: Some strange variations on the “smooth” walls and ceiling.

Above: The infamous blue tape.

8-21-11 Sunday (Step Outside Of The Goodwill)

It was a pretty boring day.  I dragged Jim grocery shopping at BJs and then on to Walmart.  We came home, unloaded the Jeep and then decided to go for a late brunch to Queen City Diner.  We had a Groupon, shocking, I know.  When I think of a diner, the NY in me takes over and I think of hot open roast beef sandwiches, meatloaf, reubens, turkey dinners, etc.  The menu choices here were disappointing. Breakfast, burgers, sandwiches, chicken fingers, wings, and not much more than that.  Aside from the breakfast menu, this is all they had:

The server seemed new.  For us to be the only customers, service could have been much better.  I ordered the club.   The menu description was bland so I asked if it had cheese.  She said they could add it.  I said American or Cheddar was fine.  I asked if it had mayo.  She said she’d put it on there.  I wasn’t real sure if it came with it, didn’t come with it or what.  I know they had American cheese available because their sandwich list shows an item with it specifically listed.  I ordered the sandwich on white.  It came.  I think the bread was toasted with butter.  I didn’t enjoy that mix of flavor.  The bread didn’t appear white.  The cheese?  It was shredded.  Who puts shredded cheese on a cold sandwich?  The turkey slid out and plopped on the plate.  Upon closer inspection it looked like that shit that’s been regurgitated and then reconstituted.  It was oval shaped.  The roast beef?  Stringy, fatty, ewwww.  The tater tots seemed like the oil was due for a change.  Jim had eggs benedict and remarked it was “remarkably unremarkable”.   The food took a long time to come out.  I thought maybe since we were the only ones there that they had to get the grill and deep fryer hot?  Jim said that doesn’t take long.  They sure missed the mark.

Yet another place I wanted to like.  A local business.  Oh well.

We then went Goodwill clothes shopping.  Yay… for Jim.  Me, I thumb through the stuff too but never volunteer to go there.  We did end up with some good stuff but we didn’t get any shorts like we needed.  We’re fat.  There, I said it.  If that’s offensive then we’ll go with “very out of shape”. 

While at Goodwill, some guy was there with his (assumed) wife and child.  The kid was screaming at the top of his lungs while mommy and daddy played, “ignore him and he’ll stop”.  Folks, if you practice this method in public places, then you suck.  It was annoying and everyone kept looking.  I eventually said, “take him outside”.  The Spanish thug father then said with an accent, “what did you say bitch, we can take this outside.”  I walked away.  Nervously.  Well, it was a risk but someone had to do it.  I’m sure the onlookers that kept staring while the kid screamed wanted into the action…  I was hoping for cheers, or balloons or perhaps a small gift but there was nothing.

Jim had planned for us to go see a movie but we decided to stay on our current shopping path.  Before we knew it, it was getting late and time to head home.  We stopped at the house.  Disappointing.  The painters had recently been there to correct some issues.  The first thing was the columns at the front door. 

Above: Both of them had a horrible fit/finish and looks like it was painted over while warped.

Above: The front door had 2 dings on the exterior, one on the inside.  They painted around the hardware (getting paint on the lock) and the damn door has brush strokes for days.  Horrible.

 

Above: The banister stain is complete.  It looks great.

Many of the moldings have a terrible fit/finish.  Paint boogers all over.  An interior with many paint drips.  In many spots on the ceiling and walls are rough areas that need sanding.  I’m not sure if it’s where the taped joints are or what caused it.  There’s a gap at bottom of the stairs where the wood floor meets, maybe it’s just where a molding will go?  They painted the interior doors while they hung so paint pooled up at the hinges.  Who did this builder hire?  Ugh.  Jim will be on the rampage and I’ll need to be the calm one.  We’re not expecting perfection but rather quality.  There’s more but I didn’t take pictures.

Aside from not knowing if this home will ever be ours, this lack of quality has really got me down.  I will say that the builder superintendent and sales person caught and corrected numerous issues before we said anything about them.  We spotted the issues but decided to let them go for the time being.  We were pleased to see them taken care of. 

We came home and got lunches ready for the week:

Lettuce mix, artichokes, chick peas, corn, black beans, broccoli, chicken, feta = yum.  We’ve been doing salads for lunch lately because I’ve gotten burned out on sandwiches.  It’s healthier too.  I used a balsamic vinaigrette dressing that doesn’t have any oil in it and is delish.  I’ve blogged about it here.

