Yeah, We Got It

Tags

Las Cruces, moving, New Mexico

Much has happened in the last 24 hours. We were notified to go ahead and get the inspection on the new house, and by begging Pedro, we got him over at 10 in the morning for that. It went well, with no major issues at all, and just a bit of caulking to do around the windows to prevent water problems. All the big stuff is just fine.

The phone rang at near 5 pm and it was our realtor, and it was announced that the closing would be today at 10 am. That was unexpected. So we went into panic mode, writing down lists of to do’s that would outdo any 7-year-old and his list to Santa. We hit the phones at 8 am, calling the utilities, and hit the bank at 9, and were at the title company at 10. The seller authorized his sister, who lives in Michigan to act for him, so she signed and had the warranty deed notorized and faxed late yesterday. The original has not yet arrived through Fed Ex so we don’t have the keys yet, but we have a copy of the deed and the closing papers.

We have all our utilities scheduled to start tomorrow, our Pod is being delivered in the 5th, the bed any day we would like, the DirectTV hookups are set for the 8th. I still have more furniture shopping to do and do the change of address tomorrow, which I can do online. Hopefully we will get the keys tomorrow to, and then I can schedule the furniture delivery to get us started. This means we should probably be able to get out of the motel sometime next week and at least get by until we get unpacked etc.

It’s been a busy day, and the ensuing days are going to be so as well, so I am not sure when I will get to blog or be peppy enough to consider it. Anyway, we are happy. We just would love to get ahold of the keys and then we can really feel secure. We have already measured a lot of stuff when the inspection was being done, so we have a pretty good idea what will fit where. It’s way bigger than we thought, 1729 square feet and so that eases my mind about the dining room set that I am interested in.

So ta-ta for now, and will keep ya posted as things move along. We are no longer homeless!

I Got Mine–You Got Yours?

Tags

Humor, life in New Mexico

Marbles?

You got any?

I used to have a pretty good collection. Yeah, girls played marbles along side boys in my day. Nobody thought much of it. There was no, “ahh dude, you lost your Aggie to a GIRL?” Thumbs were thumbs.

I like marbles. Ascetically if you know what I mean. They are pretty, or purdy if you so desire.

I wish I had some now. Or some jacks. I miss those games. Boys didn’t play jacks as I recall. Though I have no idea why marbles were not sexually charged, but jacks was.  Metal and rubber versus glass, the answer must lie deep inside the atom.

We have a sidewalk outside our front door, and an overhanging roof, so we drag our chairs out in the morning and sit in the sun until it’s too hot, which is about 7:30 in the morning, give or take an atomic tick of the clock. The sidewalk is cement, ready-made for both jacks or marbles.

The parking lot of the motel is separated from the Savers store by a high cement and rock wall. Along it, there are cinder block  openings set periodically in groups of eight. Is it for water flow? Or a matter of ascetics? I’m figuring it has little to do with presenting a pretty geometric picture to transient travelers.

These are issues that the brain naturally turns to when you are 62 and living in one room with another human beings. I dream of coming upon African animals on sidewalks a lot lately. Wonder what that means?

We eat mostly crap. I mean at the motel. It’s ready made for Twinkies and chocolate covered peanuts. I actually weighed the idea of bringing home a can of Dinty Moore stew yesterday. Yes, it’s come to that.

I’ve been enjoying high-speed internet. Mostly it lets me play games faster. I only went to YouTube once. I found it slightly boring.

What is going on in the John Edwards trial? Those idiots can’t be discussing the facts. I figure they are deeply involved in a high-stakes game of Monopoly and are using “deliberations” as a ruse. John Edwards is the most awful cad I’ve ever seen. So I don’t begrudge them letting him squirm.

I’m at level three of the Mysteries of the Sea (match three) game. I feel rather superior about that. I suppose you think that’s a bit thin, but here at the Motel it places me in a pretty high status.

While I’m at it. I bet John Glenn never thought he would get the Metal of Longevity along side of Bob Dylan. I mean I can’t imagine a conversation between those two. “Know anywhere I can score some weed? Did you see any on the moon?” I know, Bob Dylan knowing who in the hell John Glenn is was shock enough.

Our microwave is bolted to our refrigerator. You don’t find many fine establishments that care enough to make sure you can’t pull it down on yourself. I like that in a motel.

