Global Amnesia Scare

March 3, 2002

Well we had a bit of a scare this weekend.   It was a normal boring Saturday.   I was watching TV about 11 am and my dad had just cooked breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, checked some stock information on the web and then took a nap.   He woke up and came down stairs and I hear him having a discussion with my mother.

I over heard them say “Craig is buying a condo?”   “Yes”.   “Since when.”   And I thought, what a strange conversation.   I clicked off the TV and walked into the next room said, “What’s going on?”   Mom said Dad couldn’t remember anything about my condo, or Ashli’s car accident that she was in last week (she’s ok, just got rear ended by someone), or any of the recent events in the Greenwood family.  

We got to talking more and it just got scarier.   We would refresh him of things and it would all be news to him.   He said he didn’t recognize the clothes in his closet and wasn’t really sure he lived in our house.   He couldn’t remember any of the home improvement things we did all last summer, including the fence we put up, painting upstairs, or the new air conditioner.   It was total blank to him.

Mom thought it might be a stroke so we called a Doctor who had us come down the to ER at Jordan Valley Hospital.   They did some basic tests and then sent him to the University of Utah Hospital.  

More tests there including a cat scan and MRI to see if a stroke had taken place.   No stroke.   They said memory loss occurs with stroke, but dad was alert and aware there was a problem.   Stroke victims apparently are not.   Anyway, the MRI removed any doubt of it being a stroke.   They called it Global Amnesia.   It hits people under much stress, mostly men, but also women who have just given birth. You just have a major amount of short-term memory loss.  

The Doctor said it would go away and everything would be fine.   It was only really scary for about 3 or 4 hours when his memory kept lapsing and forgetting things we talked about just 10 minutes prior.   The whole day was kind of scary of course, but by that evening we all went out to eat and it was fine.  

That was one stress of the weekend.   I also went and talked to the University of Phoenix about taking graduate classes.   I am thinking about Business Administration with E-Commerce emphasis.   Maybe Business Management or Marketing as well.   In any case financing may be a problem.   eBay will pay for $3000 per year but if I go full time the cost is about $8000 a year.   So it’s either get scholarships or go part time.   Either is fine, but I vow before you here, I will not take a student loan.   I have spoken.  I have been there and done that and it aint fun.   No how, no way.   Would rather remove my eyeball with a cold spoon thank you very much.  

I’ll keep you updated.   I intend to hear back on that grant for the condo today. Hopefully it will go through!

That’s all for now.

Almost Lost the Condo

February 28, 2002

I’ve received some rather disheartening news. The West Jordan City Grant that I applied for has been denied. The city consultant called me and said “Your debt to income ratio is too high...it must be 35% and it’s at 46%.” So I went into full panic mode. I called the gentleman who did my first good-faith estimate, which is a supposed loan application showing all the numbers of cost of the house. I learned that he calculated my income using my base pay and did not include the 15% extra that I make working the graveyard shift. That’s pretty significant! So we recalculated it all and came up with 36.5%.

So then I scrambled and tried to find out the exact property tax to see if we could lower our estimation. That was a circus chase of course. The staff of the condominium complex is out for weeks cruise, no one working for the city had any idea, and I didn’t know the exact street address. What a mess.  

So I decided to hit the reset button on the Nintendo game of life. I went to a new bank, and filled out a new good faith estimate to resubmit to the city. Sure enough, came up to exactly 35%. So I resubmitted those figures and went to bed. I am now waiting again for response from the city.

It is vital that I get this grant. s   If I don’t get this grant then my furniture savings will be eaten alive by the costs of closing the loan. Then I’ll have this wonderful little condo with nothing to sit on and no fridge and it’s just going to get ugly. My problem is I get my pride wrapped up in everything. I have totally set my vision and my goals on getting this city grant. I stressed out when they said “nope” today. Nothing further I can do but wait now. I’ll update again when I hear back on that.

