Big daddy

So, I've been catching a lot of flak for not having a post up since the 22nd of January. So I suppose I shall saciate your appetite for a blogtastic report about what has been "going down" in my life.

I bought a house. Not to live in but to rent out. Actually my company bought a house, I just happen to be the only employee so I'm stuck with all the work. It should be a fun new challange. I hope to finish renovations of the property by April 1st (insert April fool's day pun here). With any luck (insert reference to St. Patricks day here) it'll be occupied by new tenents by May 1st (insert May day pun here). This project should monopolize much of my so called free time for the duration of that month.

Braden is now 12 weeks old (actually he'll be 12 weeks old on Tuesday). He's awesome. We smile at each other a lot. He sleeps through the night (starting about midnight going up to 10:00 am. We're trying to alter that to going to bed at 8 or 9 and getting up at 6 or 7. It's really been our poor skills of gettting him to bed early that is to blame for his current schedule. But were working on it. (Hey, we've only been parents for nearly 12 weeks now, cut me some slack)

For those of you not aware, my insurance company did not cover the damage to my flooded basement (insert "Aww, that's too bad type thought here). However, this provides us with an opportunity to work on the bathroom we've wanted to build down there without having to worry about messing up the carpet. Oh yeah, I removed the carpetburg from my front yard (with some help from my dad). That was all sorts of fun. Side note: carpet is much MUCH lighter without hundreds of gallons of water in it. Side side note: you should observe that I did not use bold or italics yet was able to emphaize my point effectively. Using a single medium for emphasis I was able to indicate the appropriate level of importance without violating existing standard usage of bold and italics.

Anyways... I also bought a utility trailer (again my company actually bought it). That was a mildly interesting experience and because I have a blog and nothing better to do I'll share that story. I found an ad in the Springfield News-Leader classifieds that described a utility trailer for sale for $550. I called about it and arranged a time to check it out. I arrive and the owner's son came to the door. I inquired about the trailer. He took me around to the back yard and I looked at the trailer, pretending I knew what I should be looking for in a used trailer. This amateur sales boy (who I could easily see not having a career as a used car sales man) begins to tell me about the trailer and how balanced it was and "light on the tounge" (which, by the way, sounds more like a description for brandy than a trailer). I nodded and pretended to know what he was talking about. His mother (owner's wife) had joined us at this time. Oh, I should mention that freezing drizzle was coming down on all of us at this time and I was the only one with an umbrella. I asked intelligent sounding questions about the title and stuff and then began the all important negotiations. A general rule of thumb I use is 'start 20% below what they are asking.' I did so offering $440 for the trailer. I was told that this would probably not be acceptable but she would call her husband (owner) and find out what he had to say. Her son stayed with me in the freezing rain and we had an awkward conversation about random junk in their yard including but not limited too; empty boat trailer, run down pop up camper, less run down pop up camper, old Corvette... Oh good mom's back (as in she had returned, not that we were talking about her back). She stated that her husband had said "How about $500." I would say that this attempt at negotiation was poor, at best, for the following reasons; the sad, defeated look on her face, the fact that she presented it as a question, there wasn't anyone else lining up to buy, the "I really want to get rid of the trailer" feeling she was putting off, and so on. So I made some comment like "Well, I guess I'll have to go look at some other trailers..." "So, $440 you said?" she replied. So I got a new trailer.

So that about wraps up this blog. Hopefully this satisfies those of you who have been hounding me about it.

Watch now as I bust out my mad salutations. Peace out on da West side homies, don't play cause you'll get a cap busted in ya, I gots ta chill wid my boo as I roll on my 20s, gotta holla at playa when ya see him in da street, so be straight gangsa thugin fo life my dizzle. Deuces.

Praise God.