Narced

So Long!!

Okay, I got bored with the look and name of this blog.
It started out as a kind of practice Blog - testing it out so to speak.
Anyway, I threw a simpler one together and decided to keep
messing with it while I blogged random stuff...

anyway - this is the last post here..

go here www.workplayfamily.com

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Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner == Cereal

On Saturday, Matthew and I woke up and decided to head down to VCU and try out that new restaurant - "Out of the Box Cereal Co.". Matthew who I don't think has ever eaten anything but some type of cheerios went crazy and ordered a mix of everything chocolate. He had Coco Puffs, Count Chocula and Cookie Crisps all mixed in one bowl. I did have to stop at adding chocolate milk in place of regular milk. But he quickly learned what chocolate cereal does to regular milk – so he was even more excited. Anyway, I went with my all time favorite POPS.
These guys have a lot going for them. They have a huge selection of cereal – about 37 – from sugar to healthy they got it all. They have good selection of fresh fruit for toppings and you can even add candy. They have every kind of milk to choose from Skim, 1%, 2%, Whole, Chocolate, Soy, and organic as well they also have coffee and juice.
We were the only ones there that morning - but who in college wakes up before noon on Saturday. It was fun, Matthew liked it – and he liked that sugar rush.
This is such a cool idea. I just hope these guys can sell enough cereal bowls to pay rent. Being located at VCU is good but with no parking other than parking on Broad Street, I don't see many other patrons other than the students. And that’s probably the point. But with a great number of students living on campus - most students living in the dorms they already have a meal card to use at the dining hall. It has been awhile since I lived on campus but I do remember the dining hall having a pretty good selection of cereal and milk as well as all the other breakfast items. And it’s free. And those students who do drive in already go to the bookstore or the commons where cereal is already for sell mixed with many other breakfast options.
So in my opinion - what should these guys do... Look at the "Chop Suey" book store and Copy Copy Copy. These guys are still standing because they have a lot of loyal customers. These guys don't even have that many books. But they do have awesome parties, and events. Out of the box Cereal -- needs to make it a cool place to hang out. Get rid of the 4 foot high counter and create more sitting areas. (They currently can only seat 10). Add some student art work, and get some plasma on the wall. Do some type of events - that will bring the students in - and get involved on campus. Just adding your self to the Friday Art Walk (That’s going to be a long walk), I don’t think will cut it. I do hope these guys will make it - it's nice to see a non chain on Broad Street and at VCU. Cereal all day is a good idea -- but I think they will need more than that.

Thanks: Chimney Scam

I want to thank the the804.com blog for posting a recent article in the RTD (Chimney Repair is a burning issue). Just yesterday we got our chimney cleaned at our new house (why so early - well it's cheaper than waiting till winter) anyway, we basically just wanted to get it cleaned. And sure enough after they cleaned it they started to play around with a digital camera, taking pictures from the bottom and from the top. And sure enough the guy tells my wife "Oh goodness, you have some cracks in your fireplace - you better get this thing lined - I wouldn't use this until you get it lined". "We can do this for about $2500, that's a good deal right now". And so the wife asks - "What would you line it with?" - We use a stainless steel liner. Really?, Well what's in there now? You have a terra cotta liner. Well, shouldn't that last a long time. It should but its safer to go with a stainless steel liner. Well, can you just fix the current liner? No, you really need to go with the steel liner. Oh okay, well thanks for cleaning out the fireplace - have a great day.
Now, maybe the guy was right - maybe we do have some cracks, and maybe they do need some attention. But we will probably try to find someone that can fix the terra cotta lining rather than trying to insert some stainless steel tube that only last a few years. Thanks for looking out -- RTD

Our Flooded City

As you can tell from this picture ("I found on the internet of coarse") We have been dealing with flooding for a long time. After the city spent a ridiculous amount of money we have learned this is a "drainage" issue. But my question is -- the flood wall. I realize that it's not related to our flooding issues recently. But I was curious to know has the James River ever flooded that high to where the Flood Wall has protected our city? I realize too that the flood wall was built for preventive reasons - for the "just in case". I have seen the River rise many times over my 10 years here in Richmond - but never high enough that it reached the flood wall (and that's good!).

