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snoozefestaudioA mild 75F today, and sunny. I'm writing from the back room for the first time in a while, thanks to a new WIFI adapter I got for this machine.
It can finally see and login to the main house WIFI, rather than depending on the repeater in the kitchen... which refuses to work during the daytime in the summer, because of the heat.
I'm on hold now with BMO trying to make an appointment to speak with a personal banker and straighten things out with the HELOC, but I've got to leave for work in 20...
nevermind I'm talking to them now...
Okay, I'm on hold again... So they're gonna send me a letter outlining what I need to do to be authorized to pay the loan and so forth.
Now I'm on hold to speak with the HELOC department to see what's gonna happen in the mean time with the overdue balloon payment.
------------{=0=}------------
6:36PM
Okay... first of all, yes, we're talking about a balloon payment.
Basically a HELOC, or Home Equity Line of Credit, is just a credit card with a huge credit limit... in this case 14 grand.
Mom took out the HELOC in June of 2013, and surely understood the terms, but likely only intended to use it for emergencies.
Like with a credit card, you only owe the balance you've charged up, and you can pay whatever you want on it every month, from the minimum, up to the full balance.
She probably didn't worry about a balloon payment in ten years... because that would only be a problem if the HELOC was maxed out, and they'd never paid anything but the minimum.
She'd make sure nothing that ridiculous ever happened!
But... Mom was on her death bed, only 15 months after taking out this HELOC... and fairly delerious too.
Meanwhile Dad... famous for having zero understanding of fincance... only knew that he had this magic check book he could use to write big checks for stuff!
He seems to have thought it was some kind of magic savings account. So, he did exactly what you're not supposed to do...
He maxed it the fuck out, and only paid the minimum for ten years!
We think he blew a lot of it on Mom's brief stay in an expensive rehab center, and also on her funeral expenses, and helping Tim's huge family with their travel expenses to be here for the funeral.
What he didn't spend on that... went to a down payment for a car, a few years later... and then a bunch of donations to campaigns and charities.
--<>--
So, at any rate, BMO says they need me to verify that both of them are dead, and that my name is on the deed, before they can discuss anything about the mortgage or the HELOC with me.
But I did get the first woman to connect me with the HELOC department, because I was concerned about what happens with this delinquent balloon payment over the next month while we're all doing this paperwork.
All she could tell me is that; 1) I am not currently responsible for that payment... and 2) she put a note in the file to record that I called today to straighten it out.
So... this is gonna take a while, but it did sound like what they're trying to do is allow me to continue paying the existing debts without refinancing or anything.
However, the balloon payment complicates that... because it's this lump sum of 14K all at once.
But I imagine it's in their power to just waive the balloon payment and let me continue paying something more reasonable on it... since I'm not the one who maxed it out, and I never agreed to these weird terms.
Kevin also says that balloon payments are outdated and banks don't do them anymore.
--<>--
So... if I can just continue to pay as I have been... but with the freedom to actually point the auto-deductions to my own bank, or a credit card, then... there's nothing to worry about.
But this is gonna take a while, so we'll just have to see.
------------{=0=}------------
In other news, when I walked out of the house today, I got stung in the back of the head by a wasp!
Turns out there's a wasp nest under the awning, above the front stoop!
So, I got a can of wasp spray for it... because if they're stinging me, they're also gonna be stinging the mail carrier, and the Amazon person... so they've gotta go!
But I'm gonna wait until after dark, when the wasps are all in for the night, and the temperatures gone down below 70F.
That should ensure a quick, clean kill, of the whole nest.
------------{=0=}------------
8:37PM
I went out back just to stroll about, and noticed another little hunk of concrete poking out of the ground on the hill, near the mulberry stump.
I pried it up out of the soil with a trenching shovel and it was huge.
I stuck it over by the ridge, filled in the hole, and put down new seed.
--<>--
The ridge is the south property line where the ground goes up a foot or so into the next door neighbor's yard.
It's also where I now plan to put all the remaining topsoil... just along the run of it.
hopefully I'll do that tomorrow... as it's only supposed to be 73F... and then seed and start watering area by the side porch.
--<>--
I also saw a bunch of bats flying around over the yard, while I was sitting out there with a beer, as the sun set.
Several of them... flying back and forth, and doing sharp turns and dives.
Small bats, but I could see the webbed outline of their wings against the, still light, clouds of dusk.
--<>--
Dad once longed to attract bats, to take care of the mosquitos and other bugs, and hung a bat house from a tree back there, but they never showed up.
I think they're finally here, because there's a lot of flying space now, with the two mulberry trees, and the juniper gone.
I'd love to think this was a sign there will be more field crickets too!.. because if the space is open enough for bats... then maybe it's field enough for crickets!
