Joys of home ownership

Nothing major yet. Just some minor annoyances:

1. Wow. It's really hard to keep a whole house clean. Particularly for me.

2. I can't figure out how to get my toilet to quit running. I've fiddled with it and fiddled with it but, sometimes - I'd say once every 4-5 flushes - it will catch on something (not sure what) and periodically run for about a minute.

3. I tried to put a shelf above the said toilet and ended up just putting two unsightly holes in my wall. A picture covered one of them.

4. My garden hose split for no apparent reason. It's about 2 weeks old, but has had plenty of use. Not sure if I have the receipt and not sure if I could return it if I did. I'm going to try duct tape.

5. I can't wait for recycling to be once a week. I have so much recycling that it's a huge project just to move it down every two weeks - when I remember.

Summer ordeal over

First off, I was going to blog my eating and exercising all summer, but have decided to do it through Fitday instead. Suffice to say, I've been doing well - haven't skipped a gym trip all summer, and have been having amazing workouts. And my eating habits are generally solid, though being involved in a weekly softball beer league probably doesn't help matters much.

Secondly, I'm now ready to share an ordeal that occurred with me this summer.

Most readers know that I have a dog. I adopted him back in 2001. He was a wild stallion at that point, but I trained him well and he's been a really good dog for me. He is fiercely protective of the house (mailmen are scared of him because he barks so much on the other side of the door) and of me. This is a good thing; I want him to be a watchdog, to help prevent breakins and stuff like that.

Some longtime readers will remember an incident with a garbage man back in 2002. I wasn't home, and a garbage man came into our backyard and started yelling and banging on the side of the house, ostensibly to let us know our trash was too heavy. My pothead roommate groggily came downstairs, opened the door, and my dog, Holden, scooted out between his legs. He chased down the guy, who had to jump the fence to escape. He says Holden bit him, but never provided proof.

I didn't have Holden's Rabies certificate on me, and my veterinarian office, the Parkville (or Hamilton?) Animal Hospital, had burned down, so I couldn't get a replica. Because of this, Holden was taken for ten days for observations. This was mind-blowing to me, because he never even bit the guy; he just said he did. In other words, you can just report a bite to the authorities and they'll take the dog.

It was a very expensive lesson and it got worse. About a year later, I was sued for $10,000. Those were my broke years, when I was trying to pay off credit card debts and even considering filing for bankruptcy. I did not have any money for a lawyer, although I met with a couple of them. They said they could make it all go away for $2000, but I didn't have that money.

It also turns out the man suing me was a slumlord and criminal, who owed the city $20,000 in back taxes and fines, and owned houses that were used for dealing crack. It's pretty clear to me that this man was just trying to make a quick buck. Of course, none of that info was admissible during the trial.

The trial was on May 4, 2004. I won. The truth was on my side. I write about the trial more here.

All that lead-in probably wasn't necessary, but it contextualizes what happened on June 15. I was doing some yardwork, and heard a noise behind me. Some teenagers were twirling a stick against my private fence, then came into view. It startled me, and I turned around quickly. Holden, who was laying in the backyard, with the gate stupidly open (I was going back and forth), sensed my momentary surprise and crept towards the kids, between them and me. One kid, 17 years old, ran. It happened so quickly, but Holden was somehow able to wiggle underneath the picket fence and jumped on the kid and apparently bit him. It wasn't much of a bite, but it did happen. The kid didn't deserve it, and it was scary, and not good at all.

Police and ambulance were called. I provided the Rabies certificate. However, Animal Control still came and took the dog away for ten days of observation, to make sure he wasn't vicious. It ended up taking two weeks, because there is so much red tape in the system, and the bite coordinator is lazy and incompetent. I'm cordial with the neighbor, and the kid is fine. I got Holden back. But it was very, very expensive*, and scary. It's good to have Holden back, but it's clear he doesn't get any leeway for the rest of his life in terms of leashes or gates being open, even for a second.

**********

* Very, very expensive hurts now more than it should. I used my summer savings for the house downpayment, thinking I could live on the $8,000 tax rebate I'm getting over the summer. However, the tax man who I spent $160 on to get the amendment filed, screwed up and didn't file the correct paper. The IRS contacted me on June 14, and I sent it back on June 15. It'll be about 8 weeks from their receipt of that to get the tax rebate. I'm crossing my fingers it'll be quicker, because I'm broke to the point where gas money is tough to come by. I paid my mortgage this month, thank goodness, but otherwise I'm broke. I hate to live on a credit card, but I'm going to have to start that soon.



I ended up going to court without a lawyer

Day 3

Exercise:

Ran 2 miles without stopping - 22 minutes. Than, ran/walked another 10 minutes, so I ended up doing nearly 3 miles total.

I was hurting and breathing hard after that hard 30 minutes, when my heart rate was at 160 for most of it. I almost gave up, but I didn't. I lifted weights for another 30 minutes - doing arms, deadlifts, and shoulders. It felt good and I gained some mojo by the end. I ended with 10 minutes of easy cardio on the elliptical.

