Some random thoughts

There has not been much to talk about lately. I have been working and looking at more houses. I have found several houses that I like and hope that we can get one of them. The two factors I am dealing with is selling the house in VA and foreclosures. If the house I am looking at goes into foreclosure before I get a chance to put in an offer, then the bank takes it and might sit on it for months. In the meantime I am doing my homework on real estate and the schools around the houses that have “made the cut”

Here are some interesting facts and stuff that I have learned:

• Pools here are coated with plaster and not vinyl. Letting the pool get low on water can be very expensive since the plaster will dry out and flake.
• There are a lot of empty homes. Apparently, some people just walk out of the house to avoid the reality of them losing it. Of course the bank takes it over and such. But what I want to know where do these people go?
• This area’s roads are laid out in a grid (for the most part). What I did not realize is that each major intersection is about a mile apart. I am going to have to memorize the major street names so I can pretend like I have lived here for years.

When looking for a house, the biggest factors I look at are: where will Dawn have her office/study room, where will the family hangout, what is the condition of the pool, and how far is it from ASU & SCNM. Of course, if the place needs a lot of work, it is not for us. We do not want to do a lot of work on the place in the first year.

I have really enjoyed not paying for gas. The last tank lasted me about six weeks and I only bought gas so I would not have bought it except that I was already at Costco. The clean air group has been doing a great job getting the word out about the smog problem here and how to reduce it. I am glad to be doing my part while saving a ton of money at the same time by biking to work. The smog has not been bad so far due to the fact that there has been a near constant breeze blowing it out of the valley.

Talking about biking, I participated in the National Bike to Work Day on Wednesday. The only thing extra I did was go to meet-up point (one of five in Tempe) next to ASU so I could sign in and be counted. Today, I found (by accident) the PHX Zoo and the spring training facility of the Oakland A’s. Today’s picture was made from a butte in Papago Park.

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PCraw, when we get things settled, come on out for a visit. BTW, I don’t have a house hunting licensed, but my real estate agent does.

Knitting Dalek, the joints are feeling great. Good luck with the hear monitor. I thought about getting one, but did not.