My gut tells me you may be right, but the particular city I live in was one of the least affected by the last bubble and is projected to have a steady (and substantial) increase in population for the foreseeable future. Prices have been on a moon rocket for the past several years as it is, so unless you're completely right it's now or never. Plus I'm looking in the range of "flaming turd" where there's less markup, I'll put my own labor in to make it nice rather than paying someone else a premium for having done so.
If you're cool with rehabbing, the best time to buy is after the foreclosures. I saved a buddy $200k in 2007; got his ass out three months before the collapse. His former development is a ghost town now. There are people predicting the imminent collapse of the market and apocalyptic corrections but I think it's safer to say we're looking at a mild bear market which, if nothing else, will slow the "moon rocket" towards its apex. The longer you wait, the more downpayment you have, the less PMI, the better your financing, etc etc etc.
So yeah I'm first and yeah I'm back to brag, I got my score back for the Analytical Writing portion of the GRE and I pearled it - 6/6, 99% percentile. On the other hand I had to confirm with my ex that we were still very definitely broken up with last night. The last text he sent me reads "Your dumb bye." I kind of love it.
Congratulations! Do you have those samples for Watson to analyze? If you paste "Your dumb bye." 33 times you get: You are assertive: you tend to speak up and take charge of situations, and you are comfortable leading groups. You are excitement-seeking: you are excited by taking risks and feel bored without lots of action going on. And you are imaginative: you have a wild imagination. Your choices are driven by a desire for modernity. You are relatively unconcerned with tradition: you care more about making your own path than following what others have done. You consider independence to guide a large part of what you do: you like to set your own goals to decide how to best achieve them. P.S. I haven't forgotten the blog thing.You are boisterous, opinionated and can be perceived as critical.
I don't have my samples from the GRE, sadly, I don't get a copy of them - I am not allowed to reveal information about the test questions so having the written answers would I think do that. I did run the ex (or 1k words' worth) through Watson and holy shit batman look at this Emotional Range: Prone to worry94% Melancholy98% Immoderation96% Self-consciousness97% He got a 0% for self-discipline, dear god, Watson, I love you.Emotional range96%
Fiery98%
P. P. S. mk actually if it is possible, if you have any comments on the poem packet, I'd really appreciate that before/in lieu of immediate DVH fixing. Just because I am starting to get gnawingly ... thoughtful, that's a nice word for it. (Anxious, maybe, if we are honest.)
Thanks, tng. :) Not dating him is...very much the right move, actually for both of us (I'm not a fun person to date if I'm ambivalent or worse about dating a person) - but I understand that he won't be able to see that, at least for a while, maybe not ever.
I'm in that same situation right now. The text you got is amazing, what a guy.I'm not a fun person to date if I'm ambivalent or worse about dating a person
Isn't it 6 out of 7? (only jealous bc I got a 5)
HUH. i swear there was a 7... but yeah a 5 is 93rd percentile and if a 6 is 99th I guess there is no 7. WOO
Yesterday, I instructed our broker to tell the landlords we've been negotiating with since February that we were through. Yesterday, my wife and I made the decision to eat the architectural fees incurred so far and cut bait. Yesterday, my wife and I made the decision to give up on the space a five minute walk from the house in order to pursue a better space a five minute drive away. Yesterday, my wife and I made the realization that they've cost us $7500 in lost revenue simply because they're incapable of getting documents signed within six weeks. Yesterday I ran the calcs in Excel and determined that between the lower interest rate charged on our capital and the higher costs incurred because they refuse to rehab their space up to code, what was a $300/mo difference in their favor has become a $450/mo difference to their disadvantage. This, combined with the fact that our interactions with the state regulatory agencies have illustrated our requirements are less stringent than we thought, indicates that our space planning needs are substantially more versatile than we thought and as a result, the space we stopped pursuing in June has become a lot more interesting in the past week. Isn't it nice that the owner of the building (not his broker) approached our broker out of the blue two days ago to see if a deal could be made? I'm told the space isn't even listed on any of the indices right now. not gonna lie. It sucks ASS to have eaten $4k in design fees. It sucks ASS to give up on two months of revenue. And it sucks ASS to have been entrenched in mortal combat over contracts for six months only to walk away with only three points of contention left. But holy shit as soon as we decided we were done with them it was like a weight off our shoulders. It's like that moment when you've finally had enough of the abusive boyfriend and you make up your mind that you're through. We haven't officially severed ties yet. That seems imprudent. But we're definitely refocusing our energies on the other property, fees and penalties be damned. I HATE commercial real estate. It's gotten to the point where the best experience I've had in the past six months has been burning money out of spite.
you should print out some photos of Bejamins, and actually set them on fire. might make you feel better. burning money out of spite.
