time flies.....

Looking back at the calender, and I realized we have been out here in San Diego for more than a year now. Many, many things have changed in the year, and for the most part, they have been all good. And while we all enjoy it here, all three of us are itching, in our own ways and reasons, to head back east.

We will know in a few weeks if it will be this January, or next December. While Morgan and I want it to be sooner, rather than later, we have both said that we are OK with it if things do not work out, and we have to stay another year. We would not be completely happy, but we would be OK. At least that is what we say. :-)

Morgan will be in NC next week to do a walk through of the framed house. She also gets to go to each of the vendors and pick out all the "goodies" for inside the house. We have gone over many of the items, but as for colors, patterns, etc., I am leaving that all up to her.

Also, while she is up there, she gets to waste her Wednesday morning in small claims court. Back in June (posting on 6/12), I mentioned about a house close to where we used to live that we offered a contract on. Well after the inspections, I posted about the lack of care taken in the home, and the many "small things", that added up to a big list. As per the contract, the estimates to fix the items exceeded the stated limit, so we canceled the purchase. The homeowners were so upset, that they decided to keep our $3000 down payment. They have been told by their real estate agent that we followed the contract, but they do not seem to care, so it is off to small claims court on Wednesday morning.

Morgan is a bit nervous about it, but I told her that we will just have "bullet points", and with each one present a different item (contract and paragraph highlighted, inspection reports, contractor estimates, etc.). If the judge reads the contract, and looks at the estimates, we should be fine.

The homeowners contend that we never saw the house (We used to walk by it every day, and not a problem anyway, because they violated contract.), that we knew we were purchasing a 12 year old home (Yes, but we expected it better maintained. I sold my 10 year old home 9 months prior, and had only a couple of items, not 3 pages worth.), that the estimates are inflated (We used a licenced contractor, whom we trusted.), and possibly that the inspector was no good (Why, because he found all the items?). All of this is just "noise" on their part, and the contract is solid, so I am not worried.

I am sorry they have not sold their home, but taking it out on us (seems as if we were their only offer as it is still on the market) is not the correct way to go about it. We liked the home, but if there were so many "seen" items by the inspector, who knows how many there are "behind the walls".

Just frustrating and a time waster. My only fear is my sweet wife getting her anger up during the presentation. Don't want to have to fly cross country to bail her out of a Wake County jail. :-)

I am sure you have all seen and/or read about the Wall Street mess going on these past few days. Let me just say, "Relax, and take a breath". I know there is panic (bullhorned by some), and there may be more going on, but you need to sit back and relax. Our economic base is solid. What you are seeing comes from the mortgage mess, and people jumping off the "housing bubble". All of these "failures" can be linked to housing and mortgage programs that many of these companies invested in because they just thought housing would keep growing with no limit.

I just wish the government was not "bailing out" so many, but the latest one in helping AIG needed to be done. AIG has its "fingers" in too many places to be allowed to fail.

I'll go on more about this at another time (some of you are saying, "Yes, economics. That will be riveting."), but for now, here is some quick advice.

- If you are looking to retire "tomorrow", you need to work with someone now to get your finances straightened out.
- If you are younger than 50, sit and relax. Look over what your retirement is invested in, and see if you want to tweak the type of investments it is in. Whatever you do, do not take out your retirement early (unless you are in extreme financial hardship). This is especially true if it has lost value, because with the taxes and mandatory penalty, it will be extremely less in your pocket than a week ago.

- More good Rock Band 2 reviews.
- What is going on? Both Roddy & Justin hurt!
- Ryder Cup starts this weekend.

Until the next time.....