Tell us what's happened to you recently (that's interesting)

nlanza · 2010-07-08T20:32:12.000Z

Thanks!

The room with the open beams is the “sitting room” – it’s the part of the third floor that isn’t the master bedroom or the master bath. I don’t have a good picture of it, but it also has a wood-burning stove and a pretty nice view of the city.

I have negotiated an agreement to buy a bigger TV and another set of surround speakers and turn that room into a gaming man cave / home theater, so I’m especially excited about that.

Kael · 2010-07-08T20:35:25.000Z

Amazing beautiful house. Congrats!

Omniscia · 2010-07-08T20:50:34.000Z

nlanza:

I have negotiated an agreement to buy a bigger TV and another set of surround speakers and turn that room into a gaming man cave / home theater, so I’m especially excited about that.

That can be my room, then, when I move in with you. I’ll totally cook a meal or two every other month, man. Or just, like, order pizza, or something.

nlanza · 2010-07-08T20:52:11.000Z

Omniscia:

That can be my room, then, when I move in with you. I’ll totally cook a meal or two every other month, man. Or just, like, order pizza, or something.

Oh, good. We’ve been complaining about how much work ordering pizza involves. It’ll be awesome to have a dedicated technician for it.

Strato · 2010-07-08T23:44:12.000Z

nlanza, you really need to get stuck into mowing the grass…

But really, as a house hunter myself, that is an amazing place. Well done.

Alan_Dunkin · 2010-07-09T00:18:12.000Z

Jeez. That ain’t no house. That there is a sumbitch space station.

— Alan

Sarkus · 2010-07-09T00:33:38.000Z

JoshV:

So I’ve accepted a position in Issaquah, Washington. Now for the daunting moving process. Any bad areas that I should look out for? I grew up in Lynnwood but haven’t lived up there in seven years, and I’m sure things have changed, like Issaquah now seems to be less rural.

You should be able to find something in Issaquah itself, which would be nice given that traffic isn’t getting any better in this area. While a commute from the Bellevue/Redmond/Kirkland area wouldn’t be bad, the housing prices are generally higher. Any other commute is going to be challenging.

Tortilla · 2010-07-09T06:14:05.000Z

Wednesday my wife left for a five day trip, leaving me solely responsible for our two children. My wife, being a very nervous maternal type, had some misgivings about whether I’d be able to handle single daddying and thus has not done any solo traveling since our kids were born. Now that our son is four and our daughter is two and no infants are in the mix, I guess she felt it would be possible for me to handle them for a few days.

Thursday I was involved in a car accident and now have a questionable vehicle situation and some insurance company hassles to deal with.

This morning (Friday) I found out that our daycare, for the first time in the four years we’ve done business with them, has had to close unexpectedly for the day. Apparently a water main broke up the street and the city has closed the roads and so forth. So today I have to call in sick to work, watch two kids, and deal with car insurance stuff.

I realize I’ve had an improbable run of bad luck, but I’m still left in awe of how single parents cope with this stuff on a regular basis.

Matt_Bowyer · 2010-07-09T06:22:40.000Z

nlanza:

I appear to be buying a house:

(pictures of awesomeness)

I’m alternately excited and terrified; the thought of packing up all my crap and selling the current house is more than a little overwhelming.

If you’re currently experiencing a headache, it’s because I am sending powerful envy attacks at you mentally.

That is a beautiful place. I hope you adore it.

tiohn · 2010-07-09T06:25:13.000Z

Wow, nlanza’s new house makes the one we just entered contract on seem downright depressing.

WarrenM · 2010-07-09T06:30:05.000Z

Definitely a nice looking house. 108 years old, damn! Ours is just over 90. Old houses like that have so much character and charm!

The only problem I see (and this is a personal thing) is the kitchen. But hey, you can also renovate that at some point. But I wouldn’t touch the floor, that tile work is awesome!

Eilonwy · 2010-07-09T06:47:42.000Z

My place is probably like half a closet in your house. I’m so jealous :(

Marged · 2010-07-09T07:06:19.000Z

Whoa. You just bought my dream house.

Houngan · 2010-07-09T07:13:46.000Z

WarrenM:

Definitely a nice looking house. 108 years old, damn! Ours is just over 90. Old houses like that have so much character and charm!

The only problem I see (and this is a personal thing) is the kitchen. But hey, you can also renovate that at some point. But I wouldn’t touch the floor, that tile work is awesome!

They’re also an enormous pain in the ass. Not trying to deflate his excitement, I love Victorians too, but man they are a handful. And bloody expensive in every way, from renovations to repairs to utilities. You could buy a monstrous one in our old section for around 200k, but the costs of upkeep would equal your monthly mortgage, to say nothing of renovation.

H.

tiohn · 2010-07-09T07:17:10.000Z

Houngan:

They’re also an enormous pain in the ass. Not trying to deflate his excitement, I love Victorians too, but man they are a handful. And bloody expensive in every way, from renovations to repairs to utilities. You could buy a monstrous one in our old section for around 200k, but the costs of upkeep would equal your monthly mortgage, to say nothing of renovation.

H.

Yeah, I got over my love of old houses after leasing several and then moving into a modern home. I like the aesthetics of a modern house significantly less, but I’ll happily trade that simply for paying 1/3 the amount in utilities and not having shit break a few times a month. On the other hand, it looks like nlanza’s house has had some recent renovations.

WarrenM · 2010-07-09T07:30:50.000Z

We’ve been pretty lucky in ours then. We’ve only had a few things break in the 1.5 years we’ve been here and it wasn’t stuff that was the fault of the age of the house (air conditioner, for example). Ours is a bungalow style house rather than Victorian so perhaps that makes all the difference.

kerzain · 2010-07-09T15:08:30.000Z

Seeing Fear Factory tonight after a near twenty year wait. Their concerts, my schedule and/or location never quite worked out until now.

Yay for me.

nlanza · 2010-07-09T16:11:32.000Z

WarrenM:

The only problem I see (and this is a personal thing) is the kitchen. But hey, you can also renovate that at some point. But I wouldn’t touch the floor, that tile work is awesome!

Totally agreed. We’re redoing the kitchen before we move in — all that’s staying is the tile floor and the stained glass in the windows.

My mom’s an architect and a serious cook, so she’s drawing us up detailed plans for the kitchen she’d put in if she lived there, and then ordering all of the counters, cabinets, and appliances for us wholesale.

Houngan:

They’re also an enormous pain in the ass. Not trying to deflate his excitement, I love Victorians too, but man they are a handful. And bloody expensive in every way, from renovations to repairs to utilities. You could buy a monstrous one in our old section for around 200k, but the costs of upkeep would equal your monthly mortgage, to say nothing of renovation.

Oh yeah. I lived in a house from the early 1800s when I was a kid, though, so I’m used to the weird quirks of old houses. You gotta kinda view them as a hobby or they’ll drive you insane.

We sort of have a leg up here, though – the previous owners did some major work on the place since they were expecting to retire in it, but then the husband had a pretty bad accident and can no longer really handle stairs. Since the master bedroom is on the third floor, they couldn’t live in the house anymore. I feel pretty bad for them – the place was clearly a labor of love for them.

Alan_Dunkin · 2010-07-09T17:33:21.000Z

At the very least the exterior looks like it had a lot of recent work and looks really good. If the interior is the same, find yourself pretty lucky… yeah bad for the old couple though. Hate situations like that.

— Alan

AndrewMyers · 2010-07-09T20:05:35.000Z

Kraaze:

I’m still left in awe of how single parents cope with this stuff on a regular basis.

No shit – single parents with well-adjusted kids are probably the most bad-ass people on the planet.