So to speak. I spent more than my last year at Bowdoin working towards a complete redesign of the college’s website – not just the physical appearance, but the content authoring and editing processes, the content management system that those processes run on, the news gathering and publication process, the ‘flow chart’ of the site, the design, the software that delivered things like course listings, faculty homepages, course pages, and more. It was a TON of work, and there was a lot of sometimes very uncomfortable political and personnel issues to work through as well. We were 90% done when I left, all that remained was to actually roll it out, and I had 17 students working for me on just that (and we were mostly done, though we had done all the easy stuff first, the remaining 10% was going to be the hardest parts). Anyway after I left they submitted the site to the annual webbyawards. We didn’t win, but we did get honorable mention, which you can scope out at the webbyawards site. Despite not winning, and despite the fact that more than 100 sites got honorable mention, I’m still really proud of this. I’m also envious of my coworkers at Bowdoin, who got a 40GB ipod as a reward for their labors. I teased them about it ‘come on, where’s mine!’ and they teased me right back ‘you bailed, you get nothing!’

d’oh!

It’s all about timing. As usual mine’s no good.

Andrew, Soolin and I went hiking west of Wells, NY this Saturday. Our goal was to check out the series of falls along the West Sacandaga River, but a lack of good maps and tired legs kept us from seeing them. Still we had an excellent mostly off-trail hike and got to follow about 2 miles of a river that had been flooding the previous weekend. I got plenty of rapids and one waterfall on camera. As soon as I can get my camping gear in order I plan to head back to this region, it’s got tons of trails and is remote enough that it’s not widely known or used. In fact we saw only one other pair of hikers the whole time. Anyway check out the photos.

Subject says it all. I was outbid. I still feel like the process was completely cheesy, but what can I do. I’m back to looking for houses. Nothing new has come on the market in the Corinth/lake luzerne/Hadley area this week. I checked out a few houses in Schuylerville but they both stunk – one was too close to a main road and the other had no yard at all.

Still no progress. My attorney has advised me to back away from the deal based on how the selling agent played things yesterday. I’m no longer legally liable for anything so I can walk away with impunity. I’m bummed because I liked the house but I’m not going to let them play me for a couple of extra thousand dollars. It’s not the money so much as the principle here. Basically what happened is the selling agent sat on the deal until after my offer expired, then claimed they had another bid on the property but would not divulge the offer. My buyer agent suggested I raise my offer by several thousand. My attorney says I should not have and that I should now walk away. I’ve got a call in to the buyer agent, we’ll see what he has to say, but most likely I am out and looking for a house again.

Meanwhile my lending agent sent me an email saying I’m now dealing with someone else, leaving me feeling like that relationship is a bit shaky too, and this happened on the same day that I got a copy of the latest consumer reports which had a long article on the home buying process. It advises against using mortgage brokers. So maybe my agent leaving gives me the push I needed to start talking to banks again. (for those not following along, I stopped talking to the banks because they were telemarketing to me mercilessly – I took two days off from work a few weeks ago and during that time I had more than 15 messages on my cell and on my work phone from lenders. It was insane, and caused me to stop talking to them).

The offer on the house has been made, the papers have been signed and the fax has been sent. I should find out by 11 AM today where I stand – I could be the owner of the house (pending a lot of other paperwork), I could be drawn into a bidding process if other potential bidders step up with an offer, or the owner could reject my offer outright (I offered $94k on a house which had an asking price of $99.9k). I’m anxious about it. It figures, I have a meeting at 11 right when I would have found out what the deal is, a meeting that’s scheduled to last 2 hours. Will I be able to concentrate in this meeting? Somehow I doubt it.

I put up a new misc. photo album to hold some of the shots I’ve been taking. I put up some of the ones I took today – Soolin and I stopped by Lake Luzerne and the adjoining park to check out the high water action. Actually we did the same thing yesterday but it was pouring rain and I didn’t have my watertight enclosure so I got no photos. But it was sunny today and the water was just as high, though there was no ice making its way down the hudson today like there was yesterday – yesterday icebergs the size of cars were getting chewed up by the falls on the border of Hadley and Lake Luzerne. Anyway, check the new stuff out here.

(and for those who look at the shots of Soolin perched on the brink of the falls, fear not – she was on a lead and she’s a natural billy goat – she loves to hop on top of stuff).

Since folks have been emailing – still no progress on the house. There have been no offers, but the seller is now aware that I am interested. I’m striking out in the loan department – I was hoping to get a home improvement package bundled in with the purchase price but that’s turning out to be cost prohibitive. If nothing develops tomorrow on the financial end then I’m going to make an offer and take a traditional loan package and find a way to finance the repairs over the next couple of years. The pool I’ll pay for out of my savings, assuming I’m right in terms of cost and can get it done for around $7-8k.

I’m trying to work through a ton of photos I’ve taken over the last several months. I just posted the first new batch to the gallery, they’re mostly Soolin pics. You can check them out here.

I’ve got a lot more to come, including some great shots from a hike up Hadley mountain.

Required ingredients – one lacrosse ball, bonus points if it’s wet and slobbery. One Golden retriever pup, preferably full of piss and vinegar. Procedure – interest dog in ball. Engage in tug of war with dog. Exclaim in horror when dog releases ball suddenly just as you are in mid-tug, causing the ball and your fist to crash forcefully into your face, busting open your lip and causing a bloody nose. Bonus points if dog then jumps in your lap (yum! tasty blood! yay!) and proceeds to lick your face whilst you lounge half senseless from the blow.

Speaking from experience, it’s a sensation not to be missed. Err, to be missed I mean. Oh, and extra bonus points for not losing one’s temper. I couldn’t quite bring myself to laugh due to the pain, but at least I can smile about it now.