23 July 2005

wha?

well, our house officially went on the market yesterday (friday, july 22). we got a call from our real estate agent, a couple of hours after it listed, as we were driving to a friends house to play cards. she asked if we would be home to show the house. wha? it just got listed. apparently, the market in Salt Lake is so tight and crazy that this isn't unusual. well, we declined the showing. we had better things to do.
today (saturday, july 23) we had someone show up at 10am. we weren't ready, as we thought the first appointment (of 4 already scheduled for that day) was for 11:30am. it turns out this 10am appointment was not scheduled properly, or something. anyway, we showed the house, as we went about cleaning things up for the later appointments. this was the very first time we've ever had someone snooping through our house. it's an odd feeling.
at 11:30am, the people who wanted to see the house the night before showed up. they had 3 kids with them. there's no way a family of 5 can live in this tiny house. oh well.
then, at 1:30pm, the third appointment came by. he was a nice guy, asked lots of questions, walked around quite a bit, then said, as he was leaving, that he was going to make a "full-price offer" and fax it to our agent. the wife and i were ecstatic. we couldn't believe that there was already an offer after only 3 showings. and it was for our asking price. it seemed too unreal.
4 more showings ended up being scheduled and, of those 4, 3 made offers. and as crazy as that seems, the 3 were ABOVE list price, one being $7500 above! wha? i nearly shat myself (seriously, i had mexican for dinner last night, so i was experiencing that next day bowel evacuation thing that mexican food always does to me). then, i nearly shat again because of the offer. crazy. 7 viewings, 4 offers. and one of them some 5 or 6% above list.
anyway, things are going pretty good. we've countered with some things we wanted changed in the offer (earnest money, settlement date). but, it looks like we'll be getting more than we had originally asked (and hoped) for. pretty cool.

like i said above, the market in SLC is nuts. "California" nuts right now. the thing is, with the fecundity of the mormons creating the highest birth rate in the US, with the immigration rates being as high as they are here, with the number of people moving here for jobs and skiing, there are so many people looking to purchase a house, and so few houses, that people make offers LIKE THAT, and bidding wars (even after just 24 hours on the market) are not unheard of. what this means for us is more money, and i'm cool with that.

and, the only thing we can say about everything that happened today is: wha?

21 July 2005

on the market

so, we have one of the real estate agents we had interviewed coming over tonight so we can sign papers to go with her. the market here in Salt Lake is insane. it goes up about five grand a month. we're getting in at the right time. we're going to list the house on the high end of the estimates and see what happens.
we're listing this Monday. that means this weekend we have to repaint the house and garage (exterior) and fix some sagging gutters. next weekend we need to replaster a small portion of the bathroom and repaint it. then, continue to box up our shit and store it in the basement or garage. we're hoping to make enough money off of the sale of this thing to pay off our student loans (we're still paying those fuckers off after 10 years) and still have a substantial amount left over to pay our closing costs for the new place and to put some in the bank for a rainy day.
i'll post as things progress. some of the stories we've heard (of houses selling for 110% of list price and buyers paying sellers' closing costs, etc.) are just crazy. the market here is California-wild. and that's good for us.

more huked on fonnix

i received some good comments about my post on the atrocious spelling and grammar being used around the internet (forums, blogs, emails, etc.). so, here are a few more examples that i've noticed, and some more tips that might help you out if you happen to be one of the offenders.

justin.barrett's simple rules of English, part 2

affect and effect are often used incorrectly, but the difference is important. affect is a verb and means to "have an influence on," as in "the blogger's use of your when he means you're does not affect my grammar." effect is a noun and means "a cause or result brought about by change." when you affect something, you cause an effect. to makes matters even more confusing, there is a noun version of affect (which means "emotion") and a verb version of effect (which means "to create"), but both are very rare and typically used only by those who know the difference. so, when in doubt, figure out the part of speech and use affect if you mean to use it as a verb and effect if you mean to use it as a noun.

to has two homonyms. one of them is too and the other is two. most of the mistakes are between too and to, though occasionally (and oddly) two is used in place of both. first, two is a number. it stands for one plus one, or three minus one. if you mean something is "one more than one," then you need to use the word two (i.e. "i have two eyes, but only one nose."). the simple difference between the other two is that too also means "as well" or "in excess" (i.e. "i like that, too." or "you're playing it too loudly."). all other uses should use the word to.

a lot is two words. alot is NOT a word. you don't use alittle, and you don't use alot.

lite is not a word. the correct spelling is light. too, nite is not a word. the correct spelling is night. in that vein, thru is not right. use through. this phonetic use of English is annoying and, quite frankly, makes you look lazy and moronic.

of coarse is not the correct spelling. the phrase uses course, not coarse. coarse means "rough or crude." do yourself a favor and use of course. of course, you can ignore me and continue your subhuman ways.

hole means something is missing, dug out or removed. whole means the opposite: "entire, complete". someone can be an asshole, or a whole ass. or, in the case of some people i know, both. but, i've never heard of an asswhole or a hole ass.

and, lastly, college. i've seen way too many people using an "a" and spelling it collage. i guess the difference is, if you are smart enough to go to one, you know how to spell it. in case you're still wondering what the difference is, a collage is an artform where you paste together bits of paper. a college, though, is an instution of higher learning (where, one assumes, you learn how to spell and use proper grammar).

end of diatribe. carry on.

