"You'd never make it down those stairs drunk."

Well, the second outing was a little better than the first, but still no joy. I don't even want to write about them so I'll just leave it at one had a ripped up wood floor, one I saw three years ago, and one had one of those round staircases that would scare me after a drink or two. Sadly the one I really wanted to see went under contract that very day.
Back to the search.

Still Looking (Maybe I'll find a mising sink)

Well, It didn't happen. I didn't walk into the first place and immediately fall in love with it. I didn't shout "I'll take it!" I didn't sign any dotted lines. What I did do was sigh at the damage and move on to look at several other places, none of which made we want to shout anything.

Okay, it was my first day looking. I know me. I get my hopes up only to have them dashed. Just as I can see a man on the subway and imagine us married, I can look at pictures of a house and imagine it to be a home.

This first outting included the first stop that I was sure I was going to love. I didn't love it. The above-ground basement level needs a complete gutting and restore. The current "walls" don't even go all the way to the floor. Not sure what happened to the sink in the bathroom but it appears to be living somewhere else now. And the trail of fresh cement down the hallway over the plumbing that was repaired was a reminder of just how much work is still needed. The back yard was nice, but to get to it from the kitchen (think cooking out), I'd have to go down the narrow stairs, down the the hall, through the whatever you want to call that little back room and up a small flight of stairs. Not condusive to the backyard BBQ.

I also looked at a couple of apartments in a nice building just next to Hoboken (still technically Jersey City, but not quite close enough to Hoboken to make it count). They were very nice but too small for this little family. There was also the place with the really odd layout and heavy leak. There was the well-appointed place with the many walls chopping up the living space badly. And there was the place with the very small deck but next to one of the nation's top high schools. I took some notes for some and drew X's through others.

So, the hunt, as expected, continues. My boss has joined in the hunt and has found a few places of interest.

As for the mortgage, very good news in that my credit remains excellent and getting approved won't be a problem. Happy Days.

House Hunting (Again!)

Well, here we go again: House Hunting in Jersey City 2.0. If I were looking for a rental, it'd be more like 5.0 but I'm back at the buyer's table, I hope.

From time to time, I'll update this space on the process, maybe put up a few pictures of the winners and losers I see. I have a little more than five months until my lease ends but I hope this process doesn't need five months to complete. I hope, by the time the evening of Dec. 31, 2011, rolls around, I'll be celebrating New Year's Eve in my new place and starting the new year with a private backyard for Jack and the cats, and me, to enjoy. How much is a Jacuzzi?

For the first entry, some notes on why I'm leaving a building I love that is home to great neighbors and friends. Well, contrary to the impression my FaceBook posts leave on the current machinations at the building, I've been considering it for some time. I actually started thinking seriously about it again when other residents said rents were going up 3%. I already pay a lot and don't see the value in throwing more money into the rental winds. The current drama pushed me over the edge, but let's hope not off a financial cliff! I haven't turned in my notice and won't until a deal is done. Who knows? I may be here another year after all.

So, I'm hitting the pavement. I started by downloading a few apps to the iPad that listed properties (really like Trulia, Zillow and Realtor.com). I searched the Web. And I canvassed friends for recommendations for agents. I found a place on the Web that sounded very nice (two bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, private backyard) that is in my area and my price range so I sent the agent a note. Tonight, I'm seeing the place and four others. It's been described as needing some work so I'm bracing myself for the worst but quietly hoping for the best. It's always interesting to see how the reality of a property compares with its listing.

The last time I looked seriously was in the summer of 2008 when I returned from the Philippines. Such very expensive dogs they were. And, in my very limited price range, the areas up for grabs were well out there. You could forget about even looking to buy in Downtown Jersey City. Three years later, and I'm hoping the market has come at least somewhat to its senses.

Some notes: The agent couldn't show me the place last week because she was too busy with closings. I'm not sure if this is a good sign for sellers or buyers. Both? Neither? The mortgage guy is running my numbers for preapproval. He said something interesting: We're still trying to give people too much money; we're just not lending to people with bad credit. He assured me he'd be trying to throw too much money at me and I assured him I'm quite conservative and would not be borrowing beyond what I see as my means.

