I first learned about the show Doomsday Preppers because one of my co-workers, knowing I liked to 'stock up on things', mentioned it to me. My wife and I have watched it from the beggining, and for the most part, while it's kind of neat to see what some folks choose to focus on, I haven't really learned anything other than: Man, wouldn't it be nice to be to be rich, so I could have a 4500SF house, three rooms of which are supply storage.
Since that's not going to happen anytime soon, it would be nice to pick up a neat idea or two, and last night it finally happened.
The show was focusing on a family outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Not being a place with a lot of trees to hack down, the man of the house had his family making home made 'presto logs', with shredded newspaper amd crumbled cry leaves. It was nothing I had ever seen before, and is the type of reason I have sat through 4 weeks of this show. Not that I'm going to start making my own presto logs...but it looked like an interesting skill to have.
Of course, the very next person they focused on is a kook who is going to hide from the Fukishima Radioactivity in a Wall Tent for the next 4 months...
sigh.
3.07.2012
3.06.2012
Groan.
The only time I really question/dount my decision to be a modest prepper?
When it's time to move.
Especially when it is the 3rd move in 18 months.
Luckily, the place we are moving into is a rambler...only two steps to go up to get into the house.
Grrr...more 5 gallon buckets and ammo cans tomorrow.
I guess it's a good problem to have.
When it's time to move.
Especially when it is the 3rd move in 18 months.
Luckily, the place we are moving into is a rambler...only two steps to go up to get into the house.
Grrr...more 5 gallon buckets and ammo cans tomorrow.
I guess it's a good problem to have.
Moving in.
Yesterday afternoon we went and did our walkthough and got the keys to the new house we are renting. Things went smooth, and we already got about 20 boxes worth of stuff dropped off at the new place.
I might have to give the property management company a call about one thing though...
The property has a decent sized back yard, and I walked around the outside with the manager, mostly with an eye to identifying exterior damage I didn't want to be held responsible for. Later on, after unloading my truck, my wife and I did more thorough inspection of the back yard, mostly trying to decide where we might want to put the garden, and we noticed we had quite a 'land mine' problem.
The previous renter owned two dogs...and while she did a good job of keeping the area directly around the house maintained, the back half of the yard is a mess. I stopped counting at 40 separate 'feces' occurrences that are going to need to be cleaned up before I can let the kids go roam in the back yard. Plus, my understanding is that stuff doesn't make the best fertilizer for a garden.
I figure I will give them a call this morning and make a polite request for them to bring in some kind of a yard cleaning company...they can take it out of the previous owners security deposit for all I care, but it shouldn't have to be my problem right off the bat.
Lesson learned.
I might have to give the property management company a call about one thing though...
The property has a decent sized back yard, and I walked around the outside with the manager, mostly with an eye to identifying exterior damage I didn't want to be held responsible for. Later on, after unloading my truck, my wife and I did more thorough inspection of the back yard, mostly trying to decide where we might want to put the garden, and we noticed we had quite a 'land mine' problem.
The previous renter owned two dogs...and while she did a good job of keeping the area directly around the house maintained, the back half of the yard is a mess. I stopped counting at 40 separate 'feces' occurrences that are going to need to be cleaned up before I can let the kids go roam in the back yard. Plus, my understanding is that stuff doesn't make the best fertilizer for a garden.
I figure I will give them a call this morning and make a polite request for them to bring in some kind of a yard cleaning company...they can take it out of the previous owners security deposit for all I care, but it shouldn't have to be my problem right off the bat.
Lesson learned.
3.05.2012
My cup runeth over...
Got a phone call this afternoon from my real estate agent, who had some good news and some less than good news.
As is to be expected, he gave me the good news first...not only did we have an offer on our house, but we also had a pending offer on the house! Two offers in one day, as opposed to two offers in 14 months! Yes!
So...back in the real world, neither the real offer or the 'pending' offer are perfect.
