(no subject)

My wireless connection is looking good, but I have to adjust where the transmitter/router is sitting. It's not quite making it to the other side of the house. ::sigh:: Not a big deal, just running some cable behind some furniture, but I'm feeling rather de-energized at the moment.

I had fun last night just fiddling with my laptop. I'm still getting programs installed. I don't quite have that "moved in" feeling yet with the laptop, but it is getting closer. Last night I had fun with a bit of freeware from http://www.cult3d.com called "3D Me Now." You can take two pictures of someone's face, a head-on shot and a profile shot and then map the features onto a 3D model. The freeware version doesn't allow you to adjust the control points of the head much, but I did manage to generate a talking 3D head out of some digital snaps of Mike. :) I e-mailed them to him--he was suitably horrified. "My head doesn't REALLY look like that, does it?!!!"

(no subject)

Going to ask for a loan is like being sent to the principal's office. Sure, you may not be guilty THIS time, but you know you are guilty of something and it's bound to catch up to you! :) I found it nerve-wracking, to say the least!

So Mike called mid-afternoon and we met at our credit union. We had our check stubs in hand. We weren't really ready to do anything yet, but we wanted to know if we were looking too far above our means, whether it was realistic for us to even consider this house. The loan officer did some quick calculations based on our monthly bills and income.

The thing to understand here is that though the price of the house (2600 sq.ft., 0.6 acres) seems ridiculously low compared to, say, San Francisco or Atlanta, here in Pensacola the salaries are also scaled to the area. Pensacola is popular with many corporations for the very fact that the area is salary-depressed--but then again, there is no state income tax. You can live decently with a salary in the high $20's or low $30's in Pensacola. In the $40's, you're living nicely. Anything above that and you're doing damn well for Pensacola!

A middle class house in an average neighborhood is probably between $60K to $80K, maybe about 1500 to 1800 sq. ft. with 3 or 4 bedrooms. You'll have a decent sized yard for the money, too. A posher neighborhood and slightly larger house from 1600 to 2000 sq.ft., smaller yard, and you're looking $100K to $150K. This house we're looking at is a nice compromise. An nice but aging neighborhood with a large lot and a big house, a good buy by any standards.

So we went in thinking we were probably not even in the ballpark for getting a loan for this house. I went in with the mentality of my old job. I have this perception that I'm still just squeaking by...even by Pensacola's low standards, I was underpaid at my old job!!!! But I've been at my current job for over a year. I can write my bills as they come in. I'm able to put a little money away...things ARE better now.

We were stunned when after doing a few calcuations the loan officer told us that not only could we get pre-qualified for the house we were looking at, we could go higher...considerably higher! We just stared at one another, mouths open.

My gawd, it's official, we're yuppies! Who knew?!!!

So we got our official pre-qualification packet and a book on buying a home from the Fannie Mae foundations. Time for some serious homework!

(no subject)

I've meant to mention this time and time again.

Laurell K. Hamilton. The Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter books. I BLAZED through all 8 books, basically 1 a day for a period of 10 days (that was during the crazed "knock out the demo in 4 days" time, so I lost a few reading days). A ripping good read!!! I wish I hadn't read them so fast, because I've caught up to the author--I want MORE!