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September, 2007:

Saturday Plans

Sep 29th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
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This morning I’m editing photos for the paying job from last weekend. Not fun but a required evil.

Then I’ll clean up the living room fun last nights mess making extravaganza and maybe try one more layout that I’ve been considering. I’m just going to pile up the heavy furniture that needs to be moved and ask my dad to help me move it the next time he comes to visit. I can’t quite get it myself and Jess isn’t up to par for much manual labor anymore, well, except, of course, for the ultimate in manual labor, but that’s not until December.

After that, I’d like to hit some thrift and second-hand stores to look for two console tables and possibly another chair. But, I also have two more rooms that need some serious rearranging before tomorrow, so it’ll all depend on how quickly I get done this morning because…

We’re double booked this evening. First it’s my friend Emily’s birthday party, and then, we’re going out with a larger group of friends later. So, we have to leave the house around 6:45pm to make the evening madness and still need to stop off somewhere and buy Emily a gift.

Then tomorrow, it’s more cleaning and preparing until 3:30pm, when the open house starts. Then Jess and I will have to find something to do for a few hours.

And, if all the rearranging and cleaning weren’t enough to keep us occupied, I have two cars in desperate need of a wash, many gigabytes of photos waiting to be edited, an expense report to write, and a dresser sitting in the garage that needs to be painted.

And, if by some miracle, all of that gets done without me adding anything new to my plate, I’ve got a short list of things I’d really like to do like take photographs of the sunrise with my dad, meet up with someone for a photoshoot before I go, and set up a Yahoo! email account to work properly with my BlackBerry.

FRIDAY! FRIDAY! FRIDAY!

Sep 28th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
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Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourself.

This event is scheduled for ONE NIGHT ONLY, so ACT NOW.

This Friday — yes TODAY! — be prepared to witness the most insane event OF YOUR LIFETIME.

This is your ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY.

 

What: witness and assist JIM REVEREND as he builds furniture, rearranges furniture, and, generally prepares for an open house on Sunday that no one will attend anyway. Hey ladies! Special for you. JIM will be appearing WITHOUT SPOUSAL SUPERVISON (as she will be attending a girl’s night out). Come PREPARED for the time of your life.

When: Friday (that’s today) ONLY. 7pm until there’s just no party left in you.

Where: The ACTUAL HOME of none other than JIM REVEREND.

Who: All ages event! Those under 15 years old must be accompanied by an adult.

Why: Didn’t you hear me mention JIM REVEREND!?!? Come on now!

 

 

NOW IS YOUR ONLY CHANCE. Do NOT miss this exciting offer. Tickets can be secured by calling, emailing, text messaging, or IMing JIM REVEREND directly.

The cost is ZERO DOLLARS!! That’s right. You heard me! ZERO DOLLARS!! Don’t delay! Get your tickets NOW!

the fat lady isn’t singing yet

Sep 28th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
1 comment

Apparently, getting out of a contract to buy a house isn’t that easy.

Our lender has already committed to the money. He told me that even if I lost my job there’d be nothing he could do to back out from loaning me the money and nothing he can do to retract his commitment from the seller.

Our lawyer indicated that, if we want to back out of a contract, it’s entirely in the hands of the seller regarding what it will cost us to do that and it can by anything from $0 all the way to the cost of the home thereby forcing us to buy it.

So, we’re back to plan A. We’re going to pursue selling and renting our house in Texas until, if ever, we are released by the seller from our contract in New York in the event that they are unable to clear the title in a “reasonable time frame”. Our lawyer seems to think that they will get the title cleared in time. We’ll pressure them to close by 10/15 and, hopefully, we’ll either have a house in New York or be released from our contract by then.

