#80 - Time to adjust, and a promise kept

Saturday, March 24

Today I am thankful for a dose of reality.  And a dose of optimism to go with it.

The reality is this: the mortgage on our new house is not a problem.  The property taxes are enormous, however.  We had expected (and I had assumed) that with our mortgage being a little less than our old 1st/2nd combo, and interest rates being so much lower, that some higher taxes would keep our payments roughly the same.  Katrina worked it out, though, and it's not roughly the same.  It's going to be a little rough.

We did get a raise to come here, but the property taxes eat most of that raise.  And we will have a higher fuel cost here, as well as higher food cost.  So we'll have to use our options and make it work.

If we pull out of this house and get one with lower taxes, that could change our entire financial picture.  But I really love this house.

We also, in light of this reality, made a decision to keep a promise to the kids.  We promised them a swimming pool.  And the swimming pool place had a sale that ended today.  But we had to decide where we would find the money.  So we made a decision to find it, I went to the pool store, and bought a pool.  We now own a 30' round pool.  Delivery will happen some time after we close on our new house.  It will be the first major upgrade the house gets.  Because we know from past experience that major purchases don't often happen.  The kids deserved it.

Besides, we're not going on vacation this year.  It's an almost-even trade.

I have to start preparing to make adjustments now.  I've had this large hotel room to myself for nearly 2 months.  Now I have to downsize so all 7 of us can be here for a month or 2.  We'll all have to chill a bit more.  And I won't have all this time to play games, read, sleep, or blog.  I hope I can keep the blog running daily.  That's the goal.

In a very sad note, my favorite sign in the area has been torn down and replaced.  The old sign was there just last week.

#79 - A little bit of good news

Friday, March 23

Today I am thankful that once things hit bottom this week, they started to swing up.

Today, we got some good news on the house.  We're the only people with an offer out.  The bank told their agent, "We don't want to lose these buyers."  The basement water inspection turned up nothing important - the water down there is because the room was not constructed right (they put insulation right next to the block foundation) and because the water drainage for that end of the house is not great.  And worst case, there is a way to waterproof the foundation from the outside.

We have a schedule for a mold removal company to swing by the house on Saturday to give us a quote on removal.  Our plan is to ask the bank for a price concession for the amount of the removal.  Our agent doesn't think the bank will walk away for 4 thousand or so.  We won't either, but don't tell the bank that.

We also got an offer from the relocation company, and ratified by my company, to prepay us for the closing costs of the Oregon house.  And we can use that money for the contract money for the NY house.  So, assuming that works out for timing, we'll be able to move forward with the NY house with no delays for cash availability.  That was a HUGE problem caused by the surprise on Wednesday.

Spring has come to NY state.  The trees in the WalMart parking lot and at work and all along the road have started to bloom.  Farmers have planted, there are flying bugs in the air.  Yes, winter has gone.  At least, until it snows again.

This pic was actually taken tomorrow (I'm writing this on Saturday, but the picture could have been taken on Friday, so here it is).  I really expected for the family to come here when it was BROWN.  But that won't happen.  I figure by the time they see daylight here (they arrive late Thursday night) there will be a lot more color out.

#78 - A little resolution

Thursday, March 22

Today I am thankful that though some things have changed, the most important ones have stayed the same.

I did not sleep well last night, and could not eat breakfast either.  Working through the haze of house, family, and work drama has left me drained.  But the afternoon brought some relief.  Everything is back on schedule for NY.  We were unsure if all of the uncertainty would change the family's plan to come to NY next week, but it's back on track.

I was able to confirm a place for us all to stay that actually has beds for everyone.  It's the hotel I'm in now.  We'll have 2 adjoining rooms, 2 queens, 1 King, and a queen sofa sleeper.  A kitchenette, 3 TVs, 2 bathrooms.  And the hotel has free breakfast and a pool.  It ought to work, although it is not much square footage.  The teeny kitchen thing and the lack of a washer and dryer are going to be frustrating.  But hopefully only for a couple weeks.  I'm an optimist, and the optimist in me says that once we sign a contract on the new house, that we can start putting things in there, like a washer and dryer.

We got a counter offer from the bank today on the Sylvan Lake house.  The bank does not want to take care of the mold in the basement.  So we have 1 more iteration of negotiation on that.  I was able to set up Katrina and the kids and mom for a hotel next to the airport on Wednesday night, so when the moving company takes the van away, they'll take a (large) taxi to the airport in the evening.  The hotel will provide a shuttle to the terminal in the morning.  Good stuff.

I also scheduled a visit to the house with an inspector.  We're concerned about water in the basement.  One of the walls is damp, and we just want to be sure that we don't have a $30,000 repair lurking.  I drove out to the house for lunch today, and ate a sandwich sitting on the back porch.  Beautiful day, really peaceful there, too.

No pic today, either.  Didn't really think about it.

#77 - The not-so-good, very-bad day

Wednesday, March 21

Today I am thankful that at least my kids are healthy and I have a job.  Nothing else seems to be reliable today.

Today was a depressing day.  A frustrating, tiring, depressing, frantic, impossible day.  One of the worst (possibly the worst, actually) of my life.  So I put off writing about it until I had some perspective.

In the morning I got a call from our relocation company.  Because the home inspector had written the word "asbestos" in the report, the company will no longer acquire our house in Oregon.  This is 5 days before the company is supposed to acquire it, and it's information that we would have told them if they had asked.  We filled out 5-6 pages of detailed questions about the place, honestly, over a month ago.

So now we're back to square one with our buyer.  New offer, everything.  Instead of being free of the house on March 26, it's sometime in April.  Additional headache for Katrina and for me.  And we have no idea how we're going to front the money to cover closing costs in Oregon as well as a partial down payment in NY before the OR house sells.  Who really has $40K laying around for use on 5 days notice?  We don't.

And then there was some drama at home.

And work was hopping busy as well.  Just an ugly, ugly day.  It was sunny and 75, though.

No pic today.  That was mostly for the kids, and frankly the Oregon house is too busy to look at this blog until they get here.

