Please pass the wine.

I transferred custody of Mark to his brother last night, so I'm back to making and eating breakfast on my own. It's quite a contrast. One lasting improvement for me is now I know when I'm treating myself to "shirred" eggs (Mark's term) which sounds so much fancier than "scrambled in the pan" eggs (my old term). While Mark was here, I bent one of my core tenets of solo cooking and scrambled our eggs in a separate bowl before cooking. Then one day he asked if I ever made "shirred eggs." I didn't know. (Am I the only female on the planet out-femmed by her ex-boyfriend?) So he described the cooking methodology and lo and behold that's what I usually do just for myself. Who knew I was so fancy-schmancy? So, I'd been making special considerations while he was here, he observed. Oh, you have no idea the special considerations I'd been making on his account! Like what? Like, I don't usually eat at the table. So, you usually eat over the sink? No!!! I wasn't raised by wolves! I usually eat at the computer like any civilized person. I like to call it multitasking.

Damn this yin/yang role reversal! I won't even go into our breakfast table conversation about strategies for eliminating tea spout drips. I suppose if I'd been leading the conversation it would have gravitated to my looming real estate transactions. So just as well I wasn't.

Speaking of which, my intended Tenancy in Common (WIKIPEDIA - Tenancy_in_common)partner and I are scheduled to sit down with our respective realtors to write up our offer this afternoon. Offers are due on my place tomorrow at noon, and on the 3-unit in SF tomorrow at 5PM. Barring any last-minute surprises, cold feet, or objections from persons present, looks like we'll be throwing our lot in together, at least on this one. We probably won't know whether our offer is the winning bid before Friday. I still think it's a longshot, but you never know.

I'd better double-check those numbers again. Ay yi yi. Speak now or forever hold your peace.

p.s. - holy crap! My mortgage guy just asked me if I saw the front page of the today's Chronicle:

Breaking barriers in S.F.'s housing market
Marin bank first to lend to individual owners in TICs

(I thought that might get your attention.)

So, I put my house up for sale last week after I found a gorgeous 3-unit Victorian in a great neighborhood in SF. The catch is, the 3-unit building is so "reasonably" priced it's sure to get multiple bids way over the asking price. In other words, their ploy worked. Once you're hooked, the next thing you know you're making rationalizations like "this is like buying three houses in one, each with 3 bedrooms, double parlour, 2 fireplaces, rounded bays, ornate trim..."

Come on (e:peeps)! Doesn't anybody want to go in on this one with me?

So, why not just buy a single family home, you ask? Same reason you can't buy one in Manhattan. Here the footprint where everybody wants to live is bounded by the Ocean and the Bay. Thankfully in San Francisco that just means most buildings are 2-4 unit Victorians, not the more modern skyscrapers common in Manhattan. Sure, there's the occasional multi-million dollar mansion. But that is sadly out of my price range.

The other alternative, condos, are expensive for a variety of complicated reasons. So the best value (just trust me on this) is to buy a building either alone, or with partners for each unit, and go through the lengthy condo conversion process yourself.

Since I can't wait around for a few dozen more of you (e:peeps) to move out here to start an (e:commune), I turned to the usual resource for any deficiency in the Bay area: craigslist.

Oh crap. Somebody's coming to see my house now and I still have to make guacamole for the monthly pot-luck BBQ this afternoon. Much as I would like to skip this party, I've got a lot of explaining to do to all my friends who are royally p!ssed that I'm making life decisions without consulting them first. At least I'll get plenty of chances to fine-tune my story before my weekly phone call with Dad tomorrow. Oh boy.

To be continued...

Wow. That went amazingly well. I didn't get to explain all the details, but most everybody is onboard with the gist of my plan. It's just weird that the more I convince everybody else the less convinced I become myself. I hope I haven't outsmarted myself this time.

p.s. - the first reaction across the board has been to fix me up with the guy I'm partnering with. I just met the guy on Thursday! I'm not that crazy!

I was cleaning out some of my old crap and happened upon a bunch of my old business cards. I forgot everyone in the design group had cards made up for our alternate identities. Ha!

Living off the land.