after voting in the canadian national election today, i discovered a renewed sense of incredulous befuddlement at how the american election of 2000, especially the florida recount, could have gone so, so incredibly wrong.
remember how it took, like, two weeks for the official results to be announced? two weeks for the recount in one state? in unprecedented, the revealing documentary about how florida disenfranchised thousands of people -- most of them blacks -- the filmmakers discussed the negative impact of the confusing butterfly ballot. confusing!? fucking retarded, was what it was. the voters had to punch holes for a candidate on a convoluted list of staggered and alternating names. most of the voters -- the ones who were allowed to vote -- didn't even know whom they were voting for, and sometimes the hole punch didn't go all the way through and was never registered.
today, as i cast my ballot, i took a moment to revel in its beautiful simplicity: a list of candidates; you use a pencil to mark an x by the name of the candidate for whom you would like to vote. x. that's it. no hole-punching, no lever-pulling...the ballots are handcounted, but that's a pretty self-explanatory process.
during the american election debacle, my buddy JH remarked that it took four hours to count all of the ballots in canada when chrétien scored his threepeat; with a population ten times canada's, wouldn't it just take at most 40 hours to recount all of the ballots in the country, let alone those from a single state of geriatrics?
in november, the ambitious americans are tryin' out those crazy new-fangled electronic voting machines. let's see how far up shit creek they get this time 'round. do they think that implementing a new and barely tested (not to mention utterly unnecessary) technology somehow makes their brand of democracy superior? give me a golf pencil and a simple list of names any day.
...
in other news, go see napoleon dynamite. D&A treated us to it on their stop in town before embarking on their alaskan cruise and it's incredibly, dysfunctionally, hilarious.
also: i just fucked up my sweetie's rubik's cube. he took the news really well.
Monday, June 28, 2004
Saturday, June 26, 2004
still squinting...
i picked up my laptop from compusmart yesterday. on thursday, the dude said on the phone that someone would likely call me before 11 am. i waited until 2 pm and finally called them. the technician says 'oh yeah. i had a hard time reaching you. the phone number here doesn't seem to work.'
FUH-UCK. did i not specifically call them up and tell them to change the errant phone number and verify on a subsequent call that the phone number was corrected?
anyway, as i suspected, the inverter needs replacing. $61 for the part, which actually isn't so bad. i'm just worried how much the labour costs will end up being...
they're supposed to call me when the part comes in -- they say monday or tuesday of next week. i suspect that i will have to call them on wednesday afternoon. *sigh*
...
i'm not as sore as i'd expected to be after yesterday's two-hour critical mass ride. it was pretty big -- i'm sure they got at least 600 people out -- but i don't have an official count and it felt a bit smaller than last year. i'm tellin' ya: there were lots of beautiful people at the ride.
the crowd was big enough to take over cambie bridge entirely. the police actually helped us out with a car on either end guiding the route and blocking traffic. i don't remember them being there last year.
as usual, though, there were the angry honking motorists and the supportive honking motorists. sometimes it's hard to tell which category they fall into if you can't see their faces. generally, the supporters give out a series of short meep-meep-meeeeeeps while the disgruntled drivers lean meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnh. we had a passenger in one of those fucking stretch-UVs (you know what i'm talkin' about), lean out the window, waving and smiling at us.
some just have no appreciation for irony.
i picked up my laptop from compusmart yesterday. on thursday, the dude said on the phone that someone would likely call me before 11 am. i waited until 2 pm and finally called them. the technician says 'oh yeah. i had a hard time reaching you. the phone number here doesn't seem to work.'
