Both of Us .org

Upon arriving in Minneapolis, we set about finding a home to buy. JSP had been in contact with a realtor named Carl Spande, and we met with him and began going out to look at homes in NE Minneapolis that met our criteria of being built before 1950 and that fell within our price range. In our first three days of looking we physically walked through 16 homes: four the first day, eight the second day and another four on the third day. Of these we found it easy to cross half of these home off our list either because they required too much maintenance, were too expensive for the quality of the home, were too noisy from busy nearby roads or they lacked a kitchen of the quality that we require, being the pseudo-gourmets we are. We were left with eight homes and we decided to look at each of these a second time before looking at a new bunch of homes, as the details of each home were difficult to keep straight in our heads. Which home had the sunken bathtub? Did the home with the bamboo floor have a second bathroom? Was it the house on Taylor or the house on 18th that was so loud? Our realtor Carl was really helpful with these details.

We went back to look at four of our "A" list homes with my sister Lynda and our friends Andrew and Emma who are also in the market for finding a new home. I was amazed at the things that I saw the second time looking at a home that I had not seen on our first visit to each house. Details that were obscured in my mind by the sheer number of homes began to stick in my mind when I would see a home the second time. Certain questions became very important. First among these questions was: does this house have a second bathroom? Of the four houses we visited for a second time that day, one stood out as the front runner. We liked it best so far and our family and friends liked it best too.

The following day we decided to remove one house from our "A" list that we had not seen a second day, and to go on a second visit to the three remaining homes. In addition we would see one home for the first time. After seeing the new home we visited each of the remaining three for our second visit. It became apparent that our front runner from the day before was still at the top of our list with one other home as a close second.

We went back to the realtors office and decided to make an offer. We went through the contract with our realtor and about 45 minutes later we had a signed contract to give to the present owners of the home that we wanted to buy. We got a copy and the contract was faxed off to the listing agent of the home.

We grabbed lunch at La Cucaracha in St. Paul and then drove back to Apple Valley. Later that evening we watched my niece's soccer game and began to think of all the World Cup Football we will be watching this summer.

Today we waited, aware that the owners of the house could respond quickly or they could sit on this offer for a while.

Our realtor spoke with JSP this morning and then we called him again this afternoon. He told us that we should expect a counter-offer tomorrow.

So again, we wait.

Greetings from the Upper Midwest. We are in Apple Valley, Minnesota to be precise. Surprisingly our adventure so far has been very smooth. Our cross country move is almost complete. Last week Thursday we rented a moving truck and began the process of loading up all of our belongings. By Friday at midday we had filled our truck, and our apartment of 19 months was clean. At 2:00 PM we were on the road and fighting traffic on the Schuykill Expressway (Interstate Hwy 76). The traffic subsided as we entered the Appalachian foothills of Pennsylvania and we had the opportunity to admire the gorgeous green scenery. Nightfall arrived as we were nearing Pittsburgh and it began to rain. I remembered the rainy trip on our move to Philadelphia and contemplated the completion of this cycle. Our journey continued until approximately 11:00 PM when we both agreed to stop for the night at a hotel just outside of Cleveland.

The rest re-energized us both, and after a filling breakfast we returned to the road at 9:00 AM. Ohio, Indiana and Illinois passed by without remark or splendor. I was the driver for the day and decided to drive through Chicago at 5:00 PM, which can be a treacherous path. I know traffic can be trying and alternative routes exist, but I cherish the scenery of downtown Chicago. Little resistance was met on the road as we crossed over the Chicago Skyway, however heavy road construction on Interstate 90 slowed the Saturday afternoon traffic. It was not a standstill traffic jam, the traffic added 30 minutes or more to our journey as a result of my decision to pass though the middle of the city. We encountered more traffic on the way out of the city towards O'Hare and Rockford, IL. I dislike the stretch of road from Chicago to the Wisconsin boarder. It is a boring, flat and seemingly endless horizon of office buildings, business parks and uninspired exurb neighborhoods.

I was very glad when we passed into Wisconsin at about 6 PM that Saturday evening. The landscape mellowed into rolling farm land, pastures and groves of trees. Madison, Tomah and Eau Claire were friendly faces on the right and left of the road. Nightfall arrived on our second day on the road and we could almost smell the St. Croix river and our Minnesota destination. JB made assuring phone calls to his parents and then to his sister Linda. Several weeks ago she had graciously invited us to reside with her until we find our new home. Our big yellow moving truck pulled into her driveway in Apple Valley at 10:00 PM and we were greeted with open arms.

Sunday we unloaded our moving truck with Lynda's help and put our possessions into temporary storage. We visited with Lynda and Patty (another of JB's seven sisters). Again the move continued to be without major distress. Monday morning a call was made to a Realtor and that afternoon we were already looking at four houses in Northeast Minneapolis. Tuesday we saw eight more houses and today we plan on seeing four more this afternoon. JB and I are pleasantly pleased at the selection and now find ourselves concerned we will have too many amazing homes to chose from.

I begin my new job in less than two weeks and in the remaining free time I have it is likely I will join JB in visits to his family and friends, and also visits with my old friends here in the Twin Cities. We have to consider finding a car for our transportation needs and work on the minor details of moving such as changes of address, switching phone service, wrapping up bills from back in Philly etc. We are both exuberant and thrilled to be back in the Twin Cities and look forward to what we hope is an 'endless' Summer.

JSP has been boxing up many of his possessions in preparation for our upcoming move, and I have been building a website for friends of ours that live in Wisconsin. If you want to see the drafts of the websites I am working on at the moment you can check them out here and here.

We missed the Presidential Address tonight, but something tells me that was for the best. I am sure the "Resident in Thief" would have sounded hollow and lame to us anyway. Strangely, I do look forward to reading the commentary and opinions about his speech. I understand that he talked about immigration policy.

Months ago, I wrote here and here about the Diebold machines, and the damning research from blackboxvoting.org that proved the machines were easily hacked to create widespread voting fraud. Finally several months later, the major news outlets are on the story. It makes you wonder about the media... I mean, this has been out for a long time why cover it now? I suppose I should be happy that it is being reported by the corporate media at all. Below are some links to the story in major news outlets today, but you can also search for Diebold at Google news.

New Fears of Security Risks in Electronic Voting Systems - New York Times


Counties warned of security glitch in machines


Scientists call Diebold security flaw 'worst ever'

The Bush administration has created yet another obstacle to stop congressional investigation into the NSA's illegal domestic spy program. It is simple, just deny the Justice Department security clearance. CNN has a short piece on this.


Domestic spying inquiry killed


We are becoming a police state aren't we...

I was browsing the Internet this morning and I came across a really beautiful four-minute flash animation. It is a relatively big file so it is really only appropriate for people with broadband. Click the image above to see the animation and if you are as impressed as I am you can check out more of the author's work at www.zumbakamera.com