sometimes it pays to be an asshole.

I heard back regarding my directv fiasco. a girl from the office of the president just called. not only do I not have to pay the $300 cancellation fee, THEY OWE ME MONEY.

they're going to issue me a refund in eight weeks for the $29.12 balance I had from my last payment. that doesn't quite cover the nearly half of the $130 nhl center ice package I gave up, but it's a hell of a lot better than having to fork over an extra $300.

I'm satisfied. we now have our $13 a month cable that gives us the local channels, discovery channel and mariners games. we have a $15 netflix account now as well. we're saving $20 a month on our tv bill (not to mention another $70 on phone/internet), and hopefully we won't waste as much time in front of the idiot box to boot.

in other news, I ended up with a harebrained scheme in my head over the weekend, and I can't shake it. we drove south for the weekend to spend time with my family. I got the usual guilt trip from my mom and sister and nana for not visiting enough. I also got to hear all about how much nana's life sucks because she's all alone and never gets out and no one has time to run her around. my dad, jokingly, said I should move in with her. she refuses to move into a home, since there is nothing wrong with her health, but she is getting frail and is afraid of being alone in case she falls or something.

it's actually not a half bad idea. she has a three bedroom house. it's in vancouver, wa, which is an armpit of a town, but it's close to portland. it's also REALLY close to my family. I could very easily transfer down there at my current job, and miyuki could even get away with not working if she wanted, or taking a part time job that she'd enjoy, since we wouldn't need the extra income. we'd have enough room for guests if they wanted to stay (there's a nice train ride from vancouver, bc for her family or friends that visited), and it would provide nana with some sorely needed social interaction. ideally, miyuki would even be freed up enough that she could chauffeur nana around to her various appointments she needs to go to (my mom is run ragged trying to work full time and take care of her mother). this would of course mean miyuki would need a car, and nana would likely make the car payments for her taxi (she's fairly well off). my dad figures I'd just be doing it to suck up (she doesn't like him, and I'm her favourite), but it actually would be a beneficial situation for everyone. we could afford to save a shitload of money (for an eventual return trip to canada), nana's quality of life would improve greatly, and my family would see more of us. trips north wouldn't even need to be endangered, as we'd likely just train up there and save me the hassle of driving.

there are some obvious downsides... most of all is living with nana. she can be downright nasty at times (as my dad so eloquently puts it, "she's a bitch!"), but she's usually nicer to me (see above re: favourite). there's also the matter of living in vancouver. it's a white trash town. there are certain finer aspects of life we'd miss out on (indie movie theatres, gourmet pizza, mac & jacks african amber ale, etc). but assuming we'd be down there five years, we would save roughly $50,000 in rent over that span. that's huge.

right now it's just a pipe dream. I get obsessed with stuff like this, of ways of securing a better future and all that. there's about a 95% chance this would NEVER happen. but for now, it's fun to think about. I like the idea of living in a house. possibly even inheriting it (and forgoing my share of the estate otherwise). I would feel a little bit bad about taking a house, like it would be some sort of charity, but the fact is everyone else in my family already owns their own houses. and to assuage my guilt, I'd want to move in with nana and help take care of her, to feel as tho I'd be "earning" my stake. I always try to spend at least a couple hours visiting when we're down, but we're only down there once a month or so. while that's still more time than my sister or dad spends with her, it doesn't seem like much. I do feel bad at times for being so far away, not only from nana, but also from my nephews. my sister is constantly flipping me crap for not being around her kids enough.

we'll see what happens. if anyone else actually takes the idea seriously, we'd consider it. for now, it's just something to keep my mind occupied...