Here’s another “This Day In OUR History”:

2009: RV toilet issues and replacement.  MISadventure. 2010: Working at the hell hole that is AAA in Rock Hill, SC.  Couch damages.  News of friends migrating to Charlotte.

8-16-11 Tuesday and 8-17-11 Wednesday

WORK:

I’m thrilled my day off is tomorrow.  I need the break.  It seemed like the phone calls were the worst quality this week.  A customer told me to speak louder because her dishwasher was on.  So, you want to get a loan but expect me to scream through the phone at you?  It’s stuff like that. 

A man with $9.00 in his account which was opened May 2011, was unhappy that my car loan minimum was more than he needed.  He continued to be upset with me because I told him we check credit for loans.  He said he had bad credit.  He argued that we, the bank, should just give him a chance.  I apologized, told him I couldn’t do anything differently.  He asked to close his account.  I was speechless. 

On the plus side, another schedule bid comes out this Thursday.  During the last bid, 2 schedules were offered.  One featured four 9-hour days and a half day on Saturday.   That was the best of the two.  the other schedule was off for Sunday/Monday, 12-8 most days and early Friday and Saturday.  A good 2nd choice.  The guy who got that schedule wants out of it and back into his old one which was an 8-4 type schedule.  I must admit, I’m a little annoyed that he doesn’t want it now.  I can’t trade with him because he wants a morning shift.  Policy is you have to work in your current schedule for 90 days before you can swap.  I’ve heard they (the company) don’t uphold that.  If that happens he’ll probably be ahead of me again and possibly take a schedule I’ll want.  Ugh.

The house:

So, the new house doesn’t come with medicine cabinets.  We’ve checked them out in the stores and can’t find exactly what we want so far.  Jim suggested checking with the cabinet company.  Our salesperson provided the information.  Today I called them.  I got an answering machine, left a message with the style of the cabinets, my request and a return phone number.  As of Wednesday morning, at time of typing this up, no return call.  Excellent customer service. *Update, they called Wednesday afternoon!

Jim contacted one fence company so far.  $3500 for our first estimate.  Ugh.  I’m sure there’s lower out there.  I hope.

The mortgage status?  We asked the mortgage counselor from NACA for their license status.  He says they won’t know until the last day of the month.  Really?  I have a bad feeling about all this.  It’s going to be a mess, it’s all gonna suck.  I just want to get it over with.  The worst thing is it has stifled my excitement.  The excitement was building seeing the molding, the flooring, siding, etc. get installed.  Now?  I don’t care.  Does that seem odd?  I’m angry with NACA.  I’m disgruntled.  I know 2 posts ago I mentioned we’d try to be UNexcited but it’s different now.  Now it’s happening naturally.  It’s a bad sign.  Really.

So, there’s still more to pack up.  There’s more to do.  Things to buy.  Estimates to obtain.  Shopping.  If I don’t do anything and all goes through then I would have wasted time.  A lot of what needs to be packed up is stuff that we can do without for a couple of weeks.  What if we have to get new financing and it turns to be months?  We packed away scarves, hats and gloves already.  That is what’s going through my mind.

Today (Wednesday), I went to the new house. Nothing had changed. With a downpour the other night, it would appear that the driveway is still getting flooded even with it’s grading and gutters.  That concerns me.  The electric isn’t on yet.  I can tell because the meter is nonexistent.

Shopping:

I went to Walmart for some dinner supplies.  It’s been a while since we’ve had a nice dinner at home together.  I bought steaks at BJ’s the other day so I needed a couple of potatoes to accompany them with.  I impulse bought and got box of chocolate-peanut-butter brownie mix for dessert.  I came home, realized I had forgotten icecream and  then went out for that.  I had a small list of stuff I needed from Dollar Tree and stopped there as well.  That’s when I saw it.

Are they friggin’ nuts?  Halloween, Thanksgiving (Fall) and Christmas stuff was out.  Christmas was a small section… so far but I assume it will continue to grow.  I understand crafts coming out early to afford time to those who make stuff.  Cookie tins and gift wrap can wait.

Gifts:

So while on my shopping excursions I spot a dense, thick, chewy bone for a $1 that I pick up for Dasher.  Naturally, I give it to him and he just sits there with it.  Eventually he started gnawing on it.  I’m not sure what he was waiting for. 

