Well, that's interesting...
frostymook and I want to add an addition onto our house. Namely, we want to add a second floor (and therefore another 1.5 bathrooms *dances*) by increasing the pitch of the roof and creating a floor out of the space up there. We can get this done for, quite honestly, very little money because I work for a builder. Moreover, I'm the person who pays our subcontractors and, as such, they all want to make me happy. Because if I'm unhappy, I can always decide to delay their payment by a week or so, y'know. :) No, really, they're all really sweet guys. They're big, gruff construction guys who, despite their outward appearance, actually have little-boy hearts. And they bring me caffeine at the drop of a hat when required, which is a plus. :) And they'll add a second floor to my house for nothing but material costs...and the material guys will get me what I want for their cost, too, if not for free on some things. So, it's a good deal.
Still, we need a loan to do it, mostly because we need to buy out The Mook's ex's equity in the house so that he'll quit whining about wanting to sell the house. So, I go to LendingTree to check into home equity loans. Mind you, The Mook and I aren't easy folks to get a loan. She doesn't make a whole lot of money and my credit, for various reasons, is shot. So, I wasn't really sure that we'd have a chance of getting something that I could afford. Still, I get back 4 pre-approved offers in practically a blink of an eye. And the payments are affordable, too, although I might need to bump up the amount if I want to throw in refinancing the van (which we have a sucky, high-interest auto loan on) and paying off various credit card bills and finally buying The Mook's carbon fiber viola that she's been lusting after for about a year now. But I still think we can do it, if we can add maybe $20,000 to the loan without raising the payment too much. This, my friends, is a good thing. So, I'm cautiously excited. I'm still fairly certain there are going to be some strings attached here, so I'm not totally excited yet. But this is good news. A step in the right direction. It was a useful 10 minutes spent. So, if you're in the market for a loan, I'd say that LendingTree is a good place to start. :)
Another good place on the Web, if you're a musician of the classical variety, is Classical Archives. There, they have a truly enormous collection of classical MIDIs that you can download. You can download 5 free per day or you can pay $25 and download as many as you want for a year. The nice thing about MIDIs, if you're a musician is that you can get a software program like MidiNotate or Finale that will transcribe MIDIs into sheet music. I have Finale...so now I have the entire score of Beethoven's 1st symphony, from which, using Finale, I have extracted the cello part. So now I can get a jump start on practicing for the next concert. This, my friends, is A Good Thing.
EDITY, 'cuz ironbite asked me questions. :)
1. As an old fart, as you've called yourself, what is it about Transformers that still appeals to you to this day?
Really, the Transformer characters, by this point in time, have become my own, in a sense, and as of now they bear little resemblence to the characters as you see them on the show. But they have become dear to me, so I stick with them. It is for this reason that I'm really not fond of the post-G1 shows, other than Beast Wars. It's not really the whole Transformers thing that I like; it's the particular G1 characters for whom I have a fondness that I really like. So, I'm old farty about my Transformers, too. :)
2. What would you do for a Klondike bar?
Mmmmmmmm...Klondike bar. As much as I like them, I don't have to have one. But if I did have to have one, then I'd drive the six miles to the nearest grocery store to get one. Given gas prices right now, that's a pretty good sacrifice, no? :)
3. Have you ever wanted to combine totally unrelated food products just to see what would happen? If so, describe.
I'm actually not that adventurous with food. When I was little, I didn't want the foods on my plate touching each other and my sister was the same way, so my mother had to buy those plates that are separated into three sections for us. And while I got over that, I'm still not one for combining different kinds of foods together. I was more like a "Let's mix household chemicals together to see what happens!" That...got me into trouble a few times. :)
4. What was Douglas Adams smoking when he wrote HGTTG?
I don't think he was smoking anything. He was just a very creative and imaginative man. Combine that with a huge helping of wry, dry British humor and you have Douglas Adams.
