The Great Close Out -- Good For Charlie!

A mix and mingle -- how to give me a coronary.

Charlie finally closed on the West Point house and his rental property as well and got what he was asking for them. He was ecstatic. The house had been on the market for years and years. Possibly 10 years. The phone rang thrice, our code, and I called him back. Dad rings twice.

"I would invite you to the party tonight, but I know you wouldn't want to be around all that alcohol," Charlie told me over the phone.

Actually, my social phobias and having to mingle amidst all those people would be my biggest obstacle and fear. I wouldn't worry at all about the alcohol and free-flowing champagne. If I wanted a beer, I could just walk next door and ask George for a few to my father's consternation and not have to deal with the crowd. It is my father's biggest fear about my former alcoholic self. I always have enjoyed drinking alone. Put me in front of a computer and let the beer flow and the music sing.

"What are you going to do with all that money?" I boldly asked the very fiscally secretive Charlie.

"I am going to Walmart and buying the biggest damn TV they have," Charlie replied laughing.

I laughed in turn and told Charlie I would be glad to hook it up for him. He said he was counting on it. That sounded like something I would do! I would also put aside $10,000 to $20,000 and build one helluva kick-ass computer!

Charlie's Parlay...

"I close on my new house Wednesday," Charlie told me very excitably tonight as he filled Maggie's water bowl over the kitchen sink. "Now, I've got to get rid of some of my other property to afford it."

I chuckled. Charlie lives for this kind of stuff. He's like real estate like I am to computers and computer parts. Enough is never enough. He will own three houses and an apartment complex Wednesday.

On tonight's menu were three chicken strips, one large mashed potatoes with gravy, one large chocolate chip cookie, and a large Pepsi. Maggie gets one of the strips every week and she just adores it and gets to be quite an excitable little dog about it. She knows Charlie visiting means a full belly. She was just as excited this morning when Charlie brought us breakfast biscuits.

Charlie put four packets of McDonald's strawberry preserves in my goodie bag this morning.

"What are these for?" I asked Charlie inquisitively.

"You eat it with your sausage biscuit," Charlie replied. "Its got a kind of a sweet, salty, and savory thing going for it."

Well, I ate my sausage patty separately and then put the preserves on the biscuits and ate them. Maybe I will be more food adventuresome next week.

Anybody Need A Home? Down Payments Welcome

"Come on!" Charlie said impatiently with an excited tone to his voice. "I've got something I want to show you."

Charlie scurried over to his Caprica with me hot on his heels.

Charlie's and my father's driving gets me carsick so I was very hesitant to go and I braced myself for the worse. I had just drank a large glass of milk and eaten a couple of ham and cheese Hot Pockets before Charlie arrived.  I hoped I wouldn't "blow chunks" like Charlie alluded to about Horsefly.

"I am a landlord now," Charlie smugly said as he showed me a row of six nice apartments he had bought a few days ago.

The apartments looked rather nice to me. They all had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. They also had a very spacious and modern kitchen.

"I am going to tear out the fireplaces and refinish all the hardwood floors."

"Please don't tear out the fireplaces," I told Charlie pleadingly. "The fireplaces will make a big difference if someone is deciding on whether or not to rent."

Charlie mulled over what I said for a few moments and he told me the idea maybe a good one.