More Condo Stuff

July 28th, 2005

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Yesterday Brian and I had a meeting at Savannah Terrace to get some more paperwork signed and filed and more information about the condo and community. I don’t think I’ve signed so many papers since the first day at SPARTA. We were there for a solid hour and were constantly signing and initialing forms. We also got the information about who to contact and where to go to get our flooring picked out, so we’ll be doing that before too long.

After signing papers we went down to the condo itself and checked it out. They had taken down the scaffolding since Saturday, so we were able to see the exterior style a lot better than before. They’re making some good progress inside. Since Saturday they got the bathrooms painted, the closet doors installed, the closet rods and shelves installed, installed the fireplace mantle, and the door jams and trim around the doorways are all nailed in place.

It was also good to go there when we did because I was able to get an idea of what kind of sunlight it would be getting in the afternoon and also what kind of wind we could expect. I thought our condo would be really sheltered from the wind based on its location, but there was a surprisingly strong cool breeze going through the entire place, so that was good.

Anyway, that’s the latest. I put up some more pictures in case anyone cares to see them. The photos start here so feel free to click the “Next” link on that page to go through the new photos.

Still recovering

July 28th, 2005

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I guess I’m still recovering from not sleeping Sunday and Monday. Last night I went to bed a little after 11:00, after we lost yet another softball game (oh and Erica, Jacki and I went to Chili’s for food, dessert, and drinks after the game). I had to take Brian to the airport this morning so he could catch his 7:00 flight, so I had set the alarm on my phone to 4:50AM. Well, that didn’t work so well as the alarm never went off. Apparently there is a bug in my phone that prevents the alarm from going off when it should. If at any time during the night I get a message or someone calls and I miss the call, the alarm won’t go off until I clear the Missed Call and New Message notifications on the display. Well that’s all well and good except when I’m asleep and it’s impossible for me to clear the notifications.

I was supposed to be at Brian’s around 5:15. I didn’t wake up until 5:40 when he started calling me. I got to his house around 5:50, we loaded up and took off. I actually made pretty good time and wasn’t really speeding, I was able to drop Brian off before 6:15. I haven’t heard anything from him yet, so I’m guessing all went well because in instances like this, no news is good news I suppose.

I get home around 6:45 and am wide awake enough that it wasn’t worth going back to bed, yet. I said hi and bye to my parents as they left for work and then I watched the Family Guy movie that got leaked out 6 weeks early. It’s pretty good, basically it’s not much more than an extended-length episode. I laid back down around 8:10 and watched a little TV. Erica called me on her way to work and we talked for a few minutes. After hanging up with her, I turned the TV off and passed out. I woke up only once around 10:00 and then slept solidly again until 12:30. Even then it was all I could do to force myself to get up and not go back to sleep. Even now, an hour later, I’m feeling pretty groggy and like I could use more sleep. So obviously I haven’t fully recovered all my sleep just yet. Tomorrow I’ll get up at 8:00 like usual but then Saturday is fair game, I’m sleeping in as long as possible.

Wide awake

July 25th, 2005

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It’s almost 5:30AM and I’m wide awake. I see daylight starting to show outside. I think it has something to do with going to the Reel Big Fish concert tonight. I seem to have inherited my dad’s reaction to performing physical activities at night. For some reason, whenever I do any strenuous activities (like going to the gym or going to a concert) after 7:00PM or so, I seem to have a lot of trouble sleeping that night. This normally wouldn’t be a huge problem except I have to be up at 8:00 to help Erica’s mom pick up a new screen door. I’m debating just staying up all night at this point and worrying about sleeping tomorrow night. I think it’s all dependent on how tired I feel in the next 3 hours and how bored I get. Ahh well.

