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July 17, 2013

7/17 - Tapping out, trusted professionals, and loan refinancing


I haven't given up on the Blender project, but apparently I can't do everything, every day. Who decided this, I ask?!? At this point I'm still trying to figure out how to both read and create on a regular basis. I'm hoping the weekend will save me, but of course this coming weekend is packed with both a wedding and

MONKEY BOY IS COMING HOME!!!

Monkey Boy is officially done with his stint in the Air Force, and is coming home for a few months before heading off to college. The next few months are going to be interesting, to say the least...
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Today I did not exactly feel like an Olympian. It could be the "2nd day is always the worst" from Monday's Tap Out workout, added to yesterday's run, or I might have caught something from one of the developers I was shadowing yesterday. All I know is I was tired and achy and headachy, with stomach issues off and on all day. It made for interesting spurts of concentration.

It also meant today turned into a rest day. I was scheduled to run 6 miles, but between the way I felt and the 95 degree temperatures, THAT wasn't happening. I went back and forth up until the moment I walked into my air conditioned house, before finally deciding it was in my best interest to just rest. I'm cross training with the TapOut class again tomorrow, and by Friday the temperature is supposed to drop so I can run outside without melting.
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Today I learned how to be a trusted professional, and about accountability. Part of the reason we have these classes is because my place of business hires potential talent, entry level and right out of college. Most of these kids have never had a real job and may not really know how to act. Another part is the company recently converted to an Agile development environment, and with that came what they call "Cornerstone Principles." The classes were created not only for new hires, but also for the existing staff when they changed the corporate culture to this new development approach.

It's interesting, coming from Support, to see how corporate culture is defined in the different departments. Personally I'd like to see more of the PD openness and playfulness in Support, but I don't know the reasons behind why Support runs the way it does. It's possible, since the phones have to be manned, that flying darts and more open space would be counter-productive.
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Today I pretty much gave up on the video walk-throughs for the Bacon Patrol product. I'm starting to feel more comfortable in the product, but it will take me two weeks to watch all these videos. I don't have the patience or time for that. I still have to create a General Ledger solution in a test database for yesterday's SQL class. I don't really understand what a General Ledger is yet, so I have to research that first. Today's classes didn't have any homework, but tomorrow I get into database programming, and Friday .NET (a programming language). It's a sure bet I'll have homework after THOSE three to four hour classes. 

I'm excited to get into the meat of what I'll be doing. Maybe next week I'll be ready to take on a card, or at least pair with someone on a card, and actually accomplish something. Can you tell I'm getting just a little impatient? 
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Today I talked with a loan person about refinancing my condo. I've tried periodically over the past few years to refinance, because my interest rate is currently about twice the market rate. Until now, I'd also hoped to lower my mortgage payment. With my new pay scale however, my current payment is less of an issue. When the mortgage guy asked what my goal was, I didn't have an answer. I don't want to refinance out to 30 years again. That doesn't make sense from an interest standpoint. I don't need a lower monthly payment, though it would be nice. It would also be nice to have a shorter term loan if I plan to keep the place.

Yes, I do plan to eventually live with Superman, and even one day marry him. At the same time, I've considered keeping my place. I've thought about letting Ninja and Monkey Boy live here. I've thought about having it as something like a "summer home," where family members would have a place to crash when they came to town. I've thought about renting it out, though I'm not thrilled with the idea of being a landlord to someone who might not actually pay their rent. I've also thought about short sales and simply walking away. Ideally I could sell it for what I owe, but in the current market that's not going to happen. Also, I'd have to do some remodeling to make it worth what I owe, since the kitchen floor is peeling up and the carpets are more than 12 years old.

What it comes down to is, I don't know what I want to do with the place when I'm no longer living here. At the moment I expect to live here somewhere between 3 and 5 years, but I'll be very sad if I'm still here in 2018. It's too small for Superman to move in with me, and we have talked about maybe setting a tentative date to seriously consider thinking about actually tying the knot in 2018.

Today I am hopeful, but not overly optimistic. My place has to be worth at least 80% of the loan in order to move forward with the refinancing, and ideally worth 85% to do this without closing costs. I spent some time on the County Auditor's site and on Zillow tonight. I'm not completely disheartened, but it's going to be difficult to pull the numbers I'd need. Even if I can't move forward on this now, at least I'll have an idea of the current picture, because I'm going to revisit the question of what to do with this place sooner rather than later.
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