Shopping Surprise

Today Momoko stayed home from work. I took Little Kat to school. The guy could not stay awake in the car. After I dropped him off, I watched him bounce along on the sidewalk going to school. He must have sensed an eye on him, because he looked back at me.

Everyone at work kept trying to give me work. I told people that I could not get all this stuff done today. I had to return to school to pick up Little Kat. They got the message one way or another. When Kit Kat got home, Momoko declared that she could not go shopping today.

Kit Kat was sick. But we forged on to the grocery store. We skipped the local store that got held up at gunpoint last night. Instead we went to the upscale store. The damage came out to the tune of $200 large. We were prepared with a detailed list. The only item we could not find was chicken bouillon. I had Kit Kat keep asking store personnel until one of them told us where it was. Too bad they were all wrong. Another customer took pity on us and showed us the real way. However when we got to the check out, the bouillon kept beeping. The cashier said it had been recalled. We decided to get out of that store.

Day 3 House 4

Normally I only like to see 3 houses max on any given day. However there was one more that looked good on paper. It listed at $298k. It was a short sale. Taxes were 5k, which is not bad. The show stopper for Momoko was that Kit Kat would have to change high schools if we moved here.

The Good:

• Front yard shrubs were nice
• Little porch in front yard
• Big dining room
• Fancy columns between living room and dining
• Privacy fence all around back yard
• Breakfast nook had a cathedral ceiling
• Gas stove cooking
• Nice counter tops
• Had a fireplace
• Cathedral ceilings in master bedroom
• Double vanity in master bedroom bath
• Walk in closet in master bedroom
• Big tub in master bedroom bath
• Separate shower in master bedroom
• Laundry was on the top level
• Bedroom #3 had an ok size closet
• Bedroom #4 was ok sized floor
• Basement had a shower
• Double sized gate in back of rear yard
• Nice little deck out back

The Bad:

• Little Kat thought pieces of the roof were falling off
• Back yard muddy, even with some puddling due to rain
• Back yard was small
• Slope of back yard down toward house
• Hardwood floors on stairs up and top level hall
• Two story entry foyer wasted space
• Bedroom #2 was small
• Basement floor was mostly tiled
• Ceiling crack in the basement
• Limited counter space

Day 2 House 3

The third house we saw today was a short sale. It was being offered at $290k. However it had a whopping $10k in annual taxes.

Good things:

• Front bricks looked good up close
• Had a fireplace
• 1st floor bedroom
• Gas stove in kitchen
• Center island in kitchen
• Huge sunken jacuzzi tub in master bedroom
• Separate shower in master bedroom
• Dual vanities in master bedroom
• Big walk in closet in master bedroom
• Washer and dryer in hall on top floor
• Hall bathroom had a nice tub
• Big vanity in hall bathroom
• Good closet space in 2nd and 4th bedrooms
• Good sized 3rd bedroom
• Pool table with custom lighting in basement
• Nice doors hide all utilities in basement
• Small shed back yard

Bad things:

• Driveway on an uphill slope
• Hardwoods, not carpet, on most of main level
• Backyard had a hill sloping down to house. Puddled water back there.
• 1st floor bedroom had door to outside
• Space above garage missing pull down ladder
• Steep steps going up to 2nd level
• Bar in the basement
• Built in fish tank in wall of basement
• Basement only had storm doors taking your out of cellar to back yard

Day 2 House 2

The second house we saw today was a foreclosure. It was listed at $297k. It had a big $7k due in annual taxes. Turns out this was the favorite house of the day.

Good things:

• Ladder in garage took you up to storage room
• Peg board walls in garage to hold items
• The dining room was big
• Kitchen was open allowing you to see breakfast nook and living room
• Main floor powder room was large
• Cabinets in kitchen were nice. Opened on 2 sides.
• U-shaped wrap around kitchen counter
• Fully fenced big back yard
• 2 story fort in back yard for Little Kat
• Big living room off the kitchen
• 2nd story deck off the breakfast nook
• Back yard was level ground
• Breakfast nook was bigger than most
• Master bedroom bath was a tub
• The vanity in the master bedroom bathroom was big
• Walk in closet in master bedroom
• All bedrooms had cable and phone jacks
• 2nd and 4th bedrooms were good size
• Lots of vanity space in upstairs hall bathroom
• Second stove in basement was gas
• Second kitchen in basement
• Slider in basement walked out to backyard level

Bad things:

• Some siding was falling off
• Hardwoods in entry foyer damaged
• Dining room had a broken window
• Main floor powder room located way in back behind pantry
• Water damage on board under the sink
• Washer and dryer were in the master bedroom
• Tub in master bedroom was nothing special
• Master bedroom had private door to 5th bedroom
• 3rd and 5th bedrooms were small
• 7 foot high basement ceiling might not accommodate exercise equipment
• Basement shower looked like it leaked causing some damage
• Back yard was a little mushy due to water in the middle
• No good place to park on cul de sac except driveway/garage

Day 2 House 1

Today we went house shopping again. The first house we were looking at was listed for $299k. It was located close to one of Kit Kat's school friends. It was a short sale.

Here are the good features we found:

• Had a fireplace
• Laundry was on the main floor
• Back yard had a full privacy fence installed
• The garage was very deep (long)
• Window to back yard was a bay window
• Good sized living room
• Second bedroom had good size, with 2 closets
• Vanities in bathrooms were nice
• Jetted tub in the master bedroom bath
• Master bedroom walk in closet
• Fourth bedroom was small but nice
• Big hall storage for linens upstairs

And here are the bad aspects of this house:

• The brick front did not look good close up
• There were some trees in the front I would want to remove
• Lots of hard wood floors. I prefer carpet.
• You had to walk outside to get to the garage
• The back yard was muddy. Bad rain and water flow.
• Only 1 car garage
• Built in microwave
• Sump pumps were in middle of finished room in basement
• Two utility rooms in basement. Not all finished.
• Finished room in basement was small.
• There were weird cutouts in wall of finished basement room

My Game is Mazeband

The time has come again for me to enter my yearly programming contest. We have exactly one week to create a PC game that looks like the great "Angband".

Unfortunately I have been very busy this week. I am in charge of the team at work. And me and Momoko have been house hunting. Finally I am driving around Kit Kat and Little Kat because Momoko is busy with her class work.

So I have not been able to put a lot of time into my game. At least I took care of the main goal: I wanted to draw a simple maze, with different rooms interconnected. Now I just need to put in some type of goal for the player (get the gold?), and I am going to declare the game done.

Day 1 House 3

Here is the 411 on the third and final house we looked at today. Offered at $279k. Existing contact on house. Seller taking backup offers.

The Good:

• Jetted tub in master bedroom bath
  
• Fully wood fenced back yard
• Side fence in back yard is 6 foot privacy fence
• Huge ground level deck the length of the house
  
• Has a nice looking fireplace
• Good sized pantry
• Garage had pull down storage overhead
  
• Two closets in master bedroom
  
• Counter top was nice
  
• Nice front door with stained glass
• Entry room floor is marble
• Track lighting in living room
• Stairs were carpeted
• Good size shed included
• Play structure we could improve for Little Kat
  

The Bad:

• Front door lock hard to open
  
• Some broken shutters
• Counter top was small
• Fridge was small
• Living room has a tiled floor
• Main hall bathroom has a wood floor
• One bedroom had the door locked
• Another bedroom had damage to carpet

What can I say? I love the back yard. Totally.