House Stalking

With only 4 days until closing, I find myself driving past the house at least once per trip out.

Just today I rolled by twice – First this morning exactly at 9:06. I know it was 9:06 because I just heard the top of the hour NPR news report, and John Aielli had just started his morning show. As I turned the corner onto MY street, the garage door was open, and there was tons of stuff occupying the place a car should be.

Garages are sacred places. They are supposed to have clean floors and finished walls. It’s the place your Jaguar is supposed to live – Even though I don’t have a 1970 E-type (yet) I’ll have a spot all ready. Tools won’t be out in the open where the could accidently fall off a hood and dent the hood. Instead they will live in cabinets with closed doors. The workbench (yet to be constructed) will always be clean, and orderly, so projects will be easy to start and finish. And there will be lots of overhead light. Not your run of the mill bare bulb fluorescent tubes. But nice lighting so you can see that there aren’t any flaws on the paint job.

The second time I drove by was on my way to pick up Jen from her job. The time was exactly at 1:22 – I know this because I can look back at my iPhone call log, and see that was the time Norm, my Accountant called. I had to answer this call. It’s tax time, I’m buying a house, and you always pick up the phone when your accountant calls. Always! So I randomly drove around the neighborhood yacking about Tax Credits, First Time Homebuyer Credits, and 2009 Estimated Payments. I couldn’t pay attention to the house, so I got a bit lost. But when my call ended I easily found my way back.

Every time I drive past it is at Ice Cream Truck Speed, nice and slow. From a distance of 2-3 houses away, I start to look at the bigger features first. I can see if the front door is open, and this determines what I’ll be looking at as I approach – I check to see if there are any workmen cars (there were some minor problems that came up during the inspection that the seller needed to take care of), and if they look reputable.

Then when I am directly in front I look to see if there are any changes from the last time. Lo and behold there are three small red flags in the lawn, possibly marking bad sprinkler heads. Woo Hoo! I’m gonna have a working sprinkler system! Who wants to come over this summer and play on a slip and slide?