I guess I own a home...??

Well...it has been some time since I have written an update. In that time, a good friend from Texas came to race his bicycle, I took a lot of time off my bicycle and my brother has kicked some serious ass and put up some sweet results. I think in about 3 or maybe 4 races, not real sure. One of those was a stage race, so if you are going to be picky, it could be way more considering it was 6 stages.

In any event...things have gotten quite interesting. As is well documented, I have been looking for a home. I found one...way back in July, probably about the 15th or so, maybe even earlier in July. For those not familiar with the process it is a lot of hurrying up...and then waiting.

After I decided this was going to be the one I wanted to put an offer in on, and after a few others didn't work out...the games began. I worked with a friend of mine who works for the Wauwatosa Fire Department. Great guy...good at a lot of things and has a background in building and construction, bonus. He has a tendency to be a little retentive and so he likes to do a lot of things himself...so he decided to get his real estate broker's license last year and started a real estate company. He also sells guns...which is awesome.

Anyway, back to the story...the offer was put in and after about 6 counter offers, a deal was met. I signed the final paperwork and off to the races we go. Sort of. Did I mention the hurrying up to wait? After the offer and price was agreed upon, I have to get an inspection done. The person/company that did the inspection was great. Very knowledgeable guy and really easy to talk to. Plus, he is also a contractor/builder/master carpenter...so he knows his stuff. The inspection was good with the exception of a crack in the foundation wall. He didn't really seem too concerned, however, because of his profession he has to make a note of it and make suggestions. He suggested we get an engineer to determine whether or not the wall would need to be repaired/braced etc.

In the meantime, the mortgage broker stopped by my apartment with about 100 pages of legal documents relating to this home purchase. They were all loan application documents and a disclosure of the costs associated with buying a house. And there certainly are some serious costs. I signed my life away and moved on. The mortgage broker then took the paperwork to the appropriate people and the application was off to the lending company.

I went to get insurance on the place so that when it came time to closing on the house, I had insurance and we could proceed. Because of some regulations or something, it is required that you have insurance. I am guessing that is because a majority of Americans don't have the funds to buy a home outright in cash and are borrowing money. This then creates the issue that a bank has an interest in the house and what happens to it. Regardless, I got it taken care of and was all set to close on the house on August 13th.

In retrospect, I think I am happy it didn't happen on the 13th because if you were to look at a calendar you would have noticed that just so happened to be a Friday! However, I still think it turned into more of a nightmare than it needed to be...

I had talked with the mortgage broker a couple days before Friday and he mentioned the possibility the closing may not happen on Friday. A day before the closing he told me it WASN'T going to happen on the 13th and had no idea when it would happen. This set forth a chain of events that will still be unclear to me...and will remain frustrating and confusing.

Apparently, government regulations state that a mortgage broker (ie. the person working for me) cannot have contact with the lending agency for fear of a conflict of interest. Simply put, the person whose reputation is on the line to the client has zero ability to make sure things are done in a timely manner. A lending company (ie. bank) also has 48 hours, at a minimum, to review the loan application conditions. Keep in mind, there is no maximum, at least that I have been made aware of. One of the loan application conditions is the insurance and the effective date of the policy. The original effective date was 8/13, but because the deal couldn't be closed on the 13th, a new date had to be set. The new date was today, the 18th.

So...because of a new closing date, the conditions have to be resubmitted...and apparently ALL the conditions. NOTHING else changed, except the closing date which would in turn change the effective date of the insurance, but EVERYTHING has to be re-reviewed. Did I mention the hurry up and wait?

Well, the new conditions were submitted on the 13th, I believe, which then gives the lender, at minimum, 48 hours to review it. So...being generous, as I always am, we'll just say that the final conditions weren't submitted until late on Friday, the 13th. Being that it is a Friday, I am sure people need to get home early, or don't want to work all day, or whatever, and so we'll just say they will get to it Monday 8/16. 48 hours from there would be...TODAY, the 18th.

So, I am all set for today, the 18th, at 1pm. Well, at about 11:30 I got a call that it won't be until 2. Then at 2 I got a call that said it looks like it will be about 2:30...then it was 2:45! At this point I am getting a little nervous because I have to go to work at about 3. At about 3, the paperwork arrives that I finally get to sign...well, some of it. The real stuff didn't get in until 3:45...a full 2 hours and 45 minutes after the original appointment, all because the date on the closing had to change and be reviewed by the lender...who was too slow in reviewing the application...which made the date change...!!??!??! Yeah, I am too tired right now to even come up with an applicable analogy.

In any case, I signed a bunch of paperwork, which boiled down to, "Make your payments and you'll stay in the house. Make sure you have insurance on the house, and don't continue to store the waste from your nuclear energy research in the basement, that stuff is dangerous."

At this point, usually the buyer gets the keys...but not for this guy. The lender now has to re-review, the re-reviewed loan paperwork...which is now officially signed...to then release the bank funds to the sellers. Yep, hurry up...and wait.

So, I am hopeful that today, I will be getting the keys to the joint. There are lots of projects in my head, but as a wise man (father) told me, "there are needs and wants...take care of the needs first."

I am thinking if it isn't much of an inconvenience, I will take some pictures and post them for your viewing pleasure. Until then...Peace.

Oh...and go see the movie "The other guys." It is kind of a dumb movie, I'll be honest, but I didn't stop laughing literally the whole time.

MTB - Part Duex

Day two of mountain bike riding. It was much sweeter. Courtesy of one Dr. Mantel, the front brake issue was completely resolved. To the point that there was no more rubbing...it worked perfectly!

I was actually introduced to the true Tosa trails. The one other time I had ridden them, it was at night...and on a cross bike. Not a good idea. These trails are slightly rocky and have a lot of roots.

