Well, well, well... Hello, Stranger. TMI to follow. You have been warned. But it's coded. ;) I am being visited by a 'calendar' event, which hasn't happened since December. To be honest, I thought maybe I was finally done with that. But looks like I was just on haitus for five months. It's not officially recognized as menopause until you've been without that special blessing for a year. So the count shall begin again (in 5 to 7 days? hehe). Wheeeee Hey, if I had to do this again, I'm glad it's now instead of the week I'll be in NM.

I dunno why I'm telling about this in a blog, but hey, there it is. At the moment, I have no one to bitch to IRL, so I'm venting here.

Oooo! Spouse went to the house lot today. The builders have cut the driveway, staked the footprint and run the water line! We're on our way! Also, I have plane tickets for a trip there to see the progress myself and hopefully to pick out all the options. Will be there for my birthday! Will be nice to be with Spouse for that.

house model front and back
So far, I've only done the exterior.

I am insane. This is, of course, old news to most of you. *grin* My current insanity is being expressed by modeling the house we're trying to build in NM. I've already made a 3D floor plan out of card stock paper, but now I'm mocking up elevations in full-color detail. Working on a 1' to 1/4" scale, so the thing is about 14" square. I'll pretend it's my way of applying positive energy toward getting the real build done. Yes, that's the ticket.

All garbed up at the Castle ren faire in Muskogee, OK
Sunday, May 14 2006

Today's Topic: English as a butchered language.

I'll cover that in a minute, but first... I seem to be on a series of rants lately. Maybe it's my aggravating physical condition? Maybe it's the stress of the sell/buy/move? Probably both. Whatever. It's not my favorite mode. I'm trying not to get mired in it, and yet, it wants out. And so...

nuclear
realtor
Two examples of butchered spoken English.

Nuclear is NOT new-cue-ler. Just because powerful people like George Dubya can't pronounce it properly, doesn't change the correct pronunciation. See the word? NUCLEAR... NEW-CLEE-ERR... not NUCULAR, dumbass.

Realtor is another botched word. No, it's not easy to say properly, which may explain why people don't try. I'm disappointed that Merriam-Webster actually lists the incorrect pronunciation as an alternative. That's total crap. It's not realator, it's realtor. RE-AL-TOR. Same is true of realty vs realaty. There ain't no fuckin' A after the L, so stop saying it.

And here's the other thing, butchered English in print. I see a growing cancer in written text, ie newsprint, online, and on TV. You know the new habit of popping up crap on the bottom of the screen to say what's Next or what's on Tomorrow? I think it's the USA channel, or another primary cable network, which consistently shows what's on Tommorrow. No. That is just plain wrong. This is a basic English word and that is WRONG. One M, two Rs. Period. Go back to elementary school, dipwads.

There are more subtle but equally aggravating offenses, like choosing the wrong homonyms. Granted, spellcheck doesn't catch those, but if you're profiting from prose you should damned well know the words and their usage.

It has to be laziness. The folks involved in these endeavors have surely completed at least a rudimentary education. So, they're just too lazy to use it? For shame.

You are in your car. It's a bit old and persnickety. You turn the key and the engine is reluctant. You're trying to will the thing to turn over and you're fairly sure it'll happen, but it just makes that choked groaning and sputtering sound while trying to get up the gumption to actually kick in.

This is my experience with the house in NM so far. I/we are doing all the right stuff at the right time, but the build hasn't started yet. I'm growing more leary of the builders with each incident. We ask for info and get half-assed answers, slowly. Meetings and deadlines are set but blown off without communication.

We are assured by the realty people that these builders are good. They've worked with them before. We are assured that once the thing gets started, we'll be happy with the progress and results. It's just that they've grown so much recently they're having a little bit of trouble managing this front end of the business.

I hope the realty people are right because we really want the lot and floor plan and the building philosophy that goes along with these guys. However, my skeptical self reminds me that the realty company has a vested interest in the deal hanging together because they get a commission out of it.

In the meantime, I'm sitting in the car, turning the key, rocking, and half praying, half cussing --- COME ON! LET'S GO DAMMIT!

