Home energy check

My electric company (as do many from what I understand) offers a service to customers where they will come to your home and check it out for energy efficiency. It's a free service and it's really quite helpful for homeowners to figure out where they can improve their energy usage. So being the frugal and environmentally conscious homeowner that I am, I set one of these things up for our house.

This morning the guy comes to the house and checks our A/C unit (the number 1 user of energy in the house), our hot water heater (the number 2 user of energy in the house), the duct work under the house (yes ducts run under the home), and the insulation in our crawl space (attic that isn't an attic cause it's too small). Here's the verdict:

• A/C unit is good, but needs to be serviced probably just to be sure it is running properly.
• Need to check hot water heater to see if the temp needs to change (that's just us playing with it)
• We need to have someone come in and fix our ducts. The guy checked and said that the tape is coming loose from the joints and that it is looking worn, so we scheduled another thing for the energy co. to come out and do a duct inspection for us so we can figure out what that will cost. It needs to be done cause I don't like heat and A/C escaping under my house. Plus with winter coming (I know mild Florida winter, but it still feels cold to me) and relatives visiting from a tropical Caribbean island, we need to keep warmth in the house, not under it.
• The insulation is low. We have the loose, blow type insulation and apparently you need 7-10 inches of it in your attic.....we have 1.5 inches. I feel like the inspector said something about the insulation in the crawl space, but I can't remember what....and between the bugs and now the insulation, I think I want to go back through that thing to be sure of what he did and did not mention.

So to keep my house from being absolutely freezing this winter I need to buy and install a new window for the bathroom (window bought, but not installed) because surprisingly tape doesn't do a great job of keeping cold air out, buy and install a new back door (again, tape doesn't really keep cold air out), fill my crawl space with several more inches of insulation, and get my duct work fixed. If I had to guesstimate what all this will cost me, I think we're looking at $2000 possibly.

For those of you expecting Christmas presents from me this year be prepared for a very thoughtful note and baked goods.

Not German Cockroaches

So my big fear with the roaches I found was that they were the hated German Cockroach that makes every homeowner scream in fear (apparently they are really difficult to get rid of), however after having the pest control guy come to my house I have been assured that I do not have German Cockroaches. Well thank God for that.

So we have simple American Cockroaches (also known as Palmetto bugs in Florida) that have decided to live in our house....okay much easier to deal with . Pest man sprayed, charged me money, and now E and I need to decide if we want to make this a regular service. I'm sort of inclined to say yes. I mean it's not that much money and I like the thought of a bug free house.

I'm cool with bugs as long as they stay in their territory. For instance, spider outside spinning a web=very cool.....spider in my house spinning a web=gives me the heebie-jeebies and makes me think I see spiders everywhere for weeks afterwards. See the difference?

Pest control called

E and I weren't sure how to go about researching pest control companies, and since we are leaving town next week for my brother's wedding, it seemed as though the roaches would have free reign over the house for at least two more weeks.....but then we remembered that the house is already under contract with a pest control company for termites. Eureka!! We will just use them.

So a phone call was placed this morning and to my surprise pest control is actually quite affordable. Who knew? Frankly I would have paid double what I was quoted just to know that we weren't living in house infested with bugs. Ewwww....

Hopefully they will be able to come in before we leave town to do the initial treatment, which requires removing everything from the cabinets and closets and luckily for us, we've loaded next to nothing into the cabinets (see post below about the yuck). However, I think both E and I are getting anxious to finish putting the house together, so the sooner the pest control can happen the better.

I was going to finish the kitchen tomorrow, but I guess I'll hold off on that now. Seems silly to load up everything, just to pull it all out again before too long. Oh well, at least I know where my pots, pans, knives, and spatulas are....really everything else can wait to be re-discovered for now. So, sorry Fry Daddy, sorry bundt pans, sorry blender, and so sorry to the various other kitchen implements I have grown to love, you will have to live in your cardboard boxes for a little while longer.

Dirt, grime, and a discovery

So over the last few weeks E and I have come to a conclusion about our home's previous owner......she NEVER cleaned.....and I mean never.

We started to suspect this the first day we owned the house, but decided that maybe she (like me) just didn't clean as often as she probably should have. See, before painting we decided to wipe down all the walls to prep them for painting, but as we started mopping it became very clear that these walls would need more than a light sweep with the mop....they needed a good scrubbing. So, 6 buckets of Mr. Clean infused water later, and we had at least removed the grime from the ceiling, walls, and floors. It still wasn't perfect, but it would do for painting purposes.