Sorry for getting your hopes up or letting you down, depending on your particular bias. This whole trip has been a roller coaster like this. Here’s a rough timeline:

  • 2006/11: Initial plan to staff in Syracuse presented to me
  • 2007/03: Orders to start travel and prove worth of new position
  • 2007/03: SURPRISE! You’re having a Baby!
  • 2007/04: Approval expressed by Syracuse
  • 2007/05: Position not approved. End travel.
  • 2007/06: Position reinstated. Resume travel.
  • 2007/07: SURPRISE! You have a new boss!
  • 2007/08: Job officially offered with relocation.
  • 2007/09: Relocation officially retracted.

Fun, huh? One thing’s for sure. There’s no shortage of stress over here.

Looks like Jess and I are having an open house this Sunday. Our real estate agent doesn’t expect too many people to show up. I’m not quite sure why she’s having it then. Maybe she’s just bored.

We’re officially putting our house up for rent. 2250 sq ft with lots of upgrades, access to community pool, cafe, hot tub, sauna, tennis courts, basket ball courts, parks, and fitness center. All for $1350 a month. You know you want it!

and it comes to this

Sep 28th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
1 comment

Some news and notes:

  • When we first put our house on the market, there were 7 other houses for sale on our street alone. Now there are 11.
  • We put our house for sale at $163k. Selling at this price would represent a loss for us.
  • We also put $2500 worth of upgrades and repairs into the house to ready it for sale. Again, more loss.
  • We’re also having to front the mortgage for our Texas house month after month until it sells. Still, more loss. And after 4 months of this, I can afford no more.
  • At this point, most of the homes on our street are selling for $10K-20K less than ours. If we have to lower our price any further, it will be a loss we simply can’t afford.

The odds are stacking up against us being able to sell this house. And, as much as we like Syracuse (or Canada, or Hawaii, or Italy, or France for that matter) it doesn’t matter if I can’t afford to move there.

When our kind, caring friends and family of the praying, energy channeling, or thought focusing varieties asked what they should pray, channel, or focus for, I’ve always asked for clarity. I asked for a sign indicating what we should be doing — something to point towards what the best choice for us right now is. I think those prayers, energies, and thoughts have finally reached their goal.

So, we’re staying in Dallas.

Our desire to be in the North East has not changed and we are still planning to be there. We’re just postponing that plan for the time being. 

I know this news will make some of you very happy. It will also make some of you quite sad. This was, and continues to be, a very hard choice for us, and I hope you’ll remember that when you express your joy or sadness. We need our friends and family both near and far more than ever right now.

We are, of course, very happy to be staying in Dallas near many of the people we love, and relieved to have the stress of selling our Texas house, buying a new house, relocating across the country, and starting a new job all lifted from our shoulders. However, at the same time we are feeling the sadness of loss that comes with delaying our plans to be where we want to be, as well as the continued distance that we feel from our family and friends in the North. It’s one thing to have desires and goals and be wishful for them.  It’s another thing entirely to have the promise of those desires just within your grasp only to have them pulled away from you at the last minute.

Thanks to all of you who have supported us with advice, offers of financial help, prayers, energy, thoughts, and distractions. It means so much to us. We love you all, dearly.

send them all to me!

Sep 27th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

I have a new phone email address. Well, no. I have a new way of getting email to my phone and I’ve now altered the old address to use the new method.

If you’d like to help me test it, that’d be great. Just locate or create a recording of yourself making lewd sounds or statements. Or, instead, find or take a suggestive photo of yourself that you’d just die if your family ever saw them. Then email those items to the following address:

danielNOSPACEHEREphone@inklog.net

You will, of course, need to remove the part that says “NOSPACEHERE”.

Thanks in advance.

Nikon: where’s the competition?

Sep 26th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
1 comment

I’ve photographed with Nikon cameras for over 10 years now. Sure, that’s not nearly as many years as some of the outstanding photographers using this equipment today, but I’d like to think that 10 years not only marks me as a loyal customer but also means that I might know a thing or two about Nikon’s product line and where it is lacking. And, lately, when compared to Canon, slow to market and very lacking has been all Nikon is providing. So much so that, despite the expense, I’m considering switching.

