The Monthly Nut

Possessions are starting to get unpacked. Watch out - soon it'll look like someone actually lives here.

Pat is coming back to town this weekend to help us whip the house into shape.

Chain of events:

Handyman: "Utility sink is draining slowly. We'll change the filter on Monday" > Caroline & Hunter: "Okay" > Sunday night: Let's do laundry > Caroline: "Hunter!" > mopping up basement.

I've left out the little funny thing with the wet/dry vac where we made cement.

The house has stood for 84 years. We'll take it down in less than two.

We have a fun new game called "Is it broken or just disconnected?"

Stove = Broken! (but subsequently replaced)
Refrigerator = Disconnected! (solved by, duh, plugging in)
Heat = To be discovered tomorrow... [update: of course it's working fine - it was just turned off from when we had the electrician mapping the fuse box to their respective outlets]

I think we're gonna like our new neighborhood.

Caroline, Queen of Boxtonia

And arriving at the new house.

Best. Money. Ever. Spent.

From our house....

"I'm eating ramen and PB&J every day, but at least I have a house." - new SoMa Condo owner (via SFGate.com)

Caroline is simultaneously coordinating the workmen, cleaners and movers. We pack today, move tomorrow.

Our house was built in 1922. Kitchen last redone in 1965. And we've got the 'stove of the future' to prove it.

Update: The 'stove of the future' is dead - we knew that two burners were on the fritz but turns out it's full of flame-producing sparking action. Goodbye 'stove of the future,' hello mid-priced electric range to hold us over until we put in a gas stove during a full kitchen remodel.

Depending on your perspective it's either quaint or creepy, but Caroline and I now belong to the Westwood Park Association (WPA), our local homeowners group. What do we get for our ~$50/yr?

• Residential design guidelines
• A NERT (neighborhood emergency response team)
• t-shirts!

The August WPA meeting is next week and I'm planning on attending to introduce myself and weigh in on hot local issues, such as revitalizing the Ocean Avenue business district (i'm not talking about this, but rather this).

I've always associated columns and colonial architecture with the South but there are lots of examples from New England as well. Anyone know which region inspired our design?

(BTW, they took their wreath so we're in the market for some door decorations)

Update: My wife suggests it's "Craftsman," popularized around the turn of the 20th century.

Pat did an awesome job helping us plot out the new house. We now have an outline of both floors with every piece of furniture placed. Kinda reminds me of the boardgame Clue.

At Bay Area open houses one of the most oft overheard comments is "You know what $1 million would buy you in Pittsburgh?" Quickly the wife/broker/partner/boyfriend will retort, "Yeah, but it's in Pittsburgh."

Today's SF Chronicle details the stories of some folks who got over that hump and moved to Jersey, Georgia, etc

In economic parlance I tend to be 'risk averse' when it comes to personal finance so the very act of buying a house in the Bay Area was enough to make me a bit nervous. We've tried to mitigate this concern by locking in a payment schedule that removes some of the variability from our future years at 930 Faxon. Hence our 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

Why would I chose this particular loan at a time when banks are offering more flexible and consumer-friendly lending vehicles? Well, interest rates are at historical lows and I figure best case is to manage to a monthly payment we can afford at our current salary levels.

Most folks ain't so conservative. When we were soliciting loan proposals from various lenders one provider sent me a monthly cost estimate showing the amount I'd should expect to pay with my 'interest-only loan.'

"Uh CJ, I said we weren't interested in interest-only," I told the broker.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to change it. Almost everyone I'm serving these days is doing interest only."

Gulp.

We're sure to make big progress this weekend on getting things set up at the new house. Why? Because the hurricane of productivity Pat Patterson (Caroline's mom) is coming to town!

The current over/under bet is "How many 'For Dummies' books will Hunter own by the end of the year?"

• Gardening for Dummies
• Home Repair for Dummies
• Second Jobs for Dummies
  
• Personal Bankruptcy for Dummies
• Rocking Back and Forth in the Corner While Speaking Unintelligibly for Dummies