Past Diatribes

Well, I gotta tell ya--- No less than three fellow Americans have already taken up this offer! Seems I've been so busy entertaining and having a ball that I haven't had time to update the site, here. (--Yeah, that's my good excuse! Yeah--!)

One, in fact, is future lawyer Lara, my little sister's friend whose e-mail adventures enlivened the previous diatribe. Lara assures me she won't become one of those scheming scumbag types who try to charge you 800 pounds solely for being the address your mortgage contract is required to go to. She just may be telling the truth, too: out with Alan and myself in The Long Stone last Thursday night, she made no attempt to weasel out of buying the rounds each time her turn came up. Huh!

Well, this talk about mortgage contracts allows me to segue quite easily into my next topic:

WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE!!!

Yes, my friends, how the Mighty has fallen. I'm afraid it's terminal: I've been happily arguing that with Irish interest rates reaching historically low levels in attempts to match the German/EU rate, a three-year fixed mortgage is the best start because the common rate is sure to rise once the European Central Bank takes things up in '99. I've been talking D.I.Y. ("Do It Yourself," fixer-up) projects like installing a wider shower base and a glass shower door in the ensuite. I'm even looking forward to gardening!!!!!

It gave me the strangest, happy feeling seeing the "Sale Agreed" sign outside that little two-bedroom bungalow.

It is a giant step, one of the largest myself and Carmel have ever done in our lives. It isn't going to be an easy go, but we've got something special, we've already overcome obstacles that would stop G.I. Jane--- I think we're going to make it.

Just one final thought: walking through any neighborhood, those "Sale Agreed" signs are up everywhere.

What a wild and rich world we hum along in.