#76 - no room at the inn

Tuesday, March 20

Today I am thankful for leftovers and a microwave.  Too tired to cook - microwaved some Zatarain's rice-in-a-box that I made 2 nights ago, poured a cold glass of cranberry juice, and pulled some Oreos out of the bag.  Dinner.

Then a little car shopping.  We'll be far enough away from work that at $4/gallon for gas, a car that gets about 30mpg and is relatively old makes borderline economic sense.  If that 30mpg car happens to be a Miata, so much the better!  Found several for not much dinero last night and today on Craigslist.  It is the Google of the local buying/selling marketplace.  But of course, you know that.  You'r reading my blog.

Found out tonight on my way out the door at work that the apartment we had lined up is not set up to sleep 6.  I don't think I could have been clearer on my paperwork - there are 6 people on the form.  Everyone needs a place to sleep.  And there needs to be a place for Katrina's mom to sleep, too.  Or at least a couch I can take so they can share the big bed.  The woman assigned to help me does not appear to be overly concerned with our comfort.  She seems much more focused on finding a place that a desperate family will say yes to and getting out of her hair.  But she's nice about it.  I'll have a good chat with her tomorrow.

So that's back in play.  We'll see what we end up with.  Silly.

And I also talked to the assistant superintendent at the school district.  We need to have agreed on a price, and gotten to the contract stage of the purchase before we can put our kids in school there.  Proof of residency means we have to be committed to moving into the district.  At least I know what to do about it, and my path forward is clear.

Pic tonight is from the house we're trying to buy.  Old-fashioned, large enough, and comfortable.  And it has a built-in oven.  Good stuff.

#75 - The excellence of low expectations

Monday, March 19

Today I am thankful that my team at work was hoping only that I would not be a complete loser.  So far, I'm not a complete loser, and they're happy.

I went in and did a normal work day today, made some phone calls during my lunch break to get things rolling. The kids will not be able to enroll in school here until I get a waiver from the superintendent.  And they won't be placed in classes until I can provide their report cards and state test scores.  I have an address for our temporary housing.  Our final disbursement from the retirement account is on its way.

Then I worked a bit, came home, took a nap, ate dinner and did our taxes.  Now that I'm used to it, it's really quite simple.  It was a 45-minute deal start to finish.  I was stunned to find our final tax rate was under 3%.  That is crazy.  I guess it means we were up to our eyeballs in tax-deductible debt and kids.  Here's to hoping our tax rate increases in the future.  Because that means we have more disposable income.

Then I went back into the office and had a 2 hour chat with one of my team members on night shift.  We talked about the guys on his shift, his career, and his expectations of me.  Turns out that he (and several other people I've talked to 1:1) had grave reservations about hiring someone outside for my job.  At first, they weren't sure what to make of me.

At this point, I've started to make a contribution.  It turns out I'm not a loser, and they like the idea of the boss not being a loser.  In this guy's words, "I wanted someone to come in here and bust things up.  And that's what you're doing, in a nice way."

Tonight's picture is who the team is glad I am not.  And I suppose I am, too.

#74 - Recovery from lack of a hangover

Sunday, March 18

Today I am thankful for a great realtor.

I got to sleep at 3:30am, and woke up at 7.  I was not expecting to stay awake through church, much less make it through choir.  But I did.  I like church more and more here each week.  Choir is much the same as home - not a terribly large amount of choral discipline, people come together and sing because they like it, and the end product is usually acceptable.  It's much smaller (and thus makes critical mass less often) because of the smaller pool of people we draw from.

Then I got home, caught up on a couple blog entries, and set the microwave timer for a nap. It didn't ever go off or I didn't hear it, because I woke up 3 hours later than I was supposed to.  And when I checked my inbox, there was a counteroffer from the bank on our house!

I called Katrina and we talked about it for a while, and then she had to get dinner ready for the kids.  Probably too late to get a response back from the realtor tonight, but probably tomorrow morning.  Frankly, if the bank sticks to its current offer, we'll buy the house.  Their counter is nearly full price.  It really just depends on the inspection, which I hope to have done this week.  I want this house to go pending very very quickly.

I was supposed to work on taxes today, but the nap precludes that.  I need to go back to sleep for early arising tomorrow.   The pic today is from underneath Grand Central.  The mass transit system here is the complete opposite of Portland's Tri-Met.  It is cheap, goes everywhere, there is always a train coming soon, the stations are dirty, and everyone rides it.

#73 - Virgin Pub Crawl on St Patrick's Day in Manhattan

Saturday, March 17

Today I am thankful that I do not drink.

I woke up this morning at 7.  I could not sleep any more - there was too much to do.  So I ate breakfast, showered, and headed over to the house.  My goal was to measure every room in the house, take a picture of every room in the house, and send the package to Katrina so we could start to game plan furniture placement.  I have no desire at all to move in and then move whole rooms from one place to the other.  The movers are supposed to do that, and if we're properly organized, they'll be able to.

We had noticed an unlocked window yesterday, and we had left it that way.  I made a stop at William Tell hardware to pick up a measuring tape and a USB charger for the car.  It was about 8:30 when I got to the house, and no one was home.  The place is vacant, and it was early for a Saturday.  So I let myself in and got to work.  I finished measuring everything, taking pictures and videos, locked the front door, and stepped out the window.  I took pictures of the outside, and as I came back around the front of the house to start the video, I noticed a car in the driveway.  It was a realtor, waiting to show the house.

I finished my video and left, hit the hotel, uploaded the whole set, did the data entry for the rooms in a Google Docs spreasheet.  Complete success.  I made some pasta for lunch (macaroni, broccoli, cheese in a bag with a large portion of added chicken) and hit the 2pm train from Beacon for Grand Central.

