General Update

1) House is under contract and the closing date of the 21st is fast approaching. Everything looks good thus far.

2) What to do with the cash... short term is obviously an online savings account, but given the fractional at best appreciation from real estate, is buying another place the best solution right now?

Two ways of thinking here: looking at the economy, inflation is coming, odds are sooner rather than later, and having a fixed rate, fixed amount, mortgage is an interesting way of benefiting from inflation.

The other way of thinking is to rent for 2 years while getting a degree and saving money enough to make a larger leap then. Interest rates will have to rise to control inflation... it is a bit more of a gamble having a fair amount of cash in that situation, even if it is invested safely.

Currently in the city rent+parking on ~750ft^2 is ~$1500/mo. To buy an equivalent size and location place with 20% down the mortgage + taxes will be ~$2000/mo with another $300-400/mo for condo dues. That is a massive difference that currently negates any tax benefits to owning.

I'd like to say - oh, I'll be taking classes that teach me how to turn this into a win win situation - but one thing that I have already learned from business classes is that predicting the response of the economy does not tend to give accurate results.

3) Seattle - still cool. The winters here are quite grey. It's already February, so that should be improving soon enough. At least there's still a lot of green - few trees lose their leaves it seems.

4) The mushroom selection and quality at Uwajimaya is awesome. From spicy Honshimeji to really meaty Shiitake it's no wonder I wasn't that into mushrooms in NC - even the Fresh Market ones were already dried up and well, stale.

5) Apparently the far out suburbs and mountains are getting a lot of snow this winter - haven't seen any of that apart from some flurries in the city. People complain about traffic or the weather... it is really nice not having to deal with any of that anymore. Just throw on a jacket and within a mile anything's available. Tons of food of any nationality in both grocery and restaurant form, live music, shopping (bargain and nice), books, movies. Seems like the ideal way to live imo.

6) The job has been busy lately, but I seem to be staying afloat - this is good. And not working weekends anymore is a great change. Falling asleep at 9PM is kinda weak, but getting adjusted to the early schedule will pay dividends once classes begin in the fall. (UW evening MBA program is my aim at this point - going through the application presently)