Meredithea, the email I received from the UU church stated that they're splitting the donations: two-thirds to the kids' families and a third to the Aids Action Coalition.
You're upset because of what some website said about your house? If it makes you feel any better, zillow says mine doesn't even exist. Literally. It says there are no homes at my address. News to me.
A website coughing up some number doesn't mean anyone will actually pay it for your house. It could sell for more or for much less. We have some friends who sold their house in LA during the height of that market (maybe it's still rising, I dunno). They were shocked (shocked!) when they actually had trouble selling it. Welcome to reality.
As for the market, if you're using your house as a place to live and not as an investment with some goofy mortgage, you should be fine. The gains and losses are all on paper.
Personally, we've been in our (nonexistent) house since 1998, have a 30-year fixed, and plan to stay here for a long time. The market can take a hike.
I'm probably just prissy, but there's no way you're ever going to get that carpet clean and dry enough to your satisfaction, especially if you have allergies. I'll second some of the other posts and advise that you discuss this with your landlord. If it's a small BR, maybe you can even strike a compromise: if he/she buys the materials, you'll do the work. Explain that it'll improve the property.
Good luck.
If you still feel that you just gotta go through with this, here's what a couple we know did. They wanted to build their own house. Nothing complicated: a box with a roof. No basement, no garage. She knew a little bit about building houses. He knew nothing. They did, however, hire a pro carpenter to work with them. He showed them what to do and how to do it. They were basically the labor.
It still took years and it was difficult to get the things they hired out done on time. For example, they couldn't get the foundation guys to show up. It's more profitable for foundation layers to do several jobs at once, like in a subdivision. Because our buddies just wanted a single foundation, the company kept blowing them off because, basically, a single job just wasn't worth doing. Multiply that by your electrician and your plumber and whoever else you need, and it gets real frustrating, real quick.
But good luck! Natural Home magazine has some good articles on straw-bale construction and building very small homes.
Actually I have the sinking feeling that fewer and fewer people are reading literary mags, and the number of big mags that publish fiction at all has dwindled. King, I believe, published a lot in Playboy during its heyday, which is long gone. (I think PB even fired its longtime fiction editor in favor of choosing fiction by committee, likely a move to save $$. Can't remember where I read this.) A lot of the classic SF authors got their start in pulps, which are definitely long gone. And James Joyce? His publishing milieu disappeared while the pulps were in their infancy.
Times have changed and litmags just ain't what they used to be. It seems to be much like poetry. Those who read litmags are probably trying to write for them.
sexyrobot, you live in LA? My husband's dept. just hired a guy who's *dying* to get out of LA.
Nothing but horror stories. He and his wife pull down six figures and can't even afford to go to a movie (much less a movie premiere), because the everday expenses are so high. He spends hours in traffic just trying to get to work, no matter what time it is. Instead of "snow days," his dept. has "traffic days," in which the traffic is so bad, that no one can make it to class, so they just call it off. His dept. meets only once a month or so, because the profs can hardly get to school. He wanted to buy a house closer to school, but that was in East LA, where, although affordable, they would apparently be killed on sight for being Anglo. So he got a great deal on a house further out (don't know where, never been to LA) from a friend who was willing to sell below market just to get out of LA.
Is it really that bad? How do you do manage to live there?
It's been a while since I worked for a paper, so here goes. I don't know how big your paper is (what's the market/circulation?), but there is no money in small newspapers, at least last time I checked. The extra work for no-money request is common, and, in my experience, a $10k raise is laughable. The writers at our local rag are happy for pennies/hour raises, and the paper refuses to pay for any freelancing. The paper is a couple of big local stories, obituaries, legals, classifieds, and the rest is canned. The fresh-out-of-school editor of another local, very tiny paper had loads of responsibility, decided she'd had enough, and got a new job as a paralegal. So, if you're in love with this newspaper thing and have a solid career plan, then take on the extra responsibility, do your best, boost your resume, and get to a bigger/better paper. Also, you'll find plenty of suckers willing to write for free, so don't worry about that. However, if you think you'll ever desire a decent amount of money and respect from your employer, get out of newspapers. Go back to school. Get a law degree. Move into some other form of journalism. Change your career totally. Whatever. But get out of newspapers. You will always be asked to do more and more, with less, and for less. One last thing: I thought big papers were better, but I recently had a look at the Tallahassee Democrat and it was little better than the papers around here (NW GA), that is to say, a glorified shopper. Canned copy + comics + classifieds + legals = cash cow. I'm beginning to think that vibrant small/medium papers are pretty much dead.
