Slipping a bit

Dear Family and Friends,
As I write this evening I find myself in just a bit of a funk, some of the excitement and energy that has driven me since Costa Rica has slipped a bit.  Yesterday I really had too much to eat and not the best things either.  I know one can't be high all the time but I really don't want to lose the momentum of the last few weeks.  One thing that concerns me is the lack of new orders.  I know from past years that this time of the year can often produce a slow down in work.  I'm well behind where I was last year in orders to date.  That is not a good sign.
This morning I got up at 5:30 and came down intending to go for a walk.  It never happened.  I ended up writing an appraisal which took several hours.  Then the appointments I was seeking for today came together and I ended up at Mountain House at 1:30.  The home I was there to see was really beautiful.  It is nearly 4,000 Sq.Ft. with a complete 475 Sq.Ft. inlaw unit with its own single car garage.  The property was nearly a half an acre.  The investor had the carpets cleaned well and painted the entire interior of the home professionally.  The home is beautiful and perfect.  Now of course comparables are always challenging for something like this but I think it will come together all right.

Once I was finished with the Mountain House appraisal I turned Jason's Subaru Forester toward Martinez.  Arriving there late afternoon I found a cute little home that had been severely damaged by fire recently and updated.  Without the GPS finding the comparables took a bit longer but soon it was completed.  Then I went to purchase fuel since the tank was nearly on empty.  Using my debit card for the business I found it was refused.  Since I made a large deposit yesterday I found that hard to understand.  I had another back up card and that one worked fine.  What was even more interesting was 30 minutes later I was at Home Depot and returned a screen door protector that was the wrong size, was given a cash refund and then when I purchased the new larger one the same card worked perfectly.  Does someone have an explanation for what took place?

The weather was warm but pleasant today and the entire day was a pleasure.  In spite of no checks in today's mail for the most part things are OK.  I am currently reading two really interesting books.  Being a man you can guess where I keep the books!  Joel Olsteen has a new book that Dolly sent me and it is a real spirit lifter.  Friend Ron loaned me a book by the author of Men are from Venus and Women are from Mars or do I have that backwards.  This book deals with losing someone you love either through death or divorce.  So far it is excellent and gives clarity to some of the things I've stumbled through.  One thing that is so right is the loss of a special person who is your special person to come home to, to share everything with, who loves you when the whole world goes wrong, to suddenly no longer have that person on your side, by your side and constantly with you,  that is a very real part of this whole recovery process.

This afternoon the fan arrived for the VW, now I just need to find the last two bolts that allow the old one to fall out and plug the new one in.  Perhaps in the cool morning I'll tackle that right after my walk.  Friend Ken is off in the south somewhere consulting with a software company, regarding software that he uses and has had lots of issues with, they tired of his calls and asked him to come back and tell the programmers directly what is wrong.  Ken is not shy so I rather think he is enjoying himself on this trip.  I miss his walking companionship.

Life is filled with ongoing challenges, friends who are having tough times with jobs, relationships, etc.  Life seems to be a mixture of some happy moments, pleasant tastes, beautiful sunsets with crushing defeats, results of aging, disappointments and setbacks.

Wishing all of you the best and thanks for your encouraging emails, they mean a great deal.

Love

tim