Oh, by the by, I brought a pot of chives from Iowa. I pour out the melted ice water on it each day. It seems happy enough. I wonder if it talks to the marigolds planted next to it. “hey dude, tell me about Iowa–what’s pork like?”

I’m being hogtied into watching some crap called the “Hatfields and McCoys” with awful actor, Kevin Costner of Waterworld unfame. They kill each other a lot. And if you add up both families, the IQ would not be yet on the charts let alone off.

Why do people when they are shot, look up and ask, “am I gonna die?” Unless the guy next to you is a doctor, I’m guessing, you are not going to get a professional opinion.

Speaking of which. There is something very wrong in Amerika. In the last two days, I have read of two naked guys fighting and one guy eating the face off the other. He was killed for that, because he wouldn’t stop. Today another guy stood in front of cops and stabbed himself repeatedly and then through his intestines at the police. I mean really, it’s not even Halloween yet.

Speaking of which, (used that again if you noticed), graveyards in Las Cruces, (or the one I saw) are all dirt. That is sooooo weird.

I am not much to speak ill of people (you mock me?), but I shall not speak poorly of the US Postal Office. I mean, we are what is called General Delivery, which is akin to being a man/woman without a country, but we are getting mail from that two-bit backwater local post office in Walker, Iowa. They must be doing something right.  Talk to me later, I might change my mind. I feel uncomfortable praising people.

Sea food is pretty cheap here. I guess it must be our proximity to the Gulf, which is not all that proximate, but big old fat Texas is large, you have to admit, and minus it, well, we could probably smell the ocean. We don’t eat it of course. I figured shrimp and such doesn’t microwave all that well. And of course we get pecans and pistachios very cheap here. Why? Cuz we raise them. Yes we do. We Las Cruceans are very resourceful.

Oh, dear, it’s time to play solitaire. Such a busy schedule I have. And then a nap, and then read for half an hour, and then get some ice, and then a shower, and then the Hatfields crap and then…why soon I’ll have enough to right a novel. Death of a Salesman Writer on the Orient Sante Fe Express.  Catchy?

What I Know and What I Want to Know about New Mexico

Tags

Las Cruces, life in New Mexico

Having now lived in our new state for a bit more than three weeks I can report that we are in love.

We are in a word, enchanted.

We are bowled over with joy at the food, the landscapes, and the gracious people of so many ethnic backgrounds.

We have become Las Cruceans!

We traverse the roadways like veterans, now picking our routes to avoid the heavy traffic areas and learning the local secret hole-in-the-wall eateries that have the best food.

So, here is a list of what I have learned, and then a list of things that I don’t yet get, and want to know. That’s where you come in. If you know the answer, then do tell.

I KNOW:

• The state motto is “land of enchantment” and nothing could be truer. From barely ten miles inside the border, the landscape delights with variety and vision. I have visited in Sante Fe which is awe-inspiring from its adobe and old-world churches, to Gallup and its native jewelry sellers at your restaurant table. I have witnessed the continental divide, and traversed the mountains. I have seen the mounds of gypsum at White Sands, and the Rio Grande, the mesas at El Morro and the foot hills of the Doña Anas. I have so much more to see, the balloon races at Albuquerque, the Las Cruces Big Enchilada Festival, the work of the artists at Taos. It is a land of enchantment.
• There are few bugs in the state as far as I can see. If you have ever sat outside and looked down,  in most any place, you see a world of its own going on at your feet. Not here. I have seen a couple of flies and a couple of moths, and one minute creature the size of a flea skipping along the sidewalk. Why this is so I have no clue, since bugs are undoubtedly the hardiest of creatures.
• Most Hispanics are bilingual and most Anglos are not. This is a fault of the Anglos. I hope to improve my Spanish skills in the coming weeks and months, and while I’ll never speak as a native, I hope to at least give honor to the folks who make up nearly half of the population here and have had such an important part in the history of this state and region.
• It is incomprehensible given the vast array of eating establishments in this state devoted to Mexican/New Mexican cuisine, but Taco Bell actually has the cahones to have stores here. Why is impossible to know. There are far, far fewer McDonald’s, Burger Kings and no Wendy’s that I’ve seen. They know they can’t compete against the great burger joints that pepper Las Cruces at least. Kudos to Lotaburger and Whataburger for keeping us sated in our motel odyssey.
• Nothing says New Mexico like chiles. We are the capital of hot! Everything tastes better with chiles in it, and every burger joint in town offers sliced jalapeños or green chile sauce as a burger topping. Even egg rolls comes in the “green chile” variety. And the state phrase as I said, is “green or red?” Both are amazing, and one slips back and forth from one to the other. Salsas come in myriad forms, and I can’t wait to get back to the kitchen to duplicate a few new one’s I’ve discovered.
• Nothing is better on Saturday than the Farmer’s Market in old downtown Las  Cruces. Filled with fresh veggies from the local farmers to vendors of every artistic bent, you get two long blocks of exciting sights, smells, and conversation. There is everything from farm fresh eggs, to Mesquite honey, to jewelry, to hand-made walking sticks. You can even get a psychic massage whatever that might be.

