Thank you, condo

Thank you, condo, for that huge tax refund!  I really do appreciate it.  I still think you are a huge git for that whole incident with the floor, but I do appreciate the gesture you are making to reestablish what we once had.

As a result of this huge refund, I will officially be out of credit card debt for the first time in I-don't-know-how-long.  Woot!  Alarmingly, this only makes me want to spend money.  Damn this culture I live in!  More specifically, I want to go on a vacation.  Even more specifically, I want to go to Iceland.  It seems I won't be able to afford that in 2011.  2012 is also out because we're going back to Colombia with S, L and C for a reunion tour.  So, it's looking like 2013 is the soonest that will happen.

Note to J and Brian -- you have plenty of time to save for this trip so I will accept no excuses.  You both will be coming with us.  And since it's unlikely we'll ever go back to Iceland, it will be at least a 7-10 day excursion.  You've been warned.  Also, I have an Icelandic travel book that I will share with you when you visit in May.

So, I will do the responsible thing and save my money for future travel.  I'll be glad for it eventually.  I'll also make a responsible purchase -- we need to replace the windows in our bedroom.  Before this condo, I never would have thought buying windows would be exciting, but it is.  It's drafty in our bedroom and I hate paying high utility bills.  That and I'm hoping that we can still write a good chunk of them off in 2011.  We bought some last year for the living room and were able to write 30% of the cost off!

(I'm not sure when I became this boring, but it probably happened when I hit my 30s.)

Studio Livin'

That's what it's like, people.  Two cats, a dog and two homeowners crammed into a master bedroom while the rest of the condo is a disaster.  The second bedroom and hallway are full of everything that should be in the living room/kitchen.  I can't even bring myself to take pictures of it all right now.  But maybe this will give you some idea of the scale of The Mess.

Those bags contain what were our hardwood floors.  That's a lot of bags, no?  It's all very sad.  Adding to this fun, a couple of other things have come up.

1. My car's "check engine" light came on.  It comes on (and stays on) when the manufacturer feels you should take it in.  This time it was cause I reached 25,000 miles.  This was especially important because I need new tags in August, which require my car to pass an emissions test.  They automatically fail you if your check engine light is on.  So, I took it in and learned that it would cost "a minimum of $330" to change all the fluids and do the 25,000 check.  Next thing I know, I have two voicemails and several missed calls from the dealer and P.  Apparently when they couldn't reach me, they called him.  When I called them back, they told me my front rotors and break pads needed replacing, and that it wasn't safe not to replace them.  When I got my 15,000 mile check-up, I had my rotors resurfaced and my break pads replaced.  This was in 2006.  As you can see, I don't drive my car very much.  It's a 2004 with 25,000 miles, and it was a program car, so it had 5,000 miles on it when I bought it.  I guess that's part of the problem.  I know nothing about cars, but this man tells me that normal breaking will remove surface rust from your rotors.  Since I don't really do much "normal breaking", my rotors rusted through.  Total cost: $714.
2. This whole "studio living" thing isn't so good for interpersonal relationships.  So, we needed to get out of the house.  We met our friend Mike at Wild Pug for "Dog Day Afternoon".  The bar opens its doors to pets and their owners, and all the dogs run around and tire each other out while their people get drunk.  It's a real good time and Fergie loves it.  When we came back home to show Mike the devastation in our unit, we noticed that there was water leaking out of the freezer.  There wasn't much water, but there isn't much floor, so the water was in danger of hitting the subfloor, which can't be good.  I called our insurance company immediately because I had visions of a "well, since you didn't call us about this, this isn't covered" kind of conversation.  They told me to call the adjuster, which I did.  He didn't answer, so I left a VM.  Still waiting for a call back.  I also tried calling the company that did the floor removal but got some poor man in the Hinsdale branch who had no record of our service call.  To that man, I apologize.  I wasn't in a terribly good mood.  I eventually got the correct number.  They've put a large piece of plastic over the door to our living room/kitchen -- it's a bit like "ET".  They set up five air movers and a huge dehumidifier to dry the subfloors.  The A/C sensor is in the hallway, on the other side of the plastic.  So, the living room was pretty hot compared to the rest of our condo.  The freezer began to defrost.  I think we've got it under control now, but it made for a very tense evening.  Again, those interpersonal relationships are hard in situations like these.  

That's pretty much it for the disasters.  Knock on wood!  On today's agenda: move the cable box into the bedroom so we can watch our programs.  Cause we're 80 and are set in our ways.  

An open letter to our blog readers

Dear Loyal Blog Reader,

We're writing to make you aware of a change to the layout of our blog. A series of recent events have reinforced the need for P. D. and J. to see each other much more often. As is tragically apparent in the national news, our economy isn't cooperating with our goal.

Quick side note: We are currently "work-shopping" titles for our goal. While we eventually come up with names for things all the time (examples: Blizzard of Aught x, Pug 2008, Oscar Party y, etc.), you can see we're "witty names" challenged. We would like to put forth "Friends and Wine in Oh-Nine" for your consideration, but please comment with further suggestions.

Where was I? Oh RIGHT, seeing each other more. Loyal readers, this goal should really be your goal, too. It's no secret that this blog has suffered some rather unsettling periods of writer's block. We don't want that to happen again. We, your dedicated authors, need to have common experiences that we can share with all of you, our friends and family.

Which brings me to the point of this entire post. You'll note there are now ads on the left-hand side of our blog. These ads are there for one simple purpose: cold hard cash. All proceeds from the placement of these ads will be used for the sole purpose of traveling betwixt Chicago and Denver, and possibly other locations, to experience things that we can relate to you.

Don't feel that you need to click the links. You can ignore them if you'd like. But please don't let them turn you off to our witty banter, and tastefully told tales of everyday life. Should you wish to comment about our decision, please do not hesitate to do so. We understand that change can be unsettling, and we want you to know we're there for you.

Very truly yours,

P. D. and J.

Leap Year Day

Is that today's official title? I went to Einstein's this morning and the guy who took my order told me if I said "Happy Leap Year Day" to the cashier, my coffee would cost $.29. Thrifty as I am, I DID and SAVED $1.30!!! So, I encourage all of our readership to ask about "Leap Year Day" specials today. The money you save today could last another 4 years!!*

*results not typical