The first offer, which was actually officially submitted on a piece of paper, was a major lowball. The first time I was low-balled, I was fairly offended. This time, I'm not as offended...I understand what people are looking at...a house that has been on the market for a LONG time. Might as well throw an offer out there, and see how desperate the homeowner is.
Not that desperate yet. Our current asking price is $160K. Todays offer was for $154K, with us covering $5500 worth of closing costs...so, effectively an offer of just over $148K, with us needing to come up with $35,000 at closing, and taking a loss of 20K after relocation help from my job.
Just can't do that.
The other 'pending' offer is interesting, but not without risk.
There is a guy that is interested in buying our house, but he is lacking in credit. Not bad credit...just no credit history. He attempted to place an offer about a month ago, but was told his credit history wouldn't get him approved for a loan...take out a few credit cards, pay them off, and see what happens to his credit rating.
Things aren't moving fast enough for him. What he wants to do now, is make us a full price offer, and as part of that offer, RENT the house from us for 3 months, and then try again on his loan approval.
The good...some money coming in each month...not quite the full mortgage, but the rent rate is a fair market value. The bad...there is still the risk that in June, he won't be able to get approved...which is fine..try again in July, and then in August if need be. The problem lies in September, when I go over two years at this job, and my relocation package expires.
So...the low-ball offer now, and be done with it in April, or take the chance on June?
Neither...yet. We offered a counter offer to the low-ball offer. It's not meeting them in middle, but I'm not hard lining them either. My wife and I had already discussed that by dropping the price to 160K, we were probably going to see offers less than 160K, and so we have countered at $158K, which, when you figure in what we will lose over three months from renting for less than our mortgage payment, makes the offers equal on paper.
Looking forward to what tomorrow brings...but a slim hope is better than new hope.
As is to be expected, he gave me the good news first...not only did we have an offer on our house, but we also had a pending offer on the house! Two offers in one day, as opposed to two offers in 14 months! Yes!
So...back in the real world, neither the real offer or the 'pending' offer are perfect.
The first offer, which was actually officially submitted on a piece of paper, was a major lowball. The first time I was low-balled, I was fairly offended. This time, I'm not as offended...I understand what people are looking at...a house that has been on the market for a LONG time. Might as well throw an offer out there, and see how desperate the homeowner is.
Not that desperate yet. Our current asking price is $160K. Todays offer was for $154K, with us covering $5500 worth of closing costs...so, effectively an offer of just over $148K, with us needing to come up with $35,000 at closing, and taking a loss of 20K after relocation help from my job.
Just can't do that.
The other 'pending' offer is interesting, but not without risk.
There is a guy that is interested in buying our house, but he is lacking in credit. Not bad credit...just no credit history. He attempted to place an offer about a month ago, but was told his credit history wouldn't get him approved for a loan...take out a few credit cards, pay them off, and see what happens to his credit rating.
Things aren't moving fast enough for him. What he wants to do now, is make us a full price offer, and as part of that offer, RENT the house from us for 3 months, and then try again on his loan approval.
The good...some money coming in each month...not quite the full mortgage, but the rent rate is a fair market value. The bad...there is still the risk that in June, he won't be able to get approved...which is fine..try again in July, and then in August if need be. The problem lies in September, when I go over two years at this job, and my relocation package expires.
So...the low-ball offer now, and be done with it in April, or take the chance on June?
Neither...yet. We offered a counter offer to the low-ball offer. It's not meeting them in middle, but I'm not hard lining them either. My wife and I had already discussed that by dropping the price to 160K, we were probably going to see offers less than 160K, and so we have countered at $158K, which, when you figure in what we will lose over three months from renting for less than our mortgage payment, makes the offers equal on paper.
Looking forward to what tomorrow brings...but a slim hope is better than new hope.
Because it's Monday...
I'm not very excited to head out to work this morning, but what's new. What is new is that I am leaving work early to do the walk through of our new place we are renting. If everything goes right, then by 5:00 tonight, we should have the first load of boxes moved into the new place.
