Happy Birthday to Me

Sort of.  I am officially 10,000 days old today.  In retrospect, it has been a well lived 27.38 years so I believe some thanks are in order:

First of all, a big thank you to my parents.  It's been a long haul, but you've been wonderful.

Second, thank you to Melody for putting up with me for 1,370 of those days.

And finally, thank you to WolframAlpha for making the math so effortless.

Vacation Pictures

Now that the move is complete, we had a few extra days that Melody could take off work so we visited family in Utah and Idaho.

Considering that we flew into Salt Lake we spent very little time there. We drove the first weekend to Boise to see my family, then the next week to Bear Lake with Melody's family. We enjoyed the good company, beaches, hiking, cave exploring, and overabundance of great food.

Here are some pictures of the main events (most of which turned into neice/nephew photo shoots).

Things we learned this week

• Sleep is only a luxury.
• It is hard to solve problems when sleep deprived.
• You come across a lot of problems when trying to work on projects.
• If you are looking for a one-day project, don’t refinish your hardwood stairs.
• It is important to know what kind of wood you are finishing when buying stain. We just guessed.
• It is time well spent to ask the advice of store clerks at Lowe's, Sutherland's, etc. for do-it-yourself projects.
• 2 Ibuprofen seem to work when you break a toe during a move.
• Friends are important, especially when moving.
• Always look in the back of the U-haul before driving away.
• When buying a dryer exhaust hose make sure it comes with connectors.

Haggling 101

Those of you know Brandon and me know that we are nice “blue” people. We worry about other people and about what other people think about us. Haggling is a hard thing to do. We hate it. The first job offer I received here in Kansas City offered me a low wage and I haggled for a hire wage. The outcome of that incident wasn’t good. They withdrew the job offer completely. At that point, I used an agency to find a job.

Brandon and I have been looking for a washer and dryer for our new townhouse. We decided that we should buy used because we don’t know what life holds in store and where and when we will move next. We spent some time on Craig’s List but those are first come, first serve and we will only have a moving truck on Saturday morning which limits our ability to buy one. While looking online we found a used appliance store and after work today we went to check it out.

We were greeted by a 7 ft tall, well-built man. He told us where the washer and dryers were and then followed us to the back of the building, ducking under the door frames. We picked the one we wanted and then I asked Brandon if we should try to get the price down. He was concerned that this was a business, not someone’s house. We decided to go for it anyway and I said I would do the talking. We showed the 7 ft tall man what we wanted and then mentioned that Craig’s List has them for $100 cheaper. He mentioned the warranty. I mentioned that the machines shouldn’t break down to begin with. Brandon asked about a dent in the machine and the man said it was already factored into the price. I suddenly realized that I hadn’t decided how much I wanted him to reduce the price, but I had already opened my mouth and out came, “well can you take 10 or 20 off the price?” I meant $10 or $20.

Hesitantly he said he would take 10% off the price ($34). Brandon and I agreed. After the fact we realized just how naïve we are. I think haggling takes some practice. At least we are learning to ask.