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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Recovery is almost never a straight line. It's usually three steps forward and one (or two and occasionally four!) steps back. As long as over the course of several days he seems to be making progress, that's good.

I have my fingers crossed that he will continue to get better.

As an aside, if the police had to "find" the guy that hit him, it sounds like a "hit and run". Maybe he was drunk at the time and needed a few hours to burn thru the alcohol, and maybe the RCMP (or whoever is handling the investigation) can't prove drunk driving so long after the fact, but he could be in a bunch of trouble.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

"The messy American environment, where most people don't agree, is perfect for people like me. I CAN DO AS I PLEASE." - SECOND

America is an oligarchy http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=57876 .

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Originally posted by Brenda:
I found my Serenity coffee cup in a box that I didn't think I would.

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Originally posted by Brenda:
I found my Serenity coffee cup in a box that I didn't think I would.

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Originally posted by 1KIKI:
YAY!!!

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Originally posted by Brenda:
I found my Serenity coffee cup in a box that I didn't think I would.

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Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:

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Originally posted by Brenda:
I found my Serenity coffee cup in a box that I didn't think I would.

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Well. NOW you're getting your priorities in order.

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Originally posted by Brenda:
I know. The box was labelled "Misc. papers to be double checked". So, I wrongly assumed that it held old papers that belonged to my mom and still needed to be sorted through and shredded. Boy, was I wrong. I found books that I inherited from my late guy and this coffee cup.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:

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Originally posted by Brenda:
I know. The box was labelled "Misc. papers to be double checked". So, I wrongly assumed that it held old papers that belonged to my mom and still needed to be sorted through and shredded. Boy, was I wrong. I found books that I inherited from my late guy and this coffee cup.

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Wow. What a find. That would have me on my heels for a day or two, sorting through the emotions.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
So speaking of progress ... how're things going with your teeth SIX? Haven't heard much from you on the personal end, I hope things are going OK.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Even tho it's been a while since, Brenda, you have my sympathies for your losses.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
BRENDA, you must REALLY have been in a cramped situation! It sounds to me like you were forced to move into a teeny tiny place with all of your wordly possessions quite a while ago, and you're FINALLY getting a chance to unearth/unpack your things, and make a home for yourself! I'm glad that you're able to arrange your things and make a nice place for yourself. It must be so pleasant to be able to revisit memories, and to be able to invite people over and have a place for them!

I'm happy for you!

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

"The messy American environment, where most people don't agree, is perfect for people like me. I CAN DO AS I PLEASE." - SECOND

America is an oligarchy http://www.fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?tid=57876 .

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
SIX. Life, as they say, is what happens as we make other plans. I'm sorry to hear that progress on your house it out of your hands. Sometimes things like that happen.

Sounds tho like you have a goal in mind, and that's to move someplace smaller and closer to your brother. It's good to have a goal to look forward to, instead of just treading water! Also, will you have AC??

Where I grew up, our bedrooms were basically a converted attic, right under the roof. The roof was well-insulated, but there were no windows facing west (where the wind usually blew from) and no cross-breeze, and I remember having an EXTREMELY hard time getting to sleep. I didn't realize it then because I was just a little kid, but it was just too damn hot. So I know a little about hot humid weather, and I know it's worse the further inland you go. I think I got my hatred of hot weather from that experience.

May I make a suggestion? For your next job, set your sights higher? You're a smart guy, you know how to problem-solve. Maybe there will be a responsible position where your problem-solving skills are an asset, and you don't have to be a droid manager. Licensed hanydman? Software developer? Not sure what fits your skillset, but I have faith in you.

/b]

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Thanks.

I'm not worried about anything. Just like the loss of my job, I just needed some time to wrap my head around everything and "mourn" for lack of a better word.

I built up pretty good rapport with the realtor. She's old enough to retire, but loves what she does so she keeps doing it. I asked her about the job situation down there and she said her husband works at the Caterpillar plant and they're having a hard time getting good people that stick around. She then went on to talk about the "kids" these days and how they don't want to work and told me a story or two about people her husband must have known who didn't make the cut.

Asking myself the question "do I really want to work full time" might not be an option for me going forward anymore, at least until I put a sizable amount back in a bank account, anyhow. I let her know that when I first called her I thought I'd be coming down there with quite a lot more money than I likely will be now. The house I like that we looked at might not be something I can purchase without a mortgage at this point. It wouldn't be much, but it would still be a mortgage. Even if I manage to eek out enough in the sale of my current house to barely cover it, I wouldn't want to leave myself with virtually nothing and feel that panic of living paycheck to paycheck that I haven't felt since my early 20's.

