Sunday, May 27, 2012

Yes, We Got a Home Phone

Howdy, folks! It's been more than a week since my last post. Sorry about that! I know there are about a thousand of you waiting with baited breath for my next post :)

Recently, our main trial was getting phone and internet. Yes, I said phone. We have a security system in our home that uses a phone line. We found out that they can sync it with your cell phones but there are a few drawbacks: 1) The $299 piece of equipment they have to put in your house to make it work. 2) It relies on your phone being on, with you, and charged at all times. I just would rather have the land line. Plus, HEY! Free unlimited calls to Canada and Puerto Rico! Not that we know anyone there...but you know...it's free, so maybe we'll make some friends.

After some tedious calculations (not helped by the fact that I had been up all night already), we found that the bundle of phone and internet from Comcast was the best deal in our area. There are two letters I will be writing to companies. One is Ikea (more on that later) and the other is Comcast. It took 46 minutes to sign up for the bundle and schedule my installation. Forty six minutes. Plus, they dropped my call while I was on hold. Twice. Not to mention the fact that I asked to speak with a supervisor at the end to let them know I thought this was incredibly inefficient. I was told the supervisor was on the phone with another customer. Not a problem. They asked for my contact information to call me back once he was free. Totally fine. Only guess what? I didn't ever get a call back. So...thanks?

We wanted to buy our own wireless modem as well but it had to be one that was for phone and internet. Apparently, at Best Buy the only one you can get is- SURPRISE!!- the one from Comcast. They told us that you can buy one directly from China or Japan from Amazon but we didn't have time to wait for shipping. At least at $150 it's a halfway decent price (according to the guys at Staples where we got a second opinion- Go Staples! and my Dear ole' Dad). Still more than we were wanting to spend. Plus, we had to buy a router. Ugh. This was getting more expensive than we wanted pretty fast.

Our installation contractor was great! He worked really hard and installed an outlet into the room we wanted the TV in (we use internet for our TV) and even commiserated with us about Comcast. I say thumbs up! He alao talked to us about a wireless option that the other guys hadn't told me about. Apparently, Comcast does have a wireless modem you can rent and it's the exact same price as the other one. Why didn't they tell me that? So tonight we got to return the stuff we bought from Best Buy and get our moolah back. Nice.

Next time, I can tell you about our awesome mattress and the Ikea couch debacle.
-E

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Furnishing the house

We've been looking at different thrift stores to get certain pieces of furniture for our new home. We also want some random things like new lamps and knobs and just things to make the house feel more personal.
Today, we went to Hippo Hardware. That place is so cool! Three floors of old, scavenged hardware and home implements like plumbing, locks and Victorian picture nails (like button covers but for nail heads!). Very cool but most of it is overpriced. So, we are looking at the top floor, which is very very warm and filled to the brim with sconces and floor lamps and table lamps and lamps hanging from the ceiling and piled on shelves...you get the idea. Anyway, on the floor we find these awesome, super heavy cast iron sconces. The wiring in one is completely shot and in the other is looking pretty sketchy. Like, unless you have a will written already and a hospital close by you maaaaaay not want to try to plug it in. I'm thinking we can get a deal on them since they will have to be completely rewired in order to work. But, there is no price on them, which in a store like this can be a good thing or a bad thing. So we (Travis) lug them up to the counter and ask, "How much?" The man's response? "$300 a piece." I'm pretty sure my eyebrows raised off my forehead. I reminded him they they need to be rewired. Completely. Both of them. "Okay, you want to make a deal? $225." Wow. What a bargain. I would maybe pay $225 for the pair, not a piece. I thanked them and we left. They just weren't in our budget. I also thought he may have been giving me the look. The one I SO do not appreciate. The look that says, "You can't afford to shop here." You know that look. It's the Pretty Woman look. When she's in the Rodeo Drive store and they treat her like crap but she has the fist full of money? You have no clue how much or how little money someone has. That irritates me beyond belief. Just because someone isn't dressed up or is young doesn't mean anything. Honestly, they might have even more money because they're saving it. And just because someone drives a nice car or wears a nice suite doesn't really mean anything either. They could be up to their eyeballs in debt. Just a thought. We all judge people based on how they look at times, consciously or unconsciously but the more aware of it we are, the better handle on it we can get.
That's all for now. More later!
-E
P.S. I'm really working to convince T to make a post! It should be coming sooner or later!

Saturday, May 12, 2012

And We're In!

We slept in our new house last night!!

