The next mabusland ranch

Okay... we made an offer on this house today. If the guy accepts, it'll be ours by the end of May.

Here's the front:


Here's looking out the back sunroom to the back yard:


Here's the kitchen:


Here's the fireplace:


Overall, its 1870 sq. ft. with 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2.5 car garage, 150'x80' lot and seems to be a great house with a great price. We're pretty excited about this. Also, in the room where there is the fireplace, there is beautiful cedar paneling underneath the wallpaper, which we would promptly strip.

so much to do, so little time

I realize that I haven't been taking care of my bloggerly duties of late. This is due largely to the fact that my normally sedentary lifestyle has literally become ridiculously active. In addition to a newborn son and working 50 or so hours a week, I have been:

• house hunting since we finally have a workable mortgage solution
• preparing for a big-ass garage sale
• volunteering time to Dr. Tom Hayhurst's Congressional campaign
• mini-mabus' soccer

In addition to that, mini-mabus wants to join cub scouts, and we're seeking out art and reading camps for him this summer. All this leaves little time for me to write these days. I'm really not sure what's next because i have never been this active of a person. At the very least I will try to keep updates here about the house situation - as it stands, we've already toured 9 and have a bunch more lined up. There is one that we're already really interested in and the seller is apparently very motivated and willing to negotiate the price down a bit - It's a 2-story 3br/2.5ba with a 2-car garage, fireplace, huge kitchen, fenced-in backyard with large wooden deck and a working hot tub. It's listed for $109,900 but we're going to try to get it for $100k flat plus seller pays closing costs. I'd be amazed if they accept that, but who knows? Believe it or not, that much money will get you a decent house in Fort Wayne, Indiana - where my parents live, in Aurora IL, the same house would easily go for well over $250k - and probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $500k in San Francisco... Amazing the disparity in real estate prices nationwide, eh? In any event, its the first house we'll have ever owned and as such are very excited.

LASER CATS!

Everyone likes cats! Everyone likes lasers! Here's what happens when you put the two together!

procastinators of the world unite! my taxes are done!

just this morning i finished and filed the annual tax return for the mabusclan... and as usual, my tax estimating skills are supreme - i owed $88 to the feds, and got $97 back from the state. i think its becoming a tradition to have my taxes filed just before the deadline - even if i know i'm getting a refund.

my tax estimations for 2006 are going to be off and i know it because mrs. mabus stopped working and we plan to buy a house, for which you can receive federal credits and we had a baby this year giving us an additional deduction.

meet with Dr. Hayhurst on Saturday, Rep. Mark Souder on Monday

Mark Souder is coming to my work on Monday.

Yep, the man himself, the congressman who represents the 3rd district here in indiana.... and if you've been paying attention to me (okay, so you haven't - i don't blame you) you'll know that i am not too fond of him. in fact, i'm going to a campaign rally saturday night for Dr. Tom Hayhurst who is running against him in the fall elections.

Aside from the fact that the executives at my work think they can bring in politicians to whom they've personally donated alot of money to their campaigns, with which i disagree, I will be doing my homework this weekend and trying to come up with some really tough questions to pose to him in front of a large audience. I don't want to defame or ridicule him, but rather just put him on the spot to let my coworkers realize just how little he cares about serving his constituents in return for advancing the agenda of his poltical party. In any event, it should be interesting.

They did this before the 2004 election as well when they brought in the candidate for governor. I just tend to think that this is a huge breach of ethics, because the executives seem uninterested in bringing in campaigning politicians with differing viewpoints or those that the execs have not donated money to their campaign. Since I really love my job and my company, as I feel they take excellent care of my family in return for hard work, I am saddened that they are trying to now preach political values to my and my co-workers. Fortunately the meeting is optional, but nonetheless I believe that equal access to candidates from a company that prides itsself on being an outstanding corporate citizen would only serve to bolster its image in the community.

While its not hard to find info on Rep. Souder since he's held the seat since 1994 (despite his 1994 promise to limit congressional terms to 12 years for any single person), finding info on Dr. Hayhurst is a bit more difficult. But in any event, Dr. Hayhurst has been an elected councilman for Fort Wayne for the last 10 years, co-founded and operates a free pulmonary clinic, and works at the local Tuberculosis clinic. One position he shares with Souder though is taking better medical care for our Veterans and even started an activist group - Veterans for Better Health Care.

Dr. Hayhurst's web site
Rep. Mark Souder's web site


I plan on trying to get some media online for the rally on Saturday night which i'll forward to Hayhurst's campaign. Also, I will try to get some pictures of Souder's visit on Monday to post.

PS: Mr. Souder, with all due respect, I really do feel that its time you move on and go back to your family business so that us Hoosiers from Fort Wayne, Northeast Indiana, the nation and the rest of us in the 3rd district can be better represented.

1986 world series game 6... as played out in rbi baseball for the NES

yes, this is only the end of the game, but a darn good re-creation of that fateful game nonetheless.



fortunately for the red sox they were eventually vindicated in breaking the curse of the bambino

i'm now officially a soccer dad

mini-mabus plays his first soccer game tonight. He's in a 6-8 year-olds division that only plays games, and no practice. we think that the casualness of it will help us and him to truly gauge his interest in the sport. seeing as how he is tall, lanky and pretty quick on his feet, we're hoping he does well. we already got the shoes, shin guards, socks and shorts... we'll be getting his jersey at the game tonight.

if i have a chance, i'll post pictures later.

a public thank you to Dr. Tom Hayhurst

I spoke with Dr. Tom Hayhurst on the phone tonight for about 10-15 minutes in regards to his campaign for representative of the 3rd district in Indiana. Your words have further assured me that you are the most qualified person to lead my district in the future to represent the needs of the citizens of Fort Wayne, Indiana and the country as a whole. Your charitable work as a doctor and your vision as councilman of Fort Wayne are an unparalleled inspiration. I look forward to meeting with you at your next rally and hope that I may provide you with technical expertise and networking that may not otherwise be available to you.

For all interested parties, please visit http://tomhayhurstforcongress.com/