f13.net

I'm growing tired of having all this pre-approval rupees for a house and not finding one we like. It makes me a grumpy cunt.

Good luck with that.  Not long ago we got a pre-approved mortgage, too, and I've seen some houses that I like, though we've not actually gone out and hunted.  It's area I can't seem to commit to.  I think we've pretty much decided that we won't buy until we move back to the UK.  I'd like to do a year in Holland before we do, though.  I'll spend it wandering around the Van Gogh museum, mildly mellow.

I'd move to Holland if I could. They have tall women.

Yup. They're mostly hawt as well.

I can afford a nice ghetto house. Or maybe a trailer. I could grow out my gut and chop my hair into a mullet.

If I made less money, I could afford more house. I don't understand. I'm in that great thing we used to call a middle class, just barely. I make too much to get the good government aids, but not enough to actually afford anything nice. If I was still unloading trucks at walmart or washing dishes...I could afford 250% more house.

Welcome to my world, I've been griping about this for years now. Hopefully I'll find something this year, but it's been a couple years I've been looking. I've already given up on anything in the country, the one assistance I do qualify for won't let me have more than 5 acres and my girlfriend can't move in. So...yay?

Meanwhile we've been watching these total scumbags on Flip This House (two brothers and their wives in San Antonio, iirc), making about $25k/week taking shitty houses and shining them up without actually fixing them much and then screwing someone on the sale. It's informative, but it makes me mad as hell.

I'd move to Sweden. Even Canada, out past the big cities on the border.

Our offer was accepted. Yay!!!! And it has a hot tub. Hoooooooottttttttt tuuuuuuuuuubbbbbbbbbb.

Hot tubs are nice.  Until you have to repair one.

My dad had one at the house he sold a few months ago. I bet he still has all the shit for it. But the best thing is GAS RANGE. I can finally try a real, honest-to-god flambe.

Bananas Foster at my house!

(http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/1/17/250px-Banana_flamb%C3%A9_-_by_Jenene.jpg)

Congrats on the house!

(http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/60016_PE165958_S3.jpg)

(http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/60761_PE166852_S3.jpg)

I  :heart: Ikea.

(http://www.homedepot.com/cmc_upload/HDUS/EN_US/asset/images/eplus/650053002539_3.jpg)

And I love this faucet.

Gas.  Awesome.  My main regret, but my wife has a thing about gas.  I might retrofit one day.  Maybe.  First comes the in-line water heater.

Congratulations.  Home ownership is a pain in the ass. Enjoy!

Those bananas still look too solid. I prefer mine mushy, barely more solid than a thick pudding.

Still tasty.

It's like some bizarre forum-based version of the Sims.

I prefer to think of it as a bold, saucy adventure.  If I don't, I think I'd cry.  No, no, it's very interesting.  And agonizing.  Definitely exciting.  Sometimes.

I am now facing off against a fluorescent light fixture and I feel pretty upset with myself at reaching the conclusion that the best option is to just buy a new one.  I didn't even go looking for the electrical tape.

On the other hand, Great Stuff is great.  Wear gloves.  No, really, I don't care how tough you are.  It doesn't really stick to metal ductwork, so you'll need some metallic tape for that.

I saw one of these in an antique store. It doesn't look exactly like this one, but you'll get the idea.  Sadly, I have no room and no $3k to pay for it.

(http://www.marcopolostreasures.com/products/prod_cabinets/CKJ601034_Chinese_Apothecary/CKJ601034_large.jpg)

There was a lot of remodelling done about 8 months ago, so I'm really hoping the inspection doesn't find any nasty details hidden under the fresh coat of paint.  So, there's that to be worried about - the horrible discovery, two years from now, of something rotten or cracked or whatever that the guy slapped new sheet rock over.  But in the short term, all the work they did means work we don't have to do ourselves.

Oh well, on to my new career of working for the bank!

That's like some awesome Dewey Decimal rack that I would ruin by putting CDs in it.

Yeah, I could use something like that.  Right now I use these black faux-leather clamshell boxes from CaseLogic to store my DVD's, and I'm on case #6 right now.  Running out of room is becoming an issue.

Good luck, good luck, good luck!!! with the house.  I  :heart: gas cookers, too.

Let me know when you move in.  I'll send you a picture of a housewarming gift.

Thanks everybody!