I knew it would be a crazy day already, and the platform confirmed it.  It was packed, lots of people in green.  And a beautiful day, too.  Bright, sunny, and nearly 70.  90 minutes later, I walked through a crowded and green Grand Central Terminal and found the 7 train to Queens.  And then I found that it was shut down for construction for the weekend.  So I took the 6 2 stops to the Q train, and headed to Astoria-Ditmars.  I got to my sister's place just after 4.  She and my brother and I hung out for a while there, then walked to Astoria park.  People with kids on bikes, people on picnic blankets, people jogging.  Nice view of the Hellgate and Triboro (RFK) bridges from there.  Pretty place, very much a classic NY-based movie location.

We then went looking for a restaurant.  The best places were packed - no tables open until 10pm at one place, another had a 90-minute wait.  We ended up at the standby - Telly's.  Amazing food, decent prices. Then we got on the train to mid town.  Not downtown, because we weren't headed that far South on Manhattan.  I got a quick geography lesson, and we headed for the West Village.

My weekends in NYC feel like a documentary of Simon and Garfunkel songs.  Today I passed the subway stop for the 59th Street bridge, and our entire evening was spent walking down Bleeker street.  The Irish bars were packed - standing room only, loud, apparently full of drunk people.  We tried a bunch of places, but didn't end up inside one until about 11, when we saw Terra Blues.  They both had been there, had a friend who used to work there, so we went in.  It was my very first time in a bar in the US.

The music was ok - the band was really talented, and I enjoyed it.  It was busy, though - we stood for about 40 minutes.  And then it was time to go.  We almost had to hijack a cab.  In that part of town near midnight, cabs only want to go to busy places.   Luckily, we were headed for Grand Central.  We got in, and 10 minutes later I got out and caught my train.

This was the last train North on the Hudson line for the night.  It was nearly completely full of partygoers in green.  A key difference in mass transit in NYC s Portland: in Portland, it seems that most mass transit riders are poor  - young, disabled, down on their luck.  NYC has no such distinction.  Mass transit is usually the best way to get around, so EVERYONE uses it.  A few minutes after we got moving, a guy across the aisle and one seat back from me threw up.  He was unconscious from binge drinking.  The car mostly emptied in short order.  The conductor got in an argument with a passenger who claimed his ticket had been stolen.  He came by, punched my ticket, and put the "paid" slip of paper on my seat.  A few minutes later, the conductor was on the intercom, telling all passengers to keep their tickets because a young guy was going through the train stealing people's tickets.  He never return to apologize to the guy had had the argument with.

A few minutes after that, some young ladies in front of me were asking questions of the unconscious guy's friend.  He blew up at them, called them fat in a few different ways, and after about 15 minutes of yelling he go up and left the car.  30 minutes of quiet later, the train arrived at Beacon, and I got off.

It was a busy day, lots of good experiences.  Maybe now I can take Katrina to a bar with music for fun sometime.  We've talked about it, but never done it.  Maybe in a couple weeks.

The pic today comes from the Terra Blues bar.

#72 - The day after

Friday, March 16

Today I am thankful that work is in good shape for the weekend, so I'll be able to sleep in.

I did not sleep well last night, and we had to wake up at 4am to get Katrina to the airport so I could be at work on time.  Everything worked out perfectly - we left a few minutes early for the airport, and instead of me missing the first half an hour of work, I got there right on time.  Everything was in good shape, so I was able to spend the day taking care of odd things that needed doing, which was nice.

At the end of the day, I was able to sit down with my boss and talk for over an hour about my team.  And I finally found out the internal process behind my hiring.  It was a good story, one that is not appropriate to share here.  But it is very clear that this move was supposed to happen for us.  3 things happened at the right time, and my first conversation with my boss over the phone happened possibly hours before the job would have gone to someone else.

In the evening, I finalized plans with my bro and sis to head into Manhattan for St Patty's day.  And then, about 9, I fell asleep.

Pics today are from a few weeks ago.  They are relevant because we're going to be in the market for teenager bedroom furniture very soon.  This place is pretty large, and probably has several good bedroom sets all the time that would work for our kids.  Quality on these is good, and though the price is higher than I'd like, isn't that always the case?  The key advantage over Craigslist is selection all in one place.  The clear disadvantage is price.  I also got some pics of miscellaneous furniture we'll probably like to get.

#71 - the house hunters find a target

Thursday, March 15

Today I am thankful for the ability (in so many ways) to buy a house.  The interest rates are great, house prices are low here (and raising significantly in my part of Oregon), there's a lot of inventory to choose from, the banks have started to give loans again.  So many things that pull together to make this work.

Katrina flew in from Oregon last night.  I couldn't post about that until she was home, and she's home now.  We spent the entire day today with our realtor.  We had already narrowed our list to 8 homes.  One home we found out was a short sale yesterday, and we found out another was a short sale with mold problems.  So we were down to 6.  Our last house to see was one of the top 2.  But we decided to go back to the other one in the top 2.  Our realtor went out to get sandwiches, and we stood around the kitchen island eating and deciding what to do.

In the end, we made an offer.  It's a little lower than asking, but reasonable (within 10%).  We're excited to get moving.  I'm a little concerned about it because I want to be done with the whole moving regime.  I want our stuff and us to be in our house and to get my routine back.  I want to help the kids with homework and be dragged to talent shows that end up being pretty cool and watch Libby and Jakers fight with light sabers.

We finished with the offer about 4, and made a couple stops around at recreation centers, and then had dinner. Then we sat in the same room on 2 different laptops and looked up information on the house and schools.  A good evening.

The pic tonight is from Brooklyn.  This is the street my brother lives on.  The trees will be very nice when they green up.

#70 - a day off

Wednesday, March 14

Today I am thankful for reasonable people, and a day off.

I've spent the last 3 days in the factory, hanging out with, talking with, and learning from the guys on my team.  It's been really useful and educational.  Really helpful.  It's been worthwhile as well - this outsider came in and all of the sudden was in charge.  "Who is this guy to tell me what to do?"  There's not such a problem with that any more.  Plus, I'm not much of an autocrat.

And tomorrow I do not have to work, because I'll be out with a realtor looking at homes.  The goal is to be able to put out an offer tomorrow afternoon.

