Wednesday, December 20, 2006

A gift...

Tonight, I gave blood. I don't know if I've said this on this blog before, but I'll probably say it again: If you are healthy and capable, please give. It doesn't take any time really (1 hour every 2 months), and it is such a small thing that could turn out huge.

Anyway, I got a great gift back. About 15 minutes talking with the nice lady volunteer at the blood bank. Her name is Rose Marie, which just happens to be my mother's name (well, to other people, she's still Mom to me! :) ). She's 78 years old and has lived a wonderful life. I won't give all the details here, but it was amazing to just get and sit with someone and talk about "stuff" - nothing substantial, like at work, just life.

Thank you, Rose Marie, for a wonderful 15 minutes.

Monday, December 11, 2006

On my way...

Offered up my resignation today at work...it went much better than expected.

I feel a little bad. I didn't really give this place much of a chance (3 months), but I figured I had to take the chance on the new job.

I feel a little more bad. I didn't know that I wasn't the only one quitting my job today. One of the other engineers is quitting on the same day as me...he's moving down to peninsula land to chase his girlfriend/fiance. So they are losing 2 engineers out of 3 in our department. All while we were all busy as heck...they might be in a spot for a while, but they'll pull through.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Home buying...

I'm sitting here looking at the finances this morning. I've stumbled onto something that I never really thought might be possible. I might actually be able to purchase a house this time when I move.

Now, the problem is, how in the heck do you buy a house? It sounds like such a simple thing: I'd like to buy a house. However, everyone I talk with (out in the REAL world, like brothers, sisters, parents, etc) treats it like some "OMG that is so hard" type of thing.

I've found a couple of spots that give simple step by step things that I'm starting to read. I honestly don't think it's going to be that difficult. It looks like the actual process is a fairly straight forward, "do this, then do this, then do this, then do this...done, here's the keys!". I think the biggest question mark for me is this - DO I REALLY WANT A HOUSE?

Pros of owning a house:

1. It's yours. No, REALLY, it's yours. Want a different color in the living room? Paint it. Want to remove that non load bearing wall? Here's a sledge hammer.
2. Equity, you are building equity for the long haul.
3. Your "rent" payments don't go up anymore (really, if you think about it, in the long run we are really all just "renting" space here). And at some point, the big part of the rent payment goes away (i.e. principal and interest payments will go away, taxes and maintenance never do). I personally think this one is the biggie for your's truly.
4. Not having to move once it's all paid off...priceless.

Cons of owning a house:

1. It's yours. NO, REALLY, IT'S YOURS. Lawn needs mowing, sidewalk and driveway need shoveling. Furnace went out? Buy a new one (they don't come cheap). What about the washer and dryer? Or the stove, or the fridge or the ... you get my point.
2. It really isn't that good an investment. Tax break my ass. Think about it, you will only get the tax break on the interest and property taxes that are above and beyond the standard deduction of $5000 this year (that is from memory, it might be off, and it's only for a single person like me). And, it's a whole $0.27 back for every dollar you ALREADY SPENT!!!! Listen, anytime you want to give me a dollar and I only have to give you $0.27 back, you let me know. I'll take that investment. And the equity? Well, at the typical 3-6% annual increase, at some point, it WILL be a good thing, but the stock market is closer to 8-10%...not sure owning a home is better...
3. Same old boring house to come home to each and everyday. 'nuff said.

I think the pros and cons basically balance themselves out, at least in my situation. So I think I'm going to go for it there too. Boy, does 2007 look kind of hairy for me.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Wow, moving again so soon?

Okay.

I've fallen prey to what I call the "Restless Syndrome". Only this time I got restless really fast.

I am changing jobs again. And moving again. BACK to Madtown with you, the universe says, back I say!!! I'm not sure I'll ever get away, and sometimes I wonder if I really want to...it's a pretty darn cool town.

I'm kind of screwed on my lease, but that's how things go. I'll probably have to drive down on Mondays, work the normal hours and stay at my 'rent's house during the week, then drive back up on Fridays. So I probably won't be wanting to stay anywhere but home most weekends.

I don't know how my current boss will react, but I'm sure it will not be good. But life is life. They may ask me not to stay any more, I don't know. They may just be really, really pissy and make the last 2 weeks hell, I don't know.

I'm rolling the dice and seeing what comes up. Five years from now, I may look back and say "Holy shit, was that stupid!" Or, I may look back and say "Geez, it's been a great 5 years here at ......." But I feel I have to try to see what I can make of it.