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12/03/08 03:19 - 43ºF - ID#46937

House Assessments

Any of you fellow homeowners receive the new assessed value of your home? Any of you have experience in challenging increases in your assessment before? Any assistance would be appreciated.

I have the basic forms and information on how to do it. But I'm looking to see how others have approached their argument for a decrease in the assessment. So far, I'm not sure we have grounds to challenge it on the basis of current real estate prices. Maybe I can only challenge it on the basis that the house needs a lot of updating. We have an outdated electrical system, a roof in need or repair, etc....

I just can't believe that our house would increase in value by $15,000 in 20 months, a little less than two years.
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Permalink: House_Assessments.html
Words: 128
Location: Buffalo , NY


11/29/08 10:17 - 36ºF - ID#46881

Home

I enjoyed my drive to Illinois.

I spent time over beer with my good high school friends.

I've had my Steak n Shake fix.

I'm gonna go to Avantis to grab some food for the drive home.

I had fun with my family, but I also endured my family.

And now I'm ready to go home to Buffalo.
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Permalink: Home.html
Words: 58
Location: Buffalo , NY


11/26/08 09:33 - 33ºF - ID#46845

Thanksgiving in Illinois

We're driving to Illinois for Thanksgiving.

This afternoon we're driving to Indianapolis and tomorrow morning we'll be up at the crack of dawn to finish the trip to Illinois.

Flying to my hometown would be more convenient and take less time, but more expense and less fun.

We'll be driving out of western New York and into the hills of Ohio. Then come the flat farmlands of Indiana and that's my first signal that we're almost home. The vast farmland stretching out as far as I can see is warm and comfortable. At this point, I put down my book I'm reading and I just watch the landscape and wide open sky go by.

In Indiana, we stop at the Amish cheese store. A little shack. With its own exit off the interstate. Every cheese imaginable. All made by the Amish. Incredibly good. We buy all the favorite cheeses for ourselves and my family.

We cross the state and eventually come to the Indiana Visitor Center at the Indiana-Illinois border. I feel nostalgic and happy when we cross the state line. We'll drive by small towns where I traveled for track meets and basketball games and marching band competitions. A nice way to spend a childhood.

We'll spend a few days in my childhood home. It feels comfortable, but new at the same time. After my time there, I'll remember why I needed to leave it behind. But I'm happy that it's a warm place to return.



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Permalink: Thanksgiving_in_Illinois.html
Words: 247
Location: Buffalo , NY


11/09/08 06:08 - 41ºF - ID#46616

Oops

I just set my hair on fire. Yikes! Singed hair smells yucky.
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Permalink: Oops.html
Words: 12
Location: Buffalo , NY


11/07/08 03:58 - 72ºF - ID#46589

Leviticus

In reference to (e:paul,46588)

Leviticus is an interesting book of the bible and one that kept me thoroughly entertained during church services when I was too young to follow the sermon.

(e:Paul) asked, "Why not edit the book and just have a whole new book?"

I was totally dismissive of the Old Testament for a while and totally ignored it. But now I appreciate how the entire bible gives great context and insight to the teachings of Jesus and his apostle Paul.

Take for example this story from the gospel of Mark.

A woman who has been bleeding for 12 years is in a crowd surrounding Jesus. She reaches out and touches his cloak and is healed. He asks who touched him and the woman in fear admits that it was her. He says, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

She approaches in fear because according to Leviticus she is unclean and shouldn't be going around touching people and people's stuff. Now she's made this man who's a teacher "unclean". So she's expecting Jesus to be pissed off. But nope, Jesus healed her and treated her with compassion.

WITHOUT the context of Leviticus, we can see that Jesus is compassionate and brings healing to the sick.

WITH the context of Leviticus, we see that he is much more than a compassionate healer. He is revolutionary. He brings healing to a suffering woman despite her "uncleanliness" which is in direct contradiction to the law of the land and in direct contradiction to what everyone in the crowd practices. He offers hope to people who suffer under the law - which was never meant to burden people, but had been twisted in such a way that it did.
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Permalink: Leviticus.html
Words: 316
Location: Buffalo , NY


11/03/08 01:23 - 60ºF - ID#46492

Time Warner

Received a friendly letter in the mail from Time Warner that they would be increasing our internet rate if we did not combine our internet with their phone service or cable.

I don't want cable and I already have a phone service so Time Warner can screw themselves. What we actually said to Time Warner is that we will be dropping them if they rase our rates. They didn't seem to care. So off we go to find a new internet service provider.

The next obvious choice seems to be Verizon. Any other internet service providers we should be considering? Maybe a local Buffalo provider?
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Permalink: Time_Warner.html
Words: 105
Location: Buffalo , NY


11/02/08 01:52 - 34ºF - ID#46471

Petsitter

As the Thanksgiving Holiday approaches, we will be looking for a pet sitter. We need someone to come in on Thanksgiving Day, the Friday after, Saturday and Sunday. As you may know, we have as sweet, gentle dog and two cats who need some attention twice a day.

We're always happy to pay for services or to do an exchange of pet sitting. We'll be in town the days leading up to and including Christmas day. Just not the day after. So we can do some pet sitting in kind on those days.
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Permalink: Petsitter.html
Words: 93
Location: Buffalo , NY


11/01/08 02:13 - 50ºF - ID#46456

Halloween Surprise

Had a fabulous time at the party. Super glad our friends came home. Super pissed at the surprise waiting for us when we got home.

All of our porch furniture was moved onto the lawn. One of our pumpkins smashed. Eggs smashed on the sidewalk. Mailbox taken off the front of the house. Toilet paper strewn. Eggs hidden under the door mat which we caught before we stepped on because it really wasn't that smooth. And a neighbor who lives outside on his porch but didn't see anything.

So at 2am we cleaned up the mess before we could go inside and go to bed.

Drew is much more positive than me and sees the upside to eggs hidden under the door mat which he can now have for breakfast tomorrow, lol.
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Permalink: Halloween_Surprise.html
Words: 132
Location: Buffalo , NY


10/31/08 07:51 - 58ºF - ID#46454

When I was a kid...

and I went trick or treating... If someone offered me a bowl of candy to choose a piece, I knew it meant ONE piece. Because my parents were right next to me to smack my hand if I even LOOKED like I might take more than one piece.

Apparently, that rule no longer holds as kids are attempting to take handfuls. Although, I shame them a little bit by saying, just one please, and they reluctantly open their fist and allow several pieces of candy to trickle back into the bowl. Sometimes it is followed by a bashful apology.

But now I'm going to take control and choose for the little punks what piece of candy they get.

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Permalink: When_I_was_a_kid_.html
Words: 118
Location: Buffalo , NY


10/27/08 05:42 - 44ºF - ID#46371

Should I be unhappy?

The funding for my program at work is temporarily on hold because of state financial problems. For the time being it cannot move forward and may not ever move forward in it's current structure.

The agency is going to restructure my program so it can be funded differently. However, any kind of funding is touchy right now due to the budget problems.

Just as I got the news, I had an individual sitting in the lobby waiting to interview for a position with my program. Oh, my. I had to tell them the position no longer existed because of funding. Which also means I wasted my time vetting and interviewing several other people for a non existent position.

Now I'm processing whether or not I think my agency will be successful in restructuring the program. If it's not, it will be an opportunity for me to try something new that I've had on the back burner ... being a paralegal!


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Permalink: Should_I_be_unhappy_.html
Words: 159
Location: Buffalo , NY


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