But it's been a long day - I woke up at midnight, worked until 1, had lunch, and then ran errands and just got back from dinner.  Tomorrow I have to offset my schedule by 7 hours to get a full day, then I have to offset back 3 hours again for work on Friday.

Today's pick: Spring!  This is from my walk on Saturday, again.  But the grass is starting to green up, the trees are budding.  It has been near or at 70 for the high the last 3 days, and tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful again.

#69 - Paperwork accompli

Tuesday, March 13

Today I am thankful that this process is nearly done.  I'll keep repeating that for the next month, probably.  Because it'll be almost done for that long.  Hard to believe we started this process just over 2 months ago and we've come this far, both literally and figuratively.

I got to work on paperwork to sell the Beaverton house today.  All done except for the signatures of 2 witnesses.  Plane tickets for the family were purchased early this morning, so all of that is done.  Done done done.

So - one day of work, one day of touring homes and making an offer, and then we're just into negotiations for the new house.  The weather here has turned.  It is a "winter like I can't remember" said the owner of the nursery I stopped by on Saturday.  70 degrees today, tomorrow, and Thursday.  Beautiful all week.  Buds and flowers are starting to pop up.  Early spring.  We had snow 10 days ago.  Craziness.  That's NY.

This view of the Hudson River looking North is taken from the Walkway Over the Hudson State Park.  The state took an old railroad bridge and converted it to a pedestrian walkway that spans the Hudson.  It was part of my 10 miles on foot from Saturday.  The span is 150 ft above the water, which is 50 ft deep at this point.  Anyway, cool thing.  Gotta get to sleep now.

#68 - I Approve

Monday, March 12

Today I am thankful for solid financial background and future.  Which includes great jobs, a wife who pays our bills on time, and a skill and talent set that should keep me employed for the next 30 years.

A bunch o' things came together again today - I have itineraries for Katrina and the kids and her mom to come out to NY on the 29th, and our loan pre-qualification came through as well.  Also, my loan officer forwarded our prequalification letter to our agent in NY.

Let it be noted here that this is the agent that spent 2 hours with us driving around, then learned we were unemployed and interviewing.  Instead of kicking us out of the car, she drove us around for another 2 hours.  She is pretty cool.  I hope I get to recommend her to someone.

Anyway - a great day.  And I must go to sleep (it's early) but I am working a half-night shift.  I wake up at midnight tonight and tomorrow to hit work at 2am.  That way I get to know my night shift crew.  So I'm going to sleep now.  Hasta manyana.

This picture is of the Fishkill police station and city hall.  Population?  Guess first.  The answer is under the picture.

If you guessed 80,000, you were wrong!

If you guessed 50,000, you were wrong!

Population: 23,000.

No wonder taxes are high.

#67 - Is this home?

Sunday, March 11

Today I am thankful for old kids.  Christian turned 10 today, our second kid in 2 years to hit double digits.  And now things start happening on an even cadence.  Every even year will be our year for advancements, ordinations, and milestones.  Every odd year will be a little less odd than an even year.  Our kids were all born on even years, so 12 and 10 and 8 this year.  Then 14, 12, 10, and 8.  You see the pattern.

Today I got up early to check my work email like I need to do when I'm covering the operational stuff for the weekend.  And I found out that the team had fixed the last problem overnight, and I was off the hook except for monitoring.  Church was nice today.  I need to write a completely different post on how the church is different here.

There is a huge social/political component to church membership.  We tend to make moral judgments in line with our religious beliefs,  and like-minded people flock together.  Our feeling in our Oregon ward was that it was not only in poor taste to dissent from the social/political rhetoric, but that it was unhealthy/unholy/sinful.  Here, the discussion is more open.  Sunday School today was a primer on hot social and political issues of the day - racism and the priesthood, voting for Mitt Romney because of his religion, same sex marriage, and polygamy.  Good, meaty topics.  If covered in my old ward, it would be an hour of platitudes and preachiness. I would sit back and grind my teeth and wait for it to be over.

The people saying the platitudes are wonderful people, I do not think ill of them at all.  But I have good reason to doubt that the rest of the room would be as tolerant of me.  In the room today, we had lots of different ways of looking at it.  Even the teacher (who is the stake PR chair) brought up a contradiction in the church's stance on one issue vs another.  I have to sit back a bit more and learn how to couch my opinions in a way that meshes here.  I just don't have any experience being able to speak my political/social mind in an adult church setting without being swatted down and belittled.  I am finally ideologically/politically comfortable in church.  Someone even mentioned maybe not voting for Mitt (gasp!) if she felt he wasn't best able to represent the direction she wanted the country to go.  And nobody said anything to contradict her.

I'm going to like it here.  I also spoke with the clerk today, and our records are going to be transferred.  All of the houses we're interested in are in the Poughkeepsie First ward, so there is no use in waiting any more.

And - today I got to go to an open house for a home we're really interested in.  We're planning on putting in an offer on Thursday afternoon for one of the houses we see Thursday morning.  And this one would be great.  Move in ready, great lot (3 acres of forest!), 20 minutes from work, 13 minutes from the church.  Best school district in the area. And well within our price range.  I spent over 2 hours talking about it with Katrina and Aria.  It could easily work.

When we mention to people that we're moving to New York, the reaction as almost always, "Life in the big city!"  It is a little-known fact, however, that New York is also a state!  You can check it out on Snopes even.  (You can't, actually, but New York is still a state.  But maybe Snopes should check it out.)  So this picture is the New York we're moving to. This is a little town about 30 minutes from where we're likely to live.  Because where we're likely to live is in the middle of a forest.  Looks dangerous, eh?  To the left is Peter Parker's house, and to the right is Bruce Wayne's summer cottage.  So it's actually safe enough, though prone to property damage.  Also bad news if you're a cute young woman, because they tend to get kidnapped if Peter or Bruce are around.

Also - this picture is not a neighborhood street.  It is a highway.  For reals.