We have been boxing up and carrying things over from the apartment to our house the past few days. I think I have burned a crap ton of calories going up and down the stairs over and over again. Friday we loaded the cats up (Pepper went easily, Penny was NOT happy) and headed over to the house. We put them in the bathroom with the essentials plus a scratch pad, a toy, and their favorite blanket from home so they might feel more comfortable. Penny jumped out of the carrier right away but Pepper was very apprehensive and decided to stay put where he knew it was safe. Then we left to get the Budget truck & go back to the apartment to meet the movers. We were very nervous that we wouldn't have a spot that was convenient at all for them & the truck but thankfully, there was a good spot. Whew! There have been times that we have had to park a block or so away during the day and even more at night. Can you imagine lugging a couch 3 blocks up a hill? I don't think so. They would probably quit on the spot. Anyway, they got things loaded up while T packed up more in the kitchen and I swept up the massive amounts of cat hair that kept magically appearing. Then we all drove to the new house. While they unloaded, we had the terribly difficult job of telling them where to put things. This was actually a little difficult because we hadn't decided on some of the things. I was proud that we only changed our minds on 2 things. We had mentioned to the movers in passing how the seller seemed to have left in a hurry and we were looking forward to hearing all about him from the neighbors. Before they left, one of the movers, who is actually a medicine woman (remember, this is Portland) gave us advice on how to clear the old owner's energy from the house and infuse it with our own. I thought that was really nice of her. We used August Movers. I think they are by referral only so if you need movers, let me know. They were great!
Pepper & Travis say "Hello! We're tired!"

Penny says, "I've been on this chair for hours since moving in! It's my favorite!"


So, tonight as we were eating dinner at our dining room table, I was looking around at this house and just smiling. This is my house. This is my family's home. This feels right.

Monday, May 7, 2012

The Original Listing Pictures

They're all we have so far but at least will give you an idea!

From the front
Living room (T hates the all white fireplace!)
Looking towards the front door
Dining room- the seller left these things! Guess we have a piano now...
The side door off the kitchen plus the door to the laundry room

The arch to the right goes to the dining room, to the left goes to the hallway (towards the guest bedroom)
Guest bedroom (Where you will be staying!)
Bathroom for the guests
T's writing room. He would like to pull up the carpet and put in different flooring at some point.
The stairs and the hallway back to the front of the house

My craft room at the top of the stairs

Our bedroom (no, it's not a weird angle, the closets are kind of short)
Our bathroom
The blank slate! T has so many ideas for the back yard.
That's it for now. It will be fun to post pics after we move in and personalize it :)

Since We Last Spoke

My eyes are so dry and tired that they are about to jump out of their sockets so they can get some much needed rest. It is 5:25AM and I have been up all night. I work tonight so I stayed up last night so that I can sleep during the say today (ahh, the glamorous things we night-shifters do!). One thing I am stoked about once we are moved in the house is being able to actually DO things when I stay up. Since we have a 1 bedroom apartment, during the times I stay up, T is rarely more than 1 wall away. I can't do much more than sit quietly on the couch with headphones on while amusing myself on my computer. Don't get me wrong, I love Netlix, Pinterest, Hulu, Facebook, and random other sites as much as the next person but night after night? They get really old. And I'm starting to worry I'm going to get a blood clot. I would just like to be able to move around more without worrying that my light sleeper is going to wake up.  Maybe even do some yoga or something. Thankfully, once we move in to our brand new home, this will be a reality. I can roam around the entire lower level while he is blissfully unaware on the top level, dreaming peacefully. Thank God!!

Since we closed on the house on the 30th, we have been ferrying over boxes, stocking the pantry, and brain storming. We installed child latches on the cabinets to keep the cats out. Finding cat hair on pots and pans in the cupboards is NOT my idea of fun. We also have been trying out the appliances. The washer and dryer work great! They are high efficiency, front loaders. We also tried out the dish washer. I was so glad we stayed for the whole cycle because we found out that some clamp was not tightened at all and water was leaking all over under the kitchen cabinet. T easily fixed it but if I hadn't caught it we would have had a very unpleasant mess on our hands. As T said, "Jesus Jones, Terrence Murray!"

Our nice downstairs neighbor at our apartment (we are #9, she is #7) really wants our unit. She has kind of been keeping tabs on our move and saw me moving boxes the other day. Thankfully, she asked if we had moved our big stuff yet. I told her that we were looking for someone to help us, maybe a college kid or something. Someone kind of reasonably priced and that we could rent a U-Haul. She got excited and told me that she had someone in mind. She really liked the people she used and recommended them. I will be calling them today to see if they're available and cheap enough. We are hoping to get the big stuff (i.e.:furniture) moved Saturday so we can actually then sleep at the house.

Oh, on a random note- T decided he is painting the fireplace mantle black. He thinks the fireplace is just too white.