h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I haven't posted a journal entry on h2g2 in a LOOONG time (a little over a year!). Mostly because it's not possible to limit the audience here, journal entry posts show up on the FP, and we have a disproportionate number of trolls to legitimate Researchers these days. But, for those of you who are friends of mine here who avoid Facebook and email, I guess it's time for a journal entry.

So, as far as what's been happening since I last updated...
We were house-hunting back then. Houses in Chicago aren't cheap - a fixer-upper runs around $300-$350K - and I was loathe to tie up too much of our savings into a down payment*. We'd moved from our old place of 10 years back in 2012, to a lovely three bedroom unit right on the banks of the North Branch of the Chicago River. Gorgeous building, gorgeous area, gorgeous apartment, in the Albany Park neighborhood. Just a couple blocks walk from the CTA train! Sadly some frat boy a-holes moved in this past summer, and the last six months have been relentless noise. So we'd ramped up the house hunt in recent months.

Then, a fascist dictator won the election for US President a few months ago, and we don't know what the hell to do. On the one hand, it seems stupid to tie up money into a home knowing we could lose everything if (when) the economy inevitably sinks into a depression. On the other hand, would having our savings in the bank be any more secure when that happens? Might it be better to have a chunk of our savings in something non-liquid? Try as I might (and I have done for nine years), I cannot find a credit union that will take our money, and regret having OH close his back in 2005 (because they were far away from home). We use a regional bank, as opposed to one of the big ones who have screwed so many customers over for the sake of filthy lucre, but in the event of a depression, we'd still likely lose it all, no? Whereas having it locked up in a house, we don't lose anything as long as we can make the payments. And I stand to eventually inherit mid to high five-figures from my dad between life insurance policies and annuities that pay out in lump sum, which we could always put toward house payments or "retirement income", if needed.

And friends know all too well that I'm miserable at work - typically 70+ hour/ six-day work weeks (not eligible for overtime pay) and no end in sight. We need more people, and upper management's solution is that I can just work from home on Sundays if needed, too. There's no work-life balance, and no end in sight, and if I don't look now, I am probably screwed, but if I do look now, we won't qualify for a mortgage.

But if we don't buy a home, we will still have a rent increase this year. So we either drop roughly a years' pay for a down payment, and more or less clean out our savings, or we keep paying about the same as we would for a mortgage for rent, garage and offsite storage rental, and insurance, but without forking over 1/3 of our savings.

As far as that fascist groove thing we don't need goes... I've spent a couple of Saturdays at protests here in Chicago; one, a women's march, and one, a protest at O'Hare Airport against the unconstitutional immigration ban. Apparently, the administration is trying to push an Executive Order that will make peaceful protest a felony. I've done some hard thinking as to whether or not fighting for our Constitutional rights is worth risking federal prison.
While I can't make up my mind whether or not it's financially responsible to buy a home right now, I do know that it's not financially responsible to let a fascist administration take away my health insurance, my employment, my right to healthcare and privacy about my healthcare, my right to vote, or any of my other rights. And so I have decided I am going to fight. To paraphrase Emiliano Zapata, it's better to die on my feet than to starve on my knees. Wish me (us) luck on all fronts, please!



* I realize that high home prices are an issue in the Europe / the UK as well, but thought that in many places, that was down to lack of physical space? I see all kinds of new construction going on, but fixer-uppers are still pretty pricey in the City, and if we move too far out, I won't be able to commute to work (OH commutes about 1 1/2 hours each way every day, and while he says he doesn't mind much, it sucks time-wise and puts a lot of mileage and wear and tear on the car...).

That's a lot to juggle - a roof over your head is always good! As for the fascist groove, I do think its serious, even over here there is deep concern. Have a look ( just to cheer you up!!) at the links between a fascist philosopher Julius Evola, a Russian called Dugin, Putin and Bannon. In a functioning democracy "dissent" is fundamental and so I admire the decision to stand up and "dissent".

blimey - first off that's given me an ear-worm.

second - I'm guessing you're suffering from gentrification and that's why everything is so expensive. As for what to do, I haven't the smallest clue.

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Thanks for the comments!

Having a roof over our heads is not in jeopardy at the moment - nor do I think it will for at least a little while. I just hate to put all of my eggs in one basket at the best of times. And if Social Security, etc., take a hit, then I can't count on inheriting all of the money my dad has set aside, as he may need it for his own expenses and care.

For now we will keep looking at homes and see what we find and what kind of loan we would get. As a Plan B, I will be looking for rentals as well. And for Plan C, I am putting my resume out there in case any excellent job opportunities come up. Might be worth taking a better job and enduring another year of incessant noise, worst come to worst?

As for dissent, that's all we have right now. The progressives have to lead from behind, convince the Trumpenproletariat that it *isn't* worth voting for people who screw you over, as long as they are screwing someone else harder, and win some votes in the mid-terms (before all of our voting rights have been gerrymandered and/or disenfranchised away). In the meantime, we fight!

I don't know what else to say...

Well, we're going to look at a few condos tomorrow. One of them appears to be under contract since we made the appointment, so we will just not get our hearts set on that one. But a few nice ones, including a three-floor townhome. I'd be OK with a condo as long as there is garage parking and storage space... fingers crossed.

I'm totally gutted about the EPA pick, but have added a monthly recurring donation to National Resources Defense Council in addition to the one I set up with ACLU back in November.