19 July 2005

work stuff

i haven't posted anything on here in awhile about my job situation. well, things have certainly gotten crazy at my current job. if you recall, i was talking to an HR representative about the current state of my department and about how i am looking for another job and expecting an offer soon. well, this guy went to the big, big boss and told him what would happen to my department if i left. the big, big boss told his subordinates, and the HR guy, to do whatever they need to do to fix my department and to retain me.
i was called into my boss's boss's office yesterday and given the reassurance that things will change. i will be given all of my demands (like i'm some kind of criminal holding someone hostage) and was then told that i will be getting a huge raise. i was flabbergasted.
suffice it say, things still need to change, but it appears the feathers of the right birds were ruffled and all of these things are now in the process of changing. the raise helps, too. i will most likely stay at my current job, unless the offer from the company that was courting me turns out to be something i cannot turn down.

speaking of this other company. it took a little while to hear anything from them, but i got a call this afternoon about a discrepency on my application. the background check came out squeaky clean (as i knew it would, though i suppose they missed this blog and my website) but i mentioned that i worked for my current company since December, 1999. this was actually wrong. in reality, i worked for a temp service from December, 1999 to March, 2000, at which point i was hired on full time by my current company. i now have to find a contact of this temp service to verify my employment. i suppose this means that the company is interested in me, and once this discrepency is cleared up i will be offered. so much crazy shit has gone down the last few days i don't even want to speculate about what the offer might contain. i'll update when/if things progress.

hoocked on fahnicks werked for me

one thing i've noticed on the web (be it on forums, blogs, company websites, whatever) is the sheer lack of proofreading of any kind. spelling errors, grammar errors, plurality agreement errors. it's horrible. and, forums and blogs are the worst. i don't know about you, but when i read a blog or forum post, no matter the subject, and someone starts using grammar incorrectly or spelling words wrong i lose all credibility for what the person is talking about.
so, in that vein, here are some simple tips and rules that might help you out, if you happen to be one of these offenders (i don't imagine anybody reading this blog having this problem because you are probably a writer or, if not, a lover of words, and, therefore, you take care to proofread what you write, or you look up words you might not be sure how to spell, or you're interested in etymology and enjoy finding new words. or, maybe not. maybe it's just me). either way, here they are:

justin.barrett's simple rules of English

here has a homonym. it's spelled hear. it sounds the same when spoken (or thought), but they mean completely different things. here is a place close by. hear is a sense, meaning "to listen." pretty simple, folks, but screw it up and you'll be laughed at and shunned.

there has 2 homonyms. one is their. the other is they're. all three sound the same when spoken (or thought), but they all mean completely different things. there is a place far away. their is the possessive form of they. they're is a contraction, meaning "they are." again, quite simple, but we've upped the ante one word. i'm sure you can handle it, though.

likewise, your has a homonym. it's spelled you're. they sound the same when...etc. your is the possessive form of you. you're is a contraction, meaning "you are." cake.

getting these 3 common homonym errors right goes a long way in making yourself look intelligent and, conversely, getting them wrong goes a long way in making yourself look like a dolt.

now, onto simple errors in spelling:

definately is not a word. it is spelled definitely. you will look like a moron if you spell it definately. trust me on this one.

the phrase is per se, not per say. it's from Latin, so the se portion is pronounced like say, but it's not spelled that way.

vice versa. this is the correct spelling. not vise versa and definitely NOT visa versa (or vica versa). you will sound like a trailer-trash idiot if you end both words of the phrase in "a."

irregardless is not a word. a person cannot sound lazier or more moronic than one who uses the non-word irregardless. regardless means "in spite of everything," so irregardless means the opposite of that, which makes no sense. please, use regardless. but, if you're so damn stuck on the ir- prefix, use irrespective. your speech might sound stilted, but at least you're using real English. other substitutions: either way, no matter.

it's is a contraction, meaning "it is". its is the possessive form of it. if you mean "it is", then use the contraction. if you mean to imply that it owns or possesses something, then use its. it's simple.

and lastly, if you are planning on writing a scathing post for a forum (or blog) lambasting a person's spelling and grammar errors, please be certain you 1) make sure you, yourself, can spell words correctly and use grammar properly, and 2) proofread your diatribe. one common mistake in these diatribes is misspelling the word misspell. that's 2 s's and 2 l's. okay? making an error like that when correcting another's errors is bad form, to say the least.

great, now that that is over with, we can move on.

feel free to submit your own diatribe against my diatribe. or contribute some spelling and grammar errors you've noticed around the web, which get you riled up. this list is definitely not exhaustive, nor meant to be, but is only what i came up with off the top of my head.

17 July 2005

packing

we've started packing up the house since we're putting it on the market in a couple of weeks. i got most of my books boxed up. damn, i have got a lot of these fuckers. i need to go down to the used bookstore and get rid of some of them.
i haven't even started on my little basement writing room. that's going to take forever, with all the poetry books, magazines, anthologies, etc. etc. piled up down there. hell, my stack of rejections alone weighs about ten pounds. my stack of acceptances is considerably smaller and weighs on the order of three or four pounds.

the wife has gotten most of the basement (save the writing room) in order (i.e. trash, donate, save) and we are well on our way to getting this place halfway decent-looking. the two of us are so stressed out right now, worrying about finding a short-term lease apartment, selling this house, getting the new house built. it's all a bit too much right now.