(no subject)

[hrj]

Has it really been nearly a week since I posted? I guess without mortgage issues to bitch about, I don't have much to say. (Nah.) The title company attempted some last minute glitches. First they needed a copy of my drivers license. Do you know how hard it is to fax a readable copy of a driver's license? Had to enlarge and lighten it, but the second fax worked. Then it turned out when they went to verify my insurance (and why, you might ask, did they wait until the day scheduled to close escrow, to verify the insurance?) and the insurance company first claimed that my parents would have to ok the request, and then decided they didn't have to, but they needed 48 hours to process the request, and then managed to verify it that same day. Friday I confirmed that the money actually made it into my account and that the credit union doesn't require any hold on it before I spent it. So Monday I'm spending my lunch hour at the credit union arranging for various wire transfers. I also need to draw up the papers for the final transfer of ownership. I need to read the Nolo Press book again, but I think what we want this time is a quitclaim rather than another deed. This part will be simplified by the fact that my parents are currently wandering around northern California visiting people, including popping in to my place several times in the next week. So getting the document notarized will be much easier than previously.

We've had wonderful spring-like weather this week. I'm all set to switching over to bicycling to work again starting next week, although they say that we may have rain moving in again soon. This is probably a Good Thing since it's much too early to entice the plum tree into blooming. One of the almonds has already gone off, but they're a lot hardier about spring storms. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get around to installing a few more cinderblocks in the driveway. Xrian brought over a load of some she was trying to get rid of last month but someone seems to have decided that since they were sitting next to the trash cans, I was trying to get rid of them too. (When I mentioned this at work, one of my co-workers gave this long-suffering sigh and said, "You are way too willing to believe the best of people." Well, no, I'm not. But I like to practice giving the world the benefit of the doubt. I find it extremely exhausting when people are always jumping to the worst possible interpretation of things.)

Wonderful Olympics opening ceremonies last night. I'm a sucker for this sort of thing. And somebody got the message at NBC and they showed the whole parade of nations, rather than cutting bits for commercials. (It helped that the whole thing was tape-delay so what did it matter anyway.) The last few ceremonies seemed entirely too cookie-cutter -- although I understand that a fair number of them were produced by the same people, so maybe it's not at all surprising. This one seemed more ... home-grown -- focusing on Alpine and Italian culture and history is a less plastic way. Now of course there was a fair amount of kitsch. Although I think the "cow waltzers" went beyond kitsch to a genuine artistic statement. And I was just as bewildered as the NBC announcers at why the parade of nations was accompanied by "Greatest Disco Hits of the '80s". It's always fun to see which local international icons get trotted out for the occasion. I guess Pavarotti was a bit of a natural, but I went ga-ga over Sophia Loren. Now there is a woman who still Has It. Yowza!

Now I'm busy setting up my VCR schedule for the week.

Comments

[xrian.livejournal.com]

Bummer about the cinder blocks. I do still have more.... I'll have to unearth them from the yard-high grass in the back yard and put them somewhere to dry out before I bring them down. I'm sure you would prefer to acquire as few new slugs, snails and black widow spiders along with them as possible....