First, let’s start with the big guns — the Full Frame Sensor Digital camera. The EOS 5D, Canon’s Full Frame Sensor camera was announced August 22nd, 2005. Two years later, on August 23th, 2007, Nikon announces the Nikon D3, its first full frame sensor. They are both 12MP cameras with the same sensor size. The Nikon has a few new features (like Live Preview, and a newer image processor) but, for the most part, the cameras are functionally the same with roughly the same quality of output. Yet Canon’s version was available two years earlier. And, get this, Canon’s version debuted at $2500, half the price of the Nikon D3.

The new Nikon D3 as well as the new Nikon D300 announced at the same time, both boast a new “Live Preview” feature that has never been seen before on a digital SLR. Whether it’s useful to you or not isn’t important, it’s innovation and lots of people are looking for it. The new Canon EOS 40D announced just a few days prior to the Nikon also has this Live Preview feature. So much for innovation being Nikon’s strong point. And, while the D300 is 12MP to the 40D’s 10MP, the 40D is almost $500 less expensive. I’d gladly give up 2 of my 12MP for $500.

Or, perhaps you’re looking for a Point and Shoot to complement your dSLR. You want something that will give you manual control, high quality output, and a decent focal range in a much smaller package. And, if possible, you’d still like to be able to use the wireless flash system you bought to go with your dSLR in case you need a little more light. In the Canon world, you’ve got two choices in their current line: The 12MP Powershot G9 with a 35-210mm f/2.8-4.8 lens for $500 or the 8MP Powershot S5 IS with a 36-432mm f/2.7-3.5 for $420. In the Nikon world, however, you only have the Nikon P5100 with a 35-123mm f/2.7-5.3 lens for $400. Prior to the current camera line, both companies had cameras available with similar qualities to the above at similar price points. While both of the Canon offerings are a bit more expensive than the Nikon, the lenses in both cases are far superior. And, then sensor size on the Nikon is the same size as the Powershot S5s. The G9, for $100 more, has a huge (therefore, less noisy) sensor.

The best selling cameras in the US are Canons. Canons are almost always less expensive than their Nikon equivalents or, if priced more, offer a lot of features for that extra cash. Canon almost always releases the next level of features before Nikon does. Most Canon cameras have equal or greater image quality when compared to Nikons. Canon glass is used by professionals worldwide and is considered by many to be some of the best in the world.
Obviously, Nikon’s Research and Development team and Marketing team are asleep. They’re about to lose a customer and I seriously doubt I’m the only one.

Good advice

Sep 25th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
1 comment

Thanks to those of you who chimed in to my call for opinions regarding our moving situation. (Actually, most of the responses are on the LiveJournal version of that entry, if you’d like to read the discussion yourself.) And, if you haven’t yet, your opinion is still considered valuable so, please, let me know what you think. At least until I make up my mind. Then just keep it to yourself, cause if you start changing my mind I’ll be pissed.

To sum it up for you, the discussion brought forth the following very good points:

  1. If we don’t move into this house and yet we still move to NY, given the time table of buying a house there, our only option will be to get an apartment until after the baby is born. Short version of the math: it will take 9 weeks to get to NY, find a new house and close on it, putting us at moving in just 3 weeks before the baby is due, which just isn’t going to happen.
  2. Logically, staying in Dallas makes the most sense.
  3. Emotionally, getting to Syracuse as soon as possible makes the most sense.
  4. Jess and I really dislike the location, commute time, layout, size (both too small and too big), and neighborhood of our current house, yet moving somewhere else in Texas prior to having the baby is not an option. Moving to this house in NY makes all of that go away.
  5. We just sank money into buying carpet we don’t even want which we will, logically, be stuck with for 3 years or so if we stay here.
  6. Karma/Fate/Destiny/Meant-to-be-ness seems to be steering us toward staying. (This was mentioned twice in comments, and once to me in bed last night by Jess).
  7. As *BIG* as moving and location stuff is, it really is all superficial in the grand scheme of things. My wife, my new baby girl, my family, my friends and our happiness is what matters most.
  8. Boobies make it all better… at least temporarily.