None to soon...our apartment is starting to look like a cross between 'Hoarders' and a 2nd hand liquor store.
My life isn't nearly as tough as I make it out to be, on an absolute scale. We don't live our lives on an absolute scale though...all I really have to compare it to is the day, week, and year before it. When I have MY tough days, I think about this Trace Adkins song. It's about putting one foot in front of the other. If you haven't seen it before, the video is worth watching, and reading.
None to soon...our apartment is starting to look like a cross between 'Hoarders' and a 2nd hand liquor store.
My life isn't nearly as tough as I make it out to be, on an absolute scale. We don't live our lives on an absolute scale though...all I really have to compare it to is the day, week, and year before it. When I have MY tough days, I think about this Trace Adkins song. It's about putting one foot in front of the other. If you haven't seen it before, the video is worth watching, and reading.
3.04.2012
The right tool for the job...
Yesterday I bought a new set of HDMI Cables at Big Lots. Of course, these cables come hermetically sealed in plastic bubble.
Recognizing the homicidal glee in my eyes as I attacked the hard plastic case with steak knife, my wife intervened.
'You know...an pinterest the other day, someone posted an idea about using a can opener on plastic cases like that...'
Grunt. Whatever...I figured it wouldn't hurt to humor her before slitting my wrists, so I took the can opener out of the drawer...
Bloody Frickin' Brilliant. Just clamp that can opener on, and crank it down one of the long side, and you can basically unfold the bubble...
I knew there was some reason I was keeping her around...
Recognizing the homicidal glee in my eyes as I attacked the hard plastic case with steak knife, my wife intervened.
'You know...an pinterest the other day, someone posted an idea about using a can opener on plastic cases like that...'
Grunt. Whatever...I figured it wouldn't hurt to humor her before slitting my wrists, so I took the can opener out of the drawer...
Bloody Frickin' Brilliant. Just clamp that can opener on, and crank it down one of the long side, and you can basically unfold the bubble...
I knew there was some reason I was keeping her around...
Double Feature
I'm getting increasingly frustrated with Netflix. If you go to their site, the selection of movies that you can get mailed to your house isn't bad...but, their streaming selection, which they themselves are pushing, is increasingly anemic, and tends to be TV show heavy. The other day, I looked through the Netflix Top 100 movies, and only 7 of the selections were available for streaming online.
Thus, I found myself in front of Walgreens yesterday, perusing the selection at the RedBox machine. Since I failed to consult my wife first, I did my best make suitable his and hers selections: Captain America, and Bridesmaids.
Realising that at 10:30, my eye lids start closing on their own, we decided to start watching one of the movies before the kids went to bed, choosing the PG-13 Captain America over R-rated Bridesmaids.
Captain America was a good movie...not as good as the first Iron Man, or Thor, but a better overall movie than the 2nd Iron Man, and just as entertaining. They do a good job on the back story, although my wife thought the pre-transformation CGI unbuff Chris Evan's was a 'bit freaky'. She had no problem with the shirt off/tight shirt real thing though.
Tommy Lee Jones is a treat as the gruff Colonel, but, really...he's just being Tommy Lee Jones. Hayley Atwell plays the eye candy/ love interest, and God Save the Queen, because I am okay with British Girls. For all the jokes about bad teeth, your average British Actress is more likely to have a little curves to her...I'm not a big 'waif' fan. I'm certain her Army Uniforms needed a little custom tailoring.
Hugo Weaving does good as the Big Baddy, but then Hugo has 'menace' down to an art(note to self: watch 'V' for Vendetta....SOON). I like Agent Smith Hugo more than Elrond Hugo...but they are both good(of course, then there is Megatron Hugo...and I was okay with that replacement...not happy, but okay).
Solid Flick.
I''m glad we waited until the youngin's were in bed for Bridesmaids. It lived up to it's reputation...fairly naughty, and 'raunchy'...but funny, funny, funny. The kind of funny that my wife had to keep hiding her face behind a pillow because, you know if this was a real person, you would be embarrassed for them. Not for kids though, or anyone who is easily offended by sexual talk, or bodily function humor.