So then we paint and move in and slowly start to see all the other bits of ick that are all over the house. The fans had a nice thick layer of dust and grime, the shelves in the kitchen were covered in dirt (no seriously dirt, like from the yard, in the kitchen cabinets) and bug droppings, the floors and base boards have a layer of filth (yes still, we're gonna have to scrub those suckers), the bathroom was just nasty...no other way to put it...nasty, the vents all have dust on them..... I'll leave it there. I think you get the idea.

So okay, I've been avoiding cleaning the kitchen cabinets, mostly cause it didn't look like it would be fun (it wasn't), but I decided Sunday to just suck it up and get it done. I throw on some of those loverly yellow rubber gloves, grab a bottle of Fantastic spray and a roll of paper towels, put on my best "I love to clean" face, and get to work. It took a few hours to get through it all, partly cause it was that bad, partly cause I had to take breaks from the ick, and partly cause I ordered a pizza at one point (hey, a girl has to eat right?).

Once I finished the cabinets I decide that I should just go ahead and clean the hall closet while I'm at it. So I go in there, and start the gloves, paper towel, Fantastic, game face process again. Now, the previous owner left some pillar candles in this closet, you know the type that Catholics use for prayer, and I had just left them in the corner of the closet where we had discovered them on the first day. I figured they were just candles, so whatever..... Yeah, not just candles. I pick them up one at a time to clean under them, and imagine my horror when I pick up the second one to find it filled, FILLED, with cockroaches.

The candles are now in the trash, my hall closet is half cleaned and I am researching pest control companies.

So that it seems a little more managable...

....I created a list of what really needs to be done in the house.

I realized while in the shower this morning that in that bathroom alone there is a ton of work to do; some of it fairly easy and cheap and some of it quite extensive and possibly expensive, but all needing to be done eventually. So in order to stop the ensuing panic attack, I decided to sit down and create a list of everything that needs to be done in the house. It does not include the yard or garage....mostly cause I haven't even looked at those areas long enough to decide what kind of work they need (though some shelving and storage cabinets in the garage, and some serious trimming of the greenery outside is certainly in order).

So this is what I have come up with so far in no particular order and as with the bathroom, some is easy and cheap and some is well....not. Those things on the list in blue are the temporary fixes we need to do until we can afford the more extensive changes.

To Do:

• Tile bathroom, kitchen, sun room
• Refinish hardwood floors
• Replace all windows with storm strength windows
• Replace all outside doors
• Replace all inside doors
• Rewire house for 3 prong outlets
• Fix switches and outlets that do not work
• Paint all floor molding
• Paint ceilings
• Paint outside of house
• Rip off railings on front porch

Bathroom:

• Renovate bathroom
• Redo tile on walls
• Rip out current sink and replace with pedestal sink
• Rip out current tub and replace
• Replace knobs for bathtub/shower and shower head
• Fix squeaking knobs on sink
• Caulk tub drain, tub, and toilet base
• Fix grout around tiles in shower
• Add storage
• Paint walls
• Change light fixture

Kitchen:

• Renovate kitchen
• Rip out current cabinetry and replace with new cabinets; add additional cabinets for storage
• Replace kitchen sink
• Recaulk kitchen sink
• Purchase dishwasher
• Purchase disposal
• Purchase island
• Purchase pantry
• Add lighting near workstations

Deck:

• Replace rotted boards
• Add lattice to sides to cover underneath
• Add additional support beams

Bedrooms:

• Replace blinds in guest bedroom
• Bleach blinds in master bedroom
• Replace closet doors
• Redo closets to improve storage

Sun room:

• Replace blinds
• Seal cracks in ceiling

Living room:

• Paint crown molding

Replacing windows and other astronomical expenses

So because it has been awhile since I have had time to update the blog, I have many stories to tell. This one is about unsuspecting new home owners, a home show, and a window company....

