Football time again!

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Jul 302011
 

Well, not yet, but it is interesting in that I’ve been watching the NFL more closely now, curious as to what moves the Browns will make in Free Agency to try and bolster the team. So far there haven’t been any really big signings or big names, and in some cases, I have been a little surprised that they haven’t picked up some people to serve in their areas of need — with Eric Wright leaving, the real question is what they will do for cornerback, as they don’t seem to be interested in the big names that are still available. Still, I do like that they are picking up younger guys that are still improving, rather than guys that are on the waning side of their years.

I also find it interesting that the whole Derek Anderson experiment in Arizona was declared a failure, officially made when they acquired (finally) Kevin Kolb from the Eagles. When he was cut from Cleveland, and spouted off about how much he hated the place (and he did have some reasons) I was worried that yet again, a player that the Browns couldn’t make work was going to suddenly flourish outside of the “Curse of Cleveland.” But, no, he had the exact same problems in Arizona that he had in Cleveland: tempted the fans with some good throws early on, only to settle into a series of bad decisions and inaccurate throws as the season wore on. He was benched due to poor play, and the came back when the starter was injured, only to show that he still had the same issues. He also demonstrated that his trouble dealing with criticism was not just because of the Cleveland press/fans; his blow-up on the podium after being asked about his laughing on the sidelines while his team was getting pounded into the dust on national TV was right up there with Dennis Green’s classic meltdown. So, yeah, a change of scenery didn’t do him any good, as the Cardinals have now cut him after one year. I wouldn’t be surprised if he lands somewhere soon though as another back-up. He has experience, and every team can use a QB with that.

Oh yeah, and speaking of ex-Browns, it looks like Braylon Edwards will not be returning to the Jets. It’s not really a matter of not liking him in this case, but rather that after spending the money on Holmes, they would rather get a WR cheaper than what Edwards is asking for. Still, I can’t help but wonder if this is the first time that Edwards really had to deal with rejection in the professional level. While in Cleveland, everything bad that happened was everyone else’s fault: the coaches, the organization, the fans (I still love that whole, “They didn’t like me because I’m from Michigan and not because I kept dropping passes” reasoning). Now, with the Jets, he has to be taking this pretty hard. Think about it: They made their decision to sign Holmes to the big contract, so they valued Holmes over Edwards. Okay, that’s not too bad, since Holmes has a Super Bowl ring from his effort with the Steelers. But then the Jets start seriously chasing Nnamdi Asomugha, and Edwards had to realize that meant that the Jets weren’t interested in his services — no way they would be able to sign Nnamdi *and* Edwards. Then, the next indignity, is that the Jets are even looking into Burress, who hasn’t played a down since 2008 — Burress has more interest from the Jets than Edwards. And since Edwards said he loved the Jets, he has no-one to point the finger at and say “It was thier fault, not mine.” But, again, he has enough talent that he’ll land somewhere. Hey, I hear the Browns are looking for a veteran WR….

As for Brady Quinn, well, he’s still buried in the depth chart in Denver, but at least he still has a job. You have to take what you can in this economy, right?

Speaking of the Broncos, it seems that Josh MacDaniels decision to give Kyle Orton (who has played pretty well, to be fair) last year has placed the Broncos in a pinch with their cap space. Unless they can trade him, they can’t sign any new agents because of the cap. Again, it feels really good to know that for once, it wasn’t the Browns who majorly screwed up their personnel decisions by hiring a head coach that wound up sinking the whole franchise. And now that John Elway is involved, I can only hope that he proves to be as every bit a franchise genius as other players-turn managers before him, like Isiah Thomas, or Matt Millen. Boy, that would be so awesome.

Of Cars and Goals

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Jul 162011
 

I had rearranged my goals for the end of the summer shortly after my last post. See, I realized that while I could both search for an apartment and look at selling off the car, the two goals had a bit of a conflict with each other. What I saw as I began the pursuit of dual perfection is that my still owing money on the car was going to be a bit of a slow-down in my attempt to sell the car. Not even counting the additional step of getting it paid off with a buyer’s payment, just the fact that someone would have to wait for an additional 2 weeks to get the car didn’t seem to be a great selling point.

And then I realized a major flaw in my original thinking: the whole point of the move is to save money. But, I would be losing more money if I moved before selling the car:

  • The original premise of moving is that I wouldn’t need my car, and could sell it, so I would drop the car payments, insurance, and maintenance cost. But if the car doesn’t sell before I move, all that remains, plus the almost certain rise in rent for moving back to NYC.
  • Depending on where I moved, I might have to invest in a parking garage, adding in more monthly costs
  • And, the whole process of transferring the registration and the like to New York would tack on a few more costs, as well

Thus, I decided to realign my goals, and focus on selling the car first. This meant that the money I had for the move into NYC could be spent to pay off the car. And this I did. I sent Ford Credit my final payment back on Monday, and on Wednesday it was processed. With any luck, I will be getting the title this upcoming week.

And it’s a good thing I decided this, as well, because on Monday I found a buyer. So, when she and her husband stopped out on Wednesday, I could tell them that the car was paid off and the title was on its way. I also got very lucky in that the buyer is a very sweet couple, and very professional. I did a lot of research into the process of selling a car, but she did even more, and so when she arrived, she had a couple of Bill of Sales that we filled out, noting that she had given me a small deposit, and that the final payment would be given upon receipt of the car.