Overall though, the second episode was quite good and I enjoyed it. To the point I will do it again...and again...all the way up until the Epic.

All I got for ya.

CONGRATS TO MATTHEW ON AN AWESOME FINISH IN THE TOUR OF AUSTRIA!

First MTB ride...

Today I put in what will hopefully be the first in a number of mountain bike rides prior to the Unnamed Epic mountain bike race in August. I am hoping by that time I will be a little better on the mountain bike...to say the least.

I did the Tosa trails today, which are not to far from my apartment, which is nice...really nice. I am borrowing a good friend's bike and it is quite nice. The Gary Fisher Ziggurat(?) or something like that. Front suspension, sweet components...its a good ride. The problem I am having is mostly due to my unfamiliarity with mountain bikes. This bike has some awesome Avid Juicy disc brakes, which are super nice and work well...when they work. The problem though is the front brake is completely stuck...ON. So, I rode for two hours with a disc brake on. While trying to fix it, I hit the disc and ended up getting a burn on my finger.

So, that was that. I continued on with the ride and was frustrated the entire time. Such is life though. Sadly, I managed to ride 9.5 miles in just shy of 2 hours. I am pretty sure that is pitiful as hell.

In any event...it is the 4th of July...so Happy Independence Day.

AB.

One entire month

While catching up on good ol' google reader with current events, news articles, gadget articles and pretty much any other news/information you can think of, I also caught up on the velotrocadero blog which lead me to think of my own, futile, pitful blog.

I checked today and it has been exactly one month since I have made a post! You would think a lot would have happened in that one month, but to be honest with you, absolutely nothing has happened. After the Sussex race, I pretty much put the racing for the year on the shelf. I am not doing ToAD, but congrats to one James Stemper, former VeloTrocadero rider and current yellow jersey of the series. My excuse is mostly the probation status I have at work...but part of it is fitness and other parts are motivation. I am in good fitness, probably better than last year, but racing is out of the question. If I put in some time with hard efforts and high intensity the story could be different. Either way, I have enjoyed the last month, it has been relaxing and enjoyable.

The house search is going...well slow and frustrating. I find a house, see it once, like it, go back to see it a second time and one of two things happen: 1) the house now smells like a damp washcloth that has never actually be dry and always stays just a little wet or 2) someone else has put in an offer.

No worries, I will find one eventually. I am just hoping before August 1st.

Other than this, I am trying to figure out what to do about this Unnamed Epic mountain bike race my father and I are doing. We have a mountain bike at home that really probably only needs a chain, some minor tuning and brake adjustments/bleeding as they are discs. I think I may be able to borrow a mountain bike from a friend, but just haven't gotten around to asking.

For the most part though, life has been rather boring and uneventful, which I think I prefer. I turned 29 the other day! It probably is not as exciting as the exclamation point would suggest. I think it just means I am probably a little wiser and have a little less hair on my head! All in all life is good and I can't ask for anything else...well, except to maybe see my bro and his wife sometime soon.

PEACE!

The second race

Did the second race of the year today. It was the Sussex Criterium. It seems in Wisconsin we like to use industrial/commercial business parks and other local park settings for our races. It isn't a bad idea really...most the time the roads are in awesome conditions, there isn't a lot of traffic and the hassle of keeping the road closed and free from cars is pretty easy.

The Sussex Corporate park is pretty nice. Good new concrete with not a lot of holes. Not only that, there was really only about 2 real corners. For the most part the road just curves and bends around. There was a slight hill leading up to the finish. I say slight, but in a race it was pretty decent. The weather today was quite warm, probably 88 degrees and I would estimate approximately 97.3% humidity. It was rough.

I used the day to drink 4 nalgene bottles of water, and one of propel water. It was a lot of liquid but surprisingly, I didn't really have to relieve myself very much. I think it was mostly because I was sweating it all out.

Mantel and I rocked to the race in his WRX at a cool 67 degrees. When we got out there we met up with the newly graduated Luke Holtan, congrats L-man. After a good warm up we met up with Timmy and Jack. Along the road to the start finish we also saw the swarm of IS Corp bees. I call them bees and have nothing but the utmost respect for them, they are good guys and ride smart and hard and I have nothing against them...other than there are always a TON of them. Today there were less than yesterday, at least by Patrick's account.

In any case, the race started out with I think probably 50ish people. I think the humidity might have increased too. Just a thought. It was pretty relaxed for the first couple laps and then Mantel and Loberg were off the front. I thought that would be sweet because the other 10 IS Corp riders could work with us and we could keep them away. Not so much though. That break came back, another went and the racing was on. Surge, relax, hill, surge, relax, hill, relax, surge. That's kind of how it went for a short time.

Eventually, 2 IS Corp riders and a guy from the local Colavita squad got away and the race was definitely on from there. At this point, it seemed as though the field was splintering. And it was...there was a gap at the top of the hill I closed, and basically from there, the field seemed to dwindle to about 20 guys, maybe, actually make it 15 or so. Of that group, 6 or 7 were IS Corp. They set up a pace line that no one could get in and if you tried, you got removed almost immediately. This is why I believe they are like bees. No one can get into the hive. Don't take it the wrong way, perhaps I am slightly jealous, but, it is quite impressive.

In any event, the finish came and I think I got 7th in the field and with the three up front I think I managed 10th, but, not sure I didn't check.

All in all, I feel as though the engine and cardio is there, but I feel as though I am missing the power part. All with due time I suppose. It is difficult to say how much other racing I will be doing this year, simply for the fear of crashing and getting hurt while being on probation with the job. I think I might be a little tired from the huge block of training, well relatively huge, I put in the last week.

Now some time with the girl and a good long ride tomorrow. Still in the heat though. Which is better than the cold.

TTFN.