When I sold my first house to purchase my second, I decided to buck the “buy way more than you can afford and be insanely in debt forever and if the market drops your house is worth less than your mortgage” trend. So, my wife and I settled on a nice house that actually cost less then the house we were selling. Sure it was a much further drive, but it was away from the over developed jerk fest we were living in.

This concept of not over extending one’s self was so foreign to the mortgage company, they forced me to write a letter and sign it explaining why oh why I wanted to buy a house for less than I was selling. FSM forbid that I don’t want a 3-month ARM Interest only with an extra 500k loan attached 75 year mortgage.

I just can’t for the life of me figure out what they were protecting by doing this. Any ideas?

A quick break from code – I’m back from my honeymoon with a list of 11 fun things that my wife and I noticed in Europe:

“Double occupancy Room” in Barcelona, Spain means bunk beds

In France, they let you know that your car will blow up in a ball of flames

Germans like shelf toilets… to inspect? (photo credit)

In Rome, Italy people let you know the status of their asses

The beach is made out of rocks in Nice, France

Czech + black death + sacred ground = free decorations?

In Rocamador, France the monkeys pinch you if you don’t keep the food comming

Hand gestures can help get your point across in France if you aren’t an expert in the local language (In this instance, the pool table was having some issues releasing two of the balls.)

Sometimes, it’s easier to just take a siesta instead of battling the heat

When driving your tank on the road in Germany, please abide by the posted speed limits. (Photo Credit)

Just a friendly reminder to leave that cataput at home when travelling from London, England (although, its lost some of its punch line after the new “Fly Naked” rules went in effect)

Despite thinking that I had no chance of being one of the first 10k, I completed each of the puzzles just for fun. Contests by Google, puzzles, including a neat sudoku like game – how is a geek to resist?

Well, much to my surprise I got a package in the mail today with my replica cryptex along with instructions for the next part of the contest.

The cryptex itself is made out of metal and “springs” open when you put the correct code in. Really cool.

Now I really know that I have no chance at all of winning the grand prize, but I had a great time participating in the first half of the contest. Good luck to everyone else who made it!