At this point, I think the best moment of clarity came with Nic’s comment, which said:

My take is this, you wanted to move to Syracuse because a couple of things fell into place to make it possible. Those things have all flipped since then, leaving you with pretty much only the desire to move. The problem is, the means to move seem to be slipping away.

So, why not take your foot off the sinking ship now. There are way too many gambles and what-ifs, and with your special circumstances, you really should be thinking about security right now. A while down the road, where things are less chaotic and you have the time/means to make a safe move, you should go for it. I would just hate to see you guys gamble and lose, especially at this critical time in your lives.

So that’s where it all sits now.

Here’s what I’m leaning towards. Call the powers that be and find out if staying is still an option (since I’ve already officially indicated that we’d still like to go). If it is, then wait out the current housing situation until 2 weeks after our rough closing date — which would be 10/15. At that point, if there’s no house, then we just stay here. Meanwhile, go about our lives as though we are staying. Start getting the house ready for a baby, making changes we’ve been putting off, etc. If staying is no longer an option, or isn’t an option I can drag out until 10/15, then just move into an apartment in NY and consider that “done” until March or April of next year.

Thoughts?

House News; Old Fashioned Internet Poll

Sep 24th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
1 comment

I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing any more.

Jess and I were worried sick that our house would never sell. Especially after hearing that some friends of ours with a similarly priced house in a different neighborhood have had more visits than they can count in the past month and yet Jess and I have not even had one in 2 weeks. So, we worked it all out and decided our best option would be to rent the house at a loss and that that would make much more sense than selling it at a loss. This way, we don’t have to compete with the foreclosures and, potentially, will lose less money.

We no more than decide that one day when our lawyer in New York has some bad news the next (i.e. today). It seems that the seller’s lawyer is being slow. Hence the reason it’s taken so long to even get this information. However, now that we have it it seems that there is an uncleared lien on the property that is over 10 years old. It is from the owner of the house before the current owner. Logic would indicate that the current owner couldn’t buy it without that lien being cleared, so, more than likely, there really isn’t a lien on the house. But, in order to find out, Chase bank, the holder of the lien, has to dig through their records to find out. To make matters worse, our Lawyer’s assistant has indicated that working with Chase on this type of thing is generally very slow. Further more, since these records are over 10 years old, they may potentially be paper records in a box that someone has to track down.

So, this could take weeks — maybe months. So, Jess and I have a few options.

  1. Sit around and wait with our thumbs up our asses until someone tells us the house is ready to close on. This could be 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 years.
  2. Wait until the proposed closing date of 10/1 and then submit a “Time is of the Essence” statement and wait out the 2-weeks required there and then start the house hunt all over again if we haven’t closed by then.
  3. Withdraw our offer, eat the earnest money, and start looking for another house now.
  4. Just say “Fuck It” and stay in Texas.

Also of note is that, any of the “look for a house” options actually entail moving to an apartment in New York and then looking for a house from that apartment while keeping our belongings in storage. There’s really no other way to manage it at this point.

As Joel suggested on Sunday, everything is best decided by a good old fashion Internet poll. And I think I agree. But I’m too damn lazy to figure out how to do a poll that will span the 5 or 6 different outlets this information might show up on, so we’ll do this the old fashioned way: just comment with your choice. Choose any of the above options or feel free to submit one of your own. Feel free to elaborate on your choice or let it stand alone. Bribes and suggestive banter will earn your vote extra weight in the final tally.

Game on!

Me: 0; Big Bad Blackberry Pearl: 1

Sep 24th, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

So yeah. Yesterday, I broke down and bought a Blackberry Pearl which came highly recommended by more people than I can count. While there, I was very tempted by the new Blackberry Curve, which was just released that day. However, the few features it offered didn’t warrant the $100 difference in price and I was anxious to try a smaller phone for a change.

