6.28.2007

Consumer vs. Corporation + Meter Maids = ARGH

Hey there, you all! So, E and I are closing on our condo tomorrow! I hear we will each be signing our names approximately sixty times, which is pretty exciting - I am resting my right arm today in preparation. And then we will be handed our keys and we can move in anytime. Which of course means we will start moving in tomorrow night.

E has been virtually moved into my apartment with me for the past week or so, because his stupid roommates and their stupid cats brought FLEAS into their apartment, like, ew. FLEAS. And they are insane, the roommates, because apparently they noticed the bugs on their cats WEEKS ago, and just figured they’d go away on their own. So they said nothing, and called nobody. And now, of course, their enormous apartment is overrun with fleas, and flea eggs, and ew. Fleas! So E and I live together in my studio apartment. Let me tell you, a studio is not big enough for two people, especially when one of them is 6′4″. Moving into our two-bedroom place will be a welcome relief. At least this whole experience has been a good crash course in the whole living-together thing.

Also I have a weird story. So, last month I ordered a pizza one afternoon from my favorite place, P__ J____’s. I had the day off of work and class, E was at work for the night, and I was looking forward to an afternoon alone with pizza and dvds. They promise that deliveries take 30-40 minutes, but literally an hour and a half went by before it came. I had called once to enquire, and the woman was just like, “We’re busy, it’s graduation, he’ll be there soon.” So when he finally came, it was an elderly guy (aw), and when he handed me the pizza I asked whether it was even still hot. He said, “Oh sure, it should still be warm.” Which is, you know, not quite the same thing.

So I take the pizza inside, and yes, the BOX is warm, but the pizza is not. So I went to the website and filled out an online form in which I told them it had taken an hour and a half and that I would like my credit card refunded. I got an email back that that would happen.

Then weeks went by, and no credit ever showed up on my statement. I sent another email, but still nothing happened. Finally my credit card statement was due, but there is an option to dispute a charge before you pay the bill, so I did that. I filled out the little online form and told them the whole story. Two days later I had an email from the credit card company saying the charge was reversed (I love you, credit card company!).

The next day, I got a voicemail from someone at P___ J___’s, apologizing for my inconvenience and saying that there was a check in the mail to me! And also, that I could call up and reference a certain code and get two free pizzas anytime I wanted! So when the check arrived, I basically had gotten PAID for the crappy pizza. I was psyched. It was like I had finally gotten some justice from the behemoth corporation.

And then, the very same day, I got a parking ticket from one of Savannah’s gazillions of meter maids. It turns out I had gone over my meter time by three minutes.

The amount of the ticket? The same as the check I had just received for the late pizza.

Confound you, fate!!

supine @ 2.10 pm |

6.11.2007

The Parents Must Be Crazy

Well, my dad’s and stepmom’s weekend visit sort of…sucked. Here is why.

1. They are deaf. When did they both become deaf??? Holy crap, it was annoying. Their deafness + their general self-absorption = them asking a question about a given topic exactly five seconds after E or I had spoken about said topic at length. For example, at dinner I told a story about our having gone to that restaurant a few months ago for a friend’s birthday, and about how fun it was. On the way out my dad said, “Well, that was nice. Have either of you ever been there before?”

2. My dad is a horrible tipper. After both lunch and dinner, I had to throw down an extra few bucks onto the table after my dad had turned his back. Luckily I had managed to check out the bill as he was paying, because left to his own devices, he’s left 10% for lunch and 15% for dinner. Both of which had included perfectly fine service.

3. My stepmom is an annoying critic. At lunch, the bread was “good, but not mixed thoroughly. See? These little pockets of flour? Those shouldn’t be there.” At the drive-thru getting a diet soda (one of the 100s she drinks daily), “What?? $2.25 for a large? We should have gone to Sonic….Oh I see, it’s really, REALLY large. Well that’s okay then.” At dinner, the crabcakes were “very good, but not lump. The server said they were lump. I am going to tell him that he shouldn’t tell his tables that, because it’s untrue.” And, in general, all throughout the day of viewing condos, “Wow, it’s amazing how little you can get for your money here in Savannah. I’m so glad we live in ——.”