Banks don't typically like giving loans out, even small ones like this, unless you have quite an established work history, so even if I have a decent job down there I might not be able to secure the cash I need unless I can get somebody to co-sign the loan with me. I'd like to think that would be an option, given that I'm really the only one in the position to move right down with my brother and they'd know that I'd be down there within a few miles of him (the house I like right now is only 3 blocks away, actually).

At the end of the day here, I'm still a lot better off than a majority of Americans. I'm going to have to do something about my income situation, but as far as cash on hand and whatever this house is still worth, I'm not in terrible shape. Even if my worst fears come true and I can't even get rid of this house for less than $30k.

I was talking to my mom and step-dad about it when I got back and said it's not as if I didn't learn a lot and improve myself while this was all going on. I also felt that maybe it came just a bit too easy for me this time around and I didn't appreciate it like I should have either. Sure... I had to sacrifice a lot of things to save up that kind of money, but let's face it... I'm not Mr. Social and it was a good excuse to stop going out and blowing all of my money socializing while I was making it.

I won't go as far as to say that I didn't deserve it. I made a lot of smart decisions. I showed a lot of restraint. I did without a lot of things that other people couldn't or wouldn't. But shortly after reaching my goal I just sort of fizzled out and stopped giving a shit about anything. This is actually a common theme to my life, and something I desperately need to do something about. I go full bore on something, sometimes for many years of my life and always to the exclusion of other things that should be important to me, only to reach the finish line and sit on my laurels... thus, in time, making any sacrifices I made to get there completely in vain.



As for the A/C? Yup. This house has it. Central air. It was turned on the day I looked at it and it was certainly noticeable, what with the 91 degree temps outside that felt like 98 degrees that day. One of those sticky days where your shirt is drenched in sweat just from doing nothing. The A/C was nice. :)

Just another reason I'd be thrilled to get out of my current house. It's so hot around here right now that I go out to work and sweat just because it's just so gross to sit around doing nothing and sweating.



My goals right now...

1. Make the outside curb appeal as nice as possible to showcase the huge lot and potential for a family to live there. It's a great spot for kids with almost zero through traffic.

2. Desperately try to get rid of the ants, or at least beat them back from the perimeter of the house. I haven't had them inside the house proper for a few years, but while doing weeding out front last weekend it was obvious they are in full force just outside the perimeter. Had I not put a lot of poison down around the foundation early this spring they probably would be inside the walls right now. I just put a full bag of stuff out with the spreader that is designed to cover 5,000 sq feet around the perimeter of the house and garage. A bit overkill, maybe, but desperate times yada, yada...

3. Double down on my de-cluttering effort and letting go of more things than I initially intended to. The goal is to bring it down to the size of a 12" moving truck, (a single bedroom apartment) leaving room for any appliances I might take taking up no more than a 16" truck. (The house I want has a washer and dryer, but no stove and fridge. I might even want to swap out the washer and dryer for my own since mine are amazing and the ones there are certainly a step down from what I have). I won't be getting rid of any tools or my lawnmower and snow blower. My old man will take all of that temporarily if I have to rent first.

4. Get in contact with a real estate agent and one or two reputable places with BBB certification that buy houses for cash and see what my options are.

5. Look for higher quality jobs both here and down by my brother.


I don't know how possible it would be, but I'd be thrilled if I was living down there by the first snowfall. I guess that would depend on how good of a cash offer I could get and/or if there is any chance of scoring a good job when I go down there. If the offers are far too low and/or I can't secure a decent job remotely, I'll have to go with an agent and I might be stuck here until next spring.


I'm getting the feeling that my friend was kind of talking out of his ass when he said he might buy the property for another rental if I was willing to sell it for "something low like $60k". He may have just been trying to cheer me up. I did think that if he were to do that though I could just hang here until winter and he'd have a live-in person to help him fix up the house and pay to keep the electric on (which is a must for the sump pump). That would be kind of cool.


Anyway...

Gotta get motivated now. I've got a lot of stuff to do.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Looking at the earthquake map, and completely unrelated? to the recent large quakes I see three nearly parallel faults starting where the San Andreas branches off south of Highland. The main part of the San Andreas continues running to the SE, through Thousand Palms and east of the Salton Sea. Another fault set starts just to the west of the San Andreas around Loma Linda and branches off to the S then curving and running SE parallel to the San Andreas. They become a series of braided faults called the San Jacinto fault zone, west of the Salton Sea and down to near Mexicali. And west of those faults is a separate parallel set of braided faults, running SE to the west of Mexicali.

ALL of them have been very active over the last few days.

The more northern part of the San Andreas has been very active from San Fran SE to Simmler. The section SE from Simmler to Loma Linda is quiet. So everything's moving except for the section north of the San Gabriels, from Loma Linda to Simmler.