5. Do you ever want to go back to teaching?
You know, I really like teaching. I like everything about it...except the fact that it eats your entire life. Seriously. If you're not teaching, you're doing work at home preparing to teach. If you're not doing that, you're going to school yourself for continuing ed. It's just...a lot. Too much for me, at the moment. I like having a job that doesn't eat my entire life. Besides, it's been more than five years since I've taught, so getting a certificate might be difficult.
Still, we need a loan to do it, mostly because we need to buy out The Mook's ex's equity in the house so that he'll quit whining about wanting to sell the house. So, I go to LendingTree to check into home equity loans. Mind you, The Mook and I aren't easy folks to get a loan. She doesn't make a whole lot of money and my credit, for various reasons, is shot. So, I wasn't really sure that we'd have a chance of getting something that I could afford. Still, I get back 4 pre-approved offers in practically a blink of an eye. And the payments are affordable, too, although I might need to bump up the amount if I want to throw in refinancing the van (which we have a sucky, high-interest auto loan on) and paying off various credit card bills and finally buying The Mook's carbon fiber viola that she's been lusting after for about a year now. But I still think we can do it, if we can add maybe $20,000 to the loan without raising the payment too much. This, my friends, is a good thing. So, I'm cautiously excited. I'm still fairly certain there are going to be some strings attached here, so I'm not totally excited yet. But this is good news. A step in the right direction. It was a useful 10 minutes spent. So, if you're in the market for a loan, I'd say that LendingTree is a good place to start. :)
Another good place on the Web, if you're a musician of the classical variety, is Classical Archives. There, they have a truly enormous collection of classical MIDIs that you can download. You can download 5 free per day or you can pay $25 and download as many as you want for a year. The nice thing about MIDIs, if you're a musician is that you can get a software program like MidiNotate or Finale that will transcribe MIDIs into sheet music. I have Finale...so now I have the entire score of Beethoven's 1st symphony, from which, using Finale, I have extracted the cello part. So now I can get a jump start on practicing for the next concert. This, my friends, is A Good Thing.
EDITY, 'cuz ironbite asked me questions. :)
1. As an old fart, as you've called yourself, what is it about Transformers that still appeals to you to this day?
Really, the Transformer characters, by this point in time, have become my own, in a sense, and as of now they bear little resemblence to the characters as you see them on the show. But they have become dear to me, so I stick with them. It is for this reason that I'm really not fond of the post-G1 shows, other than Beast Wars. It's not really the whole Transformers thing that I like; it's the particular G1 characters for whom I have a fondness that I really like. So, I'm old farty about my Transformers, too. :)
2. What would you do for a Klondike bar?
Mmmmmmmm...Klondike bar. As much as I like them, I don't have to have one. But if I did have to have one, then I'd drive the six miles to the nearest grocery store to get one. Given gas prices right now, that's a pretty good sacrifice, no? :)
3. Have you ever wanted to combine totally unrelated food products just to see what would happen? If so, describe.
I'm actually not that adventurous with food. When I was little, I didn't want the foods on my plate touching each other and my sister was the same way, so my mother had to buy those plates that are separated into three sections for us. And while I got over that, I'm still not one for combining different kinds of foods together. I was more like a "Let's mix household chemicals together to see what happens!" That...got me into trouble a few times. :)
4. What was Douglas Adams smoking when he wrote HGTTG?
I don't think he was smoking anything. He was just a very creative and imaginative man. Combine that with a huge helping of wry, dry British humor and you have Douglas Adams.
5. Do you ever want to go back to teaching?
You know, I really like teaching. I like everything about it...except the fact that it eats your entire life. Seriously. If you're not teaching, you're doing work at home preparing to teach. If you're not doing that, you're going to school yourself for continuing ed. It's just...a lot. Too much for me, at the moment. I like having a job that doesn't eat my entire life. Besides, it's been more than five years since I've taught, so getting a certificate might be difficult.