Our closing went very smoothly . . . except for me. I'd smelled gas on the walk through that morning, and refused to accept anything but cash set aside by the sellers to buy a new furnace. (Which they did end up having to buy us, and ended up costing them $6K.) Their agent tried to get me to accept a home warranty on the spot instead, but I told her in no uncertain terms I wasn't going to accept her word for it -- or the word of anyone in that room who had an interest in the sale going through -- that "it was a good company."

IOW, you always have to be ready to walk away, and keep an eye on those people who are making a large chunk of money off the sale.

Hivemind query: Are there any good OTC ear drops that reduce pain and swelling?

I have had good like with white vinegar mixed with a little rubbing alcohol for clearing up an outer ear infection, but it will hurt like hell for awhile if the skin inside your ear is in any way abraded. But in about a day, the pain is reduced.

Yeah, pretty much everything that's not woo-woo homeopathic seems to be mostly rubbing alcohol. Which we have.

Sarameg, belated advice: yeah you have fallen in love and you really want to fall in love with your house. But, this is a buyers market. Almost certainly, no matter what you pay, the value will go down a while after you buy it. So you need to set an absolute limit on what you are willing to spend. You initial offer will be less than that, whatever you think makes sense, but you need to have an upper limit you know before you make the offer you won't go above. As others have said offer should be contingent on passing inspection. But there is something else you should do. Decide everything you want to change about the house. The call a general contractor, a reliable one who is mid-priced not bargain price. Have him do an uofficial inspection where he gives a binding quote in writing(ideally good for 90 day but at least good for thirty) on everything you want done, plus the price of anything he strongly recommends doing you have not thought of. Normally contractor quotes are free, but since this is a quote on a place you don't own, paying a modest fee for his time is not unreasonable if he asks. Subtract that quote from the maximum price you are willing to pay. Sure you can save money by doing some of it yourself. But your time is worth something too, and it will take you more hours to do fix-up that a contractors, so that quote really remains the minimum cost. And yes, maybe you will find a lower priced contractor, but then again you will make discoveries during fix up. Neither the contractor I'm suggesting or the formal inspection will catch everything. So my suggestion is set a maximum price before getting the contractor to look at it, get the quote, and the intial price you set minus that quote is the real ceiling of what you are willing to live. Make up your mind that that you will walk away from the deal if you can't get that price, in the same way you might walk away from a relationship if the person made that relationship not worth it.

OK, the x-post of advice way too late. But i'm sure your initial offer is not your max anyway. Have a max in mind and don't exceed it. And if they turn down your initial, do the contractor thing. The delay while your contractor looks at it will make it clear that your next offer may well be the last.

Lunch was nom.

But now I am craving tiramisu for no good reason. And the little local bakery at the corner of our old duplex has closed. I don't have a tiramisu source!

I don't have a tiramisu source!

Isn't there a tiramisu recipe in the b.org cookbook?

Soooo sleepy, and I've still got 90 minutes more to work. I can use a nap right about now!

I've got an echocardiogram scheduled for tomorrow. Has anyone here had one before and can tell me what it is and what I'll have to do?

But now I am craving tiramisu for no good reason.

Piffle. That's like craving oxygen for no good reason.