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Last night I felt the earth move ...

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Hope you got earthquake insurance ...

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and an exit plan, Kiki.

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Speaking of which, I may or may not have mentioned before, I don't have homeowner's insurance. I got rid of it around 4 years ago when the price went up over $1k/year. Stupid, right?

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But then I looked deeper into it......
Just like my teeth situation, insurance would not cover a single issue that I currently have. I already knew that about the water, but the ant issue isn't covered either. That's considered a problem that can be prevented with proper maintenance, and not an act of god like a tornado or a tree falling and destroying your roof. I wouldn't have gotten a single dime out of them for any of my current problems.
Go figure, huh?

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Well.... Off to Goodwill. Got a carload of really good stuff to give them and it's half price Saturday so hopefully I find some good shirts and jeans.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
There were large to somewhat large undersea quakes in the Queen Charlotte sound - 6.2, 5.6, 4.7, and 4.6. But there were only 2 small quakes - a 2.0 and a 1.0 - near the city of Victoria.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

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Last night I felt the earth move ...

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No, seriously.
I've been dying to say that ever since whenever.

So, yes, a large earthquake. Fortunately for us very far away from here. (Not so fortunate for the ppl near Ridgecrest.)

What most people don't realize, and what I keep forgetting, is that earthquakes don't happen like on TV. They don't start with a bang, they usually start with Is something ...? followed byDo you feel that? We had a whole conversation while I figured out that hubby was right and indeed we were having a quake and I went down the hall to check on dear daughter (and noticed that the clothes in her closet were swinging on the rack) and went back to the kitchen. During most of that time the swaying slowly got harder and harder. Since the biggest earthquakes are also the longest, an earthquake could potentially "ramp up" for a long time into something eventually catastrophic. And it's not like it just quits, either. The earth still moves many times after the main shock.

*****

Just a couple of thoughts: Looking at the WORLD map, there are (of course) dozens of plate boundaries, but the only real active one seems to be the Pacific plate. I know that the motion is different at different parts of the boundary, leading to strike-slip and thrust faults but my brain just kind of cmompresses the whole thing into a general picture that the Pacific plate is, overall, ROTATING counterclockwise.

There was a discussion late last year IIRC about how the "big" earthquakes (>7) tend to occur in 32-year cycles. Last year was the 32nd year. I remember thinking that we might have snuck past "the big one" again! Of course, maybe there's some wobble in that timing.

It's a good reminder that we need to be prepared. I've been telling hubby about my efforts to collect up enough supplies, that the most probable disaster that's going to befall us isn't catastrophic societal collapse but earthquake (well, maybe earthquake followed by societal collapse!)

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Originally posted by Brenda:
KIKI, the scientists have been talking about "The Big One" for the Lower Mainland of BC since I was a child.

First earthquake I experienced I was a child. It happened at night so I was in bed. It woke me up with my bed moving. All my classmates were talking about it the next day and it was on the news of course.

The other two I was an adult. The next one I was in my 30s and had fallen asleep on the couch. The couch moved out from the wall and then moved back. Woke up again but I guessed what was going on.

The next one I was in a shopping mall with my mom. We were sitting in a MacDonald's having coffee when the floor started shaking. 2 young Asian women sitting near us looked around scared and my mom looked at me and I said, "Earthquake" and we went back to our coffee. It lasted a minute or so. Then nothing.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:

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Originally posted by Brenda:
KIKI, the scientists have been talking about "The Big One" for the Lower Mainland of BC since I was a child.

First earthquake I experienced I was a child. It happened at night so I was in bed. It woke me up with my bed moving. All my classmates were talking about it the next day and it was on the news of course.

The other two I was an adult. The next one I was in my 30s and had fallen asleep on the couch. The couch moved out from the wall and then moved back. Woke up again but I guessed what was going on.

The next one I was in a shopping mall with my mom. We were sitting in a MacDonald's having coffee when the floor started shaking. 2 young Asian women sitting near us looked around scared and my mom looked at me and I said, "Earthquake" and we went back to our coffee. It lasted a minute or so. Then nothing.

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I remember reading about the upcoming devastation in the Seattle area. But it and Vancouver, Victoria, along with Portland are all part of the Cascadia(?) subduction zone. Here in SoCal the two sides of the San Andreas just slide past each other. There, one plate dives all the way under the other. And it seems pretty intuitive why subduction would cause far more devastating earthquakes than sliding plates, but I couldn't tell you the exact mechanism why! Anyway, predictions are that when there finally is a significant subduction earthquake, it'll be like all hell just broke loose.

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