It all starts when one of the new homeowners goes to a home show and fills out a card to win free windows for the house. The homeowner, knowing that this is inviting spam and other nasties, decides it will be worth the spamming if she can get all her windows replaced for free (cause dang it, they need replacing). Shortly after the home show, the window company starts calling. They call in the day, they call in the night, they call so much that both homeowners finally agree to getting an estimate done. They figure it was free and really they would like to know what type of expense they are looking at for this large project (that by the way is not scheduled until about a year from purchase). So a very nice lady comes to the house one evening and begins her spiel. She measures the windows and does some calculations and then spouts out a number that made both homeowners jaws drop to the floor in utter astonishment. Never in their wildest dreams did they think that a number so high would have escaped her lips,"$16,000" she says. After regaining consciousness, both homeowners thanked the nice lady for coming to the house and showed her to the door.

True story.

Moving and other fun stories

Well this weekend was the big move and really, it went pretty well. It could even be called smooth, especially if you take into account the fact that we were absolutely unprepared for the move. Oh we reserved a U-Haul truck ahead of time and had lots a family there to help, but as far as packing, almost nothing had been done. So yeah, could have been a total disaster. For those of you that were there that thought it was a total disaster....shame on you :) Did you not get hamburgers and get to lose 10 lbs. by walking up and down three flights of stairs? Okay then. We'll have no more negativity from you.

So it has been requested of me to post some pictures of the house now that we are moved in....two reasons for no pics yet:

1. Currently the pics would be mostly of boxes.....lots and lots of boxes housed in some freshly painted and quite colorful rooms.


2. I have no idea where the cord to my camera is. The problem with not packing anything before the actual move, is you end up losing a few things to random bags or boxes. I remember throwing the cord (and my mouse for the desktop) into a random box of craft things (possibly?) because they fit and needed to be packed somewhere at that point.

I do however have a few pictures shamelessly stolen from a friends blog that she took during painting day.

Here is the living room in all it's red glory. It's a little darker than that in person, so not quite so shocking. Also you get to see a loverly picture of the sofa.

Next we have the sun room (office/dining room) as taken from the kitchen....yes the kitchen is pretty darn sizable. It has zero cabinet or counter space but my hope is that one day there will be a massive renovation and the kitchen will become a masterpiece.

And finally the happy homeowners standing on their very cute little front porch.

The colors of my home

So this week in home ownership.....the art of painting. Yes this is the part of owning a home where you try and cover up the hideous and not to palatable choices of the previous owner, or just try and give the house a nice refresh. If you are us that means just picking new colors, cause simple touch up on the current paint isn't going to cut it.

I went to the Depot on Sunday after a morning at a home show (which had some fun vendors, but overall was a bit ahead of where we are in the home renovation project....ex. vendors for windows and doors; we want to replace all of these eventually, it probably won't happen till the next calendar year at least....or the booths for kitchen and bath renovations; again definitely in our future, but this one may be as much as two years down the road). So yes, went to the Depot and bought some of our paint for the house.

We went with a green for the master bedroom and a blue for the guest bedroom (but I cannot remember the name for the life of me, so no pic), a red for the living room, and a yellow for the kitchen and dining room/office. What do you think?











I think it will look nice. E is a bit worried that we are being too colorful in our choices, but I am sick of white walls after years of apartment living where I wasn't allowed to paint. Bring on the color I say! We still haven't decided if the yellow is going to carry over into the hallway or if we are going to purchase a 5th color......I'm inclined to say no 5th color (hey I like colors, but there is a limit), but we'll figure that out once we get a little color on the walls. Plus there is the bathroom.......hmmm.... What goes well with maroon and grey tiles? Anyone? Yeah, there's a reason we're still mulling this one over.

E had the day off today and so has been painting all day long, and I am joining him soon. So hopefully there will be some great pictures to post of all the wonderful progress we are making, hooray!

And after signing my life away....

We have a home!

Okay so, I had not seen the house since our first walk through with the realtor when we decided to purchase the place. All the visits for the inspection and the final walk throughs were done during the week while I was working, so E was the one to do all those. You can imagine that I was excited to go see the house last night; the first night it was officially our home.

My mom met me at our apartment and we drove over to the house (E was working) just as it was getting dark. The first thing I did was walk into what I remembered to be our large backyard, and hmmm.....the yard was a little smaller than I remember. Oh well, it still is a good sized yard and will be fantastic for entertaining.

Since it was getting dark and the mosquito's were coming out, we moved inside. We walk into the front door and hmmmm.......the living room is much smaller than I remember. Well.....okay, um..... It will fit our new furniture, no worries there, but somehow with the furniture the previous owner had in there it looked bigger. Maybe she had a big mirror in there (note to self: buy big mirror) and that's what made it look bigger.

