4:14 p.m. - 21 June 2001
Home and work
It looks like everything is on target to buy this house. We've talked to the inspector, the attorney, and most importantly, the bank. We ended up locking in on an interest rate today; luckily, the same one that we've been basing all our calculations on. When we went in to do the application for the mortgage, we were a little surprised to start getting estimates based on an interest rate that was a quarter percent higher. But it all worked out, so I can't complain.
Actually, everything is on pace for us to close at the end of July, just as we planned. So we'll probably be moving most of the furniture and stuff the first weekend in August. Oh, boy. I'm hoping to get enough other bodies to lift and tote furniture so that I can direct where stuff goes. I'm good at that. This is assuming, of course, that we figure out where everything belongs before we move in.
The house actually has an office, but it's far too small for my monster desk. It's actually a desk from several employers ago – we bought it in North Charleston, before we moved to North Carolina. We had to disassemble our dining room table before we could bring it in the apartment we lived in then, because otherwise there was no way it would fit. We ate off the desk for about a week before the move. It's 6 feet by 3 feet, and that's just the main desk. There's also a return that's another 3 feet by 2 feet. It is a tremendous desk. It is also very heavy. By far, it is the heaviest piece of furniture we own. Although, the entertainment center in the living room isn't too far behind, since it's built like a cabinet and is solid wood.
The complicating factor in all of this, of course, is the fact that we live in a third-floor apartment. Everything has to come down the semi-narrow stairs. Luckily, there are only about three stairs to get into the house. And no stairs for the stuff that's going into the guest room.
Okay, I'm writing this at work, to be uploaded later on. I know that working in a patient area means that I see things that at times, I'd rather not see. There are half a dozen or so patient rooms between my office and the little tiny bathroom that's on the hall. I hate using it, partly because I have to go past all those patient rooms, and partly because it's dim and tiny and uncomfortable. But just now there was another reason to make me not like it.
There are two guards sitting outside one of the patient rooms. And not our hospital security guards, either. They're probably from the prison that's just up the road. Our chief of hospital security is kind of lurking about keeping an eye on two of them. It's kind of funny, actually.
When I came back down the hall after using the facilities, such as they are, one of the guards was sitting outside while the other was in the patient room. A nurse was in the room, too, so I guess that's why the one was in the room. It's a little creepy, but I guess I'm glad they're there.
Speaking of our chief of hospital security...he's a strange bird anyway. He's older, around 70, and British, so he's a little hard to understand at times. Once upon a time, he was one of Princess Margaret's bodyguards. He and his wife retired to this area, but he couldn't stay at home for very long, so he joined the security force here. If you get here early enough, he'll stand at the front of the hospital and salute you as you go towards the parking lot. He'll also stand in the hallway outside the cafeteria and make sure everyone is wearing their badge. I usually manage to "accidentally" put mine on backwards since my picture is so horrible. As long as you're wearing it, no one really seems to mind.
Lee was here at work until 8pm yesterday due to an upgrade in the hospital's billing system. Well, actually, the software handles just about everything from payroll to scheduling patients, so I guess calling it the billing system is a little inaccurate. Anyway, the company had to do the upgrade remotely as they won't let IS see their code. The upgrade took an hour longer than they had originally planned for, and then there were (of course) problems that had to be solved right away. But since a large portion of the office that Lee works most closely with had already gone home, it was a little more difficult for him to figure out what needed to be done. Today, however, has been pretty quiet, although something cropped up just a few minutes ago that will prevent his usual afternoon visit. So long as he gets to come home on time, I don't mind so much. I guess.