Here's what I ate:

Breakfast: 2 servings of Honey Flax Seed Crunch Cereal

Lunch: Salmon Burger, Fake Bacon, Big Iceburg Lettuce salad

Dinner and snacks after: (Euchre night at my house) 3 pieces of mushroom pizza, 4 pierogi, several servings of Crystal Lemonade and "the big V".

The latter half of the day, eating wise, wasn't so hot. But I didn't eat much beforehand, and stayed away from beer on my party night. That's not too bad, I hope.

Day 2 of Health Regime

Waking up, the body part most sore was the space between my shoulders, my upper back. I think it's because I have terrible posture, and running forces me to have good posture, or at least better posture. My legs were plenty sore, too. Not my arms or shoulders, though, which makes me think my weightlifting must have been a little weak.

Today, I didn't want to pound my joints with my 249-lb frame two days in a row, so I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical, then lifted weights. My weights workouts are shorter these days, because I just feel like my main concentration at this point should be aerobic fitness and getting some of this weight off me, but I still did a good half-hour of a back and chest workout. I'm planning on doing a legs workout in the basement in a few minutes.

After the 30 minutes of weightlifting, I went back to the elliptical and did 40 additional minutes. I'm really into Steinbeck's East of Eden right now, and was reading away the minutes. If you can read while you're working out, you're not going as hard as you should - and this is true for me, as my heart rate was only around 133. I'm not 100% positive what heart rate I should be shooting for, but know that when I'm running hard, it gets to around 165, and when I'm briskly walking or elliptical-ing, it's around 130-135 (140-145 if I'm pushing it on there, but then it's too fast to read).

So, all told, I did 110 minutes of low/medium cardio, and 30 minutes of medium weightlifting. I'm going to exercise some more in a little bit, but just legs, abs, and a little cardio.

Here's what I ate today:

Honey Flax Cereal (1.5 servings) + milk for breakfast

1/2 protein shake from yesterday

Piece of Cold-smoked salmon and raw broccoli for lunch

Salad with iceberg lettuce and garbanzo beans and spritzer dressing

Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich

Also plenty of water, coffee, and crystal light.

I'm going to try to add calorie values.

Day 1 of Health Regime

Today, I was planning on running or walking my way through 60 minutes on the treadmill. I just feel like my times of the greatest health, I was running a lot - at least two good hour runs a week. I'd love to get back into that. I had an issue last summer with a stress fracture in my foot, and hope that doesn't come back, but today felt fine. I tore my calf muscle about 6 weeks ago, but it was a minor tear - maybe even a strain - but that has been feeling fine lately.

Anyhow, I wanted to see if I could finish 60 minutes on the treadmill with a combination of running and walking. I'm in pretty bad shape,s o I knew it would be challenging. I started off by running for 2 miles without stopping, at a slow pace of 11 minutes / mile (1 degree incline). I was proud of myself for doing that without stopping. Then, I walked for 2 minutes, and ran for 3 minutes at 6 mph (12 min miles). Then, I had to go to the bathroom. When I returned, I toggled at 2 minutes of walking (3.8 mph) and 2 minutes of running (6.1 mph) for 20 minutes, so I had 45 minutes total. For the 2nd segment of my workout, I increased the incline to 3.5 degrees. All told, this was about 650 calories burned and my heart rate was around 160 when I was jogging, and 130 when I was walking. I was drenched in sweat.

My body felt a little too pounded, so I finished up with 30 minutes on the elliptical, which is a lot easier on a big man's joints. All told, I did 75 minutes of cardio - much of it hard - and went home. Then, I mowed the lawn, did a bunch of yard work, had a horrible experience involving my dog, and went to a softball game, which we lost 9-8. After a brief jaunt to the bar, I came back home, and lifted weights for 45 minutes (arms, abs, and shoulders).

Here's what I ate:

Breakfast: Fiber-One bar

Lunch: Salmon Burger with fake bacon

Afternoon: Protein shake with banana and blueberries and peanut butter

Dinner: Quizno's Tuna Sub - one of those new torpedo ones for $4

Bar: One 8-oz lite beer

Night: Rest of protein shake

Looking over that, I didn't eat a whole lot, nor did I have any vegetables. Need to change that for tomorrow. Probably have something between breakfast and lunch, too.

The Summer of Health

I began the summer yesterday weighing in a 249.2 lbs. A rather ridiculous stop on my weight roller coaster (310 lbs in 2000, down to 192 in 2002, and a steady gaining of roughly 8-10 lbs a year since then). I have never quit exercising, but my consistency has waned, partly because of a couple of major surgeries on my eyes, and, despite eating fairly healthily (vegetarian since 1996), I still manage to pack on the pounds very easily.

