Author: Saille

Who am I? On the surface I'm a nature-loving dirt worshipping hippy in search of a good adrenaline rush. That's all I have for now.

I’ve arrived in France. First time with more internet time than downloading and responding to important mail.

I am crossing Chicago off my port city list, as well, the concept of airport maps by their terminal map is apparently a foreign concept. And it looks like I’ll need to do direct flights out, and connecting flights in. This is the second time Delta has left my bag behind, so either I have to take direct flights, or I need to carry-on my bag. This is bullshit, 4 hours isn’t enough, and neither is 1 hour. Makes me wonder if Delta needs a full day, and if that’s the case, they can fuck off.

Otherwise, I love Under Armor. My compression shorts are the best thing this side of boy shorts.

Politics-wise. I’m not sure if this is a reaction to the current anti-burqa policies of the state, or if I just didn’t get out as much last time. But I am seeing more women in head scarves than I ever have. I also saw my first fire bombed car and truck, as the protests are moving further and further outside of Paris (I’m 3 hours southwest). I plan to get a picture of it later, because I don’t think the news that makes it to the States is a decent portrayal of things.

Otherwise, visited Grandmere today and got to see more of Tours, last night was Iron Man 2, which I was completely lost for a couple of reasons. Lack of language, and the fact that it was disorienting to be reading lips and hearing something completely different. Almost made me fall over in my chair, which was weird.

Oh yeah, for those keeping track, I did get felt up in Chicago. But I managed to avoid the full-body scanner in Atlanta. We’ll see how it goes on the way home.

The house stuffs are coming along, wasted enough time at Ikea on Saturday to find sheer curtains I like, then frustrate myself with the whole “trimming them down” aspect of it. It was the only success at Ikea, as it seems they have discontinued the holder I have for my wine glasses. Kinda pissed about that, since I now need two of them, thanks to my Mum bringing me some belgium beer glasses. *sigh*

Spent the majority of today slacking off, moved the shelves that were in the washer closet to the sunroom closet to make make-shift full span shelves. At some point I’ll need to hang the supports to make sure nothing breaks and falls. I also attempted my first re-wiring. I think I got everything right, except that the switch doesn’t do what its supposed to. I’m blaming that on buying the wrong type of switch/toggle unit. One of my friends said he’d help out, and laugh at me. But at least the light and fan turn on, and nothing is burning.

I am making progress. Thursday begins vacation, I hope this gives me a chance to reset a bit, so I can focus and function again. I’m feeling waaaaaaaaaaaay too scatterbrained right now, and that is NOT cool.

Well, closed on the house on Wednesday, parents arrived at the same time. Been moving, as I got the “move out or pay up” letter that demanded keys by the 9th. Yesterday, Lady MerryDeath came over to spread the wonderment of paint all over my walls. Fred came over this morning to put the floors in, tomorrow is more paint with the Lady, as well as organization. Tonight is relaxing with the folks and some shopping, and some massage on them for over-extending themselves. Frederico, my Mum loves you, and I’m sure she’ll take you for dinner sometime. 😛

I hate being without Pastry, but the Evil Empire informed me this morning that there is an outage in my area, and won’t be restored till around 8.30A tomorrow. I hope my budget can afford another $20 so I can switch evil empires, and get better service.

I’m currently fighting with my HSA and selling agent. The HVAC runs, but doesn’t work (no heating or cooling). HSA is saying it’s pre-existing so I have to pay out for it, contract addendum says it has to be fixed or replaced by the owners. Obviously, someone didn’t do their job to get it to clear appraisal. This week has been hectic, but it means I have a house, and $100-200 in savings every month.

Can’t wait to be in France. More when I have more time to write.

On selling agents….

Well, thanks to the massive quantities of anal retentiveness that the gov’t laid upon underwriters in the last few months, we have discovered a shortcoming of the selling agent. My hvac in the condo is broken….again….and failed appraisal….again. So guess what the hold-up with the move is now. Yep! You guessed it! Fixing/replacing the HVAC. The Italian Mafia gave me a kickass quote to install a $5k system for $3500 and what’s happening? The selling agent has a repairman looking at it today. The bonus? He’ll shortchange me with a cheap fix to pass appraisal and I get the Italian Mafia to replace it after I move in. The shortchange? He replaces it with a subpar unit and I’m stuck with it until I have to move and shell out the several thou to replace it with a unit of the proper size. I had my agent request, if they choose to not use the Italian Mafia, that they replace with the correct size, or pay half of what I’ll have to shell out to replace (not including what the warranty will cover)….but I’m not holding my breath. In fact, I’m down to telling them to forget about the sale, but I won’t know until I get the phone call asking me what I want done.