Good luck, friend. Also, I'm glad to know there's a non-faith version of AA.
http://www.smartrecovery.org There are forums, chat rooms, and online meetings.
Is this a fun trip? My first (so far only) time in Europe had me in Belfast the first day. I couldn't get into where I was staying until later in the day, so I walked to the Titanic exhibit. It definitely helped with the jet lag.
Feeling very grateful today. Mornings are always a struggle for me, but today felt effortless. And by effortless I mean I don't remember waking up but somehow I'm at work, dressed to impress and sipping a green smoothie well before my first patient is due to arrive. I was reflecting on my drive in that I'm really glad I got the position I have now, versus the one that I was going to accept back in the early spring. The difference in environment, and quality of coworkers is marked, and each day at that other job would have been pretty soul-crushing. Working in research, I still have to think about the bottom line, but with regards to results, rather than result$. On a completely unrelated note, since my move in June I've gone to a few services at the local Buddhist temple, and I'm thinking about expanding my religious understanding a bit. For example, I had some friends who grew up in a Unitarian Universalist church and as a kid I never got it through my head that UU's weren't 'Christian' at least not in the same way that I was 'Christian.' From what I've found online, it seems like something that's worth knowing more about, so I can think about it in an informed manner if nothing more.
I've gone to a few UU services! Generally UUs are good people although they can sometimes be a bit woo-y for me. But then again that's probably how I feel about most religious people. I'm not religious, but I enjoy knowing about religions. I think religion is a common backbone for most civilizations and it can be really educational to be aware of common religious myths and legends - while you may not believe them, they did/do form the structure around which many people's lives, as well as entire civilizations, were built.
I would recommend the Calm and A Soft Murmur apps. I also really like meditation audio books. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.calm.android
As a kid I had to go to church every sunday. When I was about 12 I finally pushed back and said I didn't want to go any more. My mom being the smart lady she is told me that was fine but that, like all things, I would have to work for what I wanted. For twelve consecutive weeks I had to attend a service at 12 houses of worship. At first they were mostly christian churches, but I also went to mosques, synagogues, temples, and an odd tea ceremony with a wonderful old woman. In this, I found many things, but the one that sticks out to me now was how well the experience worked to help unblur the line between the church, religion, and God. I recommend it to everyone.
I do, but it's difficult so I'm going to be bumbling through it. "Church" is just the language I was given to describe a holy house, I'll be using the language that I was raised in often, sorry if that creates confusion. I went to many of these churches and saw that all of them were made of two parts - the physical location and the congregation. The physical location was a nice space of reverence where you could, in quiet contemplation, consider your relation to God. This is a good thing to have, but is also the far less important of the two. The latter, the congregation, is the treasure of the church. In every building I went to, from impoverished to elaborate, the value always laid in the people. They gave the space words and warmth and music. At the time I didn't understand this, but after I did I was able to minimize the importance of the space and maximize the importance of the people. For a long stretch of my life I was lost, but everywhere I went I was able to find my church. I didn't seek it in a physical location, but in the people who brought me words and warmth and music, and for the people I could always find a space. The religion was simple, it was a prescribed course of actions people took that were known to bring individuals closer to God. Through thousands of years of editing by trial, each path had managed to write a very solid map of the journey to God. If you were new to the path and had no idea what the journey held for you, you could follow the guide to a T and feel safe that you were doing things right. But the longer you walked the path and the more you got to know your church and the many paths each member was taking, the more it was possible to know that a map will never be a journey, only a map. You use a map as a tool, but you still have to take your own personal journey. The map can help you if you get lost or don't know where to go, but you still must take the journey. From this I learned to use the maps. It helped me find my way when I was lost and didn't know what to do. It kept me from falling to a place that I fear I wouldn't have recovered from and gave me rituals to perform when I couldn't bring myself to do anything else. At worst they were superstition, but at best they were a story I could follow when I felt I had no story of my own. Lastly there was God. I cannot tell you what I learned of God except that God is. Anything I could write here would be a crude map, and a pale shadow of the religions that have been honing their cartography for generations. I learned that God is something besides the people, something besides the map, something besides the journey. God is a word we use to talk poorly about a thing that can't be experienced or discussed any better than children can discuss thermodynamics. God is many things to me, just as God is many things to everyone and for that reason God is above all personal. I have learned that everyone has their own God but believe that somehow all of these personal Gods are the same thing. That last bit is part of my personal God, and I have every reason to believe that my relationship with that thing will grow and change with each step I take and each person I met. I learned all of these things at the time and I am still learning to articulate them. Anyone can take the same journey and will learn completely different things, and in this way nothing that I have written holds any real value. The value is only in the Journey.
