Lock and Loan
* Spending a little more on the mortgage closing costs to save some $6000 overall by locking in the mortgage today for the 2nd house at 4.6 percent APR. I always hated the idea of points...paying to get a lower interest rate...but it is worth it for a long term strategy.
* Had the gutters cleaned today. I really only wanted the south side gutter and downspout but while they were there they did the others. The back roof one really needed a cleaning but even I could have done that. Now that I observed how they did the others I figure I could do it myself in the future. They got up on the north side with a tall ladder and secured the top of the ladder over the gutter with a bungee cord. It didn't look like putting the ladder on the gutter damaged it: they did not have a stand-off. I was told they used stand-offs, which is why I contracted with them. However, if no damage I won't need to buy a stand-off for myself. They attach a rope somehow to the apex of the roof so they can safely get to the gutter without fear of falling off. Then they use a plastic tool to scrape down the gutter and accumulate debris in a plastic bucket. For the downspout they just ran a hose from the top, ran it at full blast and shoved it down the spout: pushed the debris right out.
* Had the stumps in the alley chipped away. Very nice job: now I can easily put in gates, a fence and a shed.
* Assembled all documents for the mortgage and sent off 4 pdfs to be used in "sourcing" closing costs and the downpayment.
* Deposited a transfer from my Albina money market account which is like 25% of the down payment. The stock sale settled to-day so we might see the ACH transfer come through by this Friday.
* As I parked in the Lloyd Center parking lot to get to Advantis (at Lloyd Tower) it was easy to walk back through Lloyd Center and stop in at Radio Shaft...where I bought a new mixer. The old one, which I have had for at least 5 years, has not done a good job with its pre-amp for records. I had swapped out amplifiers, but didn't help...it has to be the mixing board.
* No work to-day, although I answered the phone from Manju. I definitely needed the day to take care of all these things!
* Had the gutters cleaned today. I really only wanted the south side gutter and downspout but while they were there they did the others. The back roof one really needed a cleaning but even I could have done that. Now that I observed how they did the others I figure I could do it myself in the future. They got up on the north side with a tall ladder and secured the top of the ladder over the gutter with a bungee cord. It didn't look like putting the ladder on the gutter damaged it: they did not have a stand-off. I was told they used stand-offs, which is why I contracted with them. However, if no damage I won't need to buy a stand-off for myself. They attach a rope somehow to the apex of the roof so they can safely get to the gutter without fear of falling off. Then they use a plastic tool to scrape down the gutter and accumulate debris in a plastic bucket. For the downspout they just ran a hose from the top, ran it at full blast and shoved it down the spout: pushed the debris right out.
* Had the stumps in the alley chipped away. Very nice job: now I can easily put in gates, a fence and a shed.
* Assembled all documents for the mortgage and sent off 4 pdfs to be used in "sourcing" closing costs and the downpayment.
* Deposited a transfer from my Albina money market account which is like 25% of the down payment. The stock sale settled to-day so we might see the ACH transfer come through by this Friday.
* As I parked in the Lloyd Center parking lot to get to Advantis (at Lloyd Tower) it was easy to walk back through Lloyd Center and stop in at Radio Shaft...where I bought a new mixer. The old one, which I have had for at least 5 years, has not done a good job with its pre-amp for records. I had swapped out amplifiers, but didn't help...it has to be the mixing board.
* No work to-day, although I answered the phone from Manju. I definitely needed the day to take care of all these things!