The concert was pretty good, I’ve been to better RBF concerts before, but this in no way was a bad concert. I just know in the past they’ve been a bit more enthusiastic and into the show. Tonight just seemed a little below their usual performances. Don’t get me wrong, I had a blast tonight; the most fun I’ve had in a while. Josh, Jacki, Erica and myself all hung out on the floor while Brian and his boss and his boss’ girlfriend stayed on the balcony above the stage and watched the show from there. During a couple songs Josh and I went into the pit, and then for the last song, Sell Out, Jacki and I went in the pit and tore it up. I think it was my excursions into the pit that are causing my insomnia because that’s where I was really active. Oh and this girl behind us somehow injured her leg. She was laying on the ground, grabbing her knee and screaming. I looked at her left leg and her foot was pointing 90 degrees outward so I’m thinking she somehow dislocated her knee. It took about 10 minutes for the paramedics to get there but they came down in an elevator with a stretcher and hauled her away. Other than that, it was just a typical concert.

I don’t think there’s much else to talk about at this point, I’m pretty sure I covered most everything in yesterday’s post.

UPDATE: It is now 11:30AM and I decided to just stay up the rest of the morning, so now, having been awake for 25 1/2 hours, I’m going to sleep for a few hours. Man I’m all screwed up.

Fun with Photography

July 23rd, 2005

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Well, even though I’ve had it nearly 3 months, I’m still learning how to use my camera well and the proper techniques. So far I’ve done pretty well and do some minimal enhancements through Photoshop. Earlier this week, on Tuesday, we had a nearly-full moon so I decided to take a stab at photographing it. It took quite a few shots to get it right, but I finally got a good, well-exposed copy. There were clouds that night too so I had to wait for the right moment. That’s the great thing about digital cameras though, you can take all the pictures you want and delete the ones that you don’t want without it costing a thing.

Anyway, here’s the best photo I got of the moon:

Nearly-full moon - 07/19/2005

  • Equipment: Canon EF 75-300mm F3.5-5.6 USM Lens on Canon Digital Rebel XT
  • Exposure Time: 1/500 sec.
  • Aperture: F/8
  • Focal Length: 300mm
  • Film Speed: ISO-400

There were also thunderstorms all around San Diego last night and so I decided to do a little storm chasing. I headed out to Poway to get some shots and I would have waited for the storms to get a little closer, but it was getting late; it was after 1:30 before I left Poway. I got a few good shots, all taken with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm lens that came with the camera.

Lightning from storm near Poway, CA

Lightning from storm near Poway, CA

Lightning from storm near Poway, CA

Lightning from storm near Poway, CA

Lightning from storm near Poway, CA

Lightning from storm near Poway, CA

And Finally we went over to the condo today to ask a few questions about the process and we decided to go take a look at the condo itself, see how things were progressing.

Our condo exterior (patio/balcony is in the near corner)

Our (empty) garage

The front of our unit

Brian really wanted to go upstairs and take a look. I was sceptical because I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to and I didn’t want to interfere with anyone if they were working in there. I’m glad we did go up there though, it was really cool to walk through our own condo.

Front door and entryway

Kitchen pantry and cabinets

Looking into the kitchen. The walls are painted already.

(Soon to be) My bedroom

Master bedroom (what will be Brian’s room)

Family/Living room (whatever you want to call it)

Looking back at the entryway

Our view from the balcony.

After going through the condo, we were walking back to our cars and that’s when it really hit me that we’re buying a brand new home and that’s when I started to get excited. We were told today to expect an October 28th closing date which still has us moving in right around Halloween. It’s surprising to think that with as much progress as they’ve made already that it’s going to take them 3 more months before we’ll be able to live in it. Oh well, just gotta wait it out.

Condo Progress

July 12th, 2005

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It seemed like everyone I told about the condo told me to go take pictures of the condo as its being built to document the progress. So, today I did just that. It doesn’t look much different on the outside than it did on Saturday. Really the only thing that’s different is the stucco has had time to cure.

Now that I’ve had a chance to look at the exterior a little better, I can tell that our building’s exterior will be in the “Tuscan” style. There were two other styles, Santa Barbara and Italian. I liked the look of the Italian a little better, but what can ya do? It’s not like any of them are ugly at all.