That doesn't include me...so I enjoyed it. The first half was more consistently funny than the second half. Because this movie was aimed more at women, then men, the second half has a half-hour stretch that is fairly serious...or at least 'down' as the main character deals with friendship and relationship issues.
Kristin Wiig is great...and another reason The Academy Awards confuses me. I have to say that I am more impressed by an actor/actresses ability to just play CRAZY STUPID FUNNY, without having it come off as 'campy' than I am someone doing 2 hours of staid and somber. The only part I have a hard time buying is the 'oh, I'm so sad and lonely and down on my luck. No man would ever want me' part. Umm...no. Kristin Wiig is funny, pretty, and has killer legs. Men would hurt other men for her if she asked them to.
In the end, I would say I liked Bridesmaids a little better than Captain America. Bridesmaids was a good movie by itself, but Captain America felt just a little too much like a building block for something else...2 hours of back story to make you appreciate what Captain America goes through in the upcoming Avengers...and bravo to Marvel for having the long range vision and motivation to make that happen.
Thus, I found myself in front of Walgreens yesterday, perusing the selection at the RedBox machine. Since I failed to consult my wife first, I did my best make suitable his and hers selections: Captain America, and Bridesmaids.
Realising that at 10:30, my eye lids start closing on their own, we decided to start watching one of the movies before the kids went to bed, choosing the PG-13 Captain America over R-rated Bridesmaids.
Captain America was a good movie...not as good as the first Iron Man, or Thor, but a better overall movie than the 2nd Iron Man, and just as entertaining. They do a good job on the back story, although my wife thought the pre-transformation CGI unbuff Chris Evan's was a 'bit freaky'. She had no problem with the shirt off/tight shirt real thing though.
Tommy Lee Jones is a treat as the gruff Colonel, but, really...he's just being Tommy Lee Jones. Hayley Atwell plays the eye candy/ love interest, and God Save the Queen, because I am okay with British Girls. For all the jokes about bad teeth, your average British Actress is more likely to have a little curves to her...I'm not a big 'waif' fan. I'm certain her Army Uniforms needed a little custom tailoring.
Hugo Weaving does good as the Big Baddy, but then Hugo has 'menace' down to an art(note to self: watch 'V' for Vendetta....SOON). I like Agent Smith Hugo more than Elrond Hugo...but they are both good(of course, then there is Megatron Hugo...and I was okay with that replacement...not happy, but okay).
Solid Flick.
I''m glad we waited until the youngin's were in bed for Bridesmaids. It lived up to it's reputation...fairly naughty, and 'raunchy'...but funny, funny, funny. The kind of funny that my wife had to keep hiding her face behind a pillow because, you know if this was a real person, you would be embarrassed for them. Not for kids though, or anyone who is easily offended by sexual talk, or bodily function humor.
That doesn't include me...so I enjoyed it. The first half was more consistently funny than the second half. Because this movie was aimed more at women, then men, the second half has a half-hour stretch that is fairly serious...or at least 'down' as the main character deals with friendship and relationship issues.
Kristin Wiig is great...and another reason The Academy Awards confuses me. I have to say that I am more impressed by an actor/actresses ability to just play CRAZY STUPID FUNNY, without having it come off as 'campy' than I am someone doing 2 hours of staid and somber. The only part I have a hard time buying is the 'oh, I'm so sad and lonely and down on my luck. No man would ever want me' part. Umm...no. Kristin Wiig is funny, pretty, and has killer legs. Men would hurt other men for her if she asked them to.
In the end, I would say I liked Bridesmaids a little better than Captain America. Bridesmaids was a good movie by itself, but Captain America felt just a little too much like a building block for something else...2 hours of back story to make you appreciate what Captain America goes through in the upcoming Avengers...and bravo to Marvel for having the long range vision and motivation to make that happen.
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