I never put them together, but figured it was working out? Guess I was wrong now. Can you imagine Sandra thinking everything was fine and getting that slap in the face?? How humiliating to have your "dirty laundry" be in the public eye. I hope she can find happiness later on with someone decent! And I hope Jesse gets what he deserves.

Thanks for sharing your numbers Jane NY. I really didn't understand why the other realtor seemed offended because I thought our offer was a good starting place! That realtor actually apologized to my realtor for the way she reacted, so that's good at least. Congrats on your purchase! Brickeye you are right that zillow can be inaccurate - they had their zestimate of our current house at $290k about a year ago and now it's at $159k with no explanation. However, they do have our tax assessment and taxes paid listed correctly. Zillow is also a good place to find out how long houses have been on the market and how many times they have been re-listed. Their zestimates mean nothing to me though. At this point I'm almost glad they didn't accept our offer because I'm so excited about the possibility of getting this unfinished house with the great view of the city and river. However, if we can't make a deal on this new house I will go back and put our final offer in writing on the first house. Thanks again to all of you for your input. Kind of makes me wary of buying from a divorcing couple!

Re: cornmeal and ants. Have been having a problem with ants on my sunporch. They seem to be living underneath and coming up through cracks in the tile floor. There's no way for me to get to where they live to spray (and I don't like sprays anyway). So I mixed up some cornmeal and borax in a little deli container lid and left it near where they've been arriving. It's been about a week, and the problem has considerably slowed. BUT they seem to be 'burying their dead' in the cornmeal mixture. I've actually seen a live ant dragging and leaving a dead one there! and there were several little carcasses last I looked. But hey--if it works, without dangerous chemicals, or smells that will give me respiratory problems, I'm thrilled.

Seems like everybody has their own personal style when it comes to coffee and tea - and lots of other stuff too. I was just thinking that social scientists might have some pretty good material in these types of threads😃 I do not care for burnt coffee, a.k.a. dark roast. I buy organic Honduran medium roast whole beans from Aldi, store them in a glass jar in my freezer and grind enough for a small pot - 2 large cups - every morning, using an old Melitta single cup cone to make pour through and I keep it hot in a Pyrex carafe on a little warming plate. I put a splash of heavy cream in the cup before adding the hot coffee. When I'm out of cream, I use half & half. I cannot have caffeine after noon or I won't sleep that night, so coffee for me is a morning thing only. My grinder is an electric one by Braun, and I wipe it out every day with a soapy sponge, and also wash the cone and carafe every day. I haven't had a coffee machine in over 30 years. There's no room for one in my tiny kitchen anyway. I like various types of tea and have both bags of green tea and loose black tea. My preference in tea is for flavored ones like jasmine, Earl Grey, and some of the citrus/fruity green teas too. Not that crazy about plain green tea. I also have a seasonal decaf green tea from Trader Joe's (Candy Cane) for drinking in the afternoons - usually cold, and I also have a cup of Sleepytime Extra every night before bed. I learned that if you want nice clear cold tea, pour cold water over the bags and steep in the fridge for several hours or overnight. I would estimate 99.9% of my coffee and tea drinking is at home. I rarely, if ever, buy drinks when I'm out and about. I think my fresh brews taste better than anything I've ever bought prepared. Oh, and I use distilled water, not tap.