House is sold

My agent has notified me that the buyer has completed their home inspection and has waived all conditions. This means my house is now officially sold

They had one condition in their offer that struck me as unusual - the condition that they will be able to get insurance for the house. It turns out that this was a roundabout way for the buyer to assure themselves that they weren't buying a growhouse.

They also wanted me to repair a crack in the basement, which I agreed to do. My agent referred me to a company, called The Crack Doctor, that does this work.

What an irony it is that I have a buyer who is concerned about buying a growhouse and I hire a contractor called The Crack Doctor.

An offer I won't refuse

I got an offer on my house that I can refuse, but I'm not going to.

I had been at the house doing some clean up work in the basement, and I just got home from that, when my agent called me. "All your work has paid off - I have an offer for you," he told me.

The price is lower than what I'd like but it's still in my range. The lower end of my range. It's a very short closing - only about three weeks away. I have to get the rest of my furniture out of the house by then, and I'm responsible for repairing a crack in the basement.

I'll be meeting my agent tonight to sign the paperwork.

Learning all about life

I had an interesting conversation with a young girl at church on Sunday - she's about 4 or 5 years old. It was during the hospitality part of the service, and she asked if I could please help her butter her bagel.

I told her that of course I would, and because she said please I would be most delighted to.

She said, "In my house, we never get anything we ask for unless we say please."

It made me happy to hear that there are still people in this world that value courtesy and are teaching it to their children. I replied to her, "Well there you go, now you know everything there is to know about life," I told her.

She paused for a moment and then said, "Well, maybe not everything."

What a precious gem.

Painting is almost done

I've almost finished painting the bedroom, as I mentioned in my previous post.

The room in question and I have spent a lot of time together in the past, particularly when I painted it the first time. Going back there this week to paint it again was like a reunion. I even felt the spirit of my first cat, Smudge, roaming the hallway and I missed him. I remember that I discouraged him from going into that room when I painted it the first time, because he once peed on the drop cloth.

First offer on house

I got an offer Saturday on the house I am selling. It was a low offer. I tried to meet him halfway but he didn't want to come up much from his price, so I let the offer go.

I've been getting comments that the house looks tired. One of the bedrooms is painted in a kind of psychedelic fashion - it was an experiment in creative painting I did a few years ago. I like it, but I think my potential buyers may be getting turned off by it and seeing it as needing work. So I plan to paint that bedroom in a more conservative colour this week.

GarageBand.com - next step

In considering the reviews I received on GarageBand.com from the song Yesterday Seems So Far Away, I have decided my next step will be to post an instrumental version of another song I wrote, called The Great Escape.

I want to do this as an experiment. Since I received so many negative comments about the vocals, I want to post an instrumental version so my reviewers will be able to hear the music and not be distracted by the vocal performance.

I have some ideas of steps I can take to improve the vocals on future recordings, but so far I'm kind of holding myself back from acting on any of those ideas. I guess one of the things that is holding me back is not having a clear sense of priorities - do I want to focus my energies on my music or on my creative writing? The truth is I want to accomplish in both areas - and so I end up puttering along on both fronts yet taking great strides in neither.

Greatest accomplishment

I've experienced my greatest accomplishment of the year. Perhaps of my lifetime.

J's brother is visiting us this weekend with his family, including their new baby. She was sleeping in one of the bedrooms. When she awoke, she started crying and neither her mommy or daddy were around. I picked her up and held her and rocked her and talked to her and sang to her - and finally she stopped crying.

I got a four month old baby to stop crying. I am so pleased with myself right now.

It's my birthday and I'll pfft if I want to

It's not the talking you need to worry about, it's the bad breath.

If someone had asked me yesterday how old I was, I could have said fourty years and three hundred sixty four days. Today, I am a little bit older (for those who aren't good at modulo math, that would be fourty one).

Here's a birthday horoscope I found:

Your self-confidence has suffered some damage. This year, however, marks your entry into a new and exhilarating phase of your life, bringing a most welcome change in your fortunes. It can only benefit you greatly at every level. Happy birthday to Matt Damon, 35.

How about that - I share a birthday with Matt Damon.

Well, I for one, am looking forward to this new and exhilarating phase. Last week I published my 100th blog post, and I am looking forward to the next 100.

Contracting work almost done

I went by the house I am selling earlier this week and saw that the contractor I had hired to do the face work was almost done. He had repaired the cracked wood and was in the process of painting it a couple of days ago. I am sure he is done by now.

Meanwhile, there continue to be showings at the house. Lots of showings so far. This is good - this part of the marketing pipeline is working well. But I want to get something to the next stage of the pipeline - an offer. A reasonable offer.