So…..I’ll be filling out a few reviews, possibly committing a hate crime, and pretty much forcing the selling agent to be excluded from the closing ceremony. And I’m quite sure the sellers are none to happy to find all this out, either (and oh boy will they be pissed if I cancel the sale).

Dear Barney Frank, and the rest of the Senate FHA committee…..may a yeast infection of the rectal cavity be visited upon you for creating the clusterfuck that resulted in the last month of stress for me and the extra money I will have to pay out for the amended Federal tax return.

The positives, closing is next week, I don’t have to file an amended state return. I have packed the bedroom bookshelves and can move them ASAP once I get my keys. Judo leaves me sore as hell, in all the right places. I can almost do a full walking step on my left foot (guess that means the next round of injuries will be to my right-side joints, since the left side has been covered). I have put in for my change of address, starting April 1, now to just change all my account addresses, and hopefully VISA will actually change it this time (fuckers).

Otherwise, I hate house-stuffs shopping, I really do. Hoping to take JudoFredy to the store this Sunday to pick out stuffs, so all he has to do is measure and figure out the estimate, get that to the parentals and be done by the end of next week. *fingers crossed that he has the time* Painting will happen as soon as I have keys. I’ve emailed Lord G, waiting to hear back from him. Then…..vacation!!!! 2 weeks in France with Pastry. I made him promise me a massage and a trip to Clos du Ste. Luce to look at the Da Vinci inventions.

Word of the month = STRESS!

Closing was supposed to be Friday past, but it’s been changed to this week, whenever we finish the loan paperwork. *le sigh* One of my external contracts has paid up and is current, still waiting on the other two (one just likes to wait till the invoice due date, the other is LATE). I’m tired of house stuff shopping, in fact, I’m exhausted by it. I’m down to emailing Lord Govannan and see if he can make some end tables for me, because I don’t want Target or Ikea standard, and I don’t feel like paying $200 for one end table that’s not custom made. I sucked up my sore feet and went to the floor store, I’m liking the bamboo flooring, but need to talk with my training partner about that stuff. Then it’s going to be down to the colouring and the finishing to avoid Elan messes staining things. I’m coming to grips with the fact that the immediate renovations I want are going to have to be put on hold, and the fact that my emergency account will be non-existent till I can re-save money to put back into it, as what’s left in it is going to AMEX (fuck you Chase, and your little dog, too). But, this will give me a $200/mth leeway after all is said and done, so savings, no problem, contracts not paying up on time, no problem.

Anyway, tonight is Judo class #2. I like the way it’s working out my body, and I don’t have to worry about getting nailed across the face. It’s actually doing more for my hip movement than kickboxing did, even though I need to get back to that for the flexibility aspect. I can’t wait for vacation….

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

It’s quite possible that the nature of consciousness is in the midst of a fundamental transformation. The human race seems to be getting more empathetic, more compassionate, and even more psychic. Many of us are having experiences that were previously thought to be the province of mystics, such as epiphanies that give us visceral perceptions of the interconnectedness of all life. Even as some traditional religions lose members and devolve into cartoony fundamentalism, there are ever-increasing numbers of intelligent seekers who cultivate a more discerning spiritual awareness outside the decrepit frameworks. If you haven’t been on this bandwagon, Scorpio, now’s a good time to jump on. If you’re already on board, get ready for an accelerated ride.

FreeWill Astrology

Kinda funny…I downloaded Celestine Prophecy the other day, watched it twice. Definitely a campy movie, and while I get the points trying to be made during it…..it was kinda funny in how it wasn’t really an adventure that grabbed the viewer and pulled them in. Kept things quite separate. Decent movie on paper….