WHAT I DON’T KNOW

• Why there are no bugs?
• Why almost every neighborhood has houses separated by walls, stone or cement in the more working-class areas. Is this just the ancient way of separation given the lack of wood and before the advent of wire fencing?
• Given that the state is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, why are all the Catholic churches in Las Cruces newer constructions that are mostly dull and uninspiring? I expected to locate beautiful old churches with loads of tradition, and I find almost nothing like that. The diocese of Las Cruces has a “cathedral” that is anything but. Not a vaulted ceiling to be found. No ancient alters, no beloved icons of our Lady of Guadalupe.
• Why anyone would want to live anywhere else? Oh that was just a joke. I only half-way mean it.

Enjoy your day.

 

The Housing Saga, Part. . .Infinity

Tags

househunting, life in New Mexico, moving, New Mexico

Oh what tangled webs we weave.

I big thanks to comments that helped me understand the reasoning why banks are loath to get rid of houses they have foreclosed on.

Today our realtor stopped by and gave us a number of options. None was great. Our second choice with the great view is also a short sale, so we gain nothing by withdrawing the offer and starting again with this house. And our third and fourth choices are too far down the line to be anything but a disappointment if we chose them at this point.

On the upside, the realtor handling the short sale, says she has assurances that we will get this house, but the paperwork is simply winding its way through the machine of bureaucratic crap that one always expects. 

Our offer is in a place called “quality control” whatever that means. It is expected to get a provisional acceptance mid-week of next. It has been sent to HUD, why I am not sure, and two lines in the contract must be changed of no consequence to comply with the myriad of federal rules regarding short sales. 

Whatever.

We have told our realtor to start looking for new possibilities, raising our price a bit, and not including any short sale homes. If one comes along that is better, we will jump all over it,  otherwise we will trust that this will come through, since there is no reason on earth why it shouldn’t. We have no mortgage issues.

So that is where it sits now. We are now expecting that we could close late next week or early the following. But of course, with a bank who knows. The short sale realtor has been motivated to pressure the bank or lose a sale. Our realtor wants to sell us any house we want, so she has no reason to push this house and fudge on the probabilities. So we feel that we are making the right decision now.

Having reviewed the entire situation, we remain desirous for many reasons to get this particular house or at least one of comparable quality. We don’t want to accept less. We are getting a rather hefty price break off the initial asking price, so we don’t want to lose such a great house.

The seller is stationed in Afghanistan and has signed everything and wants very much to sell.

The house above is not the house, but is somewhat similar. The eco-friendly landscaping would be accurate, especially. The house is stuccoed as most are here, rather than the more expensive (I presume) adobe.

I shall keep you updated.

I know, be still your hearts, the excitement is showing!

Have a great Memorial Day.

I’ll probably write something if I can come up with anything worthy of note.

Now I Get It

Tags

banks, humor sort of, Las Cruces, life in New Mexico, moving

Recognize ’em?

You should.

Just your friendly banker.

Once upon a time we thought bankers were pretty smart cookies. They protected our money. They kept our special things safe in tiny boxes.

They were good guys.

Now we know different.

It’s not entirely their fault actually.

They don’t go to regular universities and colleges to learn how to count and so forth.

They go to CLOWN SCHOOL. Which means they are very good with seltzer water and paper flowers, but your money? Honey, better to stick it under the mattress where it can be safe.

Now, this is not new news I grant you. But after the fiasco of 2008, we hoped they might have learned something. At least we hoped they would learn what they did not know. Which was quite a lot.