While at Food Lion (for icecream), I spotted a clearance rack.  I dug through that and found 3 Hartz feather-on-stick type cat toys bundled together for 69 cents.  I bought it.  Clea loved them.  I stuck them in doors and such.  How does she repay me?  Well apparently during the night (Wednesday) she somehow managed to push the glass pan with rubber form-fitting lid across the counter and onto the floor.  Jim woke up to the mess Thursday morning.  We have no idea if she ate any of it, ate any glass or anything like that.  I can’t believe it.  I’m SO thankful it happened while Dasher was locked in the bedroom with us because I’m sure he would have devoured the brownie and probably a lot of the glass.  Jim had a big mess to clean up.  Me?  For extra protection I’m Roomba vacuuming, then I’ll mop and I’m washing the kitchen mat.  I’m terrified about shards of glass.  I’m not happy.

8-14-11 Sunday (She Sells Sea Shells On Craigslist)

Jim started his day by looking through more Craigslist ads for more bargains.  I must say, Craigslist is pretty amusing.  Now, I don’t mean to offend but here’s some of the more humorous ads he spotted:

Above: Click to bigafy.  This ad is funny on 2 levels.  #1, we have this set in the motor home because a- we got it for free from Jim’s mom; b-it’s light weight; c-they stack nicely and take up little space.  #2, it’s hideous but the ad boasts how you get service for 20 and is a steal if you entertain. 

Above: Click to bigafy.  WHITE Fiesta dinnerware screams “what’s the point?”

Above: Click to bigafy.  Sorry, unless you’re elderly, there’s nothing cute about this outdate (mauve and teal) hideous lamps.  If you own something similar, to each their own I guess.  Feel free to make fun of me, I’m a big boy.

Above: Click to bigafy.  Ewwwww.  A used razor.  AND it has a problem.

Late morning, Billy and Mike came over for brunch.  Sausage, waffles and mimosas.  Yum.  We all took a ride over to the new house.  I didn’t take any photos since nothing had changed since my last set of photos.  After the house tour, we “introduced” Mike and Billy to the world of Ikea.  We didn’t buy anything except cinnamon rolls and drinks.  We spent forever there.

Later we met them for dinner at a Mexican restaurant, Fiesta Maya.  Good food, good company.

On the way home, Jim and I stopped off at Food Lion.  This particular store was a Bloom which was owned by the same people who own Food Lion.  They converted all the Bloom stores in the area to Food Lion.  Ugh.  I wonder how many times I can say Bloom and Food Lion?  Anyway, Bloom was a cool store that I could walk around, scan stuff, bag it while I shopped, and pay for it all at once and leave (I blogged about it here).  Food Lion’s tend to be nasty icky stores.  The point of my story was to tell you about some items in the store that we found amusing.

Above: Unfortunately the label didn’t photograph well but it’s a Rubbermaid featuring an easy find lid.  If you can’t find the lid for this thing, it’s just plain lost.

Above: Ping Pong Balls, mayo, ketchup.  One of these things is not like the other.

Well, now that I’ve just about made a post that criticizes everything…

8-13-11 Saturday (Whatever)

Saturday sucked.  Jim departed before me to head to the house.  For some of the speaker outlets he installed, he needed to put covers on them to pass inspection.  I got ready for work and decided I wanted to see the new carpeting that was installed.  On my way I decided to call my mom and dad.  My screen wouldn’t come on.  I tried and tried.  Turned out the phone was so dead (battery).  I thought the whole thing had died.  After all, I had just removed it from the charger.  I still don’t know why that happened.

I met Jim at the house, it’s so nice.  Based on news from our loan person at NACA yesterday, Jim and I are just trying to remain UNexcited.  A new email from him reveals:

We will do our best. All I know is that NACA has already applied for its broker license as national Headquarter mentioned to us yesterday. I do know it takes some time, as the NCCOB stated, and all I mentioned was, just the worst case scenario possible, since I always prepare for the worst, and whatever comes out will better .
NO one is trying to push/rush closing, and I know u must have inspection, must be cleared by our rehab department first, but I just needed to give u heads up. NCCOB has extended our exempt status b/c they must investigate/takes time to obtain a broker license.
Anyway, you know I always to my best and will continue to do so, in a timely manner, and we will be able to close, only when our rehab department states ALL repairs (if any) required by the inspector has been done by the builder. .

So I’m confused.  Is the original date the extended date or has it been further extended since yesterday’s news?  Jim and I’s word of the week “whatever”.  Here’s some house photos:

Above: Stairs going up.  The rails still need stained.

Above: 1 of the guest rooms.  Who will be first?  Probably Jim’s Grandmother.