Fatoudust is right. Your problem may be lack of exercise (if you're not already exercising, that is). If you're not exercising/stretching, no chair is going to help. Personally, my back-pain cure is running 2-6 miles a week. It's cheap, works out all the kinks, and doesn't take up a lot of time.
/spends a lot of time in front of a computer in a crappy Staples office chair.
You mentioned that the carpet was fairly new and the wood underneath seemed in good shape. Was it plywood subflooring or old hardwood floors? If it's the latter--and if I had a choice (being a renter and all)--I'd just have the carpet ripped out permanently. Nostril's right about carpet critters. I helped my parents rip out our 20-year-old carpet-n-pad to install hardwood floors. We were so overcome by the dust we had to leave the house.
/wall-to-wall, never again.
Take a look at Shields Up. It reviews some firewalls and has a "leaktester." I second the mention of Mike Lin's app. I also use F-prot to search for viruses, and an ancient version of Tiny Personal Firewall that I find superior to every firewall I've ever used (including the cruddy "new" version). Also, if you're using W2K go to services and disable messaging, NetMeeting sharing, and routing and remote access.
Reminds me of Orson Welles in Frozen Peas. (Wikipedia w/transcript. Skip the article and transcript and scroll straight to the mp3 at the bottom.)
posted by Wednesday 17 years ago
In "Falling down"
Meredithea, the email I received from the UU church stated that they're splitting the donations: two-thirds to the kids' families and a third to the Aids Action Coalition.
posted by Wednesday 18 years ago
In "My House is Worthless"
You're upset because of what some website said about your house? If it makes you feel any better, zillow says mine doesn't even exist. Literally. It says there are no homes at my address. News to me. A website coughing up some number doesn't mean anyone will actually pay it for your house. It could sell for more or for much less. We have some friends who sold their house in LA during the height of that market (maybe it's still rising, I dunno). They were shocked (shocked!) when they actually had trouble selling it. Welcome to reality. As for the market, if you're using your house as a place to live and not as an investment with some goofy mortgage, you should be fine. The gains and losses are all on paper. Personally, we've been in our (nonexistent) house since 1998, have a 30-year fixed, and plan to stay here for a long time. The market can take a hike.
posted by Wednesday 18 years ago
In "Curious George: Mold Removal"
I'm probably just prissy, but there's no way you're ever going to get that carpet clean and dry enough to your satisfaction, especially if you have allergies. I'll second some of the other posts and advise that you discuss this with your landlord. If it's a small BR, maybe you can even strike a compromise: if he/she buys the materials, you'll do the work. Explain that it'll improve the property. Good luck.
posted by Wednesday 19 years ago
In "CuriousGeorge: Building a House"
If you still feel that you just gotta go through with this, here's what a couple we know did. They wanted to build their own house. Nothing complicated: a box with a roof. No basement, no garage. She knew a little bit about building houses. He knew nothing. They did, however, hire a pro carpenter to work with them. He showed them what to do and how to do it. They were basically the labor. It still took years and it was difficult to get the things they hired out done on time. For example, they couldn't get the foundation guys to show up. It's more profitable for foundation layers to do several jobs at once, like in a subdivision. Because our buddies just wanted a single foundation, the company kept blowing them off because, basically, a single job just wasn't worth doing. Multiply that by your electrician and your plumber and whoever else you need, and it gets real frustrating, real quick. But good luck! Natural Home magazine has some good articles on straw-bale construction and building very small homes.
posted by Wednesday 19 years ago
In "Compelled to write, but fewer readers?"