FUH-UCK. did i not specifically call them up and tell them to change the errant phone number and verify on a subsequent call that the phone number was corrected?
anyway, as i suspected, the inverter needs replacing. $61 for the part, which actually isn't so bad. i'm just worried how much the labour costs will end up being...
they're supposed to call me when the part comes in -- they say monday or tuesday of next week. i suspect that i will have to call them on wednesday afternoon. *sigh*
...
i'm not as sore as i'd expected to be after yesterday's two-hour critical mass ride. it was pretty big -- i'm sure they got at least 600 people out -- but i don't have an official count and it felt a bit smaller than last year. i'm tellin' ya: there were lots of beautiful people at the ride.
the crowd was big enough to take over cambie bridge entirely. the police actually helped us out with a car on either end guiding the route and blocking traffic. i don't remember them being there last year.
as usual, though, there were the angry honking motorists and the supportive honking motorists. sometimes it's hard to tell which category they fall into if you can't see their faces. generally, the supporters give out a series of short meep-meep-meeeeeeps while the disgruntled drivers lean meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnh. we had a passenger in one of those fucking stretch-UVs (you know what i'm talkin' about), lean out the window, waving and smiling at us.
some just have no appreciation for irony.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
friday, 18 june 2004: massive windstorms in the lower mainland knock out power from the fraser valley all the way up to downtown vancouver.
probably as a result, the backlighting on nori's laptop screen ceases to function properly.
nori calls toshiba's call centre. man who can't speak english tries to convince nori that the laptop was purchased in america and that she would have to have it repaired in the states. the man does not understand that alberta and british columbia are in canada. nori tries explaining the problem to the man. the man does not grasp the hardware failure and tries to get nori to adjust the screen settings on her computer to no avail. nori finally asks where she can take the computer to have it repaired, and the man lists off three addresses, compusmart in downtown vancouver being one such toshiba-affiliated service shops.
saturday, 19 june 2004: nori calls compusmart. punk on the other end of the line is patronizing and rude. tells nori to bring the machine in and that parts and repairs will take four working days. nori must wait for realtor to deliver documents and cannot leave the house. asks punk for the store's hours.
sunday, 20 june 2004: compusmart is closed. nori discovers that if she shines a bright lamp on the screen, she can still sort of work on the computer. she works, squinting.
monday, 21 june 2004: nori drops off laptop at compusmart and tells dude at the counter her contact information. she pays a $45 deposit. dude at the counter says 'when the problem is diagnosed, someone will call you. this will take two days.'
'if you need to order parts, can i reclaim the computer and work on my thesis while we wait for the parts to come in?'
'sure. sign this waiver that says if anything else goes wrong with your computer, we aren't responsible.'
...
tuesday, 22 june 2004: nori looks at the work order form and discovers that her phone number was mistyped. nori calls compusmart and has them fix the error. nori verifies that nobody had attempted to call the wrong number.
wednesday, 23 june 2004: compusmart does not call.
thursday, 24 june 2004: nori calls compusmart in the morning. dude says 'someone will look at it today and a technician will call you this afternoon with a diagnosis of the problem.'
'this afternoon?'
'yes. this afternoon.'
thursday afternoon arrives. nobody calls. 20 minutes prior to closing, nori calls compusmart. 'what's up with my computer? i was told i'd be called this afternoon.'
'let me check. oh. yeah. they haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but it's next on the list (nori rolls her eyes). they'll call you tomorrow with a diagnosis.'
'you have any idea when?'
'you could try calling at about 11.'
*YAAAAAAAAARRRGH!*
nori heads to campus, a 25-minute bus ride, for the sole purpose of checking her e-mail and venting on this blog.
...
if it's going to take 5 days to make a fucking diagnosis, tell me it's going to take 5 days. don't say 'someone'll call you in 2 days,' have nobody call me, then tell me someone'll call me in the afternoon when i finally have to call, then NOT CALL! i understand if something's taking longer than expected to fix, but they should have phoned me and said 'hey, it's gonna take another couple of days' instead of having me stay at home waiting for a call that ultimately never comes!
this tale of frustration continues tomorrow.
probably as a result, the backlighting on nori's laptop screen ceases to function properly.
