Tracy's family Laura and Tim are here. Let the verbal diarrhea begin. Between me and Tim, there's a lot of smart-assed comments. Let's see if Tracy and Laura can handle it for five days. Today we are off to wine tasting, again. Tim is a little too excited about it, so we are starting to question his manhood.
Sunday we're going to the Padres matinee game against the Giants. Should be fun. I bought a roast so we'll slow cook it starting in the morning and it will be ready for Easter dinner when we get home. Tracy loves her boiled eggs on Easter, so we are going to do that too. Tim will probably partake in the Easter egg hunt at Petco on Sunday. Kids can bring their pillowcases and hunt for eggs at the park. Tim definitely qualifies for that.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
New RC8 Ad
Check out this RC8 ad I created today at work highlighting our Race Orange program. I was responsible for both copy and design. I think it's pretty slick. The orange loses a little bit of its pop on the Web though.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Will My House Ever Sell???
I hate this economy. I feel lucky that I'm able to squeak by with a home mortgage, credit card bills (thanks Home Depot) and steep California rent partially subsidized by my employer. Today marks 54 weeks that my house has been on the active real estate market.
What have I learned?
I was way too aggressive with the initial $244,900 asking price. I wish somebody would have kicked some sense in to me before that listing that feels like 54 years ago, not weeks. I'd even take a Jet Li chop to the throat over reliving that stupid listing price. The original listing was through relatives at Cushman Realty who only had my best interests in mind. Nobody wanted to offend the other so the list price stuck. After four months with Cushman and two price reductions, we decided to part ways. My aunt started a new job, and we figured it made sense to go with a more proven Realty company in Edina Realty that could focus on my property full-time.
Now another 7 months have passed and the house still sits on the market.
Back when this mess was unfolding shortly after accepting my new job in Ohio in January 2008, I ramped up house improvements in hopes it would move my house off the market quickly. We opened up the kitchen by removing a wall, replaced the vinyl flooring with ceramic tile, updated the sink, faucet and countertops, and bought a new microwave and dishwasher. Tracy even contact papered in the cabinets and drawers and we added new cabinet fixtures. The fun didn't end there.
My dad and I updated the entire basement over a course of several months. First, we freshened the ceiling paint, sheetrocked half the main family room wall, removed wallpaper, painted wood paneling and had new carpet installed in the family room, bonus room and up the stairs ... and when the house still didn't sell we replaced the second kitchen carpeting and updated the wallpaper. A Jet Li drop kick to the cajones was starting to sound more fun than selling my house at this point.
All the main floor rooms got new light fixtures and we managed to paint the entire exterior of the house and garage. Still no dice ... nothing close to a Yahtzee ... seven months in at this point. Yeah, that point where the entire economy fell flat on its face like a drunk overweight coed walking home from the bar in six inches of fresh snow.
The worst part is I was dumb enough to put it all on a Home Depot credit card with no interest for 6 and 12 months on the major purchases. Back then, I figured all those wonderful improvements would move my property to the the top of the list and I'd pay off the card in quick order. Nothing's happening quickly these days. If this economy continues to be worthless I'll be eating 4:30 p.m. dinners and changing my Depends before my house sells. Read: I'll be really, really old.
$44,900 and one President later and the house still sits and waits on the market at $200k. A lot has happened in these 54 weeks. Businesses have went belly up, foreclosures have become commonplace and I was transferred to California. Thankfully my company wrote a contract up to assist in living expense until late 2010. It was a blessing in disguise. If I was still in Ohio, I'd be working 8 jobs to make ends meet. More important is I still have what I love most: Tracy and a great job.
Well, what have I learned? I've learned not to trust that stupid show "Designed to Sell" on HGTV. Lisa Laporta might just deserve a Jet Li chop to the throat herself. Maybe I should have just smeared crap all over the walls instead of fresh paint and let it go in to foreclosure like everybody else. What do you think of that "Designed to Sell ... In Foreclosure" Lisa?
What I've really learned is this is just another minor hurdle in life. I'm not the millionaire like I dreamed I would be when I was a 10-year-old pinging with dreams of making it big before 30. And, I've also learned being strained financially won't rip the enjoyment out of my life. Tracy has been amazing through all of this and, believe it or not, takes my mind away from all that is dollars and cents. Even if my house sits on the market 10 more years, she won't let it bring me down. Am I happier now than 54 weeks ago ... without a doubt.
What have I learned?
I was way too aggressive with the initial $244,900 asking price. I wish somebody would have kicked some sense in to me before that listing that feels like 54 years ago, not weeks. I'd even take a Jet Li chop to the throat over reliving that stupid listing price. The original listing was through relatives at Cushman Realty who only had my best interests in mind. Nobody wanted to offend the other so the list price stuck. After four months with Cushman and two price reductions, we decided to part ways. My aunt started a new job, and we figured it made sense to go with a more proven Realty company in Edina Realty that could focus on my property full-time.