Actually I have the sinking feeling that fewer and fewer people are reading literary mags, and the number of big mags that publish fiction at all has dwindled. King, I believe, published a lot in Playboy during its heyday, which is long gone. (I think PB even fired its longtime fiction editor in favor of choosing fiction by committee, likely a move to save $$. Can't remember where I read this.) A lot of the classic SF authors got their start in pulps, which are definitely long gone. And James Joyce? His publishing milieu disappeared while the pulps were in their infancy. Times have changed and litmags just ain't what they used to be. It seems to be much like poetry. Those who read litmags are probably trying to write for them.
posted by Wednesday 19 years ago
In "Curious George - Driving Me Crazy"
Okay, now you MUST tell your Stallone story.
posted by Wednesday 19 years ago
In "The Day After Tomorrow."
sexyrobot, you live in LA? My husband's dept. just hired a guy who's *dying* to get out of LA. Nothing but horror stories. He and his wife pull down six figures and can't even afford to go to a movie (much less a movie premiere), because the everday expenses are so high. He spends hours in traffic just trying to get to work, no matter what time it is. Instead of "snow days," his dept. has "traffic days," in which the traffic is so bad, that no one can make it to class, so they just call it off. His dept. meets only once a month or so, because the profs can hardly get to school. He wanted to buy a house closer to school, but that was in East LA, where, although affordable, they would apparently be killed on sight for being Anglo. So he got a great deal on a house further out (don't know where, never been to LA) from a friend who was willing to sell below market just to get out of LA. Is it really that bad? How do you do manage to live there?
posted by Wednesday 19 years ago
In "Curious, George: another stupid work question."
It's been a while since I worked for a paper, so here goes. I don't know how big your paper is (what's the market/circulation?), but there is no money in small newspapers, at least last time I checked. The extra work for no-money request is common, and, in my experience, a $10k raise is laughable. The writers at our local rag are happy for pennies/hour raises, and the paper refuses to pay for any freelancing. The paper is a couple of big local stories, obituaries, legals, classifieds, and the rest is canned. The fresh-out-of-school editor of another local, very tiny paper had loads of responsibility, decided she'd had enough, and got a new job as a paralegal. So, if you're in love with this newspaper thing and have a solid career plan, then take on the extra responsibility, do your best, boost your resume, and get to a bigger/better paper. Also, you'll find plenty of suckers willing to write for free, so don't worry about that. However, if you think you'll ever desire a decent amount of money and respect from your employer, get out of newspapers. Go back to school. Get a law degree. Move into some other form of journalism. Change your career totally. Whatever. But get out of newspapers. You will always be asked to do more and more, with less, and for less. One last thing: I thought big papers were better, but I recently had a look at the Tallahassee Democrat and it was little better than the papers around here (NW GA), that is to say, a glorified shopper. Canned copy + comics + classifieds + legals = cash cow. I'm beginning to think that vibrant small/medium papers are pretty much dead.
posted by Wednesday 19 years ago
In "CURIOUS GEORGE:"
Fatoudust is right. Your problem may be lack of exercise (if you're not already exercising, that is). If you're not exercising/stretching, no chair is going to help. Personally, my back-pain cure is running 2-6 miles a week. It's cheap, works out all the kinks, and doesn't take up a lot of time. /spends a lot of time in front of a computer in a crappy Staples office chair.
posted by Wednesday 19 years ago
In "Enquiring George: Who's the Most Overrated in Show Biz?"
Stephen King.
posted by Wednesday 20 years ago
In "Curious George: Cat Scratch Fever"
Have you considered SoftPaws? The photo gallery is adorable.
posted by Wednesday 20 years ago
In "Grossed Out George"
You mentioned that the carpet was fairly new and the wood underneath seemed in good shape. Was it plywood subflooring or old hardwood floors? If it's the latter--and if I had a choice (being a renter and all)--I'd just have the carpet ripped out permanently. Nostril's right about carpet critters. I helped my parents rip out our 20-year-old carpet-n-pad to install hardwood floors. We were so overcome by the dust we had to leave the house. /wall-to-wall, never again.
posted by Wednesday 20 years ago
In "Curious George: Spyware prevention"
Take a look at Shields Up. It reviews some firewalls and has a "leaktester." I second the mention of Mike Lin's app. I also use F-prot to search for viruses, and an ancient version of Tiny Personal Firewall that I find superior to every firewall I've ever used (including the cruddy "new" version). Also, if you're using W2K go to services and disable messaging, NetMeeting sharing, and routing and remote access.
posted by Wednesday 20 years ago
(limited to the most recent 20 comments)