qatesiurade

My first day in possession of my Kindle 2 I downloaded the complete works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, the complete works of Joseph Conrad, the complete works of Arthur Conan Doyle, the complete works of Emile Zola and the complete works of Honore de Balzac. Now, I’ve already read all of Conrad, as he’s quite possibly my favorite writer of all time, and I’ve read most of Doyle, but the rest… wow that’s a lot of reading right there. Top it off with the other stuff I’ve snagged from feedbooks.com and Amazon, including all of Cory Doctorow’s novels that he’s made available there as Creative Commons product (and may I say hooray to that!), both of Phil Plait’s amusing books about popular astronomy and misconceptions of same, Tom Piccirilli’s new novel, and other random but cool stuff like Dumb Money and A Perfect Red and… I won’t be bored maybe ever again.

But I’m resolving here to read what I’ve got before I download more. Can I do it? Or will I yield again to temptation?

I am an extraordinarily fast reader. I’m already down to the penultimate Barsoom book of Edgar Rice Burroughs (and I’ll be sad to see it end—this series is a blast!) and I’ve only had my Kindle 2 for a month. And that’s while reading other stuff on Dead Tree, etc. So I think I can!

Making an offer on a nifty little house with a great yard for my dog, a brand new kitchen, new paint, going to have a new roof by the time I move in, and still cycling distance to everything I care about except the town of Saratoga!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m going through WCDA (Wyoming Community Development Authority) and rocking the Federal First-Time Homebuyer’s Tax Credit. Those of you working on this goal, get ‘er done by June 30, 2009 and you can do that, too! $7500 or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is lower. It works as a no-interest loan from the federal government you pay off with $500 on your income tax over the next 15 years.

www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com

It has taken my slumlords deciding to raise the rent again on the Vertical Trailer Park I’ve called home for the last five years - finding a house to rent that allows dogs in Cheyenne is close to impossible unless you want to pay more in rent than a mortgage costs, as it turns out - to finally get me off my bum to do this.

I’ve met with a Realtor who happens to be an old family friend, and with a mortgage specialist and prequalified for a WCDA loan (WCDA = Wyoming Community Development Association, a great, great outfit who helps Wyoming individuals and families buy their first homes) and I’ve started shopping.

I’ve found four houses I like - and this all in the space of a few days! - and am strongly considering putting in an offer on one soon. This is partly because I want to get out of the apartment before the new rent kicks in and they demand I sign a lease, and partly because now that I’ve picked a house (ok, houses) I’m eager to start making it/them my own.

That’s the problem—deciding!!!! I’m bringing over my parents to get a second opinion on all four horses in the race, and bugging all of my friends for thoughts as well. Especially my local friends who will be helping me move ^_