So far, I like the Pearl. It’s fast, and, after a brief introduction in the way of the Berry, quite easy to use.

My only problem with it, oddly enough, is in the way it handles email, which is, of course, it’s most highly regarded feature. Here is my gripe:

In the corporate world, supposedly, this works as I want it to. So, if I was willing to pay an extra $10/mo in service charges, pay for a Blackberry Enterprise Service license, find a server to host it on, and pay for and maintain one of the expensive mail solutions that works with this, I’d have exactly what I want. But, even in the best of circumstance, that works out to an extra $40/mo on top of the existing Blackberry fees just to get features that seem like no-brainers to me.

Basically, if you aren’t a corporate user, your new email is pushed to you and if you delete a message on the handheld, that action is pushed back. But that’s it. It doesn’t synchronize two ways. This may not seem like too big of a deal until you imagine a typical scenario for me (and lots of other people):

I check my email from the blackberry before work. I delete the unimportant messages from the handheld and, when I get to the office and check my email on my computer, those messages are deleted there as well, which is great. Then I start my day. I get a whole bunch of email all day long. I answer them. I delete them. I get new ones. This goes on for 8 (or 10 or 15) hours until I’m ready to go home. I leave the day having saved two of those messages from the day that I need to reference tomorrow. On the way to my car I check my blackberry and what do I see? 532 unread messages. In actuality all of them are read and all but two of them are deleted. I could just delete them all, but then I wouldn’t have the two that I saved and the handheld would also delete them out of my actual Inbox as well causing me to not have them at all any more. Or, I can go through them one by one and figure out which ones I need to save. Or, I can just leave them there, therefore, limiting the usefulness of the Blackberry.

What’s funny is that it’s OBVIOUS that the Blackberry knows how to do this right, because it does so in the corporate world. In fact, if you use a Yahoo! email account, it’ll handle all of this just fine too. But with GMail or any other email account, you basically get one way push and the other way delete and that’s it. I can understand it being this way with POP3 because of the inherent nature of the protocol. But an IMAP message store could certainly be more well behaved.

Because Yahoo! does work as intended, using some trickery, it is possible to sort of make this work. First, buy a Yahoo! Plus account so that you don’t have to deal with ad puke all over the mail pages and ad puke at the bottom of every message you send. Then, set up all your email accounts to forward to your Yahoo! account and add all of your addresses into the Yahoo! interface. Now, when you get new mail it forwards to Yahoo! which in turns pushes immediately to your handheld. When you read or delete messages in either place (handheld or online) every is synchronized in perfect two-way bliss. Except! As desired, if you reply to any of these emails from your Yahoo! account online they appear to be coming from your real email address. However, when you reply from your Yahoo! account on the Blackberry, the message will appear to be from your Yahoo! address and not from your real email address. As best as I can tell there’s no way to fix this.

Dear RIM (Research In Motion — creator of the Blackberry)–

This is just plain silly. With all of your programmers and supposed expertise in this field, there has to be a way to offer two-way synchronization with IMAP servers. There are hundreds of examples of software out there that do just this that you can use as inspiration. Your own software is doing it for corporate users already. Yahoo! has it implemented and working perfectly with you. Given all that, why can’t you get it working with something like IMAP? What exactly does my $20/mo go toward if not features like this?

Yours,
Jim Reverend

Plano Balloon Festival

Sep 22nd, 2007
by Jim Reverend.
No comments yet

Jess and I are heading out to meet my my mom, dad, and two neices at the annual Plano Balloon festival this morning, We’re supposed to be there around 6am.

At 9:30am, I have a underpaid — yet still paying — photo shoot in Allen.

Then later this evening, though I don’t know when or where or exactly with whom yet, we’re going out with friends.

Should make for a nice busy, fun filled, well rounded day. Holler my way if you’re interesting in getting lunch or something.

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