Building blocks, heros, and ensembles

I was searching on the internet the other day for story writing software. I was curious to learn what kind of software is out there for this purpose. I came across one application called John Truby's Blockbuster. There was a 15 day trial version available; I downloaded it in order to give it a spin. This fifteen day trial period will probably end before I've had a good look at it though.

This application is based on a model that uses 22 building blocks for developing a story. Building block #1 is Self-Revelation, Need, Desire. This is what the manual has to say about this building block:

The self-revelation, need, and desire represent the overall range of change of your hero in the story. They are the structural "journey" your hero will take. Therefore, it is important that you determine these elements first so that all other steps in the journey will lead you where you want to go.

I have been reluctant to identify a protagonist in Mission: Dawn because my vision for this story has been to create an ensemble cast. Must I have just one protagonist?

I looked up protagonist on wikipedia. It says In an ancient Greek drama, the protagonist was the leading actor and as such there could only be one protagonist in a play. Hmmm, okay, but Mission: Dawn is not an ancient Greek drama. I guess I need to do some more thinking about this.


Some articles I have found about story writing:
Protagonist - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
How To Write A Novel - A Simple Procedure to Follow by Paul Saevig
A Novel Idea - First of a series of columns by John Ravenscroft as he writes his first novel, in public

Got a contractor

I received a written estimate from one of the contractor's I met last week - the one that I said that they struck me as the most professional. I had expected that their estimate would be higher than the others I had. They're a professional company and I expected they would charge more for their services. I had expected their quote to be about $2000-3000 higher. It wasn't. It was about $10,000 more than what the other contractors I'd talked to had quoted me. Back to the drawing board, and I'm getting antsy to get the work started.

I called my financial advisor and I called a guy from my church who does real estate, and I asked them if they knew a contractor to whom they could refer me. Both of them had a contact for me.

I also called a guy I met recently from my men's group - he's a carpenter by trade. I met with him at the house, he said he could start on Monday, and to make a short story shorter, I gave him the job.

In the meantime, there have been about a dozen showings already, so I'm hoping at least one of them will lead to an offer.

Relationship milestone

J and I have reached a new milestone in our relationship. It is not as big as getting engaged but it's almost as significant.

We opened a joint account this week.

Now if only we actually put some money into it.

Marriage vending machine

I think someone should invent a marriage vending machine. Just think of it - you put in your credit card, punch a few buttons, it takes your picture, voila - you're married!

They could put these machines in convenience stores, gas stations, almost anywhere you'd find a regular vending machine or ATM. It could save couples from months and months and months of planning and expenses.

I'm heading down to the patent office now.

Looking for a contractor

After finding out that the contractor wanted a 50% deposit for fixing the front of the house that I am selling (see The pace of life picks up) I decided to keep looking for a contractor.

I got in touch with a few more contractors and arranged for them to come and look at the house.

One of the guys didn't show up.

Another one came and gave me a verbal estimate for the work I wanted done. I asked him to prepare for me a written estimate of the original work I wanted done. I haven't heard back from him yet.

Another one came also. He works for a company that has been around for quite a while. This company strikes me as the most professional of all the contractors I've talked to about this project. He phoned me yesterday to ask whether I wanted to receive his estimate by fax, regular mail or email.

I'd like to make a decision this week and get this project going.

Fireplace is now operational

I finally got busy with getting the fireplace looked at in my rental property (see Fireplace costs and Done Deal - basement tenant). When I had it inspected last year, the contractor told me not to use the fireplace because there are holes in the brick wall that could allow carbon monoxide to enter the house.

I had a technician from Direct Energy come look at it. I don't generally like dealing with Direct Energy - they give a four hour window of when they're going to come, and I've had experiences where I've waited and they didn't even show up. Dealing with them has been frustrating at times.

However, I wanted to get this fireplace operational, and if that meant waiting four hours for a technician to arrive, then that's what I prepared myself to do.

As it turns out, the technician arrived at only one hour into the four hour window. He cleaned the fireplace and tested it. It worked. He checked it for carbon monoxide leaks and there were none. As far as the holes in the brick walls go, they have nothing to do with the gas fireplace. They were probably used for ventilation with the original fireplace but serve no purpose with the gas fireplace unit in place.

So he declared the fireplace operational and safe to use. He spent 45 minutes on the premises and the charge was $130. Considering the value having a functional fireplace adds to the property, the peace of mind I get from knowing my tenants aren't going to get carbon monoxide poisoning, and knowing how much it could have cost me if I'd had to replace the fireplace, it was a worthwhile expense.

GarageBand.com - Track of the Day

I received this email from the people who run Garageband.com:

Congratulations! As a result of some very enthusiastic reviews from GarageBand.com members, "Yesterday Seems So Far Away" will be Track of the Day at GarageBand.com.

