jjncj.com

So, you don't think I was going to let you escape without hearing about the other child, do you? Today, it is Elizabeth who is on my lap, sitting sideways, leaning against my right arm, with her right hand on mine as I type. And she's asleep. Yup, it's kind of hard (translation: impossible) to use my trackball, but there is little that can match the feeling of a sleeping child on your lap. I certainly don't mind the "inconvenience."

Right now, I am typing, but the range of motion of my right arm is somewhat impaired, effectively eliminating the usage of my trackball. This is because I got my son up from his nap, but he's not quite awake. In fact, he's quite sound asleep on my lap, laying against my chest. And the typing/trackball impairment? He's using my right arm as his pillow. Well worth the bother.

...and bring me right back down.

It has been an interesting past few weeks. We've been searching for funding, and just haven't gotten anywhere.

Another interesting wrinkle came a little over a week ago. We got a bill from the water company for $3,200. Why? Well, they were billing us for digging up the street, filling it back in, and paving it. I thought I had been told, repeatedly, that if the line was fixed, and they didn't have to dig it up again to turn on the water, we wouldn't be charged. Either I was told incorrectly, or I misunderstood. No, I never got it in writing, and no, I never wrote down who told me. It was all verbal, and I don't think I was ever on the phone when I was told, so I didn't have anything to write it down. Right now, we're waiting to hear back from them as to how much they'll let us pay per month.

This past Monday we met with Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing Services (FNHS), the organization that helped us buy our house in the first place. They have some funding available for renovation loans, and we talked with them about that. The loan officer was very helpful, and very encouraging. It was almost a "sure thing" that we would be able to get a VERY low interest loan for $45,000 and finish the house. We were pretty excited, but still a bit cautious. We talked to him today, and were told that Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (the source of FNHS's money) is very reluctant to (translation: just about never will) loan money for work on a house in which black mold has been discovered, even when all the mold has been removed (in our case, the house is gutted). Even with an air test to prove the mold is no longer in the house, he was not optimistic. We'll do an air test and see what it gets us, but for now, that door is closed.

So, we're right back to where we started. We need $45,000 to finish the house (ideally $50,000, but $45,000 will do). And yes, I have a spreadsheet with all the numbers to back it up.

If you happen to know the source of a very low interest 30 year loan, please let us know.

God is in control! We know we'll get through this. We're just a bit discouraged right now. I'm just glad that the kids are young enough to not have any idea what's going on. Elizabeth knows that I go "work on the house," but she doesn't understand why I'm working on it, or why we're not living there. She and Jonathan-David are just happy being kids.

...everybody has at least one.

And I, not to buck the trend, now have two blogs. Or 1.5, since I am not whole owner of this, the blog I share with my wife.

My new blog is to be found at joshuakugler.com. It is a blog that will focus mainly on tech stuff: programming, system admin, and computer topics in general.

And I have a new e-mail address, since bigfoot.com, after years of use, seems to now be having major technical problems. I am now reachable at:

joshua@joshuakugler.com

I hope you'll visit!