Dear Friends,
Well today came and went and I did not make the house payment. While I had nearly enough to cover it paying it would mean I had nothing left to pay the many other smaller bills. After consulting with two different people who are very aware of how getting a modification works I decided to not make the payment. Instead I moved a large portion of that money into savings to hold just in case. I'm hearing horror stories of it taking many months to finally have the modification completed but without it in the present financial climate I can no longer manage the entire payment. Now ask me how I feel about this, horrible. I absolutely hate not making the payment, honoring my signature and commitment. This is not the way I want to live at all.
I've spent most of today writing an appraisal for Valley Springs and it felt good to get it emailed out finally. Some reports require a lot more work than others, this one was challenging and ended up with comparables that ranged from 3 miles to 9 miles from the subject. Considering that the guidelines require everything to be within a mile that takes some explaining.
At around 2 this afternoon I realized that I was very hungry. After taking my blood and finding the sugar level at 85 I knew it was time to make some good food. So out came the brown rice, the mushrooms, a package of mixed fresh veges for the microwave oven. I heated the little fry pan to high, dumped a few mushrooms into the hot oil and stirred, then after they had been turned over I poured in brown rice and let it cook and ended up adding soy sauce for flavor. The veges were cooked and the meal was incredible. It tasted excellent and I took a moment to do an inner bow for taking the time to make something decent.
Tomorrow is Keanna day which is always a blessing. I'll collect her from school at 12:45 and then we'll have an hour before she goes to gymnastics and then music class. I learn as much from her as she learns from me and I find her inspiring, challenging and an overall delight. What a huge blessing to live so near that I can do these weekly things with the kiddos.
I have had some very inspirational emails over the last few days with the wisdom of my classmates from high school and others. They challenge me, lift me and inspire me. Thank you very much. One was especially inspiring today, a blog message written by a pastor on a campus of a college, it was written just for me and it has changed the way I view prayer, God's answers and my place in all of this today.
Love to all
Tim
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Struggling to keep it positive
Dear Family and Friends,
I am always amazed when I hear from someone new who is a reader and who shares my journey. My first thought is should I be watering down what I say or attempt to swing it over to a positive rag only reporting good news, I'm sure that would be more helpful to at least some of my readers. Yet I've spent so much of my life saying what I thought people wanted to hear me say, basically people pleasing that as of late I'm sort of reacting to that way of communication and trying to be more authentic, sometimes that means the result is a big gritty and even border line shocking.
This journey I'm on is one I would never have chosen and one I often dislike. I don't enjoy my own company that much, I like to invest in other people's happiness, to reassure people about their contributions to life. Yet here I am talking to the dogs and they seem to often just agree to get me off their back. Talk about people pleasers, Starr and Lady are masters at it.
This morning after Ken and I froze our way through the three miles I came back to warm up with a cup of Mocha, shower and started the day at my desk. We have changed our course now so we end up walking through the park, that is our moment of nature and it is a nice change from pavement and dodging women drivers who seem to want to clip our rear pockets from time to time.
I started my work day by driving over the Mountain House to confirm that new appliances had been installed in a condo. They were there but the highlight of that trip was a nice long talk with a very good friend. That call kept me laughing and was a very positive beginning to the work day.
Its a good think I didn't wait for money in the mail or orders over the fax or Internet. Neither happened all day. I actually spent the entire day writing an appraisal for the little house located in Marin county. I ended up with 6 closed sales and 3 current listings, a very complete appraisal. I just hope it helps the buyer get into the house.
This evening I suddenly decided that I needed to go get my meds so that meant a trip to Brentwood. While there I feasted at Taco Bell and then took a brief trip through Food Max for fruit, corn, salad and soy milk. Once I was on the road a phone call to Jerry provided a touch with family in the same manner as a call from Nikki earlier in the day had accomplished. She often calls on her way home from her work with the Department of Energy.
