Friday, October 8, 02004
What happens when loft dwellers fall in love, get married, and have babies?
For everyone who wanted the loft experience, but didn't want to trade in their garages, fenced yards, or children....
Posted at 04:16 PM EST [Link][Karma] [Comment]
Thursday, October 7, 02004
The elimination of the hybrid tax break was eliminated.
(In moving news, I cleaned up the old apartment and dropped off the keys, and took one last walk through the old neighborhood. Then I went home and setup the computer. It looks like some of the phone lines in the house may be a little flakey, or the dial-in access number I was using was acting up. Regardless, I tried to post this last night but couldn't. The camera is still not unpacked, so still no pictures. My folks are showing up tomorrow maybe. The place is still a mess. This is a cause of some distress, but that will pass. My parents will be happy if they get to help me unpack a little I think. I missed my first trash pickup, and had to drop off my garbage in the office dumpster this morning. I've got to start paying attention to trash and recycling - I don't have a chute I can just drop it down anymore !)
Posted at 10:38 AM EST [Link][Karma] [Comment]
Wednesday, October 6, 02004
At long last, Congress Moves to Close SUV Tax Loophole
Lawmakers expanded the popular write-off from $25,000 to $100,000 last year and lifted depreciation schedules to enable taxpayers to take the deduction all at once. This created a huge incentive for anyone running their own business to buy big SUVs, which have skyrocketed in popularity.
Tax fairness, environmental and consumer groups have complained that doctors, lawyers, accountants and other white collar professionals that run their own businesses have taken advantage of the loophole to buy the flashiest sport utilities for personal use. These luxury models can cost well over $50,000.
The critics also characterized the benefit an excessive tax break for the wealthy. The Bush administration urged Congress this week to shrink or eliminate the advantage, despite objections from some Republican lawmakers that doing so was tantamount to a tax increase.
(More rambling move-related notes: Unpacking continues. Surprisingly the computer is still boxed up though the other media-related electronics are all functional. I've signed up for basic cable after not having it in Arlington for a few years, mainly because I'm going to use it for high speed internet access (the gentoo rsyncs are just taking too long any more...) I still haven't unpacked the box with the camera, so no pictures of my humble abode yet. The parents are due in this Friday to make sure I haven't made some monumental mistake. Much cleaning is in the works, I expect. Tonight's my last trip out to the old apartment, to vacuum up the dust and clean up the kitchen and bath a bit, and then drop off the keys. I left the ceiling fan off last night and noticed the house creaking last night. That sort of freaked me out. At one point I thought something was dripping, so I looked around for a leak but didn't find anything. Still, I was probably more relaxed last night than I have been in a long time, even with the mess and boxes all about. No leaks in the bathroom this morning, and the sink stopper ended up being trivial to fix. I used the oven for the first time last night. It was noticable when the gas would click on and off. I don't know if that's normal or not having only used electric stoves in the past. It didn't blow up so I'm happy.)
Posted at 06:20 PM EST [Link][Karma] [Comment]
Tuesday, October 5, 02004
The move went pretty smoothly. The truck showed up a little early actually, after everyone had told me to expect the movers to be late. They were very quick. Before I knew it the apartment was empty. I'm going back one more time to clean the place up, and then that will be the end of Arlington for me.
One hint for people moving I haven't seen elsewhere - if you have a safe deposit box rented at a local bank, be sure to close it out before you move. Otherwise having to go back to the old branch office to get your stuff may be a hassle. I actually was able to do this without accidentily locking myself in the bank vault so I considered that a success.
Thoughts now move from sadness about leaving Arlington to anxiety about settling down in Reston. It'll be a few weeks before everything is unpacked, and where I want it. I've also started noticing the Dulless airport noise. I hope I get used to it or it may drive me batty. It does seem to cut down a lot after 10:00 or so, and it was pretty quiet this morning. I sleep really, really well last night. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought it must have been around 5:00 AM, and it was only 2:00 AM.
I also noticed my neighbors music a lot last night as well. I think they go used to not having neighbors for a couple months (the place was appartently empty a lot for a few months before it went on sale, since the previous owner was hanging out at his girlfriend's place most of the time) I'm hoping I don't notice it as much once all my stuff is unpacked and I'm playing my own music.
Finally I noticed some black spots on the bathroom ceiling after my shower this morning. It may just be condensation, but then I wouldn't have expected it to be black. I'll keep an eye on it tomorrow morning and probably call a plumber jsut to be safe. Oh yeh, the sink stopper broke today after I finished shaving, so that needs to be fixed as well. I'm also still a little concerned the fridge is keeping stuff cold enough.
As you can see, the anxiety has kicked into full gear.
Posted at 09:27 AM EST [Link][Karma] [Comment]
Sunday, October 3, 02004
Tomorrow morning the movers come and cart the remaining big stuff over to Reston. Almost everything that could have fit in my little car is already in the new place, except for the computer and monitor, and some clothes and toiletries which is going over with me tomorrow morning.
Today I went to the early service at UUCR this morning, then dumped off some stuff at the house, and then explored some of the paths around the house. It was really a beautiful day out. I would have liked to spent it hiking the canal towpath, but I wanted to get the last little bit of small stuff into the house.
I'm still feeling pretty sad whenever I enter the old apartment. I've given up trying to figure out why. Anyway, after tomorrow I'll be back one more time to scrub down the place and drop off the keys, and that will be the end of it. Then I should be able to really start enjoying the new place.
Posted at 07:29 PM EST [Link][Karma] [Comment]
