(no subject)

We are slowly going crazzy, 1 2 3 4 5 6 switch!

House hunting is spiraling towards a climax. The model we saw last Thursday has been replaced by what was, at the time, our second choice. We spent time considering our life in the house, our stuff in the house, and what we will do with it. The model we are settling on now needs a few more changes, but they should hopefully be simple changes. We want to combine the garage-side laundry room and the foyer into a larger foyer and another closet, we want to shorten one wall by about a foot and a half, we want to invert one bathrrom and get rid of the stand up shower stall, and most of all we want to gut and redo the ktichen. The kitchen was poorly laid out, with wasted counter space. It was favouring keeping a portion for a breakfast nook, which we don't really want. So what we may be doing now is talking to Nesia's mother, who designs kitchens for a living. The goal is to take the space, and get the builder to leave it alone. Instead we can come in and do our own kitchen, with whatever credit the builder will give us for leaving that kitchen unfilled.

It's all moving very quickly. We need to scout out appliance for this kitchen, decide if we want to cave in and pay the extra for stainless steel fronted appliances, slide in stove or regular stove, things like that. It's entirely possible that today or tomorrow we will put a deposit on the lot, with a walk away clause, so that we can lock in the lot we want, and then haggle and wiggle the details we want out of the builder. It'll be a busy week or two, let me tell you. I may miss out on things like fencing, and possibly even SCA this weekend while we try and finalize this.

In unrelated news, Helen and I went to watch Mambo Italiano. It's a *fantastic* film, funny funny funny. For those not in the know, it features the son of a traditional italian family trying to affirm himself as gay in the face of age old traditions and prejudices on the matter. It's really funny though, well presented. It avoids having an ending that's totally sacchirine, but is still a pleasant end. I recommend it.

(no subject)

There are a few songs in the world that enfold the senses and carry the mind so completely that one can listen to that song, constantly, continuously, unnedingly for hours at a time. I endeavour to find those songs for me. It penetrates my mind and carries me away, in different ways depending on the song, but it's still cool experience.

Since I got into work, I have been listening to following on continuous unbroken repeat, I only pause now to get a drink

Enya - Anywhere Is
Leonard Cohen - Closing Time
Men Without Hats - Pop Goes the World

I could add the following

Billy Joel - We didn't start the fire
Abba - I am the city

I just don't have mp3s of these right now.

There are a few such songs from my collections of musicals as well, but I only like listening to musicals in their entirey, as everything is in context. There are songs that can be heard in an individual context. They tend to be songs with a very definitie driving rhytm, a melodious but constant oom pah oom pah effect that hits me right in the core. They are also often not saying much of anything defininte, just sort of rambling songs that allow themselves to settle in your subconscious. Anyone else got songs like that. Remember, I am talking songs that you could listen to in earphones, for many hours on continuous repeat. Do you have songs you like *that* much?

AAAAaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

We're almost there. We sat down with the nice Claridge homes lady (and she is SUPER nice), plotted out options, made some more decisive specs, figured out what we can and can't do, got a few freebies thrown in, and got the lot reserved. Tomorrow I hope to take off work (I hope they let me on late notice), we go to bank to see just how much our payments would be with loan X vs loan Y kind of thing, just so we know how far we can go on options and/or extra furniture to start, we visit the Brick to check out appliances, and in the evening drop off a $7500 check which is our initial downpayment. At that point we have 7 days to back out. We draw up final blueprints, we get lawyers and banks to check it out, and bob's your uncle, we are scheduled to move in May 28th next year.

Whheeeeeeeeeeeeee

Some questions for you all
1. What are the merits of a gas dryer vs electric dryer. The gas hookups will cost around $340 for the gas line and $580ish for a special electrical outlet. Is a gas dryer worth that cost?
2. Someone advise me on the merits of an HRV (heat recovery ventilation). The concept is to exchange in-house air with outside air, and to use the warmth of the air going out to warm the air coming in. It's supposed to increase the amount of fresh air in the house, without having to open windows in winter. Does it save money, does it cost money (it's still sending inside air out, not ALL the heat can be reclaimed), or is it just a health benefit. I say "just", of course the health benfit alone may be worth it, but it runs $1800.

The rest of the options are fairly clear to us. God I'm excited!