The Final Walk Through, August 2009

I found these pictures on my cell phone this week. I took them during my final walk through of Devil Queen last August. Haven't seen her since.

Below is the railing the buyer's insurance company required us to install before they'd close on the deal.

The Queen Is Dead, Long Live the Queen

All the paperwork has been signed. Providing there are no un-dotted i's or un-crossed t's, the deal is done. The Devil Queen has been sold. A sad day of much rejoicing.

More to come.

Finances In Pictures

Here is the short version (in pictures) of why we're dumping the Devil Queen after this torrid romance of ours.

First, our finances before the Devil Queen:

While not exactly a lush jungle of vegetation, there are signs of life in the landscape. In the year leading up to the Devil Queen, I'd started a new, better-paying job, we'd refinanced our starter house, and were on our way to paying off all our debits. We'd invested in some land and started a retirement fund. Things were looking good.

And, here is how our finances are now:

No obvious signs of life. Just despair and the rats who gnaw upon it.

Here is a figure to consider. Admittedly, this is an approximation, but over the years we've spent an average of $3,750 a month on this house. And, we weren't working on it for the entire time we've had it. We burned through over $30,000 just getting it moved and set up on the mountain. I can't remember the exact time scale, but there was a $20,000 week in there somewhere.

Anyhow, a more detailed explanation of our decision soon will follow if you have the stomach for it.

Really though, what the fuck were we thinking?

A Long Time Coming . . .

Easter came and went without too much fanfare.  Cold rain, power outages, all the teenage cousins being herded through an inter-dimensional portal to China by a five year old, and coffee with a parole officer.  Really, it was a pretty tame affair.

Anyhow, I finally got around to taking a picture of the new front door.  While a full twenty some percent of you think that I will be burning in hell, it really doesn't look as bad as I imagined it.  The fact that it opens and closes with ease is a bit seductive too.

And, for the astute few of you out there who are wondering what in the hell is hanging from the doorknob, that would be our real estate agent's lock box.

That is right.  If you want an old Victorian possessed and brimming with a full century of evil, this house is for you.  Also, we're already done all the hard work.  Finish the paint job, refinish a few floors, and mow the lawn and that is it.  Enjoy old evil with all the modern amenities. 

For those you who are wonder how or why we could put the Devil Queen up for sale, that is another story which I'll tell soon.  However, until that time, here is a little bit for you to think about: $4.00 a gallon gasoline.

Nothing Says Home Sweet Home Like . . .

Nothing says "Home Sweet Home," like your Entergy Arkansas Nuclear One Emergency Manual.
The only perk to moving the Devil Queen 16 miles out of Russellville is that we're outside of emergency zones above.  Zone J is closest to us.  According to the instructions, we should proceed to Morrilton incase of an accident.  That would put us about 30 miles directly down wind from the reactor.  Does anyone besides me remember Chernobyl?  Do you think huddling 30 miles down wind was really all that safe?

Scarlet use to work with a girl who was a military brat with her family in Germany during Chernobyl.  She said they were ordered to stay indoors for weeks because of the radioactive fallout.  And they were hundreds of miles away from Chernobyl.  And, she still developed thyroid cancer when she was in her early 20's.  

My favorite line in this manual is, "radiation is naturally occurring . . . "  They omit the fact that it is naturally occurring in small amounts unless you live in a uranium mine.  I'd say that there is a pretty big difference between naturally occurring background radiation and nuclear reactor undergoing an emergency "situation."

The Die Is Cast

The loan application is complete. The appraisal is scheduled. All the pieces are in motion.

So, will Rome be won?

Double Bagged

[The Devil Queen, Summer 2003]

Too be honest, I'm way too tired to maintain that up-beat, morosely fatalistic facade to which you've become accustom. I shit you not, I actually have two bags under each eye this morning.

I have no pictures or engrossing tales for you today. In short, we worked on the Devil Queen all weekend. Friends and family helped us too. We burned through several gallons of paint and don't have a finished room to show for it. Beadboard is beautiful, but it takes three times as long to paint than any smooth surface. And, while I toil at work today, Fidge and Liz are returning to paint some more, and Kenny and his small crew should begin work on the hall and the rest of their impossible-to-accomplish-in-one-week to-do list.

If I'm lucky, I'll be able to take a few days off of work to work on the Queen too because the end is nigh.

Hopefully, I'll a little more for you Tuesday and Wednesday. After that, don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a week or more.

A Prophecy for the End Times

Ms. Scarlet and I had one of the those grim planning sessions I so look forward to this weekend. Over dinner and coffee we had a vision of things to come.

1) The Devil Queen will be painted inside and out & the floors will be refinished by May 7, 2007, whether I get to sleep or not between now and then.
2) Based on our skills in divination, the Queen ought to appraise for enough to pay off two loans and a truck load of debt. This will leave us with a mortgage we can barely afford to pay (because we spent way too much fixing the old whore).
3) Ms. Scarlet will probably be in self-imposed, wage-slave exile until October.
4) The moment the ink dries on the mortgage papers, the Devil Queen and our rent house will go up for sale.
5) If or when the Queen sells, we will probably sell a majority of our furniture because we haven't missed half of it since it's been in storage.

Of course, all futures are possible. In the interest of courting the most favorable outcome, we've decided to be as proactive as possible. Mainly, we're trying to increase our monthly income by $200. Sure, it sounds like a feeble amount, but, since this will be going directly into debt retirement, every bit counts. And, any expenses we can cut out of the budget would be a major help too.