(no subject)

[essentialsaltes]

Rebecca and I spent some time last weekend looking at houses. As in, considering buying one. Generally the houses fell into two classes: appalling but affordable, excellent but expensive. One house just about covered its entire long skinny rectangular plot -- afterwards, neither of us could remember seeing a kitchen, nor any place in which a kitchen could be hidden. The neighbors had overturned ripped couches scattered about their backyard, which formed the only view from this house without concrete being the predominant color. This gem was being offered at the low, low sale price of $379,000. The only other place that we really explored in-depth was delightful: a corner property, hardwood floors, lots of bitty rooms here and there. $565,000. A few other places we just drove by without even stopping. One looked like a giant sodden ice-cream box made of grey stucco. Well, we've just gotten started on this adventure. It would almost be a shame if our dream house showed up this rapidly, because we might not realize it after only seeing a few houses. [I refuse to consider the possibility that either the kitchenless house or the warped ice-cream box was our dream-house.]
Saturday night was a sit-down episode of Richard's Pulp! game. The first half was great. Dr. Armitage (me) joined forces with the Rocketeer, Elliot Ness, Flash Gordon and Gene Autry to rescue President Roosevelt and Dr. Einstein from the clutches of the Nazis, who were taking them to Easter Island aboard a tremendous flying fortress, inhabited by both Nazis and rotten fifth columnist Klansmen and a few Nazi superhero types.
Probably the best part was when I was pretending to be injured, being carried by Elliot Ness (dressed in a Nazi uniform). We encounter some Nazis who start asking Ness what's going on. He doesn't know any German, so I'm trying to whisper things to him, and he's repeating them badly, like in some horrible game of Telephone. It was hilarious. The second half had its moments, but I think we were all tired by that point. We managed to terminate a fair number of Famous Monsters of Filmland, but the Invisible Man continues to elude us.
Sunday was frisbee. The first ultimate game in ages. I don't ache as badly today as I often do after the first game back, which is a good sign. Nevertheless, it was clear that most of us were off our best form. It was a tough, hard-fought game. After a long struggle, we were tied at 9-9 and went into sudden death. Sadly, our opponents were victorious, but my team certainly gave them a run for their money.

Comments

House hunting

[rsheslin.livejournal.com]

Ours:

3 bed
2 1/2 bath
Entry/living room
Family/dining room
Garage
Utility rm (washer/dryer, furnace, water heater)
Kitchen has pull-out shelves
1770 sf house
8000 sf lot
View of mountains in back

$135,000.

Of course, there's no work up here, but we get by. I just had to brag, though.

:)

Stuff

[(Anonymous)]

HOLY SHIT!! $135,000 for a house in California!?!? I didn't even know such things existed!

K and I are also hoping for a house someday, but really, it's not possible with an unemployed bum like me. The starting price for livable houses in LA is $500,000. Also, I read in the Hollywood Reporter that you shouldn't even think about buying a house unless your income is $100,000 or more. Cool, huh?

And it's bad for us, because Kirsten isn't even considering the Valley, or anywhere where her commute would take more than hour.

Pulp game sounds fun; I wonder again why we don't get his invites (not that we would be able to make it anyways, as we are behind in our own live game creation).

And your frisbee team lost because I dropped two game-winning throws.

Still, all my workouts and weekly softball paid off, and I was not nearly as wiped out after disk-playing as everyone else...I was just hitting my plateau. And only my toes ache from wearing cleats that don't quite fit my feet.

So, in terms of Aaron's character sheet, his strength and constitution went up, but his dexterity is still woefully below-average:

STR: 10
DEX: 8
CON: 12
INT: 13
WIS: 11
CHR: 14

Re: Stuff

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

I say we steal Rachel's house when she isn't looking, sell it, and split the money so we'll almost have a downpayment on a house somewhere west of the 5.

We're looking to avoid nasty commutes also.

Pulp! started long ago, perhaps back in the dim mists of time when you were beneath Richard's notice.

Lastly.... GEEEK!

[rsheslin.livejournal.com]

To give some sense of timing, Shawn and I were in the first Pulp game (we were Rick and Evie O'Connell from the recent Mummy movies.) Have you ever directly asked Richard about being in his games?

And no, you may not steal my house (although you are more than welcome to visit.)

[rsheslin.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I forgot to mention the two fireplaces (although we don't use the one in the entry room because the chimney is a touch too close for comfort to the 20' pine tree in our front yard.) The entry room itself is nice, since one of our requirements was a house that had space for my baby grand.

Re: Stuff

[(Anonymous)]

We have a down payment (Kirsten's dead gramma dowry), but there's no way to make a monthly mortgage and still eat (and support the bum that posts comments instead of working on live games). I checked, and with fees and such, the monthly payment for a $300,000 loan is about $1200/mo, minimum.