nori calls toshiba's call centre. man who can't speak english tries to convince nori that the laptop was purchased in america and that she would have to have it repaired in the states. the man does not understand that alberta and british columbia are in canada. nori tries explaining the problem to the man. the man does not grasp the hardware failure and tries to get nori to adjust the screen settings on her computer to no avail. nori finally asks where she can take the computer to have it repaired, and the man lists off three addresses, compusmart in downtown vancouver being one such toshiba-affiliated service shops.
saturday, 19 june 2004: nori calls compusmart. punk on the other end of the line is patronizing and rude. tells nori to bring the machine in and that parts and repairs will take four working days. nori must wait for realtor to deliver documents and cannot leave the house. asks punk for the store's hours.
sunday, 20 june 2004: compusmart is closed. nori discovers that if she shines a bright lamp on the screen, she can still sort of work on the computer. she works, squinting.
monday, 21 june 2004: nori drops off laptop at compusmart and tells dude at the counter her contact information. she pays a $45 deposit. dude at the counter says 'when the problem is diagnosed, someone will call you. this will take two days.'
'if you need to order parts, can i reclaim the computer and work on my thesis while we wait for the parts to come in?'
'sure. sign this waiver that says if anything else goes wrong with your computer, we aren't responsible.'
...
tuesday, 22 june 2004: nori looks at the work order form and discovers that her phone number was mistyped. nori calls compusmart and has them fix the error. nori verifies that nobody had attempted to call the wrong number.
wednesday, 23 june 2004: compusmart does not call.
thursday, 24 june 2004: nori calls compusmart in the morning. dude says 'someone will look at it today and a technician will call you this afternoon with a diagnosis of the problem.'
'this afternoon?'
'yes. this afternoon.'
thursday afternoon arrives. nobody calls. 20 minutes prior to closing, nori calls compusmart. 'what's up with my computer? i was told i'd be called this afternoon.'
'let me check. oh. yeah. they haven't had a chance to look at it yet, but it's next on the list (nori rolls her eyes). they'll call you tomorrow with a diagnosis.'
'you have any idea when?'
'you could try calling at about 11.'
*YAAAAAAAAARRRGH!*
nori heads to campus, a 25-minute bus ride, for the sole purpose of checking her e-mail and venting on this blog.
...
if it's going to take 5 days to make a fucking diagnosis, tell me it's going to take 5 days. don't say 'someone'll call you in 2 days,' have nobody call me, then tell me someone'll call me in the afternoon when i finally have to call, then NOT CALL! i understand if something's taking longer than expected to fix, but they should have phoned me and said 'hey, it's gonna take another couple of days' instead of having me stay at home waiting for a call that ultimately never comes!
this tale of frustration continues tomorrow.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
i'm on a food tv binge...
i promised my sweetie that we'd downgrade our cable when we move into our new place. it'll save us $20 a month, which may not seem that much, but the hope is that it'll get me off the couch. or maybe it'll just raise my tolerance for shitty-ass shows on basic. anyway, i'm taking in as much of the gourmet picture box as i can before i'm cut off forever. i'm not watching emeril or anything with bobby flay, though. god, i can't stand that asshole.
i'm gonna miss the food network. *single tear...*
i promised my sweetie that we'd downgrade our cable when we move into our new place. it'll save us $20 a month, which may not seem that much, but the hope is that it'll get me off the couch. or maybe it'll just raise my tolerance for shitty-ass shows on basic. anyway, i'm taking in as much of the gourmet picture box as i can before i'm cut off forever. i'm not watching emeril or anything with bobby flay, though. god, i can't stand that asshole.
i'm gonna miss the food network. *single tear...*
Saturday, June 19, 2004
Friday, June 18, 2004
wtf!? how did this all happen in the last 48 hours!?
...
my sweetie and i just bought a condo!
