Posted on October 29, 2010 [Permalink]

For the past few months, I have been posting small 'countdown' images, showing a series of numbers being crossed off. This was the one from a month ago, showing 'one' left:

Well, here we are at the end of the month, and this weekend, it is time to post the final version:

Those of you who have read the Autumn edition of my newsletter posted the other day already know what this is about. November 1st is Mortgage Liberation Day!

The countdown was simply showing the progress of the 120 monthly payments of the ten-year term of my housing loan. Sometime in the coming week, when the final paperwork gets stamped with my seal, and the last legal fees are paid, this house/workshop will be 'all mine'.

Two stories in my newsletter give a bit more background: the original story (from ten years ago) about buying the house, and the current story about paying for it.

And I paid for the whole thing with my baren! Wow! (Actually, my collectors paid for it, but you know what I mean!)

But.

I was chatting with my mother last night on Skype, and she asked me about the upcoming typhoon. Huh? I don't have a TV here, and without actively checking a news or weather report on the 'net, I am sometimes a bit behind events ... She suggested that I take a look.

I immediately went to a weather page, and found this:

Woot! A large, and strong one - Typhoon Chaba - is scheduled to be somewhere around right on top of me come Sunday morning. Now that circle is pretty wide, so we don't yet know just who will get the brunt of it, but I wonder ...

Sunday morning. The day before closing the loan. Could it be that the gods are planning a bit of a 'chuckle' here? Hmm ... Stay tuned!

Added by: Dave on October 29, 2010

If you want to follow Chaba's progress, updated images appear on this Typhoon Report page every few hours. It's starting to look like she (he?) might be passing by out to sea ...

Added by: Margaret on October 29, 2010

Congratulations! (And may Chaba miss you entirely.)

Added by: Diane Cutter on October 29, 2010

Congratulations, Dave... It's a wonderful feeling to be mortgage-free. Life is so much simpler! And I know the worry of a typhoon (hurricanes for us here). I've been thinking positive thoughts that it miss you... looks like it might work.

Added by: Lana on October 30, 2010

Congratulations, Dave! You give me hope at making a living at art!

Added by: Sharri on October 30, 2010

Congratulations on the mortgage payments ending - that is such a good feeling! Thanks to the housing gods we were able to do that a few years ago. It is indeed a liberating feeling. Not too long after that we were blessed with a mini-tornado. Large fir trees were bending precariously, but the only one we lost fell away from the house. That is a scary feeling. Hope Chaba fizzles for you. I'll do my tornado dance - maybe that will help!

Added by: Dave on October 31, 2010

Well, seems no problem on the typhoon ... I'm adding this comment late Saturday evening, and the progress maps are showing that it's passing by out to sea, and weakening as it goes. It has been pouring down all day, but we've had no wind at all here. Safe!

Added by: Dale Evans on November 1, 2010

Congratulations Dave! Getting the mortgage paid off is a HUGE event - bigger than a cyclone though it won't get anywhere near the same amount of press! Happy signing today.