Above: Upstairs guest bath.

Above: Master bedroom

Above: Living room, dinette and kitchen.  Wood floors are protected with cardboard.

I got to work and realized I forgot my security badge at home.  I had to leave the entrance I normally go in, go to the main entrance and check in at the guard shack.  Then I’m supposed to go to the main entrance of the building and get a bright orange sticker (temporary badge aka badge of shame).  I skipped that part and snuck in and out of the building all day by having coworkers illegally swipe their badge to let me in through the unmanned doors.  I’m such a rebel. 

Without my badge, I also didn’t have my desk key.  Oh and I forgot the ring I wear every day at home.  THEN I got to my desk and realized my phone was missing.  I had to have someone let me in and out of the building again and there it was on the car seat.  It fell off.

My Saturday at work sucked.  The customers sucked.  They were rude.  Several of them didn’t make any sense.  I thought perhaps it was phone-a-friend-day from the psychiatric ward.  A woman who kept me on the phone for an hour told me all about the 15 cats she had… most kittens.  I was able to bring her back to reality and discuss business for all about 3 minutes each time and then it was back to talking about cats.  Imagine, or not, the smell in that house. That’s just one story out of the 4-5 weird or rude customers I had.

The day was truly off.  Full moon?  Not sure.

Jim went to check out a 2 year old washer and dryer set off Craigslist.  He got the set for $240.  What a deal.  He verified the washer’s operation on site with the owner by hooking it up to a garden hose.  With a lack of a 220v connection, we weren’t able to test the dryer so here’s hoping.  Jim researched and found a new comparable set for $1100-1300.  He did good!

So Jim snapped the picture below on his way to/from the Craigslist purchase place.

Above: Cemetery and playground?  Uhhhh creepy.

Fun Craigslist photos coming for tomorrow…

8-12-11 Friday (Copying A Drag Queen)

Yesterday, my job decided to send out an email about an employee hat contest.  The contest is for today.  It’s meant to be fun but why the short notice?  Half the employees were off yesterday which means they won’t know anything about it.  Maybe with a week’s notice more would participate?  Well, if you know me by now, you know that I love being goofy and having fun so I knew I was going to be in on it.  I went to Walmart for supplies.

I bought some stuff (pictured above).  It was all about $4 worth.  I really didn’t want to spend a lot of money, but I wanted it to be humorous.  Being bald, I thought I’d do something like drag queen, Ongina, from Ru Paul’s Drag Race.  Take a look at her “head pieces”.

That was Ongina.  I couldn’t find a mini hat.  I didn’t check a party supply store because I didn’t really have a lot of time.  I mean, I got off at 9 the night before and have to be in to work at 12:30 today.  So here’s what I made with my supplies:

Yes, I wore that to work. I had to take it off from time to time cause the plastic was creating sweat. It wasn’t announced yet so I’m not sure who won.  I was told several times by supervisors that I won but nothing official yet.  If I win, I think it will have been for originality.  There was lots of picture taking.  Lot of laughing.  Lots of fun.  I was also told that they’ll do it again with more advance notice.

Some of the hats I saw were witches, blinking bunny ears, beanie propeller hat, Dr. Seuss, cowboy, Indian headdress, and can’t remember the rest.  Again, the people who participated were scarce.  Not enough time or didn’t want to bother… not sure.

So what do I get if I win?  I’m not sure.  I do know that just by wearing the hat got me an entry into a drawing for an extra half hour lunch.  Big deal, I know, but they do a lot of different things like this with prizes like free chips, cookies, pizza party, etc that it’s better they do small gifts than expensive stuff that they can’t do as often.

That’s enough about work.  I stopped by the house.  We have trees and shrubs.  No grass or seed yet.  The wood floors were in but 90% of it is covered with card board to protect.

As you know we’re financing through NACA which then will go through a conventional bank for the loan. I’ve mentioned the highlights of the NACA program.

So bad news?  We got this email from our NACA representative/advisor:

Hello Gentlemen,

I don’t want to scare anyone (really?), but I understand your intentions of closing only on sep/2011 (We only picked Sept because walkthrough is 8-24)

NACA, as you may be aware, has a exempt status with the NCCOB (north Carolina bank commission), and talks here in the office and with our regional director is that our exempt status will end by Aug/29^th. I don’t know how true this is. (Is it just a rumor? What does he mean?) 

If this is the case, and naca doesn’t not obtain its business broker license, loan will not be able to close until this happen.