But alas, such is not the case.

I should have known that I was operating in dangerous waters when my local bank in Iowa had not the intelligence when informed of our move and how we were going to deal with our accounts, that we needed to sign papers there BEFORE WE LEFT. No, we were told no such thing, and I did speak directly to the bank manager. So we managed to end-around that snafu, mostly because they were somewhat emBARE-ASSED when they realized their inadequacy.

Then I saw the stupid behavior of JP Morgan who got caught with their weenies and tatas showing, having gambled away something to the tune of 3 BILLIONS of their monies on derivatives trading. I shoulda known I would be better off dealing with a pet shop for advice and care of my dough.

And then there is JP Morgan and it’s frackin’ up of the Facebook offering. And the ensuing investigations which always result in NOBODY ever going to the hoosegow.

We made an offer on a house that was offered as a short sale. What this means is the “owner” is under water, and has been GIVEN PERMISSION by the bank in question to sell the house short of the mortgage still due. It’s all fine for the buyer, because the owner and bank work out their own arrangements as to how much if any of the balance the owner will be held liable for. The buyer gets a full clean title.

We negotiated the offer with the real estate agent offering the short sale, and she was sure it was fine, since the bank had already certified a sale price as acceptable. We just had to wait extra long because banks like to play with paper and send it to the North Pole, spin it around the Horn of Plenty, and drop it out of the Leaning Tower of Pisa before signing on the dotted line.

Today was their due date.

NO ANSWER is forthcoming.

They are getting what they asked for, but they don’t seem to want to complete the deal, which we are told is par for the course with banks these days. Perhaps they are waiting for the voodoo doll to arrive from Jamaica first. In any case, we are not stupid enough to give them any more time, so we are cancelling our offer as of noon tomorrow.

If there are no new listings, we will make an offer on a second house, that we agonized over before deciding against it, even though it has the view to die for. The mountains in all their splendor. And the landscaping is newly done, and the house is only about 100 square feet smaller. So we aren’t giving up much and we will pay a good deal less. It’s still available as of today, so we are hopeful. It’s been on the market for nearly a year now, so they are primed to accept a decent offer.

Which is all to say, that dang, watch out for banks. We opened up an account with a credit union here. We got that smart at least.

I don’t know why bankers have become dumber than rocks. But apparently they have.

I apologize to rocks. You are beautiful and remind us of just how long time is.

Life is not a bowl of cherries, nor apricots for that matter.

Having Fun?

Tags

Humor, life in Las Cruces, moving, New Mexico

That’s me. Still waiting. Technically, I think we are supposed to get an answer either tomorrow or Friday. It cannot come too soon. It cannot.

We have shopped most everything we can think of. Sofas and chairs, dining room, beds, bookcases, end tables, desks, blah blah blah. I’ve even found unfinished kitchen cabinets I can place at the ends of a wall and drop a laminated top over at a reasonable price to set up my craft room.

Trouble is, I’m working to furnish a house we don’t yet have, and have no assurance we will get it. We do have a backup house which has its own specialness and was my first choice at one time. It’s got the view to die for. But of course if we are forced to that, it’s another couple weeks delay.

Did I mention that we are sick and tired of living in a motel?

Just wanted to mention that.

Other stuff is going well. We go to the post office to pick up our mail. We have a bank, although our debit cards are not yet in. We have successfully transferred the Contrarian’s VA stuff to the local out-patient office here, and he has his yearly appointment set up already. One must be happy about small victories I guess.

New Mexico gifted us with colds. I got mine first, and am nearly over with it. The Contrarian is in his third day and is mighty grumpy indeed.

It is in the mid to high 90’s here each day, although I hear that the rest of the country is also experiencing rather abnormally high temps for May. But that has nothing to do with global warming of course. Course not.

Did I mention that I am tired of living in a motel?

It’s awful when you refer to a motel room as “home.”

We had a good view of the solar eclipse, sort of. I went to the farmer’s market which was grand and learned that the NMSU was having a thing at the mall with the opportunity to look through their solar telescope and viewing glasses for a buck. We went. We got their 50 minutes before the eclipse was scheduled to start. The line to look through the solar telescope was already about 200 long and the glasses had already sold out. No point in staying any longer for that.