For 24 hours on Wednesday, the 28th of September, 2005 (PST) "Yesterday Seems So Far Away" will be featured on GarageBand.com's Progressive Rock front page. Best wishes from all at GarageBand.com and keep up the great work!

Wow! The people at GarageBand.com are much kinder than my own inner critic. Still, it's a victory and I will take it.

Big blue shi*t

I was speaking with J's three year old nephew, Little V, on the telephone last evening and I asked him what we was going to wear for Hallowe'en this year.

"Big blue shi*t," I heard him say.

"Big blue what?" I asked him. I wasn't sure if I was hearing what I was hearing.

"Big blue shi*t," he repeated. I was hearing what I was hearing.

Later I was speaking with his mother and I asked her what costume Little V was going to wear. "His Superman costume," she told me.

I told her what he had said to me.

"Oh, he still can't say R. He was saying that he was going to wear his big blue shirt."

The pace of life picks up

The pace of life has picked up since the beginning of the month. Since the time that I had my epiphany about selling my house, I have listed it for sale. I have been busy cleaning it up and preparing it for showings. Ironically, things have started picking up at work as well, so I have gone from two months of life at a casual, leisurely pace, to a much busier state of being.

At the same time that I have been preparing it for showings, I have also been trying to get a contractor to come in and fix an exterior window frame that looks rather ugly. It shouldn't be this hard to find a decent contractor for this job, but I just have not had luck. Out of the numerous contractors I called, one actually came to the house and gave me an estimate. His estimate was in the ballpark of what I was willing to spend so I was ready to give him the job - almost.

When I asked for a reference, he directed me to a flower shop where he had done the interior. I checked out the flower shop with J; the work looked decent. I also spoke with the owner and she gave him a decent review. So, I decided I would give him the job.

Then he asked for a 50% deposit. Yikes - that is excessive. Suddenly I don't feel so comfortable about hiring this guy.

My legacy

This weekend I attended a retreat called Legacy Discovery Event (LDE). During this event I came to realize that I don't know much about the people I came from or their lives. I didn't know my grandparents; I don't know who their parents were.

Throughout my life I have explored various forms of written and visual expression - journaling, creative writing, photography, video creation, blogging, music.

Perhaps these tools of expression will be part of the record of who I am and how I lived my life so that those who come after me may know me in a way that I did not know those who came before me.

Yesterday reviews - Part 3

Here is another sample of reviews I have received on GarageBand.com. I've included negative and positive reviews - trying to be fair here.

From Yucaipa, California -

Love the accoustic intro, there arent too many bands that could pull that off anymore. the feeling that it puts off is awesome. in the begining the vocals are a little of key but they correct themselves. love the melody, the accoustic is very melodic. i would hold the lighter up at a show! i dont think ive heard anybody that sounds quite like it but its deffinatly got an old sound. maybe emerson lake and palmer, but not quite. lyrics are reminisant, i like it. keep up the good work!

From United Kingdom -

1. lyrics are pretty dull im afraid to say
2. melody is something sadly lacking from this singer.
3. your sound is the sound of my nipples being cheesegratered, make it stop.

I worked really hard to get that nipples being cheesegratered sound, thanks for noticing! And they're not just anybody's nipples, they are specifically your nipples that are being cheesegratered.

From Nottingham Uk, United Kingdom -

very unusual voice,affecting melody and nice minimal tinkly guitar arrangement, give it lovely atmosphere reminiscent of simon and garfunkel(in a good way), lyrically engaging, with a very classic americana feel...simple but beautiful..

From Ithaca, New York -

What the Fu*k.This song is in wrong catagory or maybe not.It's like a english fairy tail or bedtime story to scare the crap out of ya, when your singing to a child.As strange as it seems it is a pretty cool song although the singer irratated me at first then seemed the perfect part but really is for a actor stage.Nice guitar picking.

From Corpus Christi, Texas -

this intro takes me back to 6th grade and some GnR or metallica. oh my god...i was wrong. its like terry jacks in a dracula costume. Yes-TURD-ay.. ..Uni-VERCITY... this is serious? i cant take it anymore.

Thanks for the insightful review. Say hello to your 7th grade teacher for me. I think you're trying to make a point here... that I used words with too many syllables?

From Somewhere, On Earth -

A very nice melody it has a pleasant smooth sound. I like the guitar work, it sounds very nice like Adrian Legg. The lyrics are excellent very deep and meaningful. The vocals are a little shakey as if the singer is slightly nervous? Maybe its your unique style. You asked who you sound like..The closest band that comes to mind would be Wishbone Ash.