Each time I take pictures, I’ll try to make sure I document them up here on my blog, but I might forget from time to time. You can always just check out my Savannah Terrace photo album for any photos I add.

[img link="/photo_album/albums/savannah/Savannah%20Terrace%20012%20(Large).jpg"][img xsrc="../images/blog_photos/savannah-progress-1.jpg" mce_src="../images/blog_photos/savannah-progress-1.jpg"][img desc="Savannah Terrace monument at entrance" /img]

[img link="/photo_album/albums/savannah/Savannah%20Terrace%20002%20(Large).jpg"][img xsrc="../images/blog_photos/savannah-progress-2.jpg" mce_src="../images/blog_photos/savannah-progress-2.jpg"][img desc="Our condo is the lighter color" /img]

[img link="/photo_album/albums/savannah/Savannah%20Terrace%20007%20(Large).jpg"][img xsrc="../images/blog_photos/savannah-progress-3.jpg" mce_src="../images/blog_photos/savannah-progress-3.jpg"][img desc="Closeup of our actual unit" /img]

[img link="/photo_album/albums/savannah/Savannah%20Terrace%20016%20(Large).jpg"][img xsrc="../images/blog_photos/savannah-progress-4.jpg" mce_src="../images/blog_photos/savannah-progress-4.jpg"][img desc="An already-completed building to show the exterior styling we'll have" /img]

Hopefully my next photo post will show more progress happening.

I gots me a house

July 9th, 2005

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Well today Brian and I finally did it, we reserved our condo. We went to the phase release, and today they were releasing 21 units, 7 of which were the floor plan we wanted. I was number 45 on the list, and so I was a little worried about us getting the unit we wanted. The roll-call went better than I expected and there were so many other people either deferring or not there that I ended up only being the 7th person to reserve a house; and in that, only the 2nd person to reserve the exact floor plan we wanted. So I guess I was worried for nothing.

After we put our name on the house, we got lunch, and my brother and Gaile came over and we showed them our exact unit and talked a little bit while showing them around the premises. We had a 1:00 appointment with the on-site lender to fill out the paperwork and give them the $2.500.00 deposit check. Even though we’re going through an independent loan agent and can get approved for the loan through them, we still have to qualify through Pardee Home Loans before they’ll let us actually buy the house.

But, it all looks to be moving along pretty well, so hopefully come Halloween we’ll be moving into our brand new home. I can’t wait!

[img link="http://www.pardeehomes.com/images/sandiego/sabresprings/savannahterrace/gallery/1_pool.jpg"][img xsrc="../images/blog_photos/savannah-pool-thumb.jpg" mce_src="../images/blog_photos/savannah-pool-thumb.jpg"][img desc="Savannah Terrace pool" /img]

[img link="http://www.pardeehomes.com/images/sandiego/sabresprings/savannahterrace/gallery/1_living.jpg"][img xsrc="../images/blog_photos/savannah-living-thumb.jpg" mce_src="../images/blog_photos/savannah-living-thumb.jpg"][img desc="Living room" /img]

[img link="http://www.pardeehomes.com/images/sandiego/sabresprings/savannahterrace/gallery/1_dining.jpg"][img xsrc="../images/blog_photos/savannah-dining-thumb.jpg" mce_src="../images/blog_photos/savannah-dining-thumb.jpg"][img desc="Dining area and kitchen" /img]

[img link="http://www.pardeehomes.com/images/sandiego/sabresprings/savannahterrace/gallery/1_masterbed.jpg"][img xsrc="../images/blog_photos/savannah-master-thumb.jpg" mce_src="../images/blog_photos/savannah-master-thumb.jpg"][img desc="Master bedroom" /img]

Be sure to come visit after we have the house. =)

Stealing WiFi is fun

July 1st, 2005

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Heh, so I’m at my sister’s house and her neighbor (apparently his name is Dave Ngyuen) has an unprotected wireless network set up. Free high-speed internet is awesome!