In other news, I have decided a plan on how to purchase my furniture for the condo. I want to purchase the living room furniture and a mattress.   This includes a couch, a recliner, end tables, Entertainment Center and mattress. Then I will save some money after I have moved in and purchase phase two, which is the bedroom set and kitchen table. Then phase three is a nice desk for the computer. I think this is best for me cost wise. I will be able to get nicer furniture that I want rather than rush around or have to get cheap stuff all at once.

That’s my plan as it stands now!

Stupid Olympics

February 22, 2002

One can only take so much. I've tried to be positive, I really have.   I watched the opening ceremonies and wanted to like them.   I can't do it any more.   I am thoroughly disgusted.   I'm talking of course about the Olympics. Or should I say the Beer-lympics. Before I start let me say just a few things:

1. If you disagree with me, fine, yell at a wall, I don't want to hear it.
2. If you think I'm pessimistic, you are 100% correct, and I don't want to hear it.
3. My thoughts are my own, meant for me and no body else.

On with the bashing. The Olympics for me have meant nothing but reminders about how badly the world is taken with alcohol, specifically beer.   After day one of the Olympics there was a news story on TV.   It was a man talking about how mature everyone has been concerning alcohol thus far. The picture on the TV was a man with a beer.   Not the man though. It was his hand, holding a beer. For about 30 straight seconds. It served as a reminder what the Olympics were about--an excuse to drink.

The next day my friend told me about a concert she attended down town as part of the festivities. She commented about how the drunk people were oh-so funny.   And they were everywhere!   It was wonderful!  

The next day I was listening to the radio on my way home from work and heard the DJ being thankful for all of these out-of-towners coming in and teaching us Utahns how to party.

Later in the week I heard my mother, my own dear sweet mother, comment on the phone about how glorious it was to visit "Budworld" and see the Clydesdales. These horses that once were used to support the weight of armored knights are now the trademark animals for fat lazy drunk drivers. Oh, what a mighty promotion!

It is with these comments that I feel fully comfortable in saying that the Olympics are a mere excuse to drink beer, just like every other event in American life. You know, Christmas, Easter, The Super bowl, Tuesday, etc etc.   Not to mention the scandals. The Beer-lympics have just been an excuse to create whiners and scandals.

"Oh that judge didn't grade me right!"   "You’re banned because you ate a sesame seed bun and took a Contac." "We're not going to compete in Athens because we are being treated unfairly." WAH. Good sportsmanship?  Bull Crap. Its just adults acting like children.

If I may be more specific, the lugers, good lord the lugers. They finish and jump up and down and celebrate as if they just defeated cancer.   They are nothing. Just ballast for the sled. And they award medals for that. But in a week, they will be forgotten, unless they land a lucrative promotion deal with Sprite. The other day I saw a man from the Jamaican Bobsled Team telling me how some telemarketing firm was the best marketing firm because of their commitment to customer service.   The Jamaican Bobsled Team does not do Customer Service. They sit in a sled wearing spandex and try not to die. Just beyond ridiculous. And am I as a customer supposed to choose to answer only telemarketing calls from this service based on their commitment to customer service?   "Oh your not from the Jamaican Bobsled Team's telemarketing company? Well, I was going to buy but not any more. They are committed to customer service (click)."   We've truly reached a new low as a species.

I have nothing but negative feelings towards and about the Olympics. I can't wait till they leave Salt Lake City and I refuse to pay attention to them in the future.   It is a phenomenal waste of time with intentions to only get people drunk dressed in the clothes of sportsmanship and challenge. I will not buy any of it.

Lastly, if I have to look at Katie Couric again I'm going to throw a chair at the TV. What a terribly ugly woman. And her side kick on the morning show. All he did during the opening events was inform us of what the temperature was.   Yes, he's truly a broadcasting professional. Hand him a shovel let him move piles of rocks, or at least something that would make a 3 year old think.

Ptui to it all. I have spoken.

