06-VIII-2003.
Picture is unrelated, it's Lena and Nina arm-wrestling.
From an email to Škrba and Boća...
Found this guy in Subotica, he's got a lot of numbers from Korni grupa and Kornelije Kovač himself, some doctor it seems. Well, can engage in exchange with him and see what comes up. [which turned out exactly right - I got 3 Cds with lots of stuff I didn't even know existed, and all he asked was 3 CDs in return].Škrba: and you, neighbor? See each other before christmas?I was thinking some, but now I'm really thinking it up and down. We set our sights on buying a house. The monthly apportion may generally be less than the rent (or more, if you want to pay off faster), but at least it all ends up in your pocket and you are on your own. But, some expenses are running on at the moment - ad one, we're starting the green card again, at our expense, that's about three thow for this year. Tuitions - already jumped 40% compared to what they were three semesters ago (and this is Virginian state university, getting less dough from the state, because VA gets less from the federation, and the federation has no cash because it a) owes left and right anyway, b) pissed away the money on wars and c) has diminished incoming because the Bushović cut the tax drass'cally to his buddies), that's a four-five grand waiting to be spent now and again in january. Not to mention that airfares are the worst around christmas... and that my company's business is skiing, no winter vacations. Go have a summer, in the winter we need all of you.
So I'm contemplating to in the spring... but we'll see.
>Škrba: What's the standard payment scheme? 25 years? 40? What's the generic story?
The first loan you get from the gov't, that is for the first house in your life (and wider). There's no punishment in interest if you pay off faster. The interest is 6-7% a year. Translated, in 30 years you pay one more house. But you live in it right away. I think there's none shorter than 15 years, though it can be shortened. Standard is 30.
How they calculate the interest here: very simple, once I got my head far enough from the madness we had (and I did the interest, since '87, I know all the possible calculation methods... in software, that is). Say, you take 10000$ loan to five years. The calculated monthly is 500. When you pay those 500$, they calculate the interest to the day to be 450$, and the 50$ go against the debt, and now you owe 9950$. Next month the interest is 448$ and now you owe 9902$ after you pay the next 500$. Only somewhere by middle of the wedding you start paying off more of the main than the interest. True, this is exactly interest on interest, but it looks clear when you see it printed: you paid this much for interest, this much for loan. Except you don't see it printed unless you ask for it.
The houses go, depending on area and size, from 45000 for a smallish one, to 250000 for something with four rooms and four bathrooms (actually, if you want to go high enough, freely add a zero). Of course, it depends on the lot size too (which goes from 0,15 acres up to a hectar or two, and one acre is about 40 ares), on the age of the building, but in reality three factors dictate the price the most: location, location, location.
Here in VB you can find them cheaper because the location, despite tourism, is bad for the most - because of the noise. It's these ships from the naval base (less than 2km from here), they take off and land some thirty times a day, do pretzels in the air, fly low... now someone would say these be airplanes, but we know what the navy is all about.
>Uch, fuck, you still got that hanging. I completely forgot that. pLazić managed to solve that somewhere june last year.
pLazić is under west coast. Cueblo is under the Texas division, and those scratch their thingy and drag the time. H-1B used to be got in two days; year and a half ago I got it in 4-5 weeks and now they officially promised 3-4 months which will come to at least six. For the green I can't expect any faster, only slower. Eyeballingly, two years.
On the job lines, the 4.0 was finally deployed to the first line of customers (who were ready to pay for it) and Jake insisted that we open four eyes and that "I'd like to see every FP sail through testing. " (i.e. issue, the FP is the name of bug tracking software).
Mentions: Božidar Sokolović (Boća), Cueblo, Gradivoj Škrbić (Škrba), Jake Bauer, Jelena Sredljević (Lena), Nevena Sredljević (Nina), pLazić, in serbian