Thanks for sharing! Personally, I've had a major hate-on for Christianity in specific and organized religion in general for a few years and I'm trying to appreciate the few good bits more, to help balance out some of the acid I still hold for anybody with the gall to say that they have answers. (See what I mean?)
I know what you mean. I have met a lot of people and while some of them were rotten I think most of them were (generally) good. I've also gotten drunk with a few holy men and gotten to see just how human they are. They carry the weight of their church and often find that what their church wants to hear is that someone has the answers. These folks went to seminary and, if they spent their time well, listened people tell them for years that no one has the right answers. Some wrote their thesis around that fact. But when a mother and father whose child died in gasping silence from an asthma attack one room over while they slept soundly and they come to you for comfort, what do you give them? It's a hard world for all of us. I don't mean to preach but I live near a seminary school now and spend a lot of time with them. It's a jarring perspective.
Today is the first day I am "out in the field" for work. I am shadowing a colleague on some sales calls. She is the second person I have met in person at my company and I've worked here for three weeks. -Brave new world! Should be fun.
OH GOD MATH I started my new master's degree this week. So far so good, even though I need to trudge through three math courses. I really hope I can pull it off the first time around. As soon as I have that behind me, I have a lot of freedom in choosing courses - there's an abundance of interesting courses for me to take, from Air Traffic Management and Design of Multi-Modal Infrastructure Networks to Elements of Railway Engineering. There's more infrastructure in a month here than in a year of my bachelor's, and I couldn't be happier about it. Now all I need to do is not fail miserably.
I was thinking about public transportation yesterday. The worse part of it for me, if that it takes forever, and it is much harder to stop for food. I watched a show on regional bento boxes. I always wish there were areas with wild food, or some guy selling avocados, when I am waiting on a bus. Public transportation can be really fatiguing. That is probably not your program, but it my biggest problem as a user.
Actually, I will be doing multiple courses on public transport because I am quite interested in the policy side of transportation. It really depends on the city how good public transport is though. It's terrible in a lot of cities because a) cities are car-centered: b) there is not enough profit / funding, c) the company / organization is just crap or d) governments don't care.
Damn, hope that engineering going as planned, super hard thing to get a master's degree in.I'm in the same situation as you, except that I'm a freshmen right now, and look forward towards getting a math BA
One of my profs has us doing electrodynamic vector calculus in 4D on our individual whiteboards, and then he comes around and helps (/judges) us. Every class. Shit's rough.
Last semester of school, and I realized I don't have any "normal" classes this semester so it should be fun. I have: - the intership evaluation paper -2 semester-long computer simulations where you have a team that manages a business and play against the rest of the class -one class called "improving you oral presentations" - one intensive class for 3 weekends called "creativity, invoation and entrepreneurship" In sad news, my grandfather died sunday :( I'm happy I was at the hospital when it happened because I didn't visit much during the week and I would have been feeling crazy guilty. It all happened so fast... we knew he was dying but a month ago everyone was still hoping he will last until christmas. He was a great man, I have honestly NEVER heard him EVER say anything negative. I will miss him.
I'm sorry Elizabeth. You know, I don't think I've ever encountered you saying a negative thing here. Your grandfather seems to have had a great effect on you. I'm glad you had such a positive person in your life and I'm sorry for your loss. My best to you and your family.
Thanks :) I'm sad but I've been keeping busy and I can't say it affected much in my life. I cried a bunch the first day but I havn't really since. I only remember when I have some down town in public transport and stuff like that. Am I a bad person for moving on so quickly? :(
Absolutely not. People have very different reactions to the death of a loved one and I think that as you were sad but were not over-encumbered by it is a healthy reaction and shows that you're certainly not a bad person. That said, others in your family may not be coping so well so keep their feelings in mind and if you can help them to move on you should. :) Sorry for your loss.