...i can hardly believe it.
i haven't been writing about it because i didn't want to jinx it, but now: woohoo!
i saw the sign go up on tuesday, called, got an appointment to view the place thursday. we went to the bank earlier thursday to get prequalified for a mortgage and they gave us the go-ahead, pending documentation from our department that we were receiving an income. i was a bit anxious about that -- after all, i'm not going to have an income come september -- i essentially asked the grad secretary to commit fraud. anyway, we checked out the digs, and the place is really awesome. a bit smaller than our current place, but two levels, and everything is a lot newer and more updated. but it's in the same building, making the prospect of moving slightly less daunting.
it was listed for $209,900 and there was fierce competition for it, so we offered $227,500. yeesh. so. much. money. but our offer's been accepted! we're fucking homeowners. how bourgeois.
the sweet mother-in-law came through big time with a loan to top up our down payment, saving us thousands in insurance premiums and interest...
i'm still going to have to get a job in september, though, and the uncertainty has me a bit apprehensive. that and figuring out what needs to be done in the next month...
closing is 31 july, meaning we'd be vacating the first of august. hmm...i've already submitted august's rent to the property management company. i'll have to get them not to cash it.
it was a blessing in disguise that the first place i'd mentioned a few posts back fell through. the realtor claims that it was significantly shittier than the place we've got now. another blessing in disguise was us not having a realtor. the selling realtor just ended up calling her partner to represent us. i have no idea how that isn't a conflict of interest, but we pretty much got the inside scoop on competing offers and an idea of how much we had to fork over.
finally, since we're leaving in august, i offered our current place to gerry and smorg. if they take it, they can forward us all our straggling mail.
oh, and we'll have two good friends in the same building, but you know, whatever.
gerry is proposing a big-ass housewarming for all of us...pretty good excuse to use our new walk-out roof-top patio, if you ask me. but i want to wait until LB and dmac get back into town.
i think we blew all our karma points on the place, though. shortly after the realtor delivered the good news, the back-lighting on my computer died. it's going to cost at least $300 and four working days to get repaired. that and the dude at the store spoke to me like i was a fucking moron. yay?
no, seriously: yay! i'm kind of surreally euphoric about my new home even though i'm going to be poor for the next several years. i hope gerry and smorg can hook this place.
...
my sweetie and i just bought a condo!
...i can hardly believe it.
i haven't been writing about it because i didn't want to jinx it, but now: woohoo!
i saw the sign go up on tuesday, called, got an appointment to view the place thursday. we went to the bank earlier thursday to get prequalified for a mortgage and they gave us the go-ahead, pending documentation from our department that we were receiving an income. i was a bit anxious about that -- after all, i'm not going to have an income come september -- i essentially asked the grad secretary to commit fraud. anyway, we checked out the digs, and the place is really awesome. a bit smaller than our current place, but two levels, and everything is a lot newer and more updated. but it's in the same building, making the prospect of moving slightly less daunting.
it was listed for $209,900 and there was fierce competition for it, so we offered $227,500. yeesh. so. much. money. but our offer's been accepted! we're fucking homeowners. how bourgeois.
the sweet mother-in-law came through big time with a loan to top up our down payment, saving us thousands in insurance premiums and interest...
i'm still going to have to get a job in september, though, and the uncertainty has me a bit apprehensive. that and figuring out what needs to be done in the next month...
closing is 31 july, meaning we'd be vacating the first of august. hmm...i've already submitted august's rent to the property management company. i'll have to get them not to cash it.
it was a blessing in disguise that the first place i'd mentioned a few posts back fell through. the realtor claims that it was significantly shittier than the place we've got now. another blessing in disguise was us not having a realtor. the selling realtor just ended up calling her partner to represent us. i have no idea how that isn't a conflict of interest, but we pretty much got the inside scoop on competing offers and an idea of how much we had to fork over.
finally, since we're leaving in august, i offered our current place to gerry and smorg. if they take it, they can forward us all our straggling mail.
oh, and we'll have two good friends in the same building, but you know, whatever.
gerry is proposing a big-ass housewarming for all of us...pretty good excuse to use our new walk-out roof-top patio, if you ask me. but i want to wait until LB and dmac get back into town.
i think we blew all our karma points on the place, though. shortly after the realtor delivered the good news, the back-lighting on my computer died. it's going to cost at least $300 and four working days to get repaired. that and the dude at the store spoke to me like i was a fucking moron. yay?
no, seriously: yay! i'm kind of surreally euphoric about my new home even though i'm going to be poor for the next several years. i hope gerry and smorg can hook this place.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
ew.
i just got hit on by a dude who looked about 34, in my neighbourhood. ugh.
i was walking home from the bus stop.
dude (faux blond, maybe 5'9", carrying a tennis racket): that's a beautiful green dress you're wearing.
me: uh...thanks.
dude: enjoying the weather?
me: yeah. it's gorgeous.
