NOT A SINGLE BIT OF ICE IN THE HARBOR!  Well, the news is not in my favor.  The seller countered my offer of $188,500 with $223,500 and he has another offer on the table and 2 more viewings.  I’m out.  Which makes me sad because I like the apartment but I’m not going to get in over my head.  I can afford what I can afford and no more.  I look at it like this:  20 down + 10 for the bathroom + 8-10 for closing costs + 3-5 for moving and painting leaves me fairly little liquid.  I could go into my 401(k) but if I take 40 out of that, subtract 10% for penalty and subtract another 30% for taxes and I net 24.  That’s a huge hit.

So I stay where I am but I really need to move.  I need to be someplace different.

Today’s commute was a royal pain.  I woke up to a huge snowfall.  The city suspended all bus service and the train wasn’t running either.  Finally, I saw a train pass at 6:37 this morning so I walked over to the station and waited til 7:35; made the 8:30 boat and got to work about 9:30.  Pain in the ass.  But since I don’t often ride the ferry I took some photos.  (What did we ever do before phones with cameras in them?)  What surprised me was that there was no ice in the harbor. I remember when I used to work downtown that during the winter the harbor would be filled with huge chunks of ice that had come downriver.  Today?  Not even a single cube of ice for a gin and tonic.