I'll post more a bit later...

...but I just had to link to this. It's happening again. What is it going to take to stop this guy? If you don't believe me and think that I'm making all this stuff up about employees doing nothing wrong, just read this blog. I swear, if I didn't currently work where I do and was independently wealthy, I would make it my life goal to make sure that man sees justice.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

Where's Spiderman when you need him?

I'm not dead...

...just busy. Hopefully I'll get back to posting soon.

But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...

Ok, let's say we just scratch that last post. After visiting those houses I'm still looking. Let's just say that House 1 came with body armor and my Jeep was actually cased by the locals as it was parked outside. No joke. I stood in the upstairs bedroom and looked out the window to see two "gentlemen" walk up to my Jeep and look inside. (at which point I smashed the panic button on the remote and they wondered off.)

House two was a little better neighbor but still required a Homeland Security Alert level of Orange. That house was just way too old for my tech-nerd persona. I would have had to gut it and start over.

House three was a great neighborhood, but the asbestos siding was less than desirable. It has a past history of termites too. :(

So all of this got me thinking and reevaluating.

I realized that being "just me", that I don't need a huge house. Maybe not even a house at all. And maybe, just because I travel frequently, a condo might be a good fit. So I've turned my search towards condos and townhouses. I realized that I can get a REALLY nice one for the same price I was going to spend on a house. And with a condo, I wouldn't have to mow the yard or worry about maintenence while I'm traveling.

Another added plus would be spending a little less and using the planned money for interior upgrades like pergo flooring, or new appliances.

I don't know. Only time will tell. The downfall of all of this is that I've lost the initiative. I'm tired of looking at places now. I'm in that position where you just throw things and yell "SCREW IT!".

*sigh*

In other news, I was tapped by an ambitious blogger that is trying to compile 50 U.S. Blogs from 50 States. I was honored to be representing Delaware when there are so many Delaware bloggers out there. However, as I learned more about the project, I felt that The Delawarean was not up to par for the needs of the project. I'd love nothing more than to be part of this opportunity, but with my job, traveling, moving, etc... I knew I wouldn't be able to give it my all. :(

So with the good in the project in mind, I bowed out and nominated Mike over at Mike's Musings. I think those of you who know/read Mike can honestly say that he represents Delaware in a far better light than I ever do. His family travels throughout the state make him a the perfect Delawarean to speak for the rest of us in my opinion. (Besides, he should have something to do at work, right?) j/k Mike.

So hopefully he accepts his nomination. I'm looking forward to seeing how this 50 U.S. Blogs will turn out. Knowing my life and my luck, he'll probably get a 5 million dollar book deal from it, be cast on Survivor, and start hanging around supermodels. Because that's just how my life goes...

3 doors down...

So in between everything else going on I've managed to narrow my house search down to three places. (Not counting those that I liked and someone came along and snatched them from me)

The only problem is I don't know how to pick one. Each has a quality that I really, really like. I give anything to take the best qualities of each and put them into one house, but I don't have the budget for that.

So I'm going to open this up for discussion and see where it gets me. But first, you should know about the things that are important to me in a house, as a single 28 year old male.

Location.
Location is important to me because of obvious reasons. Even though I'm a single guy, I really don't want to live on "Call-girl Ave." if you know what I mean. That and believe it or not, I like to work outside doing landscaping and such and it's really hard to mow the lawn with a bullet-proof vest on. On a scale of 1-5, (5 being important) this rates as a 4.


A Garage.
I was spoiled growing up. Not in the sense that I was given everything, but once I did buy my OWN car, I was given one of the bays in our two-car garage to park my car in. I spent hours upon hours out there tinkering with my car, listening to music. It was my retreat. I miss that. And even more now, since I just bought the Jeep, I'd like to keep it inside. This rates as a 3.


Inclusions.
Never having owned a house, the only appliances I own are a toaster, a Foreman Grill, and a microwave. Which means that if a house isn't selling with appliances, I'm going ot have to buy them. My wallet will argue that you really can get by without washing your clothes for a long time. But I'm willing to bet that after a while, my clients would tell me differently. This is a 3.


Age / New parts.
Let's face it, new houses are cool. They look nicer, they feel refreshing, and they're a place that you can say "I was the first to live here." Most of the time, you run in to less problems with wear and tear and you have a warranty. However, older houses are nice too. And you will find many with recent roof replacements, a/c or furnace replacements and so on. There are so many tradeoffs. This rates as a 3.


Price.
Price is perhaps the strongest driving force. Because, let's face it, we can't all live at Neverland Ranch. And who'd want to now? This is a 5, but is flexible.


So on to the finalists:

House #1

3 Bed, 2.5 Bath, unfinished basement (hello pooltable!)

New construction. :)

Garage :)

Good Price :)

Ok location.

Small lot size. :(

Only includes stove and dishwasher :(

Deck needs built on :(

House #2

3 Bed, 1 Bath, 29 years old

No garage :(

New roof :)

New A/C and furnace :)

Good neighborhood :)

All appliances included and fully remodeled :)

House #3

3 Bed 1.5 Bath, 35 years old, Brick.

Over a 1/4 of an acre -fully landscaped :)

The empty lot next to it is for sale :)

Good neighborhood :)

No garage :(

Appliances negotiable.

Huge deck :)

I just don't know what I'm gonna do? I almost wish someone would come along and buy two of them so this would be easy. Wait, no I don't. Ignore that last thought... If I had my choice, I'd take the house from #1, put it on the land from #3 and keep the deck, then fill it with the appliances from #2 and the surroundings from #2. God, why can't I win the lottery? Oh maybe because I don't play it?

What do you think?

Cookouts and Fireworks!

In honor of the Fourth of July, I decided to post something I whipped together a while ago. Have fun and be safe. You'll need the Flash plug-in to view this.