We are traveling around like we have lived her most all our lives. We now are discovering the “easier” way to get from A to B, avoiding some of the busier intersections. I lived in Cedar Rapids for 12 years and could get lost in that town simply by turning down any foreign street. I can’t explain it.

I never felt properly oriented in that state. I can’t explain that either. I often felt I was going north when I was traveling west. The Contrarian thinks that’s funny. He wonders if I need a compass. Or if I can read one.

I can, have so owned, and so there. And I never have had issues with location before.

I was allergic to Iowa and I think it made my brain work poorly. I think my brain is oriented to true north and I think Iowa is a deep sink hole electromagnetically speaking. Truly I do.

Anyway, that is where it all stands today.

The Contrarian claims that New Mexico is high in sheep production. There is nary a piece of lamb to be found in any store here that I have been in so far. None in Iowa. I don’t get that. I could always get it in Michigan and Connecticut. What goes? Anyone know? Pipe up and explain it please.

We had A fly in the room for 2 days. It must have died, or gotten out. I’m quite sure it was sleeping in our luggage and came from Iowa. It has a lone fly home.

Oh, it’s about time to start thinking of what to go pick up for lunch. Mmmmm, love eating like this I can tell ya.

More later. Pray that that damn answer is yes!

Tootles.

Mitt-Wit’s Bain Problem

Tags

Bain, economics, Election 2012, Politics, Romney

Although our boy Willard avoids Mormon faith like the bubonic plague, I’m pretty sure that lying is still a sin in the “Mormon bible. And by every account I’ve come across, Mitty takes his faith seriously.

But apparently he doesn’t take it THAT seriously. Just serious enough to attempt to placate the religious masses with things like claiming that the US Constitution was “probably inspired,” and other self-serving chatter like that.

Willard has a case of the lying when it comes to just about anything that he thinks will  work to get him elected president of these here United States  of Merika. And what he lies most about is how he’s this wonderfully brilliant economic business genius.

And then he assures us that once at helm of the ship of state, he will fix all our financial woes. Of course President Obama doesn’t believe in free enterprise at all according to  Mitt-Wit, he hates it in fact. On the other hand, Bain CEO the Mitt-meister, knows that business is just a case of strong-willed smart men willing to bet their fortunes on business schemes that, should they fail, will leave them paupers. That’s the difference between them and us–guts. We prefer to stay attached to our safe and boring little pencil-pushin’, lathe-operatin’ jobs for that “steady” paycheck, while brave souls like Mitty risk it all on their business acumen.

Naw, not really.

Actually they have scammed the game of free enterprise so that it never goes tilt.

Bain doesn’t go into a failing business, pour tons of cash in, restructure and so for and then sit and hope for the best. Far from it.

Basically what Bain does it access the money on hand of the company in question, take half of it, assess another quarter of the remainder for “professional expenses” and then restructure what is left and “hope for the best.” If it works, well that is nice. If it doesn’t, well, Bain has it’s profit, and the company is sold off in bits and pieces, Bain taking the bulk no doubt for its expenses, and paying off creditors if  there is anything left.

This is what, in my opinion the Obama team is missing. They keep attacking Bain as if it is careless of the companies it takes on to “fix”, and even callous about the workers there. It is not. It’s just that they rig the game to win regardless. That’s not capitalism. That’s a scam, that it seems to me, leaves the crippled company in greater danger of going under than it would have if it had simply hired a new team to run things,  and paid them the normal salary.

In today’s game of high-stakes venture capitalism, true capitalism is not being played. The playing field is anything but level. The rich have structured it so that succeed or fail, the rich get paid no matter what. It’s the way the CEO business is played these days–you don’t have to show a profit as CEO–your golden parachute is there cushion your fall regardless.

This is what Mitt-face is promoting–a corporatocracy where the “right” people control the wealth , establish what you “need” in salary, and maintain a stable workforce, one that has little or no recourse, except another job which is basically the same.

The Obama team needs to attack the very premise that what Romney and company do, remotely resembles free enterprise.

Related articles

• As Obama Team Releases New Bain Attack, Cory Booker Walks Back ‘Nauseating’ Critique: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
• The Reason Why Bain is important. (3chicspolitico.com)
• Obama Campaign Ad: The Story of Bain Capital and Ampad (littlegreenfootballs.com)
• Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital took $20 profit for every dollar invested in Ampad. Creditors got {title}.002. (dailykos.com)