Busy Week
 

On April 5th, I was given until May 5th to get about two months of work done....

Monday:

Did not make any progress. Oh, and the Indian guys I work with (in India) work until 1:00 our time, so if I have a problem they need to fix, I have to wait until the next day. I complained to my boss about this because I work until 4:15, so I lose over 3 hours of working time a day if there is an issue. So far, there have been no days (or hours) without issues.

The wife of the realtor (who is also a realtor) of the couple who were going to make an offer on my house but got cold feet calls me. She sets up an appointment for Wednesday. She demands that my cat not be there. (He did attack her.)

Tuesday:

Coworker solves the problem that has been dogging me for a week. Testing finally starts to progress again. He tells me that I owe him donuts.

Wednesday:

Power goes out at midnight and doesn't come back on until 4:00 a.m.. I keep a fan by the bed to drown out noise and keep me cool sleeping next to my furnace of a pregnant wife. I don't sleep well. I get up groggy and swing by Krispy Kreme for donuts. I get asked 3 times if I'm bringing in donuts because my house sold. I get to say "No" three times.

More progress on testing. I tell my boss that I will work from home after the realtor is out of my house to make up for the time I will miss driving my cat around. I make a loop around our top two houses (takes about half an hour). Realtor is still at our house. I drive to the park and wait for another 15 minutes and come back. Realtor is still at our house. I wait at the end of the street because they must be leaving any minute now, right? I wait for another 20 minutes before they leave. They got there at 2:00, and left a little after 3:00.

Upon entering the house, it is clear that they have been sitting at my kitchen table (place mats are moved, chairs aren't pushed in all the way). I've had my hopes up before. I take note and move on. I fire up my work laptop where I am promptly called into a virtual critical defect meeting. (An IM session that I am required to participate in until the problem is resolved.) I don't get any work done on my testing and finally log off around 7:00.

Oh, and while I'm on this IM session, I get a call from my realtor. We have an offer. I negotiate the deal. You know how it is: offer, counter offer, etc.. We get our target price, which is about $25,000 less than our original asking price and only $6,000 more than we paid for it. We're leaving our washer and dryer, giving $1,000 for new doors and windows, and providing a home warranty. Oh, and a May 20th closing.

After work we meet the realtor at one of our top two after work to look it over.

I'm up until midnight checking rates and I fill out an online loan app.

Thursday:

I can't sleep. I need to find a place to live and I have a month to make a deal and move in. I wake up at 5:00 a.m. and go to work. I swing by Dunkin' Donuts on the way and get in around 5:45. The guy who sits across from me who comes in at 6:00 is shocked to see me in.

I wrap up testing during the morning (for module 1 of 13). We look at houses over lunch. I finish up with documentation after lunch. After work we meet the realtor at the other of our top two after work to look it over.

I get an e-mail that my online loan app isn't eligible for automatic pre-approval.

The wife and I decide to put in an offer on one of our top two. One house is in town, is 8 years old, is vacant, and looks brand new inside and out. The other house is outside of town and on a 4 acre lot. We decide on the house in town. The house out of town is 35 years old and the septic system, boiler for heat, and the well equipment (aside from the pump) are all original. We decide it's more than we can afford to deal with in the near future. Oh, and buying a lawnmower for four acres ain't cheap either.

Friday:

I come in at 7:00 (normal time) work until 10:45. Then I go to the credit union to see what's up with my loan app. Apparently because I requested a bridge loan, we have to sit down with a loan officer for pre-approval. We get it straightened out and leave with our pre-approval letter. On the way to meeting friends for lunch, I text our realtor with what we want to offer (including a May 12th closing) and on which house.

Little side-story here. Our realtor also represents the seller for the house we decided on. The people selling have been a major PITA for her. They have gotten two reasonable offers on the house already, and the sellers simply say: "we decline". They don't do counter-offers. I'm told they are super paranoid and very hard to deal with. Our realter had already given me their bottom price, which isn't the steal of a deal we gave on our house, but isn't unreasonable either. The sellers refuse to even make a decision until their attorney reviews the offer.

At lunch, the realtor calls and we are told that we have a deal in principle, the sellers have signed the paperwork, but the sellers have written "contingent on attorney review" on the contract. Their attorney is closed for Good Friday, so we won't have a purchase agreement until Monday.

i took the week off, spent most my time drinking beer.

I'm super-busy at work, too. Every deadline has suddenly been compressed into a twilight zone, and because of recent layoffs, we're shorthanded. I had a new driveway poured that took two weeks instead of a few days, due to weather. (And dealing with contractors who are starting to get on my nerves.) My extracurricular activity isn't a home sale, but I'm helping getting the crap out of my parents house in Idaho, 450 miles away. I'm getting ready to take my 2nd drive there in 3 weeks. My parents were packrats who saved junk. Literal junk. (Ironic fun fact - there's a tipping station 200 yards down the road that is absolutely free for Owyhee county residents.) My sister, the executor of the estate, is not making the job any easier.
My household chores, like cleaning and cooking are not getting taken care of. I haven't had time to just watch a movie or enjoy a morning cup of coffee since I don't know when. . .
Sigh.
And, Chris, I feel for you. I'd rather be in my boat than in yours. It's great that your house is selling, great that you found a place to buy, sucks that you have to deal with the loans and stuff.

Good luck. :cool:

Oh, I forgot to add that on Thursday, my boss told me that the offshore members of our team will now be working the same hours as us. I like her, she gets things done.