Of course, I am virtually devoid of patience, so it could me mostly me?

Finally over an initial hurdle on the house buying end. After a rather jerky start, we now have a contract to buy the 5+ acre lot and get a specific floor plan built on it. On with sorting (aka fighting with the builder) over the details! The builder is now surveying the lot to propose house placement. We've been told they can complete construction within 120 days. This could be a real adventure, but the weather there helps. There are very very few rainy days to impede progress.

Here's a thought...

First, we're working a deal on a 5+ acre lot and new house to be built on it. We don't need that kind of acreage but the opportunity for the package is there at a price we should be able to afford. We wanted at least an acre or two for privacy. The rest would be a bonus.

And the idea? Using a couple of acres in the back of the property for a mini solar farm! I'd love that. We could maybe have a small array of panels on the ground which would supply our electricity and feed the excess to the power grid for a little extra income?

Of course there's a significant capital outlay but I would think there are loans available for that sort of thing and I know there are state and federal tax incentives to defray the costs. It would do my heart good to play even a small part in getting us off the freakin fossil fuels. *nodnodnod*

It's starting to annoy me, mostly because I feel it may mean something but I don't know what.

Examples, in no particular order:
~ I stepped into the dark bedroom where the only visible thing was the red LED of the cable box and it said the time was 2:22.
~ I futzed around in the kitchen with my dinner until I finally sat down to eat in front of the TV and when I looked up with the remote in hand to flip it on, I saw that cable box showing 5:55.
~ I fiddled with the car radio, watching the digital dial go through the settings and channels, then I settled on a tune and when the display flipped back to the time, it was 3:33.
~ Napping in the bathtub, eyes slowly open, there's the clock glowing on 4:44.

Yes, I've seen 1:11 as well. I've caught all of them, multiple times. It's not like I'm a clock watcher. I know that once a person is 'sensitive' to a thing, it tends to catch more attention, but dayam, it's not like I'm frequently checking the time and those numbers just stand out in the procession. They're smacking me in the face.

So, I say to the Universe: WHAT? I SEE it. What of it? What's it mean? What do you want? You have my attention, dammit, so SPEAK or quit tapping me! I'm already pissed about the silence over this damned move. Clue me in or stop BUGGING me!

The Great eBay Experiment: So far, I've spent about $300 to make about $1200 for a net of about $900. I think that would qualify as a success. All the MiL's china is sold. I still have a lot of crystal and undecided if I want to spend more to auction it on the chance that third time's a charm. A few of the misc pottery and dish pieces have sold but I think the rest is going to a charity shop. It's not quite the fortune the MiL thought she was giving me in all those boxes, but it's still a very very nice gift and worth the hassle.

Great trip home for Easter. Always good to go home. Got to be there for nearly a week. Got to see all the nieces and nephews and spent a lot of good time with my parents, whom you may know are also such good friends and terrific company for me. Definite refilling of the well.

House in AR is on the market now and we're looking at building in NM. Having a little trouble getting that ball rolling, but once it's started we hope it will move along at a reasonable pace.

It's damned good to have spouse employed and to have the associated income. Now all we gotta do is get us both in the same living quarters again. phhht I'm also looking forward to making use of healthcare as soon as I get there.

My life sure is interesting.

PS - Gotta pal in Iraq now. He's doing fine, getting accustomed to the heat. Should be safe where he is, considering his duties there, but he'll still be on my mind. He's rather excited about the new experiences and challenges he'll surely have over the next year or so.

Wow, looks like I'll have a buyer for the MiL china after all. I put the auctions back up on eBay and I have a bidder for all of it. Shipping will cost me a fortune, perhaps more than I'm charging for S&H, but I'll still make a healthy chunk of change off it AND it'll be gone, ie won't have to move it. Hope it pans out, oh yes I do.