#66 - Walking history

Saturday, March 10

Today I am thankful for a random thing that someone did, at some time.

My super tanker arrived last week, and I've been looking for an opportunity to return my rental car this week.  But work was busy, and I wasn't sure how I'd get from the rental car office to my office to reunite with my vehicle.  After an aborted attempt yesterday, I decided that since my Saturday was free that I would return the car and walk the 7.8 miles to my office.  I have not spend much time hoofing it here, and that's always helpful to get a better feel for the area.

So I dropped off the car and started walking.  It wasn't long (okay, it was 3 miles) before I saw this sign along the side of the road.  It is just as random a place as it appears to be.  There is a creek, a freeway entrance (it's at the intersection of I-84 and Rt 52), a strip of grass, and this sign.  And probably the only reason this sign is here is that someone saw that Washington bought a sword (or acquired one) from a certain smithy.  And then someone followed up and found where the smithy was.  And then there was a Great Depression, and the government spent a lot on silly things like historic signs along the side of the road.  Like this one.

These signs are posted everywhere.  As you drive around, you'll see a random blue sign flash by at 50mph, and you'll think, "Huh.  That's where somebody's house used to be, probably."  But it does lend a certain historicity to modernity, and at the same time an immediacy to the historic that I did not expect to encounter on a daily basis.  I captured all the historic signs I noticed today.  Here are the rest of them (isn't that nice of me to put a whole bunch on one day?).  I actually have a bunch more pictures from last weekend that I haven't posted yet, and it appears that I'm going to an open house tomorrow to a place that Katrina really likes.

These signs are all along Rt 52 between I-84 and Rt 31.  The picture at the bottom is of the Dutch Church (not the one in Sleepy Hollow, the one in Fishkill).  Nor is it the Trinity Church in the sign just below.  Trinity Church looks like a new building, actually.

#65 - Finalized

Friday, March 9

Today I am thankful for recklessness.

I have a penchant for half-brained thinking and wholehearted apology.  This week, I think my half-brained thinking became an asset.  I know my job and workplace well enough now that I can start to take risks.  I'll ask people to do things, start to get things rolling.  Often someone will come back to me with something like, "Did you know this person is supposed to be working on that?"  The answer in my head is, "No.  Why aren't they doing it, then?"  I'm more polite of course.  But doing this repeatedly has a significant merit: it makes people think they can speak up, that they will be heard.  That action will be taken.  So I think I'm that guy here.  I just have to be methodical and solid in follow up and setting expectations.  I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

I put in a long day at work today - 7 hours first, then took 4 hrs to finish off the preliminary house hunt, then back to the office for 3 hours.  Needed to be done, and I'm glad I did.

So today I swung by the last 5 houses on our list of possibilities.  One of them is still good enough to see, I think.  Another would be interesting, but it would have to be very surprising on the inside to overcome the negatives on the exterior.  So the house list is finalized.  Yay.

I also tried to to return my rental car.  But the guy at the agency today when I got there told me something different than the woman I spoke to yesterday. So I could not return it there, I have to use a different location.  I may return the car in the morning and do a walk/run to Gortja as exercise.  It would be good for me, I think.

Today's pic: liberal NY subway graffiti.  Don't recall which station this was at.

#64 - Making plans

Thursday, March 8

Today I am thankful that Katrina has everything under control.

Over the past week or so, a lot of little things have come up - when do we list?  How do we schedule the inspectors?  When do we get the Pod delivered?  How do we get these disclosures complete?  And a million other things.  Half the time when I ask about that, they're done already.  I've really been able to concentrate on my work here, and searching for homes.  It's been really excellent.

The fact that she has succeeded at all this as the project manager is pretty cool to me.  It was a huge undertaking, requiring constant attention, with huge consequences.  In what looks like the end (you can never be sure until the papers are signed), she has done it on our schedule (which was admittedly aggressive), in our way, and has the thing mighty close to closed out.  From marketing the house (who knew that networking would work to sell a house?????) to prioritizing projects, to figuring out the right person to do the task, to arranging for the task to be done (by herself or others), to following up when it wasn't done right, and everything else.

She has done a really excellent job.  I talked with Christian for about 10 minutes today, and he doesn't sound stressed.  He sounds happy.  He's ready to move, proud that he and Libby cleaned the kitchen last night.  Things are really under control there in the best possible way.

Soon we'll all be in NY, in our new home, making a go of it together again.  That will be nice.  And hectic.  But nice.

I took a seat on the Southbound train on Sunday on the river side.  I was intrigued by this castle across the river.  I did not need to ask anyone what it was.  I knew.  Okay, I knew after I looked at the map on my iPhone.  It's West Point.  A place I had never put on my list of things to see, but important nonetheless, and glad I did see it.

#63 - Sea change

Wednesday, March 7

Today I am thankful for time.

Everything has come together in a rush today.  We saw a copy of the offer for our house, which we kindof accepted.  The relocation company is buying the house from us and selling to the buyer.  So we told them to accept it.  It met our needs.  After some phone calls, our realtor got us the docs, because it's not real unless it's in writing.

So we saw the offer.  We got an expected closing date of April 4 for the Oregon house.  We talked about and decided on a trip for Katrina to come to NY, and the date that the kids and Katrina would come to NY for good.  We worked out some things with our NY realtor as far as houses we wanted to see and when we would see them.  She went through our list, told us which had offers, or were short sales, etc.  And we amended our list accordingly.  So it's down to 18 houses from over a hundred.  It will get smaller as I go see the remaining 12.  We're getting better at saying "no", or "we have 5 other houses I like better".  So the process  continues.

Also today I finally took charge in some escalation meetings at work, and started to drive issues to resolution.  My boss is interesting - she has very high expectations, but she won't tell you straight up what they are.  She demonstrates what she wants to see, expects you to learn and emulate.  The next time, she'll give you the chance to show you learned.  And she'll sit back and watch.  And that's about how it goes.  It's an interesting way to learn my job.  It requires constant vigilance, and there are always 3 times too many balls in the air.  You never know when the next thing is going to come.  I know she's watching, she's noticing what I'm naturally good at, what I'm naturally lacking in, what my skills are, and where they're a little insufficient.  And none of it is hovery, looking-over-my-shoulder.  It's all very professional, very trusting.  It's a lot of fun, and not too stressful.

