Although today is officially the “first day of spring” I figure our cigar party last night qualifies as the first of the spring/summer. What a beautiful day it was, and how better to end it!

I can’t freaking believe it! They stole my garbage can, and not even the full size one. I have this tiny one that our dog-poop-picker-upper-person puts the dog crap in so it doesn’t stink up the regular can. And that’s the one they stole. Sure, it’s kind of neat looking and all, but you have to be pretty desperate to steal a garbage can that you have to empty dog crap from first.

Hope it was worth it for ya, whoever ya are!

My townhouse is now sale pending! It came kind of quickly but I guess that’s what happens (hopefully) when you list a house for sale. I was trying not to get too involved or excited until I know for sure that it’s done, check in hand and all, but I am very happy to be moving closer into town.

Unfortunately, it’s going to cost me a pretty sum to get into the areas that I’d like to be in. So, I may need to rent out a room. Any takers? Either that, or I’ll have a cover charge when people come over and hang out. But don’t worry - you’ll get at least 2 drinks for your $5.

This time, I’d rather compromise on the house, but not too much, mind you, instead of the area. Don’t get me wrong, Happy Valley is a very nice area if that’s what you’re looking for. It just doesn’t fit my lifestyle because I don’t have 2.5 kids yet.

Like I said, I was trying to not get too involved or excited in the early stages of things until it’s sure. But that’s kind of hard to do. Last night, I was up until 3am looking at stuff online and I’m beat tired now. There isn’t a whole lot for sale right now so I started looking through the old listings for curiosity.

So I got talked into (out of pity, of course) spending the night with G-Dawg lined up at Best Buy for the Day-after-Thanksgiving sale. Greg got us in line at something like 30th place, still enough to get some kind of a good deal on the door-buster loss-leaders they were advertising. So I show up with a “party in a box” along with some cans of chili and a stove (MSR’s Pocket Rocket which is awesome!) to make our stay a bit more enjoyable.

Well, last minute after we spent all night from 11pm to 5am in line, a bunch of jerkoffs blast past everyone and crowd the doors. Soon, it was probably close to about 150 people who just disregarded the whole line. Someone called the cops (kinda dumb, but at the same time I understand) and Best Buy did nothing. This could have totally been avoided if they would have just put up a rope fence the night before and have some goons out in the morning. Lots of people got scrapes and bruises when the door finally opened and the mob shoved everyone inside.

Waste of time, other than the experience. Personally, I’d go for an experience like the Mongolia Rally instead over this any day, or night, as the case may be.

Here’s the pic:

Vio’s dog, Bailey got into a bit of a dog fight this morning with 2 huskies. She got bit pretty good. Right now, she has 2 bandages from some other thing, and then this. This dog ALWAYS has some kind of new scar or scrape. Take a look:

Saturday: Dine at Bernie’s Southern Bistro. Fabulous food, great drinks, kind of expensive. Pay with the Alaska Airlines Credit Card. Leave card on the table, leave.

Sunday: Find out card is missing and call Bernie’s. Closed untile 4pm Tuesday (a rant in itself) Call the bank and put a temporary hold on the card. Go shopping in Woodburn at the outlets. Come home, find that I left my other card at the shoe store in woodburn. DOH! Drive down, burn a 1/4 tank of gas - a Prius this truck sure isn’t, especially at 90mph - and an hour to get the card back.

I feel just a bit senile.

Good “quickie” article on negotiation. Although it focuses on career negotiation, the concepts can apply to many other parts of life:
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/05/superagent.html?partner=rss

I just don’t get it when I read things like this:

“It’s like, the sun’s out, let’s go, and we’re still here,” said Lynn Wickum, of San Francisco, Calif., as she drank a beer at one of the few Cancun bars that finally opened. “We feel the frustration building. You wouldn’t want to make a scene, but at the same time, you’re ready to go home.”

Many of Cancun’s own 500,000 residents had lost nearly everything in flooded or destroyed homes.
From TimesDaily of NW Alabama by AP

Here you are, in the middle of a disaster that not only has flattened many people’s homes but is going to ruin their year due to significantly less tourism this season - which they rely on in order to feed their families. All in a country that already has economic hardship. So sit back, drink a beer and complain how you have to wait (patience is not an American virtue) a little bit longer until you get to go home, away from it all and plan your next vacation.

Okay, I’m not one to complain (well maybe I am, I dunno but I don’t like sympathy) but life throws you curve balls sometimes and I’m starting to get really tired of it lately. It seems in the last year it has just been one thing after another and not just small things like speeding tickets (which I get my share of too…) STOP IT ALREADY! Okay, I’ll stop ranting now. I know I still have it pretty good compared to some and I appreciate what I do have.

So the remodel is almost done - just a couple more small things to wrap up. And we’re planning on a pre-listing open house. More info here.