Reality Sank In

So. I’ve done it. I’ve taken the bold step of killing my home phone…and with it went the Internet and cable.

I know. I know. There was a collective gasp in horror. Not for the death of a useless home number, but for the demise of cable and, gasp, the Internet. How will I live? Well, I didn’t even survive half a day.

Before the pixels on my computer screen were even cold, I was back negotiating with the cable company.

A few months ago, my cable bill jumped to $250 when my “deal” expired. I immediately called and negotiated another deal. At the time, I had intended to dump the phone and just have the web and cable. However, it was actually cheaper to have all three than just the two. The bill went down to around $140 and I gained HBO. That’s cable pricing for you.

For the past two weeks, my cable was intermittent at best and I’d lost the on-demand function and even my DVR stopped working. There was a storm so I gave them some time to figure things out. Then, even the cable listings went away so I called to schedule service. The earliest was 3 to 5 Sunday, four days away. While I hated to give up my Sunday afternoon to wait for the cable company, I agreed. And truth be told, I spent those two hours sitting on my roof with Jack and some friends. At 6 p.m., I called to ask why no one had shown. Despite having a message on my phone saying I was scheduled, I was told I’d never been scheduled. I played the message for her. Still no joy. I told her that if someone wasn’t there that evening, I would be calling to cancel the next day. No one came. I canceled.

They didn't give up easily. They asked to reschedule. I said no. I did, however, ask how much it would be to keep my Internet only. Nearly $60! No way. Cut the cords. Cut them all!

I told a couple of co-workers and, yes, there was shock and dismay at my rash action. I think I even sweat a little. Then, off to the gym I go, where I really sweat: equal parts from the treadmill and the realization that my Internet would really be gone. The phone, I never use. While I love having cable, I don’t actually watch it that much. Anything I want to watch I can find on the Internet and download. Wait! The Internet! I may need that. I couldn’t rely on the random unlocked account. I couldn’t rely on my iPhone. I had to get it back. Not just for Family Guy and True Blood. I need it for work. I need it to shop. I need it to find my way around.

So, it seems, that thing – the WWW – that was once a nice thing to have has become a necessity. And that thing – the home phone – that was once a necessity doesn’t even rate as a nice thing to have anymore. As for cable, I can take it or leave it and be none the worse for wear for either choice.

I’m not alone in cutting the cord. My friends recently cut the cable cord but still get free basic cable out of the wall and they don’t have a home phone. One of my sisters hasn’t had a home phone for years and says she doesn’t miss it. A co-worker cut her collective cord and within a few weeks went back to reconnect. It didn’t take me even that long. The headline here is the reaction of co-worker after I canceled the cancellation.

After chatting online with the cable company, the price was down to $40.  Then I called and my Internet is back on. This time, however, it’s only $31. I can live with that, for now.

Just testing the waters

Humm....I suppose I should finally learn more about all this blogging stuff and what better way than to actually try blogging myself. I suppose this first post, in the light of a new day, is a better way to start than a gin-soaked entry filed in the dead of night. When I used to write, when I was young, the gin-soaked, cigarette-fueled entries were always the better ones, but also ones that should never -- and likely will never -- see the light of day, let alone the light of the Internet.

One evening, while drinking gin on my roof, I played around with creating a blog with the Macbook and it seemed relatively easy to post text and images. However, that attempt didn't make it past the closed walls of my hard drive. This posting is likely to actually be born, but I'm not sure how many siblings it will have, nor how often they will pop out.

Let's see, one of the things they (whoever they actually are) say when creating a blog, one should have a reason in mind for the blog to exist. I'm not sure that I do. A friend - a fashion designer -- blogs about life and fashion. Another - a retiree who camps -- blogs about life and camping. A third -- an English gentleman -- blogs about life and seeing it through English eyes that have weather more than one summer. I think my blog will have life in it some place. Who's life has yet to be determined: my life or the lives I witness around me or both.

For  now, I think I'm going to start with just me.