I'm not blogging much these days (Facebook updates have replaced it), but think I'm going to try to monitor my exercise and eating here this summer. This year has been a good year - a Master's Degree, a significant raise, and purchasing my first home. Now I have to get my health back.

Yesterday, I returned to the gym for the first time in a while. Did 30 minutes on the elliptical and lifted weights for 30 minutes. Not very much, but I'm fairly sore today. I'm heading off to Pittsburgh today for the Tigers/Pirates games, but will be back on it tomorrow. That's my job this summer - getting myself back into shape and getting my health back.

Recycling

I have been excited about Recycling Day for more than two weeks and when it comes it's storming outside. I have soooo many boxes and stuff to put out in the alley. I think they'll be okay in the rain.

I sure hope Mayor Dixon's efforts to bring weekly recycling to Baltimore are successful! I produce way more recycling than I do regular trash, and it really piles up.

Settling

I'm slowly getting settled; I hung my first picture yesterday. Still deciding what I'm going to do with the living room. I'd like a nice living room set from The Room Store or something like that, but I have a long living room, and am unsure what to do with rugs. Two 8X10s? How should they match? These are things I'm not sure of. I'm basing a lot in the living room off of this great picture I bought at Homegoods (my new favorite store, just about) of an ocean view.

I also need a couple of bookcases. I hate putting them together and sometimes give up or break them, so I'm more interested in getting real wood bookcases. Though the one I got at Target is pretty nice.

That's all the news with settling right now.

Settlement on Shakespeare's Birthday

I have the internet and am in the new house! I just settled on Thursday, but have been living here since April 2 as part of a pre-settlement agreement with St. Ambrose Housing. (Love them...)

Things are going well - very busy, trying to unpack and organize, trying to buy furniture.

No internet access

hey all...

I've moved and am slowly getting settled into the new place.

No Internet yet, though. I'm hating Verizon DSL quite a bit right now (the date was supposed to be Tuesday, but it came and went with no hookup... now they're supposed to come on Monday).

I'm loving DirecTV, though. first time I've had cable in years and it's really awesome. DirecTV was about half as much as Comcast, another company I kind of hate.

Life is good. Will be back around shortly.

Furnishing

After walking around both Ikea and Value Village today and getting a bit overwhelmed, I thought I should start to plan what I need to buy so I can start looking for specific deals.

I might be getting ahead of myself, but I could be moving in within ten days or so. The original settlement date was March 31. The bank seems to be able to get it done by then or so, but then there will be an additional hold-up while I wait for the Baltimore City Employee Incentive Grant to come through. I'm not sure how other folks manage it, mostly because I just don't get how the incentive is supposed to work. However, I apparently will be getting $3750 ($3000 + $750 for it being a Healthy Neighborhoods house) from the city at closing; however, the incentive (which is fashioned as a 5-year loan that decreases 20% every year, so that it's forgiven if you live in the house for 5 years) is holding up the closing by up to two weeks, because we'll only be waiting on the grant to come. They're going through a massive re-organization right now at Baltimore Housing, and the lady in charge of the grant is out sick for a long time, so that might also be what is holding it up and adding even more red tape than usual. It's still a lot of money, so hopefully it'll be worth it. The long story short, though, is that the organization selling me the house will be letting me move in early - via a pre-settlement deal. It's not a certainty, but the kind woman I am working with says she's "sure we can work something out regarding a pre-settlement move-in date." So, I'm hoping that means it happens around the original date of March 31. (Besides, they're going to call the police on me otherwise... I keep stalking the new house by parking, walking around the yard, picking up trash, peer in the windows, etc.)

Anyhow, this has got me excited, and, as I pack and pack and pack here, my eyes and mind are on the future house, and how I'm going to set it up. This is what I'm thinking now:

Living Room

Have halfway decent couch.

Need coffee table, end table, bookcase, chair, nice rug, and nice big plant. It's so bright and I think a plant is just what it needs.


Kitchen/Dining Room

Have kitchen table (antique, from friend)

Need 4 kitchen table chairs, 2 bar stools, rug. Would like wine rack.

Basement Rec Room

Have elliptical machine, weights, and clunky TV

Need small couch, futon, or a couple of chairs.

Office
Have computer/desk.

Need rug.

Bedroom

Have bed and rug.

Would like to upgrade bed (or at least get a headboard/footboard). Need dresser (have been using plastic dressers for years).

Den/Guest Room/Library

Have lots and lots of books and CDs.
Need bookcases, large futon, Rug, coffee table, chair, possibly flat panel TV to mount (I'll have help to mount the week of move-in.)

So, to prioritize, I think it would look something like this:

1. Large futon

2. 4 kitchen chairs

3. 3-4 rugs

4. bookcases

5. TV

6. 2 lounge chairs

7. dresser

8. bed upgrade


I don't need it all at once, obviously. However, I am excited about the housewarming party, whenever that might be.

I'm going to be doing a lot of Craig's Listing!