Today, the eTrade loan chick, aka gdmf barbie-headed bitch who is handling our buyers' loan, has once again sauteed the closing by reversing her earlier assessment of a crucial element. And, there's no legal way around it to please eTrade and their mindless twit so they'll make the loan. Please note this is something a real bank making real mortgages allows every day of the week. Also note that the eTrade bimbo had us all change the controversial figure two weeks ago, so it was okay THEN. But now, the day before the closing (which had already been delayed a week because of the feckless wench's little holiday) she has decided it's an unacceptable point at all. Thus, tomorrow's closing was killed.

SO... the buyers went on the hunt for another mortgage source. They have reportedly found a local bank which will take it. The local bank swears they can get the closing done on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. Like we're supposed to believe that after all the bullshit thus far? Of course, this guarantees our credit file will get tagged with a 30-day late flag.... the first blemish since the bankruptcy from which we're trying to recover so we can bring -this- house's mortgage rate down from astronomical into a more breathable stratoshpere.

But, such is life, eh? And such is war, and war is hell... much like real estate.

High incidence of hurricanes and typhoons, and now, volcanic rumblings, strings of earthquakes... See my crackpot theory posted on September 14th. I naturally wonder how far this goes. I'm thinking there's more as Toutatis pulls away. It came closest this morning. It's nearly in our orbital plane, so it will continue to travel along with us, slowly creeping away. About mid-October, it will have pulled away to the same distance as mid-September when the run of hurricanes began. Toutatis' own elliptical orbit breaks away from ours in mid-November. As noted, I suspect the pull will manifest a bit differently than the push, and the pull started today. Guess we'll see. Maybe we've seen all the effects, maybe not.

Got a call from our real estate agent today. She calmly said the closing is scheduled for Friday at noon. Friday? What happened to today? Well... Buyers' mortgage agent (eTrade, make a note) has been MIA since Thursday. Finally surfaced today. Wondered why everyone's in a huff. She ignored the fact that the closing deadline was last Friday or that the buyers' rate lock-in expired on Sunday. Anyway, today's out. Who the hell knows why tomorrow isn't possible. Friday is October 1, the point at which our mortgage payment will be 30 days late. We didn't make a September payment because our mortgage company (Chase, make a note) can take weeks to post payments. We were afraid that thousand dollars would get lost when the Title Company called for a payoff.

It will get done. It will. <----- my mantra

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. We got the FedEx today, signed zee paperz, and shipped them back. Should be a closing tomorrow afternoon. Then the check is in the mail to us. I will be ever so glad but I'm saving my enthusiam til after it happens. Can't help it. Experience can be a hard teacher.

Delay of game. Are we surprised? Not really. More paper not getting to the right person at the right time. More games of phone tag. I'm only surprised by Astrocenter's prediction being off by at least a week.

Fortunately we are not directly involved in these paperwork machinations. Unfortunately, our money is. From this end, it's just a phone call saying when and what's gonna happen, followed by another phone call saying it ain't. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

It's going to eventually happen, but at present, no man or woman or real estate agent or title clerk or mortgage officer or buyer or seller... can know the hour or the day.

Earliest possible right now, with the FedEx-ing that must be done even after the papers are collected, is Wednesday. If it doesn't happen then, well, we get to sign another paper extending the deadline.

Thrilling, no?
No.

tick tock tick tock ..... *check clock, check calendar*.... Did I mention that patience is not my long suit?
C'mon closing. I want that mortgage off my back and that check in the mail, yesterday.

Closing week is here. We should be getting a FedEx of paperwork to sign and send back so it will be available Friday. We've done a remote closing before. Worked fine. Let's get this thang done, and let the fat lady sing her arse off.

Gotta love Astrocenter.com's blurb for me for this week. It includes the following statements: This is very positive week for you... This means that your life may begin to flow that much more easily in a number of areas. For a start, the emphasis will be off of your home and family... At the start of the week the Sun conjuncts Jupiter, which may bring a happy conclusion to a saga involving your personal and private life, or perhaps the sale or purchase of a property.

By golly, I'd have to day that's spot on.

I'm irritable, impatient, restless, and frustrated, over nothing and everything. While I'm usually very tolerant of other people and their gripes, I'm not right now. I feel that most of them are whining, narrow-minded, irrational, or just stupid

This grating intolerance is not me. Is it hormonal? Has my shielding finally thinned out to nothing? Am I just too freakin raked over in my own life to have any positive energy left? Or, are people indeed griping more? Is everyone's life feeling like sandpaper right now? It's not just every day life. It's also weather and war and politics and crime... All the BS seems to be escalating.