Um, school began. It's odd because people complain about how big the school is, but I managed to end up with two friends in my first class and a kid I really dislike in my second. Most of my classes so far have been stellar, and each taught by thoughtful professors. Only one of them I have an issue with. My school has this nasty habit of listing one teacher during scheduling then when you actually get to the class it is taught by someone completely different. It's not to say the Poli Sci professor I have now is bad, I just like the previously listed professor more. My mom got offered a job that would move her to Holland(Well not immediately, but the transfer is a very strong possibility). I'm not sure she is considering it or anything but still I think that's pretty cool. I mean I've always wanted to live in Europe, but I don't think any of my family has. Lastly, I'm 8 days away from actually turning 21 and my friends wanted to go really big with it, but I honestly have no interesting in celebrating in any grand matter. I guess if it's my birthday we do what I want. arguewithatree checking in! I kind of struggled this week with the transition from just working to working and school. I missed a day or two of lifting, but came back strong today. Hoping you're healthy and happy!
Glad to read things are going so well! Happy birthday, that's a big one. Don't let your friends buy you too many shots. :)
school starts back up for me today too. i already have this person in one of my classes that can't stand. she's been in at least one class per semester with me. other than that, i am super excited to be back in classes as much as I will whine and say otherwise. you only turn 21 once! make sure it's what you want to do. my 21st was... something to say the least but I won't forget it. Still haven't made a consistent schedule but I have been walking almost everywhere so there's that at least
My mother went to see her brother because he is most certainly dying from cancer. This man is also her rapist, so I don't know how to feel about that. I have no idea how she can be so incredibly forgiving. I swear that woman is a saint, but there must be a ton of conflicting feelings going on there.
I just found out I will be in Philadelphia for some work stuff Nov 3-4. Anyone in the City of Brotherly Shove want to grab a bite or a drink? I will certainly be in meetings both days, and likely a dinner thing on the 3rd... but there's a strong possibility that I will be able to peel away. _refugee_ are you still in or around the city? Don't make me sticker philly all by myself... speaking of which - insomniasexx or thenewgreen are there any stickers to be had? As always, I'm happy to throw some green to make it happen.
Supposedly we should have the new stickers sometime next week! Whooooo!
WORD. It's a long time off at this point - but we'll keep in touch. I'll be staying right smack in the middle of town by the city hall building. I get in LATE on Monday night - leave Thursday afternoon. Maybe Tuesday day, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday night. Excited.
School is in. I feel completely at odds with the environment I'm in, and with a lot of the people around me. Just making sure to keep myself away from anxiety and pressure, and take it easy while I go hard this semester. Good luck to fellow students starting up this week!
Me in class last week: MGSV comes out so I'm going to be here even less often come Thursday. I got the special edition with the prosthetic hand so I'm gonna freak my mom out with it and then put it on my desk and have it hold my PS4 controller or make a peace sign or a middle finger or some shit. Current mood:
I can't wait to err... buy... that game for my PC, just gonna wait until the viruses have been weeded out from TPP. I feel bad pirating games, but most games I've pirated I definitely wouldn't have had without being able to pirate them, and I intend to pay for all of them eventually. What's your stance on pirating?
It's a bit more complicated than that though, you have to balance convenience in as well. For example, I have Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Hulu but there's still movies and shows that aren't available so I find other ways of getting them (and I don't mean dropping a ton of money buying them on DVD or BluRay). Same goes with music, I have a Spotify account but if I can't find what I'm looking for there I have other ways. Until the more ubiquitous paid options include everything, I'll keep using torrents.
This was my approach with music/movies/whatever. I have a job. I'll pay for things.
Ever get the feeling that you just want to take everything you own, pile it on the street, soak it in gas and watch it burn? Well I have that feeling. It's claustrophobic. But it's hard to part with my stuff. It's mine. Stupid brain. I haven't been feeling sharp lately. Been drinking more. It helps. Maybe I'm not not ready to be a parent. Too late for that now. On a brighter note it's a holiday on Monday.
Ay man, you're a daddio now. Fly straight for 'em.Maybe I'm not not ready to be a parent. Too late for that now.