The Birth of Training

February 7, 2002

No big news on the condo.  My color meeting is next week.  I have decided to go with a gray scheme.  I still have a lot of furniture decisions to make and have been doing some shopping.  I did officially apply for the grant from West Jordan City.  If that goes through there will be much rejoicing.

I have a few little stories but not a whole lot has happened.  There is some changes happening with Half.com and eBay at work and they have to announce these changes to the employees so everyone is trained. Well I was sort of asked and sort of volunteered to help with the training.  I wasn’t nervous because I felt I had a good grasp on the subject matter.  I think in the end my little session was a bit dry though. Granted the material was very dry as well.  Anyway, a little over 20 people attended the training, which was about an hour long. It went ok but it could have gone a lot better.

The Olympics start this week in Salt Lake. I will not be attending any events and hope to avoid it as much as possible.  I am never anywhere near any of the event centers or downtown so I’m not too worried. It would be kind of neat to go just to experience it and say I’ve done it.  Although so was the Newsboys tour, and that didn’t really impact my life in any major way. 

Anyway, that’s all.  Hopefully at the next entry Ill post some info about the condo. June doth fast approach but it seems so far away.

My Offer on the Condo

January 22, 2002

Well, today was a big day.  The condo people did not accept my offer.   They had told me from the beginning that they do not reduce the price on new condos so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.   All the same, over the last few days it has become a pride issue and I really wanted my first offer to go through.   It did not.  They countered with the full price saying, "We told you."   So in the end I just signed the paper and bought at full price, $104,600.  Once we start factoring in upgrades and fees and closing costs and all of this stuff, oy ve.  Well, I know how life adds up all these fees.  I wouldn't be surprised if I'm looking at much more that $104,600 when all is said and done.

Anyway, I thought I'd get a link to the condo so you all can look at your own leisure where I will be living.   Just click here to see the website for the specific unit I have purchased.  Here is a map of the complex with a nice circle around the unit I will live in.

This process is far from over.   I have only signed what is called a "Purchase Agreement".  I will be applying for a city grant for financial help which requires a "Good Faith Estimate" from a lender in addition to the said purchase agreement.   Ideally that will go through.   Then I have to actually apply for a mortgage loan, which scares me not, save for the fact of time and paperwork.   I have all ready been Pre Qualified for a loan.  Next I have to pay a construction deposit of $2500, which counts towards the down payment.   That's due at the end of February.   At the same time I will be going to what's called a "Color Meeting" to pick my colors.   PICK MY COLORS, people.  Hi, My name is Craig Greenwood, I am male and one of the things that is NOT in my job description is "color coordinator".   Paint it black and white.  I don't care.   Well, I do care.  I want it to look good.  How many times in your life can you pick the color of your entire house all at once?   But, this thought alone kills me.   I have no idea what to do.   Call me a pessimist (and make sure you spell it right), but I have a feeling that whatever I pick will end up clashing or being cheap or looking ugly somehow.  I tend to be really good at mismatching colors.  I'm lucky I have some semblance of a matching wardrobe.   I just wear blue, black and beige.   My wardrobe is quite boring actually.   I'm stressing over colors.   I suppose there are worse things to stress about. 

So anyway, after the color meeting construction will have started and will be completed around June, which I understand in contractor talk means July or August.  By that time I should have all my loan and grant and financial stuff totally 100% straight.   I will then apply for the actual mortgage.  I can't apply for that until 60 days out from the closing, which means May or June.   Hopefully we can get a good rate on the mortgage.  .01% would be great.   Likely it will be 7%, which puts my monthly payment at about TOO MUCH FREAKING MONEY. 

Maybe in the end it will all work out.   June is fast approaching and I'm sure I'll keep you updated through the journal.  It will be funny I'm sure to look back on this in 5 years, so all these figures are more for my sake than for yours, but if you like to follow this stuff.... you are one sick puppy.