*pause*
dude: you're gorgeous. can i take you out for lunch sometime?
me: i'm married.
dude: oh. sorry to bother you. (runs off sheepishly)
*sigh of relief*
i'm so grateful i can say that. it stops the conversation, right there. married. bam. go away. no continued attempts at persuasion after 'i'm not interested,' and no need for me to lie and claim to be lesbian.
i was, however, tempted to say, 'uh, HOW old are you?'
'cause i don't really look my age. i'm still routinely asked for ID at pubs.
anyway, this never happens to me. i don't, as a rule, get hit on, much less asked out on a date. in public and in strange situations, i think i exude too much 'stay-the-fuck-away-from-me' intensity that most people who pick up on it don't bother with me. so even though the television says this kind of stuff happens all the time, i still find it really creepy when it does. should i feel flattered? i don't really think it's rational to be as sketched out as i seem to be, but i can't really help it.
i just got hit on by a dude who looked about 34, in my neighbourhood. ugh.
i was walking home from the bus stop.
dude (faux blond, maybe 5'9", carrying a tennis racket): that's a beautiful green dress you're wearing.
me: uh...thanks.
dude: enjoying the weather?
me: yeah. it's gorgeous.
*pause*
dude: you're gorgeous. can i take you out for lunch sometime?
me: i'm married.
dude: oh. sorry to bother you. (runs off sheepishly)
*sigh of relief*
i'm so grateful i can say that. it stops the conversation, right there. married. bam. go away. no continued attempts at persuasion after 'i'm not interested,' and no need for me to lie and claim to be lesbian.
i was, however, tempted to say, 'uh, HOW old are you?'
'cause i don't really look my age. i'm still routinely asked for ID at pubs.
anyway, this never happens to me. i don't, as a rule, get hit on, much less asked out on a date. in public and in strange situations, i think i exude too much 'stay-the-fuck-away-from-me' intensity that most people who pick up on it don't bother with me. so even though the television says this kind of stuff happens all the time, i still find it really creepy when it does. should i feel flattered? i don't really think it's rational to be as sketched out as i seem to be, but i can't really help it.
Wednesday, June 16, 2004
call me naive, but i actually believed my old babysitter when she told me that banana chips were healthy. after all, they're just dehydrated fruit.
i was seven. i liked banana chips. i was willing to accept any justification to consume banana chips.
then we got a food dehydrator when i was ten or eleven. one of those ronco knock-offs. and i tried making my own dehydrated banana chips. what i got were sour, rubbery warped pieces of overly-sticky/overly-chewy morsels.
did you know that they first fried the banana slices in coconut oil before they dehydrate? coconut oil! the most unhealthy fat in the world. more cholesterol and saturated fat than LARD! i sure didn't.
i was a fool.
i was seven. i liked banana chips. i was willing to accept any justification to consume banana chips.
then we got a food dehydrator when i was ten or eleven. one of those ronco knock-offs. and i tried making my own dehydrated banana chips. what i got were sour, rubbery warped pieces of overly-sticky/overly-chewy morsels.
did you know that they first fried the banana slices in coconut oil before they dehydrate? coconut oil! the most unhealthy fat in the world. more cholesterol and saturated fat than LARD! i sure didn't.
i was a fool.