Today's pic is from Sunday, walking through Brooklyn with my brother.  This shot was taken from the Brooklyn Promenade, a raised sidewalk over a highway next to the East River.  As you look West, there's Manhattan.  The Statue of Liberty is just off to the left, the Empire State and Chrysler buildings are just off to the right.  The low-lying land at the left tip of Manhattan is the Staten Island Ferry terminal.  Made famous, of course, by Staten Island, "Oh, but between you and me and the Staten Island ferry, so do I..." by Billy Joel, and by The Joker blowing them up in The Dark Knight.  The piers in the foreground are being renovated into parks, including grass, soccer fields, and the like.

#62 - What are the odds?

Tuesday, March 6

Today I am thankful for the interwebs.  Without the net, our move would be much more fraught with uncertainty and angst.  It's mostly to do with real estate.  Being able to do the research on our house in Beaverton and then to research the Hudson Valley makes our lives much easier.  We know what's available.  We knew before we came to interview that we could buy a house here.  Things were possible.  Without that source of information, I don't think we would be here.  We would have dismissed the opportunity out of hand.

My brother mentioned how strange it was to be sitting across from me on a normal day in a restaurant in Brooklyn.  Of all the places we both could be, we are both 3000 miles from where we grew up, but 80 miles from each other. We have both lived abroad for years at a time, both have careers that could take us anywhere in the world, but there we were.  Having a relaxing lunch at a little restaurant.  And my veggie kebab with hummus was nice, thank you.

Really, everyone's path through life is a study in impossible odds.  If my brother had not introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons, I never would have bought the oriental expansion pack.  And I would not have taken Japanese at the community college as a high schooler.  Then I would be much less likely to have served a mission in Japan.  Which means no high tech translation, no career at Nikon, and no career where I am now.

What are the odds?  Impossibly high.  High enough that despite the fact that I live here, I find it hard to believe.

The picture today was taken at about 9am from the Beacon station on the Hudson river railway line.  The Hudson is a big river.  But I learned that it is salt water as far North as Newburgh, since the retreating glaciers left the river bottom below sea level.  So it could actually be called Hudson Bay.  Except for that little place in Canada.

#61 - Cooking for 1

Monday, March 5

Today I am thankful for food.  Lots of it, prepared how I like it.

I made a big grocery run on Saturday, but had to skip the perishables because I was headed to dinner afterward.  Today I had Friday leftovers for lunch, and made a grocery stop on the way home.  On the list: butter, sandwich meat, frozen chicken, sandwich cheese.  In the cart: butter, frozen chicken, sandwich cheese, italian sausage.  Pretty good grocery discipline for me.

I had cubed and frozen some ham last week, and knew I had a bunch of eggs to eat and swiss cheese.  But I did not have any chipotle sauce, which would inhibit the awesomeness of my omelet.  So I cooked up the hot italian sausage, sliced it in rounds to go in my spaghetti sauce later in the week, and put it in sandwich bags in the freezer.  The hot oil I left in the pan, and cooked my omelet.  When I went in the fridge to get the eggs, I saw a bowl I had brought up a few days ago from the breakfast bar: craisins and almond slivers.

Now, a ham-swiss-almond-craisin-cooked-in-hot-oil omelet sounded like uninhibited awesomeness.  Add a cup of OJ and some grapes.  Excellent and awesome.  This is the kind of food I can think of, cook, and enjoy by myself.  And I can't do that with the rest of the family around.  It's not that they're selfish or demanding, it's just that they need to eat, too.

In other news, I picked up my dry cleaning today.  This is a big deal because it took me 2 weeks to remember to take it to the cleaners, and only 5 days for them to clean it.  Which means I need about 3 weeks worth of shirts to not have to resort to the bottom of the barrel.

I think I have also chosen my keeper house.  Of all the homes I have seen (and I've been to 30 or so), the one I like the best is the one Katrina likes the best as well.  It also is very close to the top of the list in our weighted average criteria, scoring close to a 7 on a 1-to-10 scale.  House size and condition, lot size and type, price, neighborhood, and commute all weigh in.  It's not the greatest neighborhood, in the sense that it's  not really in a neighborhood.  The kids won't have friends' houses they can walk to.  On the other hand, the area is not very kid-dense.  So I don't know if they'd have friends' houses they could walk to in any case.  Everything else about the place is perfect.

I'm just really hoping that the Beaverton sale completes soon so we can move toward purchasing one of these places.  I have about 5 houses that I would be happy with.  Very excited to move in, get settled, and live our lives again.

#60 - In the studio with my brother

Sunday, March 4

Today I am thankful for my relationship with my brother.

The team at work last night (the factory works 24/7, and so does my team) cleaned up all the outstanding problems, and this morning was free from escalation meetings.  I had a nice breakfast of muffins, OJ, hot chocolate, home fries and sausage, and scooted out the door to the train.  It's an easy 10-minute drive from the hotel to the Beacon train station, and parking is free on the weekend.  I waited 10 minutes for the train, and got a seat on the Hudson River side.

I did not know until last night that the Hudson up as far as I am is an estuary.  The river bed is below sea level, so it's salt water from the mouth all the way up to Newburgh, and changes with tides.  On the way down, I saw the broken castle, the Citadel, and what I think is a prison.  I think the phrase "sent up the river" refers to prisons on the Hudson.

The day was nice - I wandered Grand Central a bit, chuckling to myself in disbelief that I live here now.  I caught a train out to Brooklyn, found my brother's brownstone, and we hung out there for a couple hours, chatting and running through some songs.  Lunch was at a Mediterranean place close to his house, and then we went back and recorded a couple songs.  It's fun to record with him - we're both at the semi-pro ability stage, but both very relaxed about it.  Usually we can lay down a track in a couple takes.  It's not perfect (that always takes mixing anyway), but it's good enough to enjoy.  Today we did some Springsteen and Johnny Cash.