I shall miss Dunkirk. Despite the infrequency in which I dove it, I always liked it and its handling. It was a great SUV, and it always felt cool that I was tooling about in a Hybrid.

Even though I suspect it’s going to be a ways off, I think my next car is likely to be either another Ford Escape Hybrid, or a Subaru Forester. Both have their pros and cons, and I could easily see driving one of them again in the future.

But, that is a topic for another day.

First, I need to close the deal on the Hybrid. Once that is done — hopefully no later than the 30th — I can then proceed to focus on moving. That should be another weird experience, as I’ll need to visit apartments after work and on weekends; given that I’ll be going to and coming from NJ, it could wind up being quite a long series of trips.

The good news is that I’m in a flexible lease, so I have some room for my move out date, and I also know some of the things that I am definitely looking for in my next place. The usual suspects are there, in terms of close to the subway, not too far from work, and a certain monthly rent, but the other things that I find myself setting into are a renovated kitchen and bathroom. I’ve found that they are just much easier to clean that way.

Of course, I’m not looking forward to using a moving company, but, well, I’ll embark on that adventure after I complete my current one.

 Posted by at 11:59 pm

The Shake-Up Commences

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Jul 042011
 

I had the opportunity to join some friends in the city today to enjoy the July 4th festivities. And I declined.

This was partly due to the fact that my rec league sports playing over the weekend had left me a bit sore, but more so because there was still a lot of things that I wanted to get done which I had not, mainly because, well, the rec league sports on Saturday and Sunday chewed up a lot of time.

However, I have moved on two fairly large initiatives this holiday weekend.

First and foremost, I have started to hunt for new apartments. I realized that the time was actually right to be looking for places now. See, I have enough in the bank to be able to pay the exorbitant costs of moving, what with the 1st & last month rent, plus the security deposit (and that’s assuming no broker fee), and any moving costs, so this is actually a good time to shift back over to the over side of the Hudson. One of the reasons why I have not looked at moving sooner was partly due to the costs involved, and I was still rebuilding my savings after the Great Recession, but another thing that always held me back was just the concern that, the game industry being the way it was (as in, my last two jobs basically evaporating without warning), I just always had that looming fear that as soon as I move, I’ll lose my current job, and then have to go through the whole process of moving to another place all over again, and this time having to find someone to sublet the apartment.

But, as I thought about it, a few things have changed my mind:

  1. As already noted, I can actually afford to move. That’s a pretty big plus.
  2. The rec sports leagues and my friends in the city just mean it makes more sense to be there. I probably lose a good 1-2 hours each day in transit that I would otherwise have. And what’s more, living in the city means that subways run all night, so I wouldn’t have to worry about leaving a friend’s party at 10-11 PM so as to make the train home. More flexibility is good.
  3. It actually makes a lot more sense to get a place now, as I already have a lot of the paperwork that would make me attractive to a renter: 3 current paychecks, bank statement, etc.
  4. I’ll actually be able to save money, even though I would be paying more in rent; this is largely because the key to the move is selling my beloved Dunkirk — the Ford Escape Hybrid.

This leads me to the 2nd thing that I’ve been working on, mainly today: I have placed Dunkirk up for sale.

I went through and placed an ad on Craigslist and also eBay. The latter took a hell of a long time to set up, so I’m really glad I spent the time today to do so. I basically had to create a new account (my last one used an email that was no longer used and itself has not been used since 2006 or so), a seller’s account, reconfirm with PayPal, and fill out about 17,213 more online forms to get everything up and running.

I’m not sure how successful the ads will be. Dunkirk is in prime condition, with only 11.5K mils on it, no body work, nothing else that would diminish its value. Hence, Kelly’s Blue Book gives it a value of $21.6K. I’m starting with 21K, and we’ll see if anyone responds, but it’ll be a fairly good learning experience, regardless.

My one strike is that I haven’t completely paid off the loan yet. I could, if I wanted to — I have enough in the bank to cover the remaining loan, but then I would not have enough to handle the costs of moving. At least, not comfortably. So, I’m going to see who likes the car so much that they are willing to take the extra step of getting the lien cleared and then the title transferred. I’ve seen several different options, and currently, I like the option best which entails a check made jointly to Ford Credit and myself; Ford Credit takes out the amount left on the loan, and sends the remaining money to me. Clean and simple, if a few more days are needed to get the title. I need to call Ford Credit tomorrow and get more information about the options available and their recommendation.

In the end, the ideal result is that I sell the car before I move. Sure, this means that I won’t have the car to help during the move, but I doubt it would help that much, as I either need to get a U-Haul, or just hire movers anyway. What I would have is the money to help cover the costs of getting the new place set-up, and one less concern dealing with where to park the car.

Also, the other big advantage is that with the car sold, I will not only be finished with the car loan payments, but also car insurance, and gas/maintenance. That will actually help out the budget immensely, giving me some more flexibility as I continue to keep the idea of going into an LLC on the backburner.

So, yeah, if you know of anyone looking for a mint-condition 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, send them my way! :)

 Posted by at 6:43 pm