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Saturday, June 12, 2004
i am never graduating.
the laser has been down for the last two weeks and is due to be down for the next week at least. and MM's protocol for making GaAs samples has spontaneously stopped working.
the visiting scientist from nottingham was using the picosecond laser, which spontaneously stopped working. they took that board and put it into the femtosecond (mine) to see if it was the problem. it was. well, the femtosecond wasn't going to be used for a while, seeing as i wasn't getting any new samples within the week, so why not switch the blown one with the good one and keep using the picosecond until replacement parts could be ordered in?
wouldn't you know it: the femtosecond's board, put into the picosecond laser, also blew.
no functional laser, two blown boards, and a picosecond system that obviously has something more seriously wrong with it.
time is running out, and i'm getting no research results for three weeks. fah!
otherwise, though, this past week has been pretty good. tuesday, i got a confirmation letter for my $6000 from SFU. thursday, i got an admittance letter from the MPub program which told me i didn't need to complete any outstanding prereqs and included some additional information about the program's dates and deadlines. it starts 8 september, and those two pieces of mail got me really excited about it again.
yesterday, i saw DA, who was in town for a wedding, and we watched Human Nature, a film released in 2001 written by charlie kaufman. DA was constantly badgering me to see it, and we finally did. quite entertaining, but mostly, it was awesome to catch up with D. wish AP had come too, but i'll take what i can git.
also, my sweetie told me that he spoke to the graduate chair of our department, who told him that apparently, i could still TA for UBC even while studying for the MPub at a different institution. huh. so if i really need income and can work it into my schedule, that might be something i'll end up doing. i don't really want to, but at least that option's available.
tonight, J&K came over for supper (salmon...mmm...) and we all went out to see super size me. it was far beyond some freak show of a dude gorging on disgusting food and was well worth the ticket price. makes me grateful i haven't eaten mcpoo's in about two years, except for the ice cream HT bought me that one time...HT: i cut you!
well, i guess i'm gonna work on my thesis outline some more this week. not much else i can do.
the laser has been down for the last two weeks and is due to be down for the next week at least. and MM's protocol for making GaAs samples has spontaneously stopped working.
the visiting scientist from nottingham was using the picosecond laser, which spontaneously stopped working. they took that board and put it into the femtosecond (mine) to see if it was the problem. it was. well, the femtosecond wasn't going to be used for a while, seeing as i wasn't getting any new samples within the week, so why not switch the blown one with the good one and keep using the picosecond until replacement parts could be ordered in?
wouldn't you know it: the femtosecond's board, put into the picosecond laser, also blew.
no functional laser, two blown boards, and a picosecond system that obviously has something more seriously wrong with it.
time is running out, and i'm getting no research results for three weeks. fah!
otherwise, though, this past week has been pretty good. tuesday, i got a confirmation letter for my $6000 from SFU. thursday, i got an admittance letter from the MPub program which told me i didn't need to complete any outstanding prereqs and included some additional information about the program's dates and deadlines. it starts 8 september, and those two pieces of mail got me really excited about it again.
yesterday, i saw DA, who was in town for a wedding, and we watched Human Nature, a film released in 2001 written by charlie kaufman. DA was constantly badgering me to see it, and we finally did. quite entertaining, but mostly, it was awesome to catch up with D. wish AP had come too, but i'll take what i can git.
also, my sweetie told me that he spoke to the graduate chair of our department, who told him that apparently, i could still TA for UBC even while studying for the MPub at a different institution. huh. so if i really need income and can work it into my schedule, that might be something i'll end up doing. i don't really want to, but at least that option's available.
tonight, J&K came over for supper (salmon...mmm...) and we all went out to see super size me. it was far beyond some freak show of a dude gorging on disgusting food and was well worth the ticket price. makes me grateful i haven't eaten mcpoo's in about two years, except for the ice cream HT bought me that one time...HT: i cut you!
well, i guess i'm gonna work on my thesis outline some more this week. not much else i can do.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
went to a machining demo at thomas skinner's open house today with my sweetie all the way down in richmond. CNC mills and lathes...some pretty impressive machines they got. also got a free lunch out of it and *ahem* avoided reading for my thesis all day.