I sometimes feel as if life had just passed me by like I arrived at the station and the train had already left. There are rare moments with the kids and the kiddos that awaken a love of life again. I must say the E Harmony so far has been a colossal waste of money and I'm close to ending it. They keep providing me with contacts for people in LA, Redding etc. That is not helpful at all.
Tomorrow marks a big decision day, do I take all my available money and pay the house payment or not? I'm inclined to pay it and trust that something else will develop. The hits just seem to keep on coming, today Blue Cross informed me of the new monthly fees which start the first of October, $1035 a month.
So to those faithful family and friends who just keep on reaching out I say thank you. Your words and actions are like a life line right now and I do appreciate the help.
Love
tim
I am always amazed when I hear from someone new who is a reader and who shares my journey. My first thought is should I be watering down what I say or attempt to swing it over to a positive rag only reporting good news, I'm sure that would be more helpful to at least some of my readers. Yet I've spent so much of my life saying what I thought people wanted to hear me say, basically people pleasing that as of late I'm sort of reacting to that way of communication and trying to be more authentic, sometimes that means the result is a big gritty and even border line shocking.
This journey I'm on is one I would never have chosen and one I often dislike. I don't enjoy my own company that much, I like to invest in other people's happiness, to reassure people about their contributions to life. Yet here I am talking to the dogs and they seem to often just agree to get me off their back. Talk about people pleasers, Starr and Lady are masters at it.
This morning after Ken and I froze our way through the three miles I came back to warm up with a cup of Mocha, shower and started the day at my desk. We have changed our course now so we end up walking through the park, that is our moment of nature and it is a nice change from pavement and dodging women drivers who seem to want to clip our rear pockets from time to time.
I started my work day by driving over the Mountain House to confirm that new appliances had been installed in a condo. They were there but the highlight of that trip was a nice long talk with a very good friend. That call kept me laughing and was a very positive beginning to the work day.
Its a good think I didn't wait for money in the mail or orders over the fax or Internet. Neither happened all day. I actually spent the entire day writing an appraisal for the little house located in Marin county. I ended up with 6 closed sales and 3 current listings, a very complete appraisal. I just hope it helps the buyer get into the house.
This evening I suddenly decided that I needed to go get my meds so that meant a trip to Brentwood. While there I feasted at Taco Bell and then took a brief trip through Food Max for fruit, corn, salad and soy milk. Once I was on the road a phone call to Jerry provided a touch with family in the same manner as a call from Nikki earlier in the day had accomplished. She often calls on her way home from her work with the Department of Energy.
I sometimes feel as if life had just passed me by like I arrived at the station and the train had already left. There are rare moments with the kids and the kiddos that awaken a love of life again. I must say the E Harmony so far has been a colossal waste of money and I'm close to ending it. They keep providing me with contacts for people in LA, Redding etc. That is not helpful at all.
Tomorrow marks a big decision day, do I take all my available money and pay the house payment or not? I'm inclined to pay it and trust that something else will develop. The hits just seem to keep on coming, today Blue Cross informed me of the new monthly fees which start the first of October, $1035 a month.
So to those faithful family and friends who just keep on reaching out I say thank you. Your words and actions are like a life line right now and I do appreciate the help.
Love
tim
Sunday, August 29, 2010
What a day this has been!
Finally a great day happened. It all started with a very sleepless night, I was awake at 2, 3 and 4 but must have slept the rest of the time, not sleepy today.
Ken and I walked in the crisp morning air and upon returning I decided that a filthy car was not the way to travel today. I found my car washing supplies and enjoyed removing all the bugs. It felt good all day long to have a clean car and since it is black it really looks better when it is clean.
I first drove to Oakland and met with a very nice Mexican family who are short selling their home. Then it was onto San Rafael over in Marin County. the road passes right by San Quentin which is always interesting. I first drove to the little house even though I knew I was over an hour early. Then I selected the comps and started to drive them. Once that was finished I drove back to the house and in a few minutes the agent arrived. The little house was cute but the outstanding point was the back yard. It is stunning with mature landscaping, flagstone patios, quiet sitting areas with benches, a trampoline, large patio areas and a wide variety of plants and flowers.
