Done last week (20130119 Sa - 26 Sa)

[mdlbear]

It's been a * l o n g * week, bracketed by cons. Last Saturday we day-tripped Rustycon (and decided that we probably won't bother next year -- it's small. This weekend was Conflikt. Which we will *definitely* be attending next year, but probably without the YD. She went this time because she was writing a term paper on it, but it didn't really seem to be her thing.

Last Sunday we put an offer down on the West Seattle house. It was down to the wire -- when we got there after having seen two places that were obviously unsuitable, we found that they were having an open house and had already received two offers. We offered $10K over the asking price. Monday was a nail-biter, but we got it! It's gorgeous. A full 2-bedroom apartment downstairs in the daylight basement, plus a 4-car garage on that level. Three bedrooms upstairs. And a great hall on top of the garage. I forsee parties, house filks, and house concerts in our future.

Needless to say, my work productivity suffered, as I spent far too much of my time on the phone or tracking down paperwork. The loan paperwork finally all came together at 4:45 on Friday, about the same time I got my functional tests running and marked "ready for QA".

Did I mention the lack of sleep? Mostly due to waking up at unreasonable hours with house worries. So we went into Conflikt already sleep-deprived.

I may have to leave most of Conflikt until later, but the music was fantastic and the Interfilk auction was one of the must entertaining in years. Even if I did end up winning a $100 bid to give the horrid wall-hangings, Harry and Henrietta Hemp, to Seanan. Who said she'd burn them in the parking lot. (The deal with the Hemps is that the winning bidder gets to say who they go to, and somebody had fingered us as people who hadn't had it yet.)

Health. We both had follow-up appointments with our PCP, Dr. Chopra, Saturday morning. Colleen had a dentist appointment Wednesday morning, I had an appointment with the sports medicine department Thursday morning. I got my SSRI dosage raised, and was told that my assorted joint, etc. problems would be solved if I lost (rather a lot of) weight. Thanks; I knew that.

I'd probably better go splat now (10:51 pm). Before I fall asleep at the keyboard. Again.

0119 Sa
  * up 7:45; W=201.4, BP=134/76, P=60; d, n, l; dishes, light
  @ Big win for labor in Chicago - Salon.com First time I'd heard of "wage
    theft", but it's a good way of framing the problem. f(Nora Rivkis)
  @ The Top Ten Reasons to Self-Publish Your Book | LinkedIn 
  * 10:40, 11:20 Dr. Chopra
    increased citalopram to 40mg; prescribed niacin at 1000mg for triglycerides;
    may be worthwhile going to 1500
  * made myself chicken fried rice for lunch.  A serving left over for tomorrow.
  * Rustycon.  $35 for a day pass (*3, of course)  Crappy service in the bar
    Bought a lovely mahogany pen/stylus in dealers'
  : great T-shirt in dealer's:  FSM and Cthulhu.  Caption:  "we met online"
  * 9pm burlesque in Washington A+B.  Somehow I thought it was 8pm.
  * OK con, but small.  Hardly anyone we know.  Probably won't bother next year.
  * 22:40 back home.

0120 Su
  * up 7:15; W=202.4; d, n, l; exercise, shower
  * N coming over noon-1ish; meeting (realtor) Dave at 2  
    They were having an open house today; could be dicey.  Nothing else looks
    nearly as good.  4126 37th Ave SW Seattle, WA 98126  Made offer, for $10K
    over the asking price.  It'll be a hell of a stretch, but...
  * Stupidly left junk on top of the laser printer, and it jammed.  Seemingly
    irretrievably, even though I can't see anything stuck in it.  Growf.  Well,
    might be an excuse to get a new one.
  * ordered Chinese for dinner because too late to do anything else, and besides...
  * ordered Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 Bluetooth Keyboard Best BT keyboard I've seen
    -- looks very similar to a Thinkpad keyboard, which I like a lot.