I have to start picking my emotional self up by my own bootstraps, so here are...
Things I Am Thankful For:
~ Spouse is employed and we have income again.
~ Money from various other sources has arrived to help with living and moving expenses.
~ This move will be much easier because I got rid of a lot of junk during the last move.
~ This move will be much easier because we can pay professional movers to do it.
~ Putting up this house for sale is much easier because it's new, and doesn't need all the fixing up the last house needed.
~ Bank of America, whose marvelous online facilities make it possible for me to do the necessary tracking of Spouse's access to our account (else he'd never say and I wouldn't know til the overdraft charges piled up).
~ Merry Maids, who did a fanfreakintastic job of deep cleaning the house so I could save my knees and my back. (A little expensive, but well worth it!)
~ The damaging storms that have passed through here lately have done no damage to our property.
~ I'm managing to work through my physical troubles, not comfortably or happily, but still functional enough to get the job done with care.
~ My eBay auctions are starting to work, thus getting rid of china and crystal I don't want to move and of course bringing in some more money.
~ Online realty features once again make it possible for me to be involved in buying the new place without flying or driving back and forth.
~ Cellphones make it possible and easy for me to keep in touch with Spouse, even just to hear his voice when I need to.

There, that feels better.

I can't believe I have to give up this...


For this...


My soul may just dry up out there in that godforsaken place. I do not deserve it.

Packing is progressing. I'm doing a pretty good job of pacing myself and yet getting a lot of the fiddly bits done. My eBay experience is lackluster. I think I may be spending about as much to place auctions as I am making. Putting up auctions is cheap, but when you do it in volume, it adds up. Alas, I'm not selling in volume.

I'm having a cleaning crew come in on Tues to sparkle the house up. The realtor should be around Thurs or Fri to take pictures. Then, we put the house on the market and I put up with people touring.

We're looking for houses in NM. There are a few that would be okay. We've been told that we could actually have one built within a few months, so we're looking at that option too.

The logistics of this sort of thing are mind-boggling... selling, moving out, buying, moving in. It's a prime opportunity for getting the cart before the horse. No wonder it's one of the top stressors, right up there with the death of a loved one and divorce.

Oh well, that which does not kill us makes us stronger, right? Right?

What Color Green Are You? quiz
***You Are Teal Green***
You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you. Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible. While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks. Your warm personality nicely counteracts any strange habits you may have.

It has begun. I'm selling some stuff on eBay (the china and crystal etc from MiL mostly), picked up an initial load of boxes from UHaul and started filling them, sorting my fat clothes outta the closet for charity, cleaning and staging for realtor pix and showings when we're listed in a week or two.

I'm very glad that I did a lot of weeding and sorting during the last move. Much less to contend with.

Financially, we were pretty much down to our last bean. Honestly, I pat myself on the back for managing to survive four whole months without the bulk of our income. Here at the last, with a little help from family, my webwork contributions, tax refunds, and cashing out a 401K, we should be in good shape until income flows regularly again. I was a little worried that I'd have to wait for funds to do anything about the move then get stuck in manic mode with deadlines. Thankfully, that shouldn't happen now.

Healthwise, I'm taking this slow and easy. I'm sure there will be a push now and then, but I'm not going to unless I really have to. My BP is chemically under control despite the shifting but still tough stress factors. My remaining ailment is just not going to get fixed until after the move when I'm on insurance again. I'll have to work around it and pamper myself as much as I can in between.

Reckon I'll survive this. I've done it before. And, when I get to the desert, reckon I'll find a way to bloom where I'm planted. (Although, I still want some damn answers from the Universe on WHY.)

I have to move my whole damn household, again.
And to a place I don't want to go, again.
GDMFSOB

Despite being shafted by the Universe, I am still quite easily entertained. I found a gem at the grocery store. It was an 8-pack of wee orange juice cartons. Yes, compared to buying the same amount of juice in a regular carton, these little ditties are stupidly expensive. But... I LOVE THEM. They make me happy. It's insane how giggly and thrilled I am to drink from a perfectly formed miniature juice container. We're talking a 5" tall, 2" square little box that looks just like a juice carton that might have been zapped on Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. I should probably see a shrink... of a different sort.

PS - Apparently there's a GDMF move to New Mexico in my future. We'll know for sure in the next couple of days.