flying irishman

a little anxious by numbers in the millions and higher. I sort of fear I’m going to end up having to count that high, and the thought of it and failing and having to start again is a little scary. 4 weeks ago

it should be easier. Sadly, our politicians seem to agree, but are apparently incapable of doing this with even a modicum of fairness. 4 weeks ago

Here in Alliance, Illinois,
I’m living in the middle,
standing on the courthouse lawn
in the middle of town,
in the middle of my life,
a self-confessed middlebrow,
a member of the middle class,
and of course middle western,
the middle, you see, the middle,
believing in the middle way,
standing here at midday
in the middle of the year,
breathing the farm-fragrant air
of Sunflower Country,
in the true-blue middle
of middle America,
in the middle of my dreams.

Dave Etter 4 weeks ago

and your beautiful photos both! 4 weeks ago

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I’ll take it next year. This year, we’re pretty much committed to getting them done with Turbo Tax. 4 weeks ago

In the past, my wife and I have paid H&R Block to do them for us. Block is expensive, and worse, when we went to their office last year, we discovered they’d messed up our 2010 taxes which had to be amended and a penalty paid. So this year I’ve been trying to do them on Turbo Tax. Am taking off early this afternoon to try to finish them. 4 weeks ago

Joe Abercrombie’s first-rate epic fantasy trilogy. Great ear for dialogue, great close third person chapters, action packed book with strong often complex characters, well plotted and entertaining. 4 weeks ago

A late cold snap is making me relieved I haven’t done much of anything in the garden this year except remove dead drought-stricken evergreen shrubs and of course renew my yearly attack on the honeysuckle vines, which still have designs on taking over my whole garden bed in back. 4 weeks ago

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about the lying realtor. Once he agreed to an offer in a negotiation on our behalf without first okaying it with my wife and me. I had to argue to get out of that deal and should have never spoken to him again. But he convinced us it was a misunderstanding. His second trick came a few weeks later when we had found a house we liked. He wanted to close the deal fast, so he told me that the seller had agreed to make lots of repairs he had not agreed to make so that I would agree to pay to go ahead with the house appraisal, which cost $400 and made it that much harder for us to walk from the deal. It also had the effect of reducing our leverage when it came to negotiating for repairs.

Your realtor’s percentage comes from the seller, but typically a good seller would be willing to sell at lower cost if he or she didn’t have to pay that percentage. So when a non-agented buyer and non-agented seller try to finish a sale on their own, each side should hope to save about half of what would otherwise go to the agents.

Regarding townhouse living, you might show up there some weekday afternoon and find a good spot for tea or a cup of coffee and just observe the neighbors going in and out and the traffic in the area and so on. Get a feel for a typical afternoon there, if you haven’t yet. Even better: Strike up a conversation with the neighbors. Tell them you’re a first-time home buyer. Ask a few questions about the townhouses.

Also, don’t be afraid to walk away from a deal. I know buying a house in your province is a lot different from buying in our state because of the high demand out there, but you’re at the beginning of the buying season.
If looking at houses/townhouses is sort of fun for you two, then you should maybe go slowly. Maybe imagine the good places that will open up when the school year ends and people with kids are ready to move. On the other hand, if this townhouse is really good, maybe it’s best to buy now. Of course, I can’t know..

Whatever you do, I’m sure it will be great fun (most of the time, anyway). 1 month ago

be on 43t while in Paris? Would love to keep up with you while you’re there.. 1 month ago

loud sneezer married to a really loud sneezer. 1 month ago

every night. We have king size. It’s sort of nice to have those creatures with you at night. Portable heaters. 1 month ago

three houses over the years, all older and in various stages of disrepair. Reading about your plans makes me want to offer unsolicited advice, so please stop reading now if you’re not interested in receiving some. Anyway, best of luck in your search! Despite the many hassles that come with home ownership, we still love having our own.

You write you may replace a water heater. Go tankless. What a luxury it must be to never run out of hot water!