This summer consisted of a trip around the peninsula and beyond, and included the destruction of one nice black shirt, one smartphone and the engine of one entire van which resulted in a very different and improvised second half of the trip. During it I stayed in an apartment in the Alps, a field under a pylon, a tent on a mountain, a boat, an off-grid house in a desert, a mattress in an office and several parking spaces in the back of the now deceased van. Once I've moved house, I'll try to put together a trip report! Busy busy. ;)
I'm doing a major systems upgrade Friday. Why Friday? because if things go south we have Sat, Sun and Mon to get everything back to standard. If everything works, we have a full day of testing everything, validation etc, then two days off. Assuming Saturday goes well, and the skies are clear, I'm bringing the telescopes to the park and talking about orbital mechanics to people in the park who got suckered into my zone of influence with the siren call of observing Saturn.
I am getting better at picking out which professors won't work for me, before it is too late. Some people really hate to give out good grades, but don't really put in the effort to show you how to do things right. I had to switch my MS Excel class, because she was putting in 20% effort, and expected 120% from me. My new teacher is actually teaching me things, and told me about a contest for local startups. It is too late to fix the problem, because I already bought the book, but I like the ALEKS software, much better than the Pearson MyMathLab stuff. The Pearson stuff you have to figure out a problem before you can go to the next topic. ALEKS is a bit more free form, you have a pie-graph to do, rather than a strict linear progression. I am also being whiny, because I have to read my math textbook to do the homework. Older people will laugh, but that isn't usually a thing anymore. I was doing really well in my conditioning classes, until my Pilates teacher upped the intensity. The swim aerobics class is like physical therapy, now. I am having fun, and pretending I have a physically intensive job. Why do I need to go to college to get a job digging all day? Besides the eventually getting old thing.
Residential Assistant training is wrapping up and I'm still behind on hall decorations. Oh well. Senior year of college (and either my last semester or 2nd to last semester) is about to begin. I have no idea how it got here so quickly. I'm not ready yet.... I'm still struggling to find ways to make my friend's website more profitable but we're just not hitting our goals. Oh, and I watched the first episode of Scrubs. I'm gunna need a lot more popcorn.
I've done it. The proposal is in and accepted. I created a new department. Unfortunately, a few years of low self esteem has led me to undervaluing my skills as a salesman and I got myself into trouble. I thought out my proposal very well and far into the future and every single part of it was accepted. So now the project in front of me is exactly what I want and gigantic. Terrifying but awesome. In other news I'm caught up on the Kingkiller Chronicles. I have a theory but I proposed it to some people and got laughed out of the room. Spoiler I think Haliax is just a name that gets passed from person to person like the dread pirate roberts. I think the king that Kvothe kills is the former Haliax and in doing so takes his name. I think he changes his name to Kote locking part of his name in the thrice locked chest, so that he can become mortal and die.
Today is my first day in my new home, Walden, Colorado. I can't believe it. The town itself is tiny and chock full of the most peculiar and eminently literary characters I've ever met. I've met them through my job waiting tables at the restaurant on the main street. I'm here for a month, and then I want to move to Steamboat Springs, the most picturesque mountain town I've ever seen. I don't even want to post the iPhone photos I have, they don't do it justice. Long story short, I've been planning and thinking about this move to Colorado for six months now. It's here.
Moved into a shared house in the city where I go to college! The people here seem sound enough, and I was lucky to find a room in a really, really nice area of the city. Just spent about 2 hours today walking around and getting familiar with the area. The only bad thing is that the internet here is really, really slow. I just opened up Hubski in a separate tab and it took about 30 seconds (which was actually surprisingly fast. Let me try that again... about 45 seconds that time...). Ah well, hopefully that'll mean I'll spend less time slacking off on YouTube throughout the year!
Been kind of bummed lately but I'm going up to Seattle for a few days this weekend and realizing that the way my job works makes it kind of a sprint since I'm spending 3ish months in each business department. Part of being bummed is because I miss the East Coast a lot and my friends a lot, did a fantasy football draft with about 10 good friends and it was great to see them via hangouts while we did it. Which made me realize that I function best when time is tight and I have to work, run, to accomplish things. The high-stress high-reward environment is what I've conditioned myself to and I'm learning that too much downtime and too much time spent not doing at work / not seeing people outside of work contributes a lot (almost entirely) to how I'm feeling emotionally. The more you know.
For fun, I live nearby and have some friends up there from various points in my life. Turns out another one will be out here for work (she's still on the east coast) which will be great! Trying to decide what to do now but it will almost certainly involve music and drinking.