House stuff is still going, the Italian mafia met me there yesterday to inspect the work of the non-Italians. He was impressed the unit is still functioning, but said it’ll probably have to be replaced before winter, as next winter will probably be colder than this winter (it’s operating at 60%, and according to him it’s too small for my unit). Good for me, in that winter is almost over, and if trend continues from last year, I probably won’t have to turn on the A/C this summer. Parents are packing all the stuff to bring me, including stuffs for psychosu and moonbird (and yes, we need to do tea, if I can ever wake up early enough). I spent most of yesterday window shopping, to try and get ideas for stuff I like, plus catch-up/paint shopping with psychosu. I do have some posters I’m going to be getting rid of, as well as poster frames. If anyone needs something like that, please let me know. They’re in great shape and I’d hate to have to throw them away.

I went to my first Judo class on Tuesday, I’m still sore, in all the right core places. Tonight is Jiu Jitsu, which I can’t wait to get back to training. My goal is to be back to smaller tournaments by the end of the year, Pan-Ams and Nationals next year, European nationals and Worlds the year after. I’m hoping to get back to Denmark this year too, miss the place. Love going to France, but definitely miss Denmark, and need to hop over to Sweden and back up to Norway. I think next year, I’ll see if I can get back to Tuska in Finland. Of course, that all depends on Pastry’s travel restrictions, but we have to get to that point first.

Aurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, appraisal came back 10k below the offer price, wasn’t a typo like the selling agent tried to say it was. Now we’re starting the fun bullshit, because if the seller owes more on it than it’s worth, then we have to deal with a short sale, so to avoid it we have our back-up plans. But still…..and I haven’t told Chase to go to hell yet. That will be my phone call on the way home. Of course, my mum tells me to be nice, it’s not his fault, but I’ll at least let them save face by asking what the down payment will be if we do get an agreement for 57k. Right now, the new guy has me putting 4k down if that’s the case, and a better interest rate. Fun!!!!!!!!!!!

Things to do, once I’m back from France and my house is in order:

Host a potluck
Socialize more (hey look, I’m closer to downtown!)
Get my schedule straight
Start biking to work more (via Marta)

Scorpio (October 23-November 21)

Some Scorpios bring out the worst in people. Other Scorpios draw out the best. Then there are those members of your tribe who sometimes bring out the worst in their fellow humans and other times bring out the best. Where do you fit in this spectrum? Regardless of your position up until now, I’m betting that in the coming months you’ll be moving in the direction of bringing out more of the best. And it all begins now. To get the process underway, think of five people you care about, and visualize the wonderful futures that it might be possible for them to create for themselves.

FreeWill Astrology

Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!!! Right now, I’m willing to say I’m somewhere in the middle. I’m too fucking stressed to care about the best/worst in others. In fact, I have a few choice words for a few to help them in deciding which direction I’m going with them. Normally, I’m willing to say I bring out the best, because I do encourage people to make changes they think are needed, or give them the cheer to keep them going.

With that in mind, Chase bank can kiss my shiny white German-Irish ass. They have no concept of communication, and I’ve been going through this process for over 2 weeks now, and the other night – yes night – they FINALLY update me, saying they either need more gift money or I need to file my taxes. Yep, file my taxes, give up the $6k-ish credit for buying said house, and kiss the expansion of my business good-bye. I said no. I told them I was willing to get paperwork to them from my Accountant to show what was being filed for 2009, but I would not authorize the filing until the purchase is over. Nor would I give them $20k as a down payment on a $67,500 (edit: just got an email, $18k down payment, they didn’t ask for paperwork from my accountant). So, I’m stressing, big time. The nice thing, is that I’ve restarted the process with another bank, they’re talking with my accountant, they’re communicating with me on a daily basis and not giving me half stories. But still, I’m having panic attacks. Too much crap going on and too much room for shit to hit the fan. I need a vacation, but I can’t leave because I close on the 12th, then I have to do the renovations. The good thing, is my parents are coming to help me move and renovate, my designer kicks ass and is going over my ideas and pricing them out for me. The Italian Stallion is going to check out my HVAC and see if it can be fixed or how much it will be to be replaced. As soon as things are done, going to drag psychosu to Home Depot, whether she likes it or not, to pick out paint and vent back and forth on various crap we’re dealing with, and get JudoFredy to take a look at the floors and see what we can do, and go shopping for those. *sigh* I need to break someone.