Living in a Condo

January 16, 2002

Oh! The stories I have. It all goes back to Saturday. Dad and I drove around and looked at condos for the second consecutive week. After a hard day of seeing condos that were either worth their weight in mud or so expensive it would make Bill Gates double over in laughter, I was beat. Ok, so I'm exaggerating for the sake of comedy. Dad said Why don't we go up to Brittany. Ok.

Now, Brittany is a new complex just west of Airport #2. I had looked at Brittany (Brittany Park is the full name of the complex) last fall. They were nice and big and were way too much money. It was the first condo I ever looked at and didn't have anything to compare it to. I Xed it out in my mind as above and beyond what I could afford. Since then I have looked at condos all over the valley and they are all either too much money for a too small a space or just a hovel for rats to live in, cluttered 2X4s covered hastily with sheetrock, built in 1942.

So when I went back to Brittany the second time I was able to see what I was getting and know the value of the condo. The price is just right, ballpark-wise anyway, and the size is great. I mean, for similar prices you can hardly stand up in other condos. This is a 2 bed 1 bath I am looking at, with 1 car garage, brand new (not even scheduled to be finished until June).

So, during this visit to Brittany they said they need commitments in the next 2-3 weeks. With that in mind I have been scrambling to put together mortgage information and get ideas on the reality of actually purchasing instead of just looking. I have learned so much.

I should say I am not overly committed to this place. I mean, I would be very happy here and I do plan to make an offer, but I could walk away. Who knows what will happen? I am enjoying the reality of actually doing something and not just talking about it. It's all happening very fast. Thus far I have been officially pre-qualified for a mortgage by a credit union and been told I am able to receive a first time buyers grant by the city of West Jordan.

Today I go to submit an offer and let the plinko chips fall where they may. Dad, the all wise knowing real estate guru (tongue in cheek), says I need to be patient and willing to walk away in negotiations. I have never done this before but I think I will be good at it. We'll see. I have so much stuff and ideas swimming around in my head on how to do this it's insane. I am confident in what I know however and I don't intend to go with much of a plan. I just want to see what the reality is, what I can do to the reality that exists, close a deal if possible and if not, happily walk away that much wiser.

I will keep the journal posted. I'm being careful not to say too much in this entry because I don't want to jinx it or say something that is incorrect. It's all very exciting!!

Also, this weekend Paul and Amber and I are headed up to Idaho Hot Springs. It's natural hot tubs outside. Amber went last year and said it was great. Hopefully we can get some good pictures and I'll post them next week.

That's all for now!

Mormon Rock Stars and Christmas in Michigan

December 28, 2001

Well Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza. It's been a very exciting time and I have much to report. First, backtracking a bit. I told you last time how I was going to post a picture of me playing guitar in Amber's Mormon church, but it's against the law to take pictures in a Mormon service. Apparently old Joe Smith himself comes up from the grave and bangs his chains together when you do that. Makes an awful ruckus, and we can't have that. I however, being the highly rebellious spirit that I am, took a picture. I couldn't talk anyone into taking a picture while we were on stage so I just snapped it of where we would be. It's a little blurry but you can see the guitar in the background.

Moving right along with the month, a few days ago Amber, Paul and Ivory and I all went off to the Mormon Temple the other day to view the Christmas lights. It's been a tradition of ours every Christmas. The lights are nice however this time, as with other times, the visit just turned into a religious discussion on my understanding of Mormonism. We barley even saw the lights. The day we went there were 2 or 3 groups of people walking around all dressed up. We asked a few of them and found out that some high schools were performing that night. Amber saw some guys in tuxs which really lit her eyes afire. She grabbed two of them and demanded they pose for a picture, which I present to you here. I've never seen two high school boys more confused in their life. It was truly wonderful.

Next we were off to Michigan for the Tacker Family Reunion. Oh the stories I could tell. It was truly an adventure. I'll try to cut to the basics. The Utah Greenwoods, Me, Ed, Mom and Dad left for our connecting flight in St. Louis. However, due to technical problems with the plane the flight left 6 hours late. We missed our connecting flight and the airline put us up in a hotel for the night. From there we had no problems finishing the flight to Detroit. In fact it was even nice. However, you should have seen the disaster in Salt Lake. Eddie and I were pretty happy go lucky about the whole thing. I went and bought a crossword puzzle book for dad so he was happy. Mom however was in tears over not seeing her grand daughter. I was trying to comfort her and we were in line trying to straighten out flight details and...well...it was a mess.