I just want to give you heads up with this situation, in case this comes to be true.

Yeah, I was kinda sick over it.  Now the rush is on.  Jim and I have decided to not let it bother us.  If it’s meant to be it will happen.  If not we’ll start all over!  We’ve decided to continue on as planned.  We’re obviously trying to get a closing before anything bad happens but we can’t do anything till our NACA rep is back in on Monday. 

In other unrelated news, I received my ordered copy of “between the stars” from Amazon!  This is our friend, April Fox’s book.  (She’s the one with pink hair who lives in Asheville.)

8-10-11 Wednesday (RoboVac)

Dear Day Off,

Oh how I love you.  Although I try not to be a size queen, I certainly wish you were longer.  There, I said it.

Yours Truly,

The Worker

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Dear Lowe’s,

We were so thrilled to have found you have moving boxes cheaper than U-Line and U-Haul.  I’m trying to figure out why you found it necessary to put so much art work on every side of the box leaving hardly any room for me to label it’s contents.  Sure it’s important to display your name and logo proudly however I think leaving out the road graphic would have saved you money on ink and made me a lot happier.  After all, my happiness is important, isn’t it?

Sincerely,

Crammed

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Dear Rental House Stairs With The Dumb Molding and Excessive Use of Incorrect Caulk Type,

You suck.  You are a dust magnet.  You always look dirty and are obnoxiously annoying to clean.  I can’t wait to leave you behind in the move.

An Anxious Future Homeowner

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Dear Rental Dryer,

You suck too.  You are a complete mess when emptying the lint filter.  I truly believe that you and Rental House Stairs With The Dumb Molding and Excessive Use of Incorrect Caulk Type work together to make my life a dusty hell.  Why didn’t the landlord purchase a model with the lint filter inside the drum?  May you and Rental House Stairs With The Dumb Molding and Excessive Use of Incorrect Caulk Type have a good life together.

Hating Lint,

An Even More Anxious Future Homeowner

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Dear Clea Cat,

I’m on to you.  I know how you get up and down the kitchen counters.  You know you shouldn’t be up there.  I can hear you jump down when you know I’m coming down the steps.  You’ve left behind foot prints on the chrome trash can.  I’ve sent the prints off to a crime lab to be analyzed and confirmed but until the results are in know this, I’m watching you.

Disliking Pets on Counter Tops,

Disgusted

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Dear Icky Stove Top,

You’ve served me well for over a year and a half but I’ll be so excited to have a smooth top cook surface once again.  Perhaps the next renters will allow your “inner beauty” (aka burners) to display proudly.  I’ve been a horrible person… covering you up with burner covers… ashamed of you.  I try to remember you are not an animal.  It’s so difficult at times.  You are truly ugly looking.

Ashamed,

Renter

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<End Dear So And So’s>

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So I went shopping today.  While in Target I browsed the clearance end caps and spotted a Roomba 530 on clearance for $200.  It seemed like a great bargain.  We had one several years ago and liked it till it had issues.  We never had it fixed because we hit the road in the RV and placed it into storage.  When I got home I did some research and it sells for 250 –300 normally.  I had gotten a deal on it.  I used it and like it.  It won’t replace deep cleaning with a vacuum but will certainly help to keep the house looking tidy in between the rare times I actually vacuum.  I hate vacuuming.  It hurts my back.  It’s time consuming.  It’s annoying.  I hate it.

I got by the house today.  We have shutters, gutters and a mailbox!  Yay.  The electricians were leaving as I pulled up.  It was close to lunch time so I think they just went for a bite to eat.  The back door was left unlocked.  I went in.  Nothing looked different other than more outlets were finished.  I didn’t even bother going upstairs. 

If I hadn’t told you already, our walkthrough is scheduled for August 24th.  Under 2 weeks!  Closing hasn’t been set yet but I suspect it will be the 1st week of September.

I went shoe shopping.  By myself.  This is big news because I hate any type of clothes shopping.  It seemed like I was there forever and couldn’t decide if I liked what I picked out.  The sneakers were fine.  No questions.  They had a buy one, 1/2 price on the second deal at Shoe Carnival.  That second pair was a difficult decision.  I got these:

They’re definitely something out of the ordinary for me.  Whatcha think?

It’s been a while since I’ve done a “This Day in OUR History”:

2010: Nada.  Zilch.  No entry.  I must have been a slacker. 2009: Good food, bad food – read about it here. 2008: This was just over a week before we hit the road in the RV.  We posted our itinerary.  See the post here.