I'm not trying to scare anyone.  I'm ready to give advice and whatnot.

There's a funny store nearby that sells back-issue periodicals as well as dirt-cheap pine furniture. We've picked up a coupla narrow bookshelves over the years and refinished them in a mahogany-esqu stain that looks pretty decent. The shelves are nearly exactly the width and height of CDs.

For the deck (that wraps halfway around the house!!!):

(http://www.ikea.com/PIAimages/31459_PE120792_S3.jpg)

Oh holy shit Signe you are a rug! (http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?topcategoryId=15594&catalogId=10103&storeId=12&langId=-1&parentCats=15594*16206&productId=34513&chosenPartNumber=30052399)

You couldn't kill this buzz if you tried, homie.

This thread got way more confusing with the merge, but thanks. Trippy, was that you?

And I'm cheap!!

Yes. You you can rename the topic if you want.

Here is a sofa made from stuffed alligators:

(http://www.craphound.com/images/gatorsofa.jpg)

It's a Chinese apothecary.

The trouble is finding something useful to do with it.  I suppose you could take up pot smoking and sort all the different breeds.

Ikea makes 60s furniture from my grandma's house. But the industrial-style faucet is a good deal. Reminds me of my days washing dishes. I'd go for a model out of a restaurant supply, though, that one looks a bit cheesy.

Yeg, that's an electric stove.

The bananas foster pic is from google. I noticed the electric range after I posted it.

Grats on the new abode (hopefully)! The next few weeks will be a ginormous pain in the ass, but it is all worth it in the end. Until you make your first mortgage payment and weep for your decimated bank account  :-D

Woops, reeding m hard.
But good again next year when you make all the tax write-offs...

I miss V-Lily, too, so I stole her feet.

Don't make them sore!

I don't like wicker.  But it's cheap.  Wife likes it.  So do the cats.

We have a plastic wicker couch that is claw- and moisture-proof. It works great.

Plastic wicker, not being actual wicker, is superior.  So, yeah.

The inspection went well and we are moving forward. We close on Valentine's Day. I want to start moving NOW.

Try and pack a box a day.  I didn't and I regret it.  I still had stuff to pack on moving day.  I still can't find shit because at the end of that day, I didn't care what the hell I threw in a box.  Last time I moved I had the movers do everything, including the packing.  I don't know what possessed me to deviate from that excellent idea.

When are you moving? I am busy that day, but I wanted to wish you luck.

Yesterday we did the preliminary "getting organized" shit and I have already started packing things we don't use every day like linens and grandma's dishes.  It is so fun!

Oh! And more in the "Good News for Voodoolily" thread: I got a promotion and a 10% raise today! Hooray! It's nice to get that after the loan was pre-approved so we won't hafta eat ramen and PB&J every day.

Conrgatulations! I have to ask -- did you color the border of your avatar or did you just randomly find one that is perfectly color co-ordinated?

So with that raise, what do you have to do now? Chase Grizzly Bears instead of Black Bears?

But anyway, nice job. Start packing now. When I moved, I only had my own room to account for, and...well, I was in no rush to do it. At the end of the day, I still have about 2 boxes still unpacked - nowhere to put the shit.

Hey, congratulations on the promotion! It sure does make mortgage stuff easier. I got one last year...and it's the last I'll ever get here unless I go get a Master Degree...

Don't worry about packing, do like I do, fill up rubbermaid totes and dump them in the appropriate room of the new house. Head back to the old house and refill them, repeat as needed. I didn't have a lot of stuff when I moved five years ago. First time I've ever been in the same place for five years...where did all this crap come from!?

I don't have any advice on packing except that I did it wrong, somehow.  There are things that we somehow lost in the move, which we did ourselves of course.  Part of the problem was that we moved all of our shit into a storage facility first, then into the new house 6+ months later.  Still not sure where that stuff went, though.

Same with us, although no storage facility involved.  Things just sort of fell into the void.

Grats on the raise, VDL! I would be happy with a raise half that size =)

This is actually a real portrait of Britney and Abby, teenaged polycephalic girls who are pretty famous for being the famous-est two-headed girl(s) in America. We watched a show about them on Discovery Health and I really wanted to find the snapshot from the show where they are going down a water slide and all happily grinning for the camera two-headed style, but that woulda been too perfect.

Oh, and thanks everybody! It feels good to ding.