I do intend to do a big pruning of the trees around the perimeter this month... to get rid of all the low branches hanging near the ground.
I feel like that may help the soundscape.
------------{=0=}------------
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
It can finally see and login to the main house WIFI, rather than depending on the repeater in the kitchen... which refuses to work during the daytime in the summer, because of the heat.
I'm on hold now with BMO trying to make an appointment to speak with a personal banker and straighten things out with the HELOC, but I've got to leave for work in 20...
nevermind I'm talking to them now...
Okay, I'm on hold again... So they're gonna send me a letter outlining what I need to do to be authorized to pay the loan and so forth.
Now I'm on hold to speak with the HELOC department to see what's gonna happen in the mean time with the overdue balloon payment.
Okay... first of all, yes, we're talking about a balloon payment.
Basically a HELOC, or Home Equity Line of Credit, is just a credit card with a huge credit limit... in this case 14 grand.
Mom took out the HELOC in June of 2013, and surely understood the terms, but likely only intended to use it for emergencies.
Like with a credit card, you only owe the balance you've charged up, and you can pay whatever you want on it every month, from the minimum, up to the full balance.
She probably didn't worry about a balloon payment in ten years... because that would only be a problem if the HELOC was maxed out, and they'd never paid anything but the minimum.
She'd make sure nothing that ridiculous ever happened!
But... Mom was on her death bed, only 15 months after taking out this HELOC... and fairly delerious too.
Meanwhile Dad... famous for having zero understanding of fincance... only knew that he had this magic check book he could use to write big checks for stuff!
He seems to have thought it was some kind of magic savings account. So, he did exactly what you're not supposed to do...
He maxed it the fuck out, and only paid the minimum for ten years!
We think he blew a lot of it on Mom's brief stay in an expensive rehab center, and also on her funeral expenses, and helping Tim's huge family with their travel expenses to be here for the funeral.
What he didn't spend on that... went to a down payment for a car, a few years later... and then a bunch of donations to campaigns and charities.
So, at any rate, BMO says they need me to verify that both of them are dead, and that my name is on the deed, before they can discuss anything about the mortgage or the HELOC with me.
But I did get the first woman to connect me with the HELOC department, because I was concerned about what happens with this delinquent balloon payment over the next month while we're all doing this paperwork.
All she could tell me is that; 1) I am not currently responsible for that payment... and 2) she put a note in the file to record that I called today to straighten it out.
So... this is gonna take a while, but it did sound like what they're trying to do is allow me to continue paying the existing debts without refinancing or anything.
However, the balloon payment complicates that... because it's this lump sum of 14K all at once.
But I imagine it's in their power to just waive the balloon payment and let me continue paying something more reasonable on it... since I'm not the one who maxed it out, and I never agreed to these weird terms.
Kevin also says that balloon payments are outdated and banks don't do them anymore.
So... if I can just continue to pay as I have been... but with the freedom to actually point the auto-deductions to my own bank, or a credit card, then... there's nothing to worry about.
But this is gonna take a while, so we'll just have to see.
In other news, when I walked out of the house today, I got stung in the back of the head by a wasp!
Turns out there's a wasp nest under the awning, above the front stoop!
So, I got a can of wasp spray for it... because if they're stinging me, they're also gonna be stinging the mail carrier, and the Amazon person... so they've gotta go!
But I'm gonna wait until after dark, when the wasps are all in for the night, and the temperatures gone down below 70F.
That should ensure a quick, clean kill, of the whole nest.
I went out back just to stroll about, and noticed another little hunk of concrete poking out of the ground on the hill, near the mulberry stump.
I pried it up out of the soil with a trenching shovel and it was huge.
I stuck it over by the ridge, filled in the hole, and put down new seed.
The ridge is the south property line where the ground goes up a foot or so into the next door neighbor's yard.
It's also where I now plan to put all the remaining topsoil... just along the run of it.
hopefully I'll do that tomorrow... as it's only supposed to be 73F... and then seed and start watering area by the side porch.
I also saw a bunch of bats flying around over the yard, while I was sitting out there with a beer, as the sun set.
Several of them... flying back and forth, and doing sharp turns and dives.
Small bats, but I could see the webbed outline of their wings against the, still light, clouds of dusk.
Dad once longed to attract bats, to take care of the mosquitos and other bugs, and hung a bat house from a tree back there, but they never showed up.
I think they're finally here, because there's a lot of flying space now, with the two mulberry trees, and the juniper gone.
I'd love to think this was a sign there will be more field crickets too!.. because if the space is open enough for bats... then maybe it's field enough for crickets!
I do intend to do a big pruning of the trees around the perimeter this month... to get rid of all the low branches hanging near the ground.
I feel like that may help the soundscape.
°¦}