Once I was through with the house I headed home arriving before 6. Now its 10 and I have the report for Oakland completed and emailed out. I was paid for the Oakland appraisal when I was there and by credit card for the one in San Rafael so it was a blessed day financially too. By washing the car at home instead of having it done in Brentwood I saved $11 and that more than paid for all the fuel for today's travel. Not bad.
So I am looking forward to the upcoming week. I've received marvelous input today from you regarding taking in boarders and all of it has been supportive and helpful. I'm going to proceed with the process as well as work on the motorhome to get it ready to sell or rent. I'm also going to look into beginning painting the trim on my house. It needs to be soaked with paint so badly.
Thanks for the great feedback today. Lets have a great week.
Love
tim
Ken and I walked in the crisp morning air and upon returning I decided that a filthy car was not the way to travel today. I found my car washing supplies and enjoyed removing all the bugs. It felt good all day long to have a clean car and since it is black it really looks better when it is clean.
I first drove to Oakland and met with a very nice Mexican family who are short selling their home. Then it was onto San Rafael over in Marin County. the road passes right by San Quentin which is always interesting. I first drove to the little house even though I knew I was over an hour early. Then I selected the comps and started to drive them. Once that was finished I drove back to the house and in a few minutes the agent arrived. The little house was cute but the outstanding point was the back yard. It is stunning with mature landscaping, flagstone patios, quiet sitting areas with benches, a trampoline, large patio areas and a wide variety of plants and flowers.
Once I was through with the house I headed home arriving before 6. Now its 10 and I have the report for Oakland completed and emailed out. I was paid for the Oakland appraisal when I was there and by credit card for the one in San Rafael so it was a blessed day financially too. By washing the car at home instead of having it done in Brentwood I saved $11 and that more than paid for all the fuel for today's travel. Not bad.
So I am looking forward to the upcoming week. I've received marvelous input today from you regarding taking in boarders and all of it has been supportive and helpful. I'm going to proceed with the process as well as work on the motorhome to get it ready to sell or rent. I'm also going to look into beginning painting the trim on my house. It needs to be soaked with paint so badly.
Thanks for the great feedback today. Lets have a great week.
Love
tim
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Heading downhill
Good evening
The coughing is back and its taking me down a bit. This evening was spent with tolerant friends but I hacked the whole time and then on the way home it got worse. Not sure what is going on but I don't like it much.
Ken and I froze this morning on our 3 mile walk. He looked like he was dressed for winter when he came out but I quickly envied him as we walked into the wintry blast. Once we turned the half way corner then it was better, the wind was behind us. Wow was it cold, I don't think it helped my cough at all but I know the walk is good for moral, my heart, lungs etc.
8:30 found me parking at the soccer field at Streets of Brentwood, a relatively new upscale shopping center along the Brentwood Bypass. Keanna played her little heart out, she made many saves as goalie and kept telling me she was not cold, well Papa sure was cold watching and yelling from the sidelines. After the game was over we regrouped and ended up heading to Tracy to Olive Garden for lunch. Oh was it ever good. Right now they have the endless pasta bowl special going. For $8.95 you get as much pasta as you can eat. I get the whole wheat linguine with 5 cheese topping, wow it was great and along with the salad and nice cold lemon water it was a feast. Kallie and Keanna enjoyed coloring in their little children's menus. Once lunch was over and Nikki drove us all back I came home and took a long nap. My mind is so troubled that I would sleep and then wake with unease, fall back asleep and then wake with troubled thoughts again. Sometimes I just think, I'm so ready to be happy again, to be a peace, to know things are moving well but at the moment I'm sure far from that point.
