Life thru a lens

Today was opposite than yesterday. There was no room for laziness. My cellphone woke me up at 9 AM. I was dreaming, don�t know what about, but right before the alarm went off, I thought in my mind that it would go off the next second. Well, maybe it had rung a few times and that was what I heard and therefore came to that conclusion in my mind? Who knows?

Anyway, I laid in bed for about 15 minutes before got up. I started this day more normal than yesterday; I entered the shower as the first thing this morning. No wait � I walked around naked in the house to look for the cats first. I found Balder and I gave him some food. Then I showered.

Like yesterday I ended up in front of the computer before I made myself breakfast. Well, you really can�t call it breakfast; it was only a hot dog. I had planned to eat something more, but the time ran so fast I didn�t have time. I had arranged a meeting with my local bank 12 AM and it would be bad to be late to that meeting. Since I don�t have any car, I had to loan my uncles car. I went up to his place in good time before the meeting, so I could sit and chat with him for a while.

The meeting with the bank went well. I talked to a guy named Tor Einar that I know. Well, I don�t know him personally, but I know his name and we say hello to each other when we meet on the street. I know him like this through dad. Dad was his football trainer for quite a few years and my dad was chairman of the board in our local bank for six years or so.

I told me I could loan up to 1.200.000 NOK if I wanted. I�m not going to loan more than 1.000.000 I think. You know, I think I can get around 150.000 NOK cash (difference between what I get for my apartment and what my mortgage is) for my apartment. I was kind of surprised when he told me I could get a loan equal 1.200.000 NOK. This is what he said:

We normally multiple your salary with 2.5 or 3.0 now since the interest is so low and that is the amount of money you can borrow. But you loan up to 1.200.000 NOK. And you know, you got security for your loan, so that�s no problem.

What he really meant and what I read between the lines, is that I know your dad very well and what he stands for, so it�s ok for you to loan that kind of money. I love that dad knows the people in the bank. It was great the first time I loaned money there. Dad told the guy in the loan department what interest he thought I should have and I got it.

I was really happy when I walked out of his office. I was kind of jumping up and down for a while. Now I can really start searching for a new apartment. The next thing I need to do, is to get my current apartment valuated. I need to know how much I can get for my apartment. I have no idea what real estate firm I should contact. Maybe I�ll go for the one that sells a lot of apartments in my neighbourhood? I used that when I bought my current apartment.

I went to see grandma today too. She lives a one minute drive from the local bank. She was really happy to see me. I had picked flowers for her and she was happy to get them. I stayed for an hour or so. We talked, played yatzy and ate bread. It was a standard meeting. When I told about the bank meeting, she offered to lend me money if I needed. How sweet of her. I said thank you. I�m not going to borrow money from her though. Too complicated.

When I came home I took the bus to Str�mmen to see mum. She had to wait for dad, until his football training was over, and asked if I could come to be with her. First she told me she would be in Oslo. I didn�t really wanted to go, since I think Oslo is boring (I live there and I�m downtown several times a week), but I said yes after some seriously thinking. We ended up in Str�mmen, thank god. I bought a CD by Ravi & DJ L�v. They�re so cool and I love their music.

I�ve been kind of laidback after I got home from Str�mmen. I�ve eaten dinner and I�ve made waffles. Yummy! I love waffles!

I better end this soon and go to bed. Tomorrow I�m going to Oslo. Instead of taking the bus, I going to get up early and join mum and dad. That means I will get up 6.30 AM tomorrow. Ugh!

It�s REM live in Oslo tomorrow night. YAY! I haven�t had time to be happy about it. It�s strange. This will be the second time I see them live this year. How cool isn�t that? It will be so great to see Michael Stipe again. Woohooo! I�ll be meeting Gro & Nicolay before the concert. We�re going to drink some wine /beer before the concert. They�re going to sit during the concert, I�m not � so we won�t be together during the concert. Sissel and Rolf, they�re going with me, so they�re standing. Maybe Sissel�s handsome younger brother is coming too. ;-)

When I come home tomorrow, am I going to put on some real loud REM music. I think it will be some songs from their last album; Around the Sun. I should�ve learned some of the songs by heart, but I think it�s too late to start tomorrow morning. I suppose I will be at home around 9 AM, so that leaves me with 6 hours of song learning�.

Ciao!