Now another 7 months have passed and the house still sits on the market.
Back when this mess was unfolding shortly after accepting my new job in Ohio in January 2008, I ramped up house improvements in hopes it would move my house off the market quickly. We opened up the kitchen by removing a wall, replaced the vinyl flooring with ceramic tile, updated the sink, faucet and countertops, and bought a new microwave and dishwasher. Tracy even contact papered in the cabinets and drawers and we added new cabinet fixtures. The fun didn't end there.
My dad and I updated the entire basement over a course of several months. First, we freshened the ceiling paint, sheetrocked half the main family room wall, removed wallpaper, painted wood paneling and had new carpet installed in the family room, bonus room and up the stairs ... and when the house still didn't sell we replaced the second kitchen carpeting and updated the wallpaper. A Jet Li drop kick to the cajones was starting to sound more fun than selling my house at this point.
All the main floor rooms got new light fixtures and we managed to paint the entire exterior of the house and garage. Still no dice ... nothing close to a Yahtzee ... seven months in at this point. Yeah, that point where the entire economy fell flat on its face like a drunk overweight coed walking home from the bar in six inches of fresh snow.
The worst part is I was dumb enough to put it all on a Home Depot credit card with no interest for 6 and 12 months on the major purchases. Back then, I figured all those wonderful improvements would move my property to the the top of the list and I'd pay off the card in quick order. Nothing's happening quickly these days. If this economy continues to be worthless I'll be eating 4:30 p.m. dinners and changing my Depends before my house sells. Read: I'll be really, really old.
$44,900 and one President later and the house still sits and waits on the market at $200k. A lot has happened in these 54 weeks. Businesses have went belly up, foreclosures have become commonplace and I was transferred to California. Thankfully my company wrote a contract up to assist in living expense until late 2010. It was a blessing in disguise. If I was still in Ohio, I'd be working 8 jobs to make ends meet. More important is I still have what I love most: Tracy and a great job.
Well, what have I learned? I've learned not to trust that stupid show "Designed to Sell" on HGTV. Lisa Laporta might just deserve a Jet Li chop to the throat herself. Maybe I should have just smeared crap all over the walls instead of fresh paint and let it go in to foreclosure like everybody else. What do you think of that "Designed to Sell ... In Foreclosure" Lisa?
What I've really learned is this is just another minor hurdle in life. I'm not the millionaire like I dreamed I would be when I was a 10-year-old pinging with dreams of making it big before 30. And, I've also learned being strained financially won't rip the enjoyment out of my life. Tracy has been amazing through all of this and, believe it or not, takes my mind away from all that is dollars and cents. Even if my house sits on the market 10 more years, she won't let it bring me down. Am I happier now than 54 weeks ago ... without a doubt.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Is It Stealing If...
Tracy and I are wondering if "taking" a newspaper from our neighbors is stealing, if said neighbors have moved out? The papers started piling up after we saw they moved out last Saturday, so we figured we might as well reduce waste by reading the papers.
Every weekend Tracy actually purchases the paper for the coupons. Hopefully we can score a second free paper this morning. Yeah, we snatched up last Sunday's paper from the neighbors too. Last night we hit up the grocery store and saved $6.35 thanks to Tracy's coupon clipping. Sometimes I wonder if the coupons don't encourage wasteful spending, but I guess most of the groceries we bought with coupons were things we actually needed.
Just five more days until Tracy's mom and bro hit up SoCal. Looks like mid 70s and sun. Mid-70s here is like 80s in Minnesota, the sun rays are pretty intense.
Every weekend Tracy actually purchases the paper for the coupons. Hopefully we can score a second free paper this morning. Yeah, we snatched up last Sunday's paper from the neighbors too. Last night we hit up the grocery store and saved $6.35 thanks to Tracy's coupon clipping. Sometimes I wonder if the coupons don't encourage wasteful spending, but I guess most of the groceries we bought with coupons were things we actually needed.
Just five more days until Tracy's mom and bro hit up SoCal. Looks like mid 70s and sun. Mid-70s here is like 80s in Minnesota, the sun rays are pretty intense.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wore Out
After a lot of action the last three weeks, Tracy and I are pretty wore out. John and Katie arrived Thursday night as our second straight weekend visitors. Thanks for visiting John and Katie, we had a great time!
Friday we hit up Disneyland for Tracy's birthday. Tracy got free admission for her birthday and we got two-for-one tickets now that we are SoCal residents. That means we get to hit up the Adventure Park for free within the next month! Two theme parks for $69 for two people ... not a bad deal.