I get a daily update from the Liferaft Web Site, a site dedicated to GIST and those battling it. As I read the messages from people in the midst of the battle against tumor growth, finding the right drug, the right doctor I am so reminded of our hundreds of mini battles over the same things these living patients face. I just want to cry out to them, enjoy the time you have, get the best medical care you can find no matter what the cost, it might buy you a couple more years to see your little kiddos born or start to walk. I think we did it right, we put all our resources into the fight, we never stopped to count the cost if there was a chance something or someone could help in our battle for life. I deal with the results of those battles now but I'm not sorry. If I end up on the street and drive a wreck it was still worth it. Nan put her all into our family, our life together, she never held back, she went all out, then we did the same as a team in searching for medical answers to the ever returning tumors. How can you ever hold back when your going flat out means more time to live? You just can't. What I don't understand at this point is what is God up to now, how is he leading or have I done something that prevents Him from being involved anymore. I certainly identify with Job, where do I go from here? What do I do, What do I quit doing? What doors do I need to knock on to find a solution, to discover answers. I'm not throwing in the towel but I'm sure uncertain re: God's involvement at the present time.
Sometimes well meaning people suggest how I can reduce my life to zero it seems, dump this, sell that, give up on this and advice is fairly easy to give when YOU ARE NOT LIVING IT. I love having friends give suggestions and support, I just don't always know how to apply what is being said. One piece of advice that seems to resonate in my brain, borders! Taking in guests for money, now that seems like an idea I could live with. I live in this fairly sizable house with two empty bedrooms, one nice bathroom, plenty of living area for more than one old guy, I'm going to look into that immediately. Now I'm not sure how to set a price, a monthly rent yet. Secondly I'm going to proceed with getting the motor home cleaned up and working well, so I can either rent it or sell it and I know I need to fix the boat engine so it will work. If and when I sell the boat it will be worth much more if it runs. These are things I can do.
I welcome your feed back, my email address is discoapp@comcast.net or timmustard@yahoo.com. Let me hear your ideas, I'm not giving up this ship without a very big fight!
love
tim
ps photo is the one I am using on E Harmony. Thanks Mary for taking the photo.
The coughing is back and its taking me down a bit. This evening was spent with tolerant friends but I hacked the whole time and then on the way home it got worse. Not sure what is going on but I don't like it much.
Ken and I froze this morning on our 3 mile walk. He looked like he was dressed for winter when he came out but I quickly envied him as we walked into the wintry blast. Once we turned the half way corner then it was better, the wind was behind us. Wow was it cold, I don't think it helped my cough at all but I know the walk is good for moral, my heart, lungs etc.
8:30 found me parking at the soccer field at Streets of Brentwood, a relatively new upscale shopping center along the Brentwood Bypass. Keanna played her little heart out, she made many saves as goalie and kept telling me she was not cold, well Papa sure was cold watching and yelling from the sidelines. After the game was over we regrouped and ended up heading to Tracy to Olive Garden for lunch. Oh was it ever good. Right now they have the endless pasta bowl special going. For $8.95 you get as much pasta as you can eat. I get the whole wheat linguine with 5 cheese topping, wow it was great and along with the salad and nice cold lemon water it was a feast. Kallie and Keanna enjoyed coloring in their little children's menus. Once lunch was over and Nikki drove us all back I came home and took a long nap. My mind is so troubled that I would sleep and then wake with unease, fall back asleep and then wake with troubled thoughts again. Sometimes I just think, I'm so ready to be happy again, to be a peace, to know things are moving well but at the moment I'm sure far from that point.
I get a daily update from the Liferaft Web Site, a site dedicated to GIST and those battling it. As I read the messages from people in the midst of the battle against tumor growth, finding the right drug, the right doctor I am so reminded of our hundreds of mini battles over the same things these living patients face. I just want to cry out to them, enjoy the time you have, get the best medical care you can find no matter what the cost, it might buy you a couple more years to see your little kiddos born or start to walk. I think we did it right, we put all our resources into the fight, we never stopped to count the cost if there was a chance something or someone could help in our battle for life. I deal with the results of those battles now but I'm not sorry. If I end up on the street and drive a wreck it was still worth it. Nan put her all into our family, our life together, she never held back, she went all out, then we did the same as a team in searching for medical answers to the ever returning tumors. How can you ever hold back when your going flat out means more time to live? You just can't. What I don't understand at this point is what is God up to now, how is he leading or have I done something that prevents Him from being involved anymore. I certainly identify with Job, where do I go from here? What do I do, What do I quit doing? What doors do I need to knock on to find a solution, to discover answers. I'm not throwing in the towel but I'm sure uncertain re: God's involvement at the present time.