The rest of the house was as I remembered. The kitchen really is quite large and there's a little sun room that we will make into an office and possible dining area (this is still in discussion) that is larger than I remember it, so that's nice.

Overall it's a charming little house; a good starter home as real estate people like to say. We did however discover a lot of little things that had been overlooked/cleverly covered up and so the tally of things to spend money on has increased yet again. In fact this morning we went to the house to measure everything and decided to go to the Depot for a new window in the bathroom and buy that new back door that will go in the kitchen. In the walk through last night it was discovered that those had to be replaced immediately. The window was broken and was pretty much just tape......lots and lots of tape. In other words, I don't know that it really qualifies as a window anymore.....more of a hole in the home. No holes in my house please.

Speaking of holes, the broken back door that we knew we would need to replace is a total mess. I was going to wait to replace that till next month since it didn't seem to need immediate attention, however upon closer inspection last night I realized that we had yet another gaping hole in our house. The current door is similar to this:
















It looks as though someone broke the glass in the door and the previous owner bought replacement glass that was too small for the door.....the width was correct, but the height was off by probably 4 inches. How this happens, I don't know; maybe she didn't measure, maybe she couldn't find the right size, but either way this leaves a half inch space above the glass and a 3 inch space below the glass. I kid you not. It was cleverly covered by tape and a 2x4, but it was there. Talk about wasting A/C. I mean forget being energy efficient, that just a waste, and moreover..... Oh sorry, ways to make the house energy efficient is another post.

So anyways, we are home owners. As the man at the Depot said, "if it's not one thing....it's two things." Ah yes, so true.

The loveseat is here

Yay, the love seat arrived in our house a few days ago, and I am thrilled with our purchase! I think the leather love seat(I'm calling it a couch from now on.....love seat sounds stupid after awhile in the same way that fiance sounds pretentious) will look very nice in our new home. Typically I am not a leather person, but this couch is soooo comfortable, and it really looks good. That picture I found is not really that close to the real thing now that I've had time to enjoy the real thing. I will have to take and post pictures once we get it moved into the house. Oh and speaking of the house:

5 days till we close!!!

We got the final numbers as to what we need to have for closing.....um yeah, we're a bit short. So, we are taking some loans from family (not a huge amount, but enough that we couldn't come up with on our own) and should be ready to go for Thursday. So yay for family help, yay for almost owning our house, and yay for the couch!

Exploring the blogosphere

So I have started playing around and looking for other blogs to read.....you know so I can get remodling and designing ideas, learn stuff I had no clue about, and pretty much entertain myself during those downtimes. I have listed some of my favorites of what I have found so far on the right, but today sumbled across an awsome list that I felt the need to share. It is a list of 21 items "you didn't know you could recycle." I love it! For a green nerd like me, that is the best list ever. I will certainly take the hint on recycling old tennis shoes. I have a ton of those sitting around my house.

http://www.coopamerica.org/pubs/caq/articles/21Things.cfm

The new stuff....

Now that I have figured out the picture in a blog thing, I will share picture of some of the new stuff that will be a part of our new home.

I have been looking for some pictures of my new couches to share with people until they finally arrive at my new home. I found the sofa, but the love seat will just take a little imagination.

So here is the room where they will live:















This is the sofa (just the sofa in this picture). It a small picture I know, but you get the general idea:


And then this is the love seat....well okay this isn't the actual love seat. I can't find a picture of the actual one online, but this is the general idea; square shape, and brown leather, however the feet are wood just like the feet on the couch. We think they will work well together: Our other new purchases we will be making include a new back door and new knobs in the bathroom for the tub. We're looking at these knobs:


And then this is the new backdoor we are considering, and the room in which it will go:















So this is the first in a long list of new stuff we will be buying over the next....oh, forever. Also on the list are the bed mentioned previously, other living room furniture (side tables, coffee table, entertainment center, etc.), a new TV, a new mattress for the guestroom and furniture for that room, an island for the kitchen (with an eventual total kitchen overhaul), and other various art work for the walls and area rugs for the floors.



It's exciting and overwhelming at the same time.

Homeowners insurance....check.

Woo woo, another big check on the gigantic home buying to do list.