Here's a crackpot theory for ya... As I've mentioned to some, I believe a nearby asteroid is contributing to the disturbances over the surface of this planet. Yes, I know that military and political conflict, as well as extreme weather and other geological turmoil, are cyclical in nature. But I swear I'm convinced that the asteroid Toutatis is magnifying these disturbances with its approach. The pressure is on and building. An asteroid doesn't pop onto the scene for a day then pop out again. Toutatis has been approaching and will come closest on September 29th/30th, then will pull away. It's one of the largest of the known asteroids which regularly passes close to the Earth, and it's coming as close as it has been since about 1801.

I am not suggesting there will be a comet impact, only that the near passage creates friction between the electromagnetic fields of Toutatis and Earth. It's not a monstrous clash, but enough to put extra pressure on the approach and tug on retreat. It certainly feels like we're under pressure right now.

If my suspicion is correct, then I expect a different sort of disturbance on Toutatis' exit. I would logically expect all the pressure points to go in the other direction, ie, the lid comes off, in some cases. Over the next few months after the closest point (end of Sept), I wouldn't be surprised to find that some conflicts come to a head and then maybe get resolved or just fade out of focus. I also feel there will be an increase in geologic effects. It makes sense to me that if pressure is being applied to already tense spots (ala faults and volcanoes), then the asteroid's tug as it pulls away may bring a lot of that stored energy to the surface, more suddenly and violently than if the pressure had not been applied.

In other words, we may be in a pressure cooker that most of the world isn't aware of, except for the effects, which seem to bear no correlation to each other. I think there IS a correlation and it's a funky shaped rock spinning past this planet.

Then again, I could be wrong.

House closing scheduled for Sept 24th. I'd really like that. We've worked the deal to death with the buyers, including adjustments for appraisal. I think all the hoops we had to jump have been cleared. The real estate agents on both sides are confident in the buyers' ability to jump their own mortgage hoops. Yeah, it's hard to type with my fingers crossed but I'm not really trusting anything until the closing is done and the proceeds are on their way to us. It would be really nice to have made the last mortgage payment on that house, so we can get on with our lives in this one.... which I still love.

Good to go Home and good to be back. Although I dreaded the long drive, I really enjoyed the journey as well as the destinations. Mom & Dad's house is home base, always, and for these trips as well. Wherever I visit in the area, I do it from there. We had a mini-reunion Thursday night at Mom & Dad's house. We'd thought about gathering at a restaurant but it was much better to have sandwiches and leisurely company on the back porch. The weather throughout the extended weekend was gorgeous. I feel for everyone further east who was under the bucket of Hurricane Frances, but still appreciate the sunshine and mild temperatures in the Ohio River Valley.

The first few days of my visit were chillin' and refillin' with lots of family. Nothing better. Then on Sunday morning I collected up three of my nieces so we girls could have a road trip to Grandma's reunion. Carmen, Samantha and Dana B are all hovering 15 yrs of age. Since I'm their cool aunt, instead of mom or whatever, they seemed to feel free to say what's on their mind (ie, they could gripe openly about what Mom and/or Dad and/or other adults say :) I totally understand some of the aggravation of being a teenager, especially a teenage girl. I remember all too well and told them some of my gripes from then. It was great to relate with them. I promised that it does get better. The best thing is just to really get into the stuff you enjoy and do the rest as required. It can be balanced out. Use the good stuff to endure the crap, basically.

The reunion was good. It's a pot luck with lots of conversation in between samplings. I know it's hard for a lot of families to imagine 30 or 40 family members mixing together well. It sounds so boring to say that the whole day and all contacts were pleasant, enjoyable, a real treat, but I swear it's true. Even some personalities that might be on the fringe of harmonious are still pleasant. All of us are really good at making nice with each other and meaning it. Good food, good conversation, lots of laughter, playful teasing, hugs and kisses... I want to joke and say it's almost sickening, but honestly, it's wonderful.

I stayed overnight with Grandma afterwards. I like that because I get her all to myself for a while. We don't do anything earth-shattering. We watch a little TV, have a late night snack, talk about whatever topic comes up. We can do that so easily, even though there's 50 yrs between us. On Monday we took a drive to run a couple of errands for her, but we'd forgotten about the Labor Day holiday making them undoable. So, we just enjoyed the ride together. I say again, my Grandma is terrific, not only for a woman her age, but just for being all that she is.

I also enjoyed the ride back here. I took my time, stopped overnight halfway, did a little sight seeing. I think I'd like more of these sorts of trips, not just by car or between here and Home. I've been thinking of lots of places I'd like to see, exotic places, ancient places. I'm hoping I'll soon have an opportunity to go on these treks. We'll see.

In the meantime, I have GOT to get Home more often. It just isn't good for me to go so long without being really in touch with my family, more than phone calls and email. I just gotta be with them now and then, because I love them so and feel so loved when I'm with them. Yeah, I know it's there all the time, but it's good to have it wrapped all around me.