what most amused me, though, were the little warning labels they had on the sides of these machines. next time they have a big trade show, i'm going to bring in a digital camera (if i can) just to photograph those stickers. pictograms of little stick figures getting mangled by moving parts, dragged into manacing gears by loose clothing...those little diagrams were solid gold. it disturbs and entertains me that it's even necessary to warn people not to touch the cutting tool when it's spinning. on the one hand, yes, there must be protection from litigation. on the other hand, uh, duh.
what most amused me, though, were the little warning labels they had on the sides of these machines. next time they have a big trade show, i'm going to bring in a digital camera (if i can) just to photograph those stickers. pictograms of little stick figures getting mangled by moving parts, dragged into manacing gears by loose clothing...those little diagrams were solid gold. it disturbs and entertains me that it's even necessary to warn people not to touch the cutting tool when it's spinning. on the one hand, yes, there must be protection from litigation. on the other hand, uh, duh.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
my first attempt at tom yum kung ended in failure. i should have known better than to experiment when guests were over for dinner. the hot and sour soup had a bitter aftertaste. i'm not adverse to trying again, but i wish i knew what ingredient contributed to the bitterness. maybe i need to find actual kaffir lime leaves rather than use the lime zest.
however, i did make the best potstickers in my history of potsticker making. rolled the wrapping out on the pasta machine. i love that thing. best investment i ever made...
however, i did make the best potstickers in my history of potsticker making. rolled the wrapping out on the pasta machine. i love that thing. best investment i ever made...
Monday, June 07, 2004
Sunday, June 06, 2004
jesus crap.
what gave me the bright idea that i could be a home-owner, anyway?
i'm getting old.
we'd been talking about it for some time. it'd be good to get some equity. get a home before the housing costs really go nuts thanks to the olympics. if we have to move to ottawa temporarily, we could rent out. we want to be back here, anyway.
right?
right!?
fuck.
neither of us has time for this. i'm not even going to have an income come september -- what makes me think i'd even be given a mortgage?
anyway, we figured that, since neither of us had time for this, it'd be easiest to start close to home. 'next time a for-sale sign goes up for a suite on our building, we should check it out,' i suggested. my sweetie agreed.
but we missed one opportunity, then another, and another...
now, there is a suite on the 3rd floor of our building: 2-level, 1 bedroom, south-facing. price tag: $199,900.
ugh. i think i'm going to be sick. owning a home, eh? so bourgeois.
i e-mailed the realtor, and assuming it hasn't been snapped up already, we should be taking a look at it. i have two and a half months to get research results, write up a thesis and somehow find some sort of sustaining income in september. why am i thinking about this now!?
somebody please give me some words of encouragement here. tell me i'm doing the right thing. oh god. i'm going to be so fucking poor.
what gave me the bright idea that i could be a home-owner, anyway?
i'm getting old.
we'd been talking about it for some time. it'd be good to get some equity. get a home before the housing costs really go nuts thanks to the olympics. if we have to move to ottawa temporarily, we could rent out. we want to be back here, anyway.
right?
right!?
fuck.
neither of us has time for this. i'm not even going to have an income come september -- what makes me think i'd even be given a mortgage?
anyway, we figured that, since neither of us had time for this, it'd be easiest to start close to home. 'next time a for-sale sign goes up for a suite on our building, we should check it out,' i suggested. my sweetie agreed.
but we missed one opportunity, then another, and another...
now, there is a suite on the 3rd floor of our building: 2-level, 1 bedroom, south-facing. price tag: $199,900.
ugh. i think i'm going to be sick. owning a home, eh? so bourgeois.
i e-mailed the realtor, and assuming it hasn't been snapped up already, we should be taking a look at it. i have two and a half months to get research results, write up a thesis and somehow find some sort of sustaining income in september. why am i thinking about this now!?
somebody please give me some words of encouragement here. tell me i'm doing the right thing. oh god. i'm going to be so fucking poor.
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Tuesday, June 01, 2004
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