Once we finally did get to Michigan all was well. We all had a wonderful Christmas. My niece, Abby, and I had a really good time. Abby is definitely a girl though. She's very into tea. Don't ask my how that happened. She had to serve everyone in the house tea including any stuffed animals, all night long. I taught her how to put M and Ms into the tea cups so she was serving everyone candy by the end of the weekend. Quite humorous.

Another highlight of this trip was going to Greenfield village . This is a place in Michigan that has been reconstructed to replicate the late 1800s and early 1900s. They have moved a lot of historical buildings and houses to this one area. Among the high lights were the buildings were Henry T. Ford started his mass production of cars, the Wright Brothers boyhood home, Thomas Edison's laboratory where inventions like the light bulb started and this magnificent train yard. There was about 8 locomotives in this train house, all shined and painted. It was really neat. The tour guide talked about the weight and the power of these things. Just amazing. We also saw this vintage Pre-American folksy old school Amish band. It was a family playing guitars and dulcimers. Very Adirondackish. Their kids played too and they had this little fart must have been 12 years old. Played the accordion. He was amazing. Hit every note exactly right and had the music memorized. Very good stuff. I also met this crazy woman who claimed to be a Congregationalist. I don't know what that means except that they don't celebrate Christmas. She was doing cross-stitching, which would generally mean little to me, but Amber has been cross stitching. I grabbed a picture with this woman after I taunted her relentlessly. She was a sport though. I made her smile.

Lastly, the men of the trip, Me, Ed, Brian, Dad and Uncle Bill went for a drive to Port Huron and saw the Great Lake Huron. Since there were rocks we had no choice but to throw them in the lake. It was a wonderful time, but cold. It snowed and after about 5 minutes out in the open we all happily dashed to the car and revved up the heater. It was equally as wonderful!

I will probably update again next year, so happy 2001!

Health and Urinal Screens

December 12, 2001

I’m due for another journal entry.   I have no pics this time but I should next entry.   There are a few little things to mention.   First of all, I am struggling through another cold.   No fun for anyone.   I have no one to blame but myself.   I eat like a bachelor.   Health for me consists of Hot Pockets, Burritos, and various instant food prepared in the microwave.   I eat no fruit, I eat no vegetables (nor will I ever eat vegetables), nor do I take vitamins.   I have shyed away from vitamins for the simple fact that they are not natural.   But I think this cold is the kicker.   I have to do something different.   Cavemen didn’t take vitamins and they did ok.   Granted, they didn’t have a common language or accomplish even the most basic of civilized tasks.   But, the point is they lived…to the age of 30.   Ok, I’ll take vitamin pills.   I won’t be happy about it though.   Paul suggests Zinc, Vitamin C, and Garlic.   Since I have never seen Paul with a cold, I will accept the pills.   Congrats world, you’ve turned me into a druggie.

I am also having a very interesting time with a recent auction on eBay.   I was given a Half.com urinal screen.   It was a promotional item the company used to market itself in an interesting way.   Well, I have no use for a Half.com urinal screen and I thought it might bring in some money, so I posted it on eBay.   I had one bidder and it sold for $1.   That was fine with me, but the buyer turned around and asked if I could sell him 100+ unmarked urinal screens.   So I called several janitorial supply companies in town and found a price.   He hasn’t agreed yet, but if he does I will be an official urinal screen dealer.   Boy, that college degree is really coming in handy.

This Sunday, Amber invited me to play guitar while she and her sister sign Silent Night at their LDS church.   I was hesitant at first, but agreed to do it.   Hopefully I can get some pictures of it since I think this is the first time I have played any “gigs” since Nashville!   Should be interesting, hope it all goes well.