We had a fun time celebrating Tracy's b-day at Disneyland. It just so happened that John and I wore similar outfits so it was an ongoing joke all day (see photo slideshow below). After hitting up Space Mountain in the morning, we made our way through the park and hit up all the major rides. Except for Mr. Toad. John was bummed when the ride shut down after waiting 20 minutes in line. I don't think he missed much from the Toad though! We ended our day on Space Mountain again. After giving Tracy a hard time for all her giggling early in the day, the tables were turned. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't stop laughing on that last ride. It was a blast. Tracy in turn gave me a hard time! Disney was actually a pretty cool time. It definitely surpassed my expectations.
On Saturday, we hit up some wine tasting again. John and Katie had dog sitter drama and Tracy was still kind of celebrating her birthday, so everybody was anxious to take the edge off with some wine. We hit up the largest winery here South Coast before moving on to the smaller Robert Renzoni winery and Leonesse Cellars. Unfortunately, Tracy's camera took it's second significant cement drop in 8 days and is no longer in operation. Oh well, the price we pay to "taste" some wine.
After wine tasting we hit up Old Town Temecula for some of the most bland mexican food I've ever had. Dirt has more flavor than the refried beans at The Bank restaurant. And the dirt in the desert has more moisture than the carne asada. I thought it was hard to screw up mexican food. Think again. This place seriously sucked. The margarita's were strong, but not strong enough for us to overlook the terrible food. In all honesty, I could probably crap out a better tasting dinner than The Bank could make and sell for $10.
Thankfully, we didn't let the poor food, broken camera or sprained ankle crazy lady dog sitter drama ruin our day. We enjoyed a jacuzzi and a few more cold beers and the day still felt like a relaxing vacation day.
On Sunday we took the Ortega over to Huntington Beach. We hit up the candy store on the way, a must-stop Dan and Miranda introduced us to. Then, we ate mexican food that didn't suck at Wahoo's. I'm guessing Wahoo's actually tastes the food it cooks, opposed to The Bank. Wahoo's is highly recommended, the food was excellent. After some shopping and hitting up the pier, we dropped off John and Katie at John Wayne airport so they could pick up their rental for the remainder of their vacation in San Diego.
Thanks again for visiting. We love seeing friends and family making the trip to spend time with us.
Friday we hit up Disneyland for Tracy's birthday. Tracy got free admission for her birthday and we got two-for-one tickets now that we are SoCal residents. That means we get to hit up the Adventure Park for free within the next month! Two theme parks for $69 for two people ... not a bad deal.
We had a fun time celebrating Tracy's b-day at Disneyland. It just so happened that John and I wore similar outfits so it was an ongoing joke all day (see photo slideshow below). After hitting up Space Mountain in the morning, we made our way through the park and hit up all the major rides. Except for Mr. Toad. John was bummed when the ride shut down after waiting 20 minutes in line. I don't think he missed much from the Toad though! We ended our day on Space Mountain again. After giving Tracy a hard time for all her giggling early in the day, the tables were turned. I don't know what it was, but I couldn't stop laughing on that last ride. It was a blast. Tracy in turn gave me a hard time! Disney was actually a pretty cool time. It definitely surpassed my expectations.
On Saturday, we hit up some wine tasting again. John and Katie had dog sitter drama and Tracy was still kind of celebrating her birthday, so everybody was anxious to take the edge off with some wine. We hit up the largest winery here South Coast before moving on to the smaller Robert Renzoni winery and Leonesse Cellars. Unfortunately, Tracy's camera took it's second significant cement drop in 8 days and is no longer in operation. Oh well, the price we pay to "taste" some wine.
After wine tasting we hit up Old Town Temecula for some of the most bland mexican food I've ever had. Dirt has more flavor than the refried beans at The Bank restaurant. And the dirt in the desert has more moisture than the carne asada. I thought it was hard to screw up mexican food. Think again. This place seriously sucked. The margarita's were strong, but not strong enough for us to overlook the terrible food. In all honesty, I could probably crap out a better tasting dinner than The Bank could make and sell for $10.
Thankfully, we didn't let the poor food, broken camera or sprained ankle crazy lady dog sitter drama ruin our day. We enjoyed a jacuzzi and a few more cold beers and the day still felt like a relaxing vacation day.
On Sunday we took the Ortega over to Huntington Beach. We hit up the candy store on the way, a must-stop Dan and Miranda introduced us to. Then, we ate mexican food that didn't suck at Wahoo's. I'm guessing Wahoo's actually tastes the food it cooks, opposed to The Bank. Wahoo's is highly recommended, the food was excellent. After some shopping and hitting up the pier, we dropped off John and Katie at John Wayne airport so they could pick up their rental for the remainder of their vacation in San Diego.
Thanks again for visiting. We love seeing friends and family making the trip to spend time with us.
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