4. My dad did not even offer to give us any money towards our condo. I mean, there’s no law saying that one has to help one’s 27-year-old daughter financially, but…really. You are well-off. You have one daughter. She is engaged and buying her first house. Her fiance’s father, who makes WAY LESS than you, has given them money. How do you justify this?

So, suffice it to say that it was a stressful weekend. Between the incessant deaf “what?"s from the backseat, the complaining about the food and prices of everything from a soda to a condo, and the having to chase down two servers to apologize for my stepmom’s entitled attitude and my dad’s horrible tips, I hate to say it, but it’s nice to go back to my daily life.

ARGHHHH. I hate growing up.

supine @ 7.26 pm |

6.7.2007

Holy crap; we’re ADULTS.

Well, my dad and stepmom are coming to visit tomorrow for the weekend. We planned this trip about two weeks ago, when E and I first started really getting serious about a few specific condos, including the excellent 2-bedroom one. We wanted them to come so that we could get their feedback on aspects of each that would be good and bad, both for us and for when we eventually sell. Also, I was hoping that when my dad came to town and saw that we were truly, actually buying a place, he would offer us some money to bolster our down payment.

I mean, it’s a little passive-aggressive, yes. But E’s dad just came out and offered us some money, which was awesome of him, and I know that my dad does very well for a living, and I really don’t ask for anything - I work two jobs to keep my loans down to a minimum - so it would be nice if he’d pony up a little now, when it would really be helpful.

Also, when I first went to tell all my parents about E and I not just moving in together, but BUYING, I was concerned that they’d be judgemental about it. Especially my dad, because he is Old School. Thankfully, I thought to email my mom first, and ask her whether they had lived together before marriage, and to my great surprise they had. And then my stepmom happened to tell me that she and my dad had lived together before marriage. So, lo and behold, when I told him all about it he didn’t even blink an eye. As a matter of fact, both my mom and stepmom love E and are so thrilled that we are going to be betrothed.

But anyway, so the plan was that my dad and stepmom were going to arrive tomorrow, and at the end of the weekend we’d make an offer on our favorite place (the 2-bedroom), hopefully with a little more money for a down payment than we already had. It was a plan! We were ready!

But THEN. Dun dun dun. Last weekend our realtor called us to say that she’d heard around the office that another couple had viewed our favorite place and loved it too, and was going to put in a bid. Furthermore they had been approved for a loan for the full asking price, whereas we were still dealing with various banks and mortgage lenders, but still had not gotten final approval. But now we knew that we had to get our bid in first if we wanted any chance of getting it. So we did - we put in a bid for $10k under the asking price. And then we had 48 hours to wait and see what the seller said.

Finally, we heard back. The seller wanted the full asking price, but was going to pay $3k of the closing costs. We were sort of like, eh, we can probably walk away from this offer, make him wait, and then come back after my dad’s visit and ask for a little more off. So we decided that. One day later, another bid was made. Ours still hadn’t expired, and now we could either take it, for a little more than we had wanted to pay, or we would lose it to the next bidder for certain. We talked and talked and talked, and finally at the very last minute, a piece of paper surfaced that made our decision for us.

The place had gotten appraised at $10k over the asking price - over what we’d be paying. E, the realtor, and I were like, Shazam! We are golden. We have made $10k already, just by buying it.

So we signed the contract. Once it was signed by both parties, we had ten days to get final approval for our loan, and if that hadn’t happened we could have just walked away, penalty-free. But magically, the loan approval has all worked out, just a few days later, and we have a manageable mortgage payment. My dad and stepmom are still coming tomorrow night for their visit, but it’s sort of a moot point by now, because we own a motherfuckin condo.

Um, SCARY.

supine @ 8.48 pm |
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