It's a Buyers Market Baby!!!

It's a sellers market baby - It's a buyers market - WOW, I don't know how many real estate agents told us that when just a couple of months ago we were doing the DIY (FSBO) selling of our Condo. But maybe just maybe they were right. (But we still did not give in to the 6%). But I think I understand their point. Are condo was on the market for 4 weeks (MAY)- which is awesome for a 2 bedroom condo not on the MLS. But, we did our research,Zillow, as well as found out what the other condos in the neighborhood sold for in the past 5 months. So, we were confident of our selling price. And after 4 weeks we got our asking price and we were happy. Now in Aug there are several condo's up in that neighborhood and none have sold in over 2 months, all selling at the same selling price as ours. But after 2 months with several for sale - I would be expecting to see some "price reduced" condo's very soon. So, in a sense for that particular neighborhood in May for us - it was a sellers market. Now, a month after we bought our new house - we are seeing some (very small) decrease in pricing in homes in our new neighborhood - so one would think its a buyers market. Well I would disagree with that - This wouldn't be a buyers market for us - if we would have waited -- 1. We would be paying a higher interest rate than we got. 2. We would have had to reduce the selling price of our condo. 3. This would result in a higher mortgage payment, and less money for down payment, 4. Which may result in having less than 20% and having to pay the PMI. So, when you have to sell your home in order to get into a new home - does the buyers market/sellers market able to happen at the same time?

6 days and 16 days

6 More Days Until We Close on Our House!!! What a very stressful time this has been. About 2 months ago we found our "perfect" house. It was perfect except there was already a contract on it. But then we learned about 1st Right Refusal. So, we put a back up contract on the house. Then we immediatly went to work to put the Condo up for sale. We debated whether or not to use a realtor... Looking at how much 6% would be - easily helped us decide - not to use a realtor. So 4 weeks later the condo is SOLD and in the nick of time -- the condo sold on the same day as we were about to sign up to go with a realtor. So, would the condo have sold faster if we would have used a realtor and paid a 6% commission? I don't think so. Many of the condo's that recently sold in our Neighborhood took about 2 months to sell and there is 1,2 that are still for sale and all are priced about the same as we priced ours. So what about the 1st Right Refusal -- It Sucks!! Basically, you have a contract on a house - and in our case our was the backup contract - but really that doesnt mean a thing. Anyone can buy the house from under you if they don't have a contigency. And in our case the contigency was selling the condo. Well as it turns out the 1st contract folks tried for a couple of months to sell there house and at the end of May there contract expired and they still had not sold - So, we became 1st Right. 2 weeks later - The sellers agents called and said they have another contract on the house and they dont have a contigency. WHAT THE!! What does that mean - it means we had 24 hours to sell our house or we will lose it. 2 hours later after hearing that news another realtor calls us and says they are bringing someone over... 4 hours later we recieved a contract on the condo. The house is ours!!! Some people call that Lucky -- We call it Faith!!
So after weeks of Home inspections, Termite Inspections, Addendums, Addendums, and Paystub this and W2 here, Chimney Sweeps -- We are Done!!! 6 days to close and 16 days until a very much needed vacation in FLA!!!!

Sell this House!

Well we gave it 4 weeks. A month ago we decided to sell our home ourselves with a goal of having it sold in 4 weeks and if not break down and get a Realtor. Well, 4 Sundays of Open Houses and $160 bucks in advertising - we have learned a couple of things. 1 is Open Houses is kind of like Window Shopping. Look but you don't buy. So, hopefully now after breaking down we are going to get in on the sacred MLS. Lucky for us - we found someone that will do all this for less than 6%. Is that really Lucky for us or is it the start of the housing bubble bursting. At any rate - we need this place to Sell and Soon...