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April 29, 2014 - 11:04 p.m.
"a 60s time machine house"

Hey Journal!

This morning I got up and headed off to work. It was a pretty busy day and by about 11:00 I could already tell that it was going to be one of those days! The dues are due on May 1st so that's part of the reason it's been so hectic.... but this year it's been so much less crazy than in previous years. I think it's mostly because I created the new payment system on the website and people really seem to be using it more and more. It makes receiving payments so much less of a process.

Also this morning I worked on creating what I like to call a "poke poke letter." There are lots and lots of accounts on the billing center for CPC that have gone dormant. The people sent in some amount of money in the past but never kept up with their payments! These letters just remind them that they have an account with a balance and hopefully will shake some of them loose so we get some extra money!

For lunch I had grilled chicken and broccoli and then I headed home at 5:00.

We had an appointment tonight with the Scarito to look at some houses. We went with Dan's dad and we met him at 6:45. First, we wanted to go to the house in Smithtown off of Mt. Pleasant so Dan could take a look. It's a nice house, and the perfect style for me... but it has a giant pool in the backyard and it also is too high priced for us.

Next we went to check out some open lots where there are new houses being constructed. I was wary of them because they are very expensive, have high taxes, and the location isn't the best. The reason the location is bad is that I've heard that people in this area have lots of problem with flooding. There's a little stream that runs back behind this development and I remember talking to Kristen and Don about it before. Scarito confirmed that, he said there are wetlands right nearby. He also said taxes would be high and it would take over six months to build. We really don't want to deal with all that... so the new construction is out.

Last, we went to a house on Lindron that was listed for a while but has only one picture of the outside of the house. And for good reason.... When Scarito opened the front door I was horrified. I almost wanted to turn around and leave, it was that bad! The house was literally like a time machine to the 1960s! It smelled old and musty, there was dark wood paneling all over the place, and there was shag carpet on the stairs and upstairs! The dining room had FUZZY felt wallpaper, and there was junk all over the place. The house was super-dark because none of the lights worked. It was really strange.

Scarito said he thought the house wasn't occupied, and if that's the case the situation is even weirder. When we went in the basement there was underwear and other clothes hanging out of an open dryer! There were also two cars in the garage. Why'd they leave in such a hurry?! Meanwhile, the only room in the house that was presentable was the kitchen. The kitchen was nice... the rest of the house needs to be transformed.

The longer we stayed in the house, the more we actually started to see what it could become. The house was great on the outside so we wouldn't have much work to do there.... it would all be inside. Scarito estimated that we'd need to spend about 60,000 fixing it up, but if we got the house for a good price we would be able to make the improvements!

The negatives of the house are that it has oil heat, it may need a new central air compressor soon, and it would take a while to fix up. The worst negative, though, is that according to Scarito the homeowner isn't willing to close on the house until August 31st!

That date just scares me so much. The whole summer is over by then and THEN we'd have to start work on it. It's just a mess.

Dan's Dad said that the house is the same layout as his friend's house so tomorrow night we're going to go over there and see what they've done with theirs and get some ideas on if this house is right for us... or what it can look like if it's nicely done over!

I'm just so bummed about the house we didn't get a few months ago. It was really my dream house. It was everything I wanted in a house....and it didn't even have central air! It was amazing. I wanted it, and we got screwed out of it. It was perfect in every way. Perfect layout, gas heat, perfect size, perfect basement, perfect location. The only thing that makes me feel better about that house is that it wasn't our fault that we didn't get it. When they didn't come back to us with a counter offer, we had nowhere to aim for and no way to make a decision on if the house was worth paying whatever they wanted for it.... We were going in blind and so they didn't give us a chance.

Anyway, after we were finished we went to pick up pizza. We had to wait forever for them to make it and then we finally got home around 8pm. We ate and then I took a shower and when I got out we watched SHIELD! I keep saying it but I LOVE this show. I love how it's a completely different show than it was a few weeks ago and that everything is turned upside down. It's intense.

I was talking to Caitlin about it on Friday night and for some reason, when she mentioned the show, I was shocked that she watched it. Not that SHE watched it, but that other people watch it. It just strikes me as the kind of show that I'm the only one who likes. I know that's ridiculous, but it's not like Desperate Housewives or Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad where you know EVERYONE watches it. I kinda thought it wasn't that big of a deal... but the more and more I hear people talk about it... I realize I'm not the only one!

Alas, it's really late now and past our bed time....

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)