We went to the insurance agent's office today to sign our final paperwork and give him a check for our year's policy (more money leaving the pockets). We went ahead and paid now instead of waiting for closing just in case a storm felt the need to crash our party. See the insurance people don't want to write you a policy if there is a named storm headed for the state, and while currently we are safe, there is no telling what is going to be happening with all that come Oct. 4th. Now, no matter what happens, we have insurance on our home. Yay!

We have exactly 14 days till we close on the house. It's crazy to think about.

Also completed from the check list:

• I faxed in all our missing paperwork to the mortgage people. It was a 21 page fax, but I checked the mortgage app. online and the giant fax was recieved. The only thing left on that to do list was insurance, which as of 1:00 today is done.


• We purchased a new couch and loveseat from American Signature Home. We were planning on going the Rooms to Go route, which is a fine place for furniture, but pretty basic and not always the best quality. However for people that are looking for decent furniture that looks nice and is a great price, they really are hard to beat. We just couldn't find anything at their store that really blew us away. It was all fine, but when we left the store, we honestly couldn't remember one thing that stood out. In the end it all was the same couch. So in expressing this dissapointment to my loyal blog reader (hello), it was suggested that we try American Signature. Well she was right. For a little more money we got great quality, great looking, great financing, warranties, and cleaning guarantees. I am very excited about my very first furniture purchase (yes I have lived this long off of family and friends hand-me-downs). Our next purchase with them will be a bed....I can't wait to have a grown-up looking bed :)

Oh and I decided to try my first picture on the blog. It is a picture of our home that we are buying. It is just a cute little 2/1 and almost ours. Yay!

So the whole house thing.....

You know, I had heard from friends that had bought their own place about some of the stresses of purchasing a home, but man....it's crazy.

My latest headaches:

Insurance: I live in Florida. No insurance company in Florida wants to issue homeowners policies. Absolutely no insurance company in Florida wants to issue a homeowners policy for a home built in 1955. Do you see the issue I am having with insuring my 1955 home that we are trying to purchase?

Interest rates: Yesterday, the lady from the mortgage company calls me and asks if I want to lock in my mortgage rate. The rate was really great; almost .2 of a percent lower than our original quoted rate. I tell her I will call the husband and get back to her. I call the husband, he enthusiastically tells me to lock and I run out of time to do it. I figure it's no biggie, but then today I call to lock and the rate has gone up .13 of a percent. Still below the original rate, but higher than that good rate from Wednesday. Why? Why did I not lock my rate when I had the chance? I went ahead and locked this one. Rates will probably will be lower tomorrow, but since there is no guarantee, I just did it. Plus who really wants to call their mortgage people everyday to check on rates.....actually I know someone who might do that.

Paperwork: I am one of the few people I know that actually enjoys paperwork. It helps me stay organized. Plus when everything is a little chaotic, paperwork is that one solid and easy thing that keeps me grounded. Buying a home requires massive amounts of paperwork. More crap that needs to be gathered and signed and faxed to everyone and their grandmother than I have ever encountered in my life. I don't like this paperwork. It does not make me happy.

A home

So as mentioned previously, we have been searching for a home....

We have made an offer. It's a good house. One that I think will serve us well for the next few years. I mean there are things that are not great; the kitchen needs work and the A/C vents are on the floor, but overall it is a good place that we will be happy to call home.

We are on counter offers now. You know that point where you try and negotiate over the smallest, stupidest detail. It's fun. Yeah, not so much.

I can't wait to get the phone call saying that we are set to go. I've already picked up paint swatches and info from Home Depot. I'm ready to go.

The working girl

Can I just tell you how excited I am to be working?

I just love being a part of the workforce again. I love having co-workers and an office (well right now I'm homeless, but next week I'll have a desk and office). I love having to get up early and navigating the parking garage. I love going to lunch with my new co-workers and learning new systems. I even am loving the HR paperwork (thought I'll be happy once I get it all in and done).

I'm in a good place.

Now give me my first paycheck and life will be suh-weet!!!

House hunting

So we've been looking for a house for the last few weeks. It will be our first. We may be better off financially in a year, but we've been putting off getting a house for two years now and we are tired of waiting. It was right then not to buy since we had no down payment saved and the market was so crazy that we would have been stuck with a shoebox sized condo. Anyways, the market is good, we have a decent down payment set aside, and we both are ready to get out of apartments.

