Cheers!

Ah, we made it. Exhausted, but excited. The wedding in Seattle was beautiful, with snow-capped mountains in the background and near perfect weather. Then we became the adopted children of Larry and Deb, which was nice. A trip to the Museum of Flight and I can now say I've been on a Concorde and an old Air Force One. So that's cool.

Then a mamoth trip from Seattle to San Francsico, followed by a 12.5 hour trip to Auckland. Whoa. But it wasn't too bad, since they had over 80 on-demand movies with each having their own screen. Nothing like Will Smith as a comic hero and Jim Carrey remaking "Liar, Liar" to turn the brain off. Best possible thing, really. Finally, we had a two hour flight to the South Island adn landed in Christchurch.

Such a beautiful country so far and we've really only seen it from teh sky and from a 6-hour drive in our rental down to Dunedin. That's our destination and we're done for teh night. Turning in at 7 p.m. Yes, I'm old.

Beauty and rage

Ah, Seattle. Beautiful city, amazing weather. Great day for an outdoor wedding. We drove out to little Enumclaw yesterday from the big, scary city and were amazed at the scenery. Well, E and I were. The groom, who was driving us around, grew up in this town and didn't understand why E broke her camera out to shoot about 3 dozen pics of towering Mt. Rainier. Seriously, it looks like a freaking Bob Ross painting.

The bummer was, we got an email from the previously blogged about mortgage broker. Yep, our mortgage fell through. Did we get rejected for not making enough? Nope. Bad credit? Nah. Bank going under? No again.

No, we get the weakest excuse in the history of time. The Condo Association doesn't have good enough "master insurance" coverage. So even though we purchased insurance to cover the difference (already paid for, of course) Chase bank decided that wasn't acceptable. So, no loan. Buh-bye.

Allow me to rant for a few seconds. There will be swearing and vulgarity, so don't read the next paragraph if you have sensitivities.

Hey, Chase? Yeah, screw you. I hope you go under and the feds end all bailout programs just for you. May Obama never give you another cent, you assbags. May economic vultures rip every cent from your rotting carcass. Burn in flames and die. (This has been edited upon request. I was much more...colorful.)

I feel better now. Ready for a beautiful wedding!

UPDATE: Our mortgage broker thinks he's found another good loan for us that will be ready by the time we get back. So hopefully we won't be homeless. Yeah

Stupid Legos

It's never fun to spend National Cookout Day at work, but much worse when working by yourself after two hours of sleep.

I can't complain much, given that my boss let me work today so I can take Friday off instead. But the lack of sleep is killing me. I guess all the stuff going on in the next few weeks is starting to set in.

I just don't understand why I wasn't thinking about that last night when I was laying in bed and eventually on the sofa till 5 a.m.? No I wasn't thinking about closing on the house Wednesday, driving to Indiana Thursday or flying to Seattle on Friday. I was thinking about the Lego Batman video game I've been playing, The Reader, which we watched last night, and a steady stream of Springsteen songs.

Yep, we're about to become homeowners and then fly halfway around the world to New Zealand and I couldn't shut my brain off from Lego Robin throwing Batarangs at bad guys dressed as psychotic clowns. Well, and Kate Winslet naked. That one made more sense and helped me feel a little more normal.

Questions and time killing

Perhaps some people have a few questions as to what and why E and I are doing all of this now. I'll try to be pre-emtive, so here goes.

Why New Zealand?

Why not? Basically, I've wanted to go there since elementary school (no, it's not some Lord of the Rings obsession).

Did you win the lottery to afford all this?

Well, no. E and I have been saving for a few years for a big trip and it was this or Australia. Given the short time frame, and New Zealand is only the size of Colorado, that won. We've also been saving for a down payment on a house and costs are much cheaper here than elsewhere. Plus, we wanted to do our part to re-start the global economy. We're just do-gooders like that.

Why buy a house now, since you won't be in this town for more than 3-4 more years, at most?

Good question. Basically, this is why. So if we can sell it for what we paid, it's like living rent free for a few years. Thanks Congress!

Who's in Seattle and why are you both going?

Well, one of my best friends is from the Grungeville (or a small town with a glorious history nearby). I'm happy for him and incredibly curious as to what woman could tolerate his yetti-like appearance and collection of ironic t-shirts. Plus I love Seattle and will take any excuse to visit.

What are you going to do in NZ?

Not really sure. We've got the Lonely Planet guide and we'll have a car. It's going to be early winter there, so I've heard there won't be too many other travellers. So finding a hostel every night will hopefully be easy.

Coffee, Kiwi and closing

May and June 2009 will likely be among the most memorable of my life, either good or bad. Hopefully good. But I wanted to write about what is going on, most of it in the span of two and a half weeks.

Not to get too detailed, but my wife (E) and I bought a house, I'll be in a wedding in Seattle, then we'll spend 10 days traveling in New Zealand. And then come back and to move into said house. All within 3 weeks. If you need me in July, I'll be asleep.

So my goal is to write short snippets of humor, struggles and experiences over the next few months. If you want to follow along, feel free to come back. I plan to update at least every few days. But laziness may win out.