hello stranger … it’s been a month and a lot has happened. for starters you can swing on by my venting section and check out my latest article entitled honor in the spoken word. after that you can read on below.


after being screwed by what i thought was a friend i went to a real estate agent to get help. i was a bit more confident then i would have been in michigan since in illinois you can have as many agents working for you as you want and you aren’t tied to any one agent. but even with this, i only used one agent. her name was joanie, and she worked for joe pepitone realtors in downers grove. anyhow … she is really nice. after meeting the first time we (amy, me, and her mom) started looking around at places. after searching on the web, working with joanie, and looking at places … and after going on 2 trips to see houses i found a place i loved. i was really lucky actually … the first day we found nothing but over priced town homes with nothing really to offer. the second trip it seemed like everything we went into was better then the previous. we ended the day looking at 2 units in the westfield pines area of glendale heights. the unit was nice, spacious, and reasonably priced but it lacked a few things i was looking for like a big master bathroom and a basement. a few of the other units we went to earlier in the day were nice and on level with this one. after that unit we decided to try one that joanie had pulled up. when she called the realtor they gave us an access code but when we got to the unit there was a sold sign in the window. i was pretty bummed because on paper it looked like exactly what i was looking for. when we had first arrived at those units amy had seen a sign in the window of another unit that it was for sale but we didn’t have any of the paperwork for it. joanie called it in, got access, and got the price. it was out of the range of where i was looking price wise but we went in to check it out anyhow.


opening the door all you can do is stare … this place was huge. the living and family rooms were about 70% of the main floor and were monstrous. the kitchen was attached to the living room and the dining area was a part of the family room (or in the opposite order, i am bad with rooms). this unit was overlooking the small pond in the complex and had a balcony out back. there were windows on 3 sides since this was an end unit. the family room had 30 foot ceilings going up into a loft area and the upstairs bedrooms. the master bedroom was also overlooking the pond and was extremely spacious with cathedral ceiling and a skylight. the master bath had a tub and a separate shower and also had a skylight. there was also another nice bathroom on the 2nd floor, and i forgot but there was a half bath on the first floor. the 2nd bedroom was decent size as well. from the family room was the entrance into the basement which was a monster and was fully finished with carpet etc. there was also a small work area down there where i could work on my bikes which is perfect. so needless to say i was now in love with this place but it was out of my price range.


i figured what the hell though so i made an offer. they came back wanting more, i countered, they wanted a bit more room but still came down some, and i countered again and we made a deal. yepp … i said that, we made a deal. so in about 3 weeks i will be the proud owner of a 2200 square foot town home. here is a picture from the side and here is a modified version of the listing sheet for the townhouse. i have a ton of work to do in order to move in 3 weeks but i can do it with the help of amy and her family. i am hoping that my family may be able to help with the move but i am not sure. i will keep you updated …


i read a great book recently, the immortal class : bike messengers and the cult of human power. if i could recommend one book to read if your interested in biking/commuting or the effects of the automobile in human and city development it would be this book. it was eloquently written and thought provoking. the way culley brought me into his world, the world of the bike messanger, and yet still tied it to my personal fight as a biker was a blast to read. i really have to recommend this to everyone


i have been riding my bike a ton … i average about 15-20 miles per day but that is including off days and 30 mile days. i ususally do 2 or so of those per week. this past saturday i actually rode 28 miles from schaumburg to westmont … from my home to amy’s home. it was a great ride and i went on one of the paths i am reasearching for my commute downtown next year. i don’t think i have mentioned this in my journal yet but i am working on commuting to work next spring. from the burbs to downtown is about 30 miles each way. i know, thats a long damn way, but i can handle it. i think it will be a great learning experience, help me save money, and help me lose weight. i am working on researching a bike to buy since i don’t want to ride my mountain bike because it cost to much and would wear it out to fast on that long of a commute. i have been looking into a few different cyclocross bikes from trek and lemond as well as a few touring/road bikes from the same companies. i will keep you up to date when i decide a route as well as a bike. i am trying to make the route as safe as possible while still making it short … a great site where i am doing research is bikeforums.net. they have a good commuter forum and other forums where i ask questions.