Here in the Midwest, lots of houses collect unhealthy levels of radon gas in the basement. Test for this if it’s a problem out there. Along with with popcorn ceiling, ask an expert if other parts of the house may contain asbestos. Some hard tile floors, insulation and other ceiling materials often do. Maybe ask the former owner to get it out or get an estimate from an expert and tell the owner you need this done and you’d like to deduct this cost from the price of the home.

Check for cracks in the foundation and check the grading around the house for signs of any water coming into the basement.

Find out when the roof was put on and if there are covered layers on the current roof that will need to come off. Find out if there’s a warranty that could be transferred on the roof.

Maybe ask for a 1-year home warranty on the appliances & heating & cooling. These usually aren’t too expensive & a nice negotiation subject.

If a house appears to be run down and you still want it, make a really low offer. It just might work.

Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but be careful about trusting your nice realtor. Our experience is that the people in this job are not really on your side. They mostly want to see a deal get done quickly. Some may lie to you to get this to happen. One of ours did.
Now, our luck with realtors has been bad, but other people have had good experiences. I think..

Most houses come on the market here in May-June. I wonder if it works that way there. If so, maybe don’t buy too quickly.

We never managed to not use a real estate agent, but now that I look back on it, I wish we had. What do those people actually do for their 2-3 percent? Still not sure.

Good hunting! 1 month ago

I rarely watch movies more than once anymore. Here are a few exceptions.

Airplane!
Annie Hall
Stripes
Animal House
Bringing Up Baby
Groundhog Day 1 month ago

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especially freshman essays, drove me to distraction. I loved teaching once in a while when things were going well, but never grading. When I taught 6th and 7th grade English, I used to have my students check one another’s work whenever possible.

It seemed to me that for teachers at any level, the time spent grading papers was never factored into the workload. 1 month ago

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sorghum. I’m in Kansas, and it’s grown all over out here. It’s drought resistant, so farmers like it. I must try these milo cereals. Before reading about them, I thought milo was only used to feed cows and hogs. 1 month ago

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especially the first sentence. 1 month ago

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your writing about your life and the struggles you’ve had is very beautiful and human and that you are a wise person. The entries you’ve made here on 43t are inspiring and wistful and full of hope and determination and acceptance and can make a positive difference in the life of everyone who reads them. Thank you for offering them here. 1 month ago

I’d rather…

1. be a secret agent, as long as I thought the work I was doing was for good guys

2. These aren’t mutually exclusive. Many gardeners farm and vice versa. I prefer gardening.

3. I’d father be a psychologist who studies philosophy.

4. Yes, I’d rather be a novelist or a poet.

5. I’ve never been to either but I suspect I’d rather be in Paris

6. Before I ever met my wife and was still searching, I’d probably have preferred to date Audrey Hepburn, but I don’t know. 1 month ago

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and not much has changed in my life in the last two years. I’m still happily married, have the same job as Technical Editor for a midsize corporation, live in the same house in the Midwest & still watch far too many movies & sporting events & television series. Still read the same sorts of things, mainly fiction, epic fantasy, memoir & young adult novels. Still dream of writing and publishing a novel or book of poems of my own. I’m 46 & pretty much settled & okay with that.

It’s good to be remembered! Thanks for that.

You, on the other hand, don’t appear to be close to settling down. Most every part of your life is in transition. You’re on your way to becoming a doctor & routinely saving people’s lives. On top of that, you’re a good writer with a gift for narration. No wonder you’ve been missed here. Your life is full of drama and suspense. And no wonder there are so many tv shows about interns and doctors’ lives.

Do you prefer Paris to any other place? Do you think you have a future with the new someone despite his lack of understanding?

By the way, the best U.S. tv show about a hospital was St. Elsewhere, from back in 1980s, in my opinion. Have you ever watched it? There must have been 7 or 8 seasons. Could be fun & relaxing in the little down time you have to get the dvds & watch them all in order. 1 month ago

to one of 43t’s most insightful users

Hope it’s a great day 1 month ago