Yes, I know I've been horrible about keeping in touch lately. Things have been crazy at work, and I'm in the process of buying my first house, which is a lot more involved than I'd expected. But, home prices and mortgage rates are low, plus that $8,000 new homebuyer tax credit ... so, now is a good time to do it. I've put in an offer on a place about an hour from work. It's kind of far, and a little bit out in the sticks (a nice, newer development, though). It's a short-sale, which means about 2 months waiting for the seller's bank to make a decision, and it needs some work ... but at the crazy low price, it'll be worth it, and I'll have plenty of money left over to make some immediate upgrades, like hardwood floors, new carpeting, new paint, granite counter tops in the kitchen, all new stainless steel appliances, and of course, lots of new furniture and a new home theater system. Yeah, I'm gonna totally pimp out that joint!

I offered the listed price on the house and have asked the seller (i.e. the bank) to pay the closing costs. Unfortunately, with short-sales it's possible that the seller (the bank) could counter with a price HIGHER than the asking price, since the seller and the seller's bank aren't always on the same page as far as how much of a loss they're willing to accept. If that happens, hopefully it won't be too much more, otherwise I won't have as much money to spend on the place right away, and then it wouldn't necessarily be worth it. We'll see, though ... I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Baseball season has started up again. I signed up for the Comcast "MLB Extra Innings" package, so I can watch all of the Tigers' games this year, even though I'm out-of-market. I used to get MLB.tv, but I got tired of watching all the games on my tiny laptop screen, so it's great to be able to watch on a full-size TV now. It'll be even better when I get into my new house and buy a 50" Plasma high-def television, with surround sound. And, it'll be just in time to watch the Florida Gators and Tim Tebow win another national championship! WOO-HOO!

Anyway, there's a game starting in about 30 minutes and I need to feed the cats before it starts, or they'll be whining the whole time.

Laterz!

Buddha