People mention that house hunting is stressful, but I always assumed that it was because they were also trying to sell a house at the same time as buying. I don't even know how that works. Frankly we're having a hard enough time with the schedule we have, what with our lease running out in a few months.

The thing that makes house hunting stressful (at least when it's your first home) is that unless you are a trust fund baby, independently wealthy, or just really lucky you have to sacrifice some serious stuff to find an affordable house. For instance:

We found an awesome house in a great location only to learn that it has a sinkhole problem. Not a gamble either of us want to take.

We found a home in a fantastic location, but it needs some serious updating and TLC. A financial commitment we aren't sure we can make.

We find a dream house that looks like those homes you see on TV, but it is in the middle on nowhere and would require at least an hour commute to work everyday. Not a sacrifice I am willing to make.

We now are looking at 4 other places brought to us by a new realtor. I'm not positive about the location of these, but from the map I think they are okay neighborhoods. The homes look okay. A few updates and TLC needed but nothing major. One is a non-evac zone home (a big consideration when you live near the coast in hurricane prone FL), so that is a plus. None however are perfect.....and sadly that is the true stressor in looking for a home. That you will have to settle for something less than what you really want. It's especially frustrating when what you really want is not that much.

I'm not looking for a show home here, but just a comfortable house with a little room to grow that is in a safe neighborhood with nice neighbors and doesn't need a total overhaul. I don't think that's really too much to ask for.

A blessing from God

I am employed. I have a job. I will be getting a paycheck, and benefits, and all those other great things that come with a job.....and it's a really great job!

This does not happen to people. You do not go from no hope, to a job in one day...not without some serious intervention from God. I mean I e-mailed my resume to this company last night at 10 p.m. and today by 6 p.m. I was offered a job.

I can not tell you how elated I am!

Perhaps God is smiling on me

You know, He works in mysterious ways sometimes. Just when you think all hope is gone, something happens that is exactly what you've been looking for.

I have another interview today with a company that wants to hire someone immediately, so as long as I nail this interview I could be employed soon. I can not tell you how elated that thought makes me.

I'm a little worried as it is something a little out of left field (not too far out, but not anything I have direct experience in doing), but as long as I convince them that I can do the job, I don't think it will be a problem.

Time to outline all my fabulous qualities so I am sure to mention them during the interview.

I'm feeling better

Okay, so after sobbing on the phone to a dear friend and to my mom, I have a renewed focus.

I applied for three more jobs, two of which I'm actually pretty excited about. Hopefully they call soon so I can rub it in the face of this company that has been jerking me around for the last three months.

I also am going to a temp agency tomorrow to get temporary employment....you know since that's their thing. This will hold me over until someone realizes my greatness and decides they must hire me on the spot and pay me a ridiculously large salary.

The outcome

Sadly outcome number one happened. I did not apply at Target, but there were tears. Oh, there were tears.

On the plus side I do not know for sure one way or the other so I possibly could still have the job, but I did not leave that interview thinking that I nailed it. In fact I'm pretty sure they are not going to be hiring me anytime soon. I'm not really upset as far as that position or company go, but as far as the whole desperate for a job thing, I am devastated. I am so upset about it that I can't even make myself move to eat (anyone that knows me, knows that this is serious.....I can eat almost all the time).

I'm sure I'll be fine. I'm just so upset right now.

Job interview tomorrow

My Thursday schedule:

10 a.m. I will be sitting down for my final interview.
10:30 a.m. I will either be still sitting in the interview or will know my fate with this company at last.
12:00 p.m. I will be doing one of two things depending on the outcome of the interview. 1) I will be filling out an application at Target, crying my eyes out, but desperate for work, or 2) (and the scenario I know we're all hoping for) I will be in a bar celebrating with a beer. Anyone want to join me on their lunch hour?

So I'm a blogger too....

I fell into the trap, or jumped on the bandwagon....whichever phrase you want to use. I'm not quite sure what on earth I'm going to write about on here. I mean most blogs that I've read or visited have some sort of theme. Adoption, cooking, photography, babies, home renovation.....

Perhaps I'll figure this out as I go along. A friend of mine said these blogs are therapeutic. Sort of like a diary that you put out there for the world to read. I'm not sure I like that idea, since I have been known to write some stuff in my diary's that I know I wouldn't want anyone else to read. Guess that's what self-censoring is for.

Oh and grammar and spelling will be wrong....deal with it.