When the tracks were done, we went for a walk down to the Brooklyn Promenade.  Great view of Manhattan over the East River - Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, Chrysler Building, Statue of Liberty, and the ferry boats that The Joker blew up on The Dark Knight.  Then we got a hot chocolate at Starbucks and talked for another hour or so.

A 10 minute walk to the subway, transfer at Grand Central, and I was home at 8:30.  An absolutely perfect day.  My brother is a good guy.  I understand that and him more each time we spend time together.  I can't be happier that we're close enough to see each other for the first time in our adult lives.

There were a ton of great pictures today.  The one I'll pick is just a silly one.  We were on our walkabout, looking for a place to get some hot chocolate.  I saw a Haagen Dazs shop that had a sign in front, next to a tarot reader.  The very first Haagen Dazs store in the world?  Right across the street?  They have to have coffee and hot chocolate, right?  "I got anything you need," says the proprietor.  "You don't have anything I need," says my bro.  "Do you have hot chocolate?" I ask.  The proprietor roots around the cupboards and comes up with a couple packets of Swiss Miss hot chocolate.  "No, thanks," we say, and leave the store.

I'm sure the ice cream would have been great, but we didn't sample.  We found a Starbucks close by and got our hot chocolate there.  The perfect day for me ends with a few good oranges and Boar's Head brie.  That's my dinner.  Awesome.

#59 - The simpler life

Saturday, March 3

Today I am thankful that everything is starting to feel normal again.

For my first few weeks here, things were frantic.  Work, switching hotels, all the house stuff in Beaverton going on, trying to get in a rhythm blogging, starting to learn a new set of roads and landmarks - a huge change overall.  This weekend, it has finally all come together.

As I was driving around looking at houses today, I started to recognize places and roads and not need the map so much.  Half a dozen times I thought, "I know EXACTLY where I am!"  Exclamation points included.  I was surprised at how un-disoriented I felt.  I got a hair cut, went to the cheap-o grocery store for supplies, stopped at the Walkway Over The Hudson state park, and finally sat down to a dinner at the Wappinger Buffet.  I had a plan, accomplished it as expected, and ended up at home around 8pm.  I sit down now knowing that I have cupboards stocked to get me through breakfast for 3 weeks, dinner for nearly 3 weeks, plus some snacks and things.  So my life is simpler - a little less hectic, maybe with a little more time for reflection.  It certainly will have less uncertainty.

A few necessary words about the Wappinger Buffet.  It is unassuming.  And, like Superman, it defies all expectations.  Christopher Reeve would be proud.  The buffet is a few miles North of the Rt 9/I-84 interchange on Rt 9.  It's in a strip mall, next to a GoodWill and some other smaller shops.  The restaurant advertises as Chinese and American cuisine + sushi.  It is false in every way.  They serve only Heaven in that restaurant.

Let me 'splain.  I have come to expect a certain set of conditions at buffets - not much in the way of good fruit, not much in the way of differing tastes (nothing very spicy, nothing very different or interesting), and hit-and-miss performance on most dishes.  The WB exhibits none of these negatives.  I'm sure there's lot of stuff that comes out of a package.  But they had fresh sliced strawberries, quartered kiwi, and pineapple on the buffet.  I ate jumbo shrimp in the cold w/cocktail sauce style and the cooked-with-lime style.  A salmon steak done almost perfectly.  A hot and crunchy/soft miniature cherry strudel, and most of a plate full of fresh-never-frozen non-melon fruit.  At a buffet!  Who knew??

As an extra bonus, they have french fries, pigs in a blanket, and other picky-kid-friendly things as well.  Drinks and dessert are included in the price.

There is just one catch - the price for kids is high.  I get my money's worth for sure, but taking our whole family there would be 50% more than Pizza Caboose.  And they don't have pizza.  But it's going to make a great date night.  I can't wait!

In other notes that I did not get a picture of: the GoodWill Super Store here has a lot of clothes and not much else.  Large selection, good quality.  Prices are higher than I expected for the few furniture pieces they have.  CDs are only $2 - Boyz II Men, Cranberries, and John Rutter's Requiem are mine today, as well as Mirror Mirror (Maguire) for $2.  Also - there is a Kebab place that has lunch buffets for $8 and a mexican place that has a 3 course meal for $12.50 Sun-Thu.  Also, Asian here refers to Indian and SE Asian.  Not Chinese or Japanese like it does on the West Coast.  I visited an Asian grocery today - lots of coconut and mango.  They don't carry any short-grain rice at all, and I saw no products from Japan at all.  They do have halal meat, though.

#58 - The reality of selling #2

Friday, March 2

Today I am thankful that we could do all the work to the house that we did.

We've spend a lot of money, and an inordinate amount of time preparing the house for sale.  Along the way, Katrina has been networking to potential buyers.  One in particular has been insistent.  Today, she saw the house.  And she drafted a full price offer for the house.  It is not on the market yet, actually.  Her own house is waiting for closing, so we may have to wait a few weeks for things to go through - the inspection, mostly.  Once the offer is finalized, and the inspection is done, she should be pre-qualified and we should be able to get the movers out there.  She wants to move in ASAP.  We want to move out ASAP.  I think we both win.

When I left Oregon, it was not ready to go.  Katrina has done an excellent job of project management on it. My dad has done a massive amount of work, but it was too much for 2 people to do.  So Katrina found painters and carpet people and packed and cleaned and wrangled the kids to keep the house in good shape.  It has been nice to watch her do it - a person doesn't know it can be done until she does it, and then it feels good.  It makes a person feel strong, and that's a good thing.

So the house is really sold yet.  But it does appear that the eventual buyer has found us.

It's been a busy, rough week at work.  I have more to do this weekend, but I'm getting a handle on this.  It doesn't feel like I'm going to drown quite any more.  Just swimming in rough seas.  But I love it.