0121 Mo MLK day
  * up 7:20; W=201.4, BP=138/79, P=57; d, n, l; dishes, light
  @ The Top Ten Reasons to Self-Publish Your Book | LinkedIn 
  @ Today's xkcd - I really connect with this.
  * We Got the House!!!! Subject to inspection and financing; the latter
    may be tricky.  And the finances will definitely be tight until summer, when
    we and Naomi are both moved in and can stop paying rent.  It's GORGEOUS!
  & We looked at a couple of places on the north side that N's ex found -- both
    were falling apart.  Only one was worth considering -- a 7000 square foot
    hippie commune full of funk, secret passageways, and decrepit enough that no
    banker in their right mind would write a loan for it.  In better shape it
    would have been a tough choice.
  * Lunch out -- the Indian buffet near Northgate -- to celebrate
  * WFH for the afternoon.
  : My tax refund this year, expected to be huge because of a delayed rollover,
    should cover the $5K we'll need for the chair lift.
  * piggie cage cleaned.
  @ Post PC Pioneer | What does it really mean to use a tablet as your primary
    computer? (ysabetwordsmith)

0122 Tu
  * up 6:27; W=201.4, BP=124/82; P=57; d, n, l; dishes, light
  * worked through lunchtime; productive.
  * spent the evening tracking down paperwork for the mortgage broker.  Eep.

0123 We
  * up 6:32; W=201.4; d, n, l; exercise, dishes, light
  * 9am Colleen: dentist
  * zipped up first batch of paperwork for the mortgage broker.
    N waiting for the architect and inspector.  HOUSE!!
  * much interaction with mortgage broker.
  * 8:30pm sleepy

0124 Th
  & awake 4:30.  Worrying
  * up 5:11; W=202.4; d, n, l; dishes, light
  o 9am Harborview sports/spine clinic: Dr. Standaert
  o best route is probably walking from convention ctr or Jefferson.
    leave 7:30ish.  -> Caught the 308.  Win.
  * basically need more exercise.  Lots more.
  * Walked from 9th and Jefferson to work.
  * successfully transitioned home phone to cellular
  * spent pretty much the whole afternoon on loan paperwork.  Again.
  * The house has a name -- Rainbow's End.  Colleen found the name last night; Naomi
    agreed that it was perfect.  (She came over to look at furniture with Colleen). 
  * frantic search for last year's W-2.  No joy.

0125 Fr
  * up 6:20; W=202.4; d, n, l; dishes
  * Much searching in the morning for paperwork.
  * Lunch with John the Mortgage Broker at Benihana's sushi brunch.  Some good tips.
  * All the ducks finally got lined up around 4:45, plus I finally got all the
    config parameters pointing in the same direction to make my software work.
  * Colleen went to the con with Naomi in the van
  * Took the bus home, picked up the YD, fed the piggies, drove to the con, had
    dinner (in Spencer's at vast expense), and went to the con.  The hotel is
    large and spread-out, but our room is *huge*.  Not complaining.  Much.

0125-7 Conflikt - Seatac Hilton
  *  2 Double Beds Guestroom (245 sq. ft.) upgrades to larger room requested
     3495250749    Check-in: January 25, 2013    Check-out: January 27, 2013 
  * Colleen checked in and upgraded to handicap-accessible.  Yay!

0126 Sa
  * up 7ish; d, n
  * Breakfast at Spencer's.  Ouch!
    Spencer's is a hotel coffeeshop with delusions of being a steakhouse.  They
    use good ingredients, but their cook and service aren't up to their prices,
    which are at least double what they should be.  Triple, in some cases.
  * rather glad I didn't sign up for the brunch -- salad and sandwitches.  I'm
    told there was a gluten-free turkey sandwitch, but still...
  * 1pm vocal workshop with Heather Dale
  * 2pm panel:  So you want to start a band
  * Concerts:  Heather and Ben; Bob and Sue (Interfilk)
  * The Interfilk auction was a lot of fun.  I got hooked (by Naomi) into
    putting a song on the zoom recorder that Kathleen eventually won.  And paid $100 
    to send Harry and Henrietta Hemp home with Seanan (who said she would burn them).
  * Dinner:  Naomi, Chip Unicorn, Rick Weiss and housemate whose name I didn't catch.
  * GOH concert:  the Bohnhoffs