Nothing Much Going On

November 25, 2001

Hello, my passionate journal-readers.   I have no news to tell.   “So, why write this,” you are no doubt asking yourself.   Well, I just feel like I’m due for an entry.   Thanksgiving has come and gone.   I went to my aunt and uncles and ate and played pool a little.   I had to work that evening so the Holiday passed with little event.   I’ve never been a large fan of Thanksgiving.   I mean, turkey is nice, I enjoy the food.   But, I’m a guy who enjoys the food at McDonalds on any day of the week.   I think I’m, pretty thankful the entire year and don’t see a purpose for having a Holiday dedicated to it.   Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we should outlaw Thanksgiving.   It’s fine, whatever.   I just don’t care much about it.   I will never put up decorations or streamers.   Foo-bar to the whole thing.   Anyway, it was fun.   Any excuse to eat is fine.

It did snow the day after Thanksgiving, which was wonderful.   It was big fluffy wet flakes.   I work at night so I just sat there staring out the window watching it fall.   It was perfect.   It is supposed to snow the day after Thanksgiving.   I mean, that’s just the natural order of things.   I’m actually offended when it does not snow after Thanksgiving.   I spend most of the Friday’s after Thanksgiving very offended.   Anyway, it was perfect this year.  

Now I’m seeing all the stores put out their Christmas stuff.   They are starting to decorate work and put trees up.   Maybe I’m getting old but all of this seems tripe as well.   Do we really neet plastic trees taking root in office buildings to prove to ourselves that it’s Christmas?   Apparently the answer is a resounding, “Yes”.   I dunno.   It’s exciting when you’re five, but after that I have found myself just looking at Christmas trees and asking, “Why?”.

This Christmas I hope will not be materialistic.   I have a feeling it will be though.   We had some towers fall down and thousands killed and a war start in Afghanistan, but I have a feeling Hallmark will be demanding that I send cards to people I haven’t spoken to in years.   And they will say so with red and green ink and a ribbon so that it feels right.   Marketing.   (Rolls eyes.)   I’m not trying to come down on the season too much, but snowy manger scenes and presents, dinners with strangers.   Is this what humanity needs?   Hate to sound predictable but we should celebrate Jesus’s birthday right?   Granted, he’s been a no show at his own party for the last 2000 years, which is confusing at best, and I can’t figure out how to celebrate such a thing any other way than give presents to people and pretend like I’m having a jolly Christmas, but that’s supposed to be the idea behind Christmas.

Anyway, boy, I didn’t realize this would be as negative as it would be when I started.   Thumbs up on the snow, neutral on Thanksgiving, and down on the upcoming social and officiated season approaching.

Promotion

November 10, 2001

Ladies and Gentlemen, Craig Greenwood has been promoted at work! Well, kind of. My supervisor had a meeting with me. I was scared to death because I had no idea why he had called a meeting with me. He just said that with the Half.com move from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City, they will be hiring a lot of people. Those new people will need help in how to answer questions and since I have been so eager to help the people on the graveyard team I will be the only person on a team called the "kana support line". This means my priority objective will be to help other people answer questions. They will not be watching how many emails per hour I will be doing. I will also be answering emails from the "Return/Refund" queue, which is different than the support queue. I will be looking at whether or not members need refunds and if so, distribute those refunds.

So, very exciting around here. Since I passed up the year mark on this journal I have been comparing my current entries with entries of a year ago. My life has changed dramatically in a year. I was fighting a job I hated and having major money problems at the time. Now, well, I'm not rich, but money is not a problem, I have a job that I like and is really working for me, and I generally am a bit more upbeat these days. I guess this will be a better Thanksgiving!

I'm supposed to be answering emails at work, so off I go. I just wanted to let you kids know about the upcoming changes at work. I won't be on the helpline for another 3 weeks or so, most likely December 5^th, although I have not been told anything. I will be sure to keep you posted!