I was going to take the weekend off from house hunting, but this new development kinda makes that more important now instead of less.  So Katrina is going to make a list for me, and I'll do that.  And I will likely catch a movie and take a walk over the Hudson.

Last week, Christian asked what my hotel room looks like.  This is a suite at the Hyatt House in Fishkill.  I have no complaints.

#57 - My love has arrived!

Thursday, March 1

Today I am thankful for a few restful nights.  I needed them.  Now I feel pretty much human again.

I forgot to mention something in yesterday's post: I met the other LDS guy at work.  He doesn't know me yet.  Which I think is funny.

Today was a slushy snow day.  The roads are plowed regularly here, so the snow that fell yesterday is off the roads, which are wet but not icy or snowy.  Not a big deal.  I was able to clear out a lot of things at the office today, and that was nice.

Today's pic is of this latest snowfall.  You can see the gorgeous natural view out my window - pristine concrete and Wal-Mart grow in the forest like pimples on Gaia's face.  But there was some snow, and it was outside my room.

Also, today a big step occurred: Gortja arrived.  Yes, my lovely lady is here!  Katrina is still in OR with the kids, but my car is now parked at the office.  It was a little odd to drive her - she sits so much higher than the rental cars I've been driving.  But she made the trip fine - a little dirty, but none the worse for wear.  I shall have to wash her soon.

Katrina is ready to list the house.  We have a price, and an agent.  It should be officially listed tonight or tomorrow.  One step closer.  This is about as early as we thought it could possibly be ready.  But things have happened on time, the agents are impressed by how much work we've put into the house, and things are moving forward.  Our list price is quite a bit higher than we had thought it would be.  So we're just hoping that it sells quickly for this higher price.  It would mean we may have a cash down payment on a house here, instead of needing to withdraw from retirement.  Or we could buy a house at the top of our payment price range and only withdraw a little from retirement.  Or we could get the cheaper fixer and put some cash toward fixing it, and have what we want from the start.

Lots of options.  Thanks to my previous employer for saving for my retirement when I was not responsible enough to do so!

#56 - Impact statement

Wednesday, February 29

Today I am thankful for a pool.  And a hotel that does not cater to tourists.  And the fact that it's February and there are no tourists in upstate NY in February.

Tuesday night was super busy - I walked in from work, made dinner while doing laundry, and when those 2 things were done, I slept.  Today I got up at 4 and hit the fab at 6:30 like always.   It was a very very busy day in the fab.  A very very busy day out of the fab, and I had 5 hours of meetings on the calendar that I couldn't skip.  It was a day, like many, that was destined from the start to end with more things to do than it started with.

Today was the first day that I had a tough customer meeting where I was the face of my company.  It snowed today, starting about 10am, and several people (including my boss) had to head home because schools and daycare were closing early.  So at this meeting from 1-3, I was the main guy from my company.  It was not easy, because we had some bad news for the customer.  And we had made some mistakes that we had to talk about.  But it worked out.

After the meeting, I called my boss to debrief.  We talked for an hour.  About a lot of things.  At the end of it, she asked me to take on a new responsibility.  Which I was okay with, as long as it meant that other things could drop.  I don't know which ones yet, but there would be things that I could not do if I had to own that project.

What felt the best was that she referred to my work so far as "instant impact".  I hope to be able to gather the forces around and start to coalesce some improvements.  It's not a matter of making a plan and forcing it on people - it's a matter of pulling things together, because many of our problems have to do with people being separate.  So we have to come together into one team.  We are already there as far as desire goes, and actions are starting to follow.

The pic today is again from my commute to the airport on Friday morning.  I always wondered where those beautifully snowed-on houses next to a frozen lake were in movies.  They are here, about an hour's drive from NYC.

The pic is blurry because it was barely dawn and I was driving (slowly and cautiously).  The scene was just too pretty.

Alas, with that snowfall (I don't think I can call it a snow storm here) and the snow that fell today, snow is simply another weather pattern.  Common, to be dealt with.  I hope I always enjoy the beauty of it, but it certainly is not a special treat any more.  This is my 4th snowfall in NY in a total of 31 days.  And this has been a warm, dry winter.  Winter 12-13 should be fun.

#55 - Back to Work

Tuesday, February 28

Today I am thankful for football.  And the PS2.  I have trouble exercising when it is snowing and raining, and trouble when other people are around.  And trouble in my hotel room with no equipment.  I know there are workarounds for all these things except the social anxiety, but they don't work for me.

So my active mind has had to be content with a turn-based strategy game, reading books, and the occasional TV show.  Watched the end of the first Ghostrider.  What a waste of everything.  Yuck.  Glad I spent no money and only 10 minutes on it.  No desire to see #2.

But I brought my PS2 and games back to NY on this trip, so I was able to fire it up and play some NFL 2K1. I know it's old, people.  I still like it.  I have 2K2 as well, but don't like it as much.  So my active mind could pretend I was outside, running in the sun.  That was important.

My comanager had to leave NY suddenly, and so I find myself responsible for running the site.  There are many MANY things to be done just to run the basics.  And there are projects my boss wants me to start on, and projects I want to start on.  And they don't always coincide, and there are certainly too many things for all of them to be addressed right now.  So I'm learning a lot every day.  Not having a lot to contribute yet - I'm just barely holding it together, and that only because I have some great guys on my team to fix my mistakes.

Carpet was laid at the Beaverton house on Tuesday.  No more major work left except some painting.  And then there are odds and ends.  I have stopped looking at houses for the moment.  I think that will be a large part of my life very soon, but the Beaverton house is not on the market, and I know that it only takes 3 days to get prequalified for a loan.  So I feel a little less time-crunched than I did before.

Pic of the day is from my departure from NY on Friday.  I finally downloaded the pics from the iPhone.  Mind you, I had taken pains to find out the forecast.  3 inches of snow was NOT in the forecast.  Left is my car with empty luggage.  Right is the hotel parking lot and Wal-Mart in the background.  5am.