Sometimes well meaning people suggest how I can reduce my life to zero it seems, dump this, sell that, give up on this and advice is fairly easy to give when YOU ARE NOT LIVING IT. I love having friends give suggestions and support, I just don't always know how to apply what is being said. One piece of advice that seems to resonate in my brain, borders! Taking in guests for money, now that seems like an idea I could live with. I live in this fairly sizable house with two empty bedrooms, one nice bathroom, plenty of living area for more than one old guy, I'm going to look into that immediately. Now I'm not sure how to set a price, a monthly rent yet. Secondly I'm going to proceed with getting the motor home cleaned up and working well, so I can either rent it or sell it and I know I need to fix the boat engine so it will work. If and when I sell the boat it will be worth much more if it runs. These are things I can do.
I welcome your feed back, my email address is discoapp@comcast.net or timmustard@yahoo.com. Let me hear your ideas, I'm not giving up this ship without a very big fight!
love
tim
ps photo is the one I am using on E Harmony. Thanks Mary for taking the photo.
Friday, August 27, 2010
perspective
Dear Family and Friends,
Some days work out better than others. Not having the kidos this morning I ventured out for a walk. I wish I could tell you it was perfect, not so, it was warm and I have a strange pain in my left leg but I made it back. Mary called to tell me she was home and I could come obtain the photos she had taken of me the other day in Brentwood. I wanted them for EHarmony. So I drove over to her house here in Discovery Bay west and ended up showing her how to download photos and then I taught her how to attach photos to an email. It was a fun time and she is a quick learner.
Once I came home the mail had arrived. I received 8 letters from the mortgage company today letting me know I was a dead beat and better pay up soon or they were coming for the house. Can you imagine, 8 letters all saying the very same thing. I had a much better experience with them on the phone yesterday when i agreed to try to pay the house payment by the 31st. Also in todays mail was a letter from a law office. Turns out Downey Savings had a loan go bad, one that we did the appraisal for in 2005 and they are coming after me for the money they lost. I was pretty concerned until I opened the appraisal and got a close look. It is bullet proof, 4 comps, all in the neighborhood, all same age, all same size and all were recent sales at the time. I'll turn it over to the E&O insurance but it was still very unnerving. First time in 23 years of business and almost 30,000 reports.
So instead of giving in to my feelings of inadequacy I settle down and went to work. By 6 I had finished an appraisal for Sierra Pacific Home Loans. It is unfortunately the last one I will receive from my friend Gina as she no longer will be ordering reports, its gone to a management company and although I'm approved with them I have no orders to show for it.
This evening I had dinner with a friend in Stockton and now I'm home winding up the day. I just can't say enough about how wonderful it is to have friends and family reach out and really care. That is a blessing.
love
tim
Some days work out better than others. Not having the kidos this morning I ventured out for a walk. I wish I could tell you it was perfect, not so, it was warm and I have a strange pain in my left leg but I made it back. Mary called to tell me she was home and I could come obtain the photos she had taken of me the other day in Brentwood. I wanted them for EHarmony. So I drove over to her house here in Discovery Bay west and ended up showing her how to download photos and then I taught her how to attach photos to an email. It was a fun time and she is a quick learner.
Once I came home the mail had arrived. I received 8 letters from the mortgage company today letting me know I was a dead beat and better pay up soon or they were coming for the house. Can you imagine, 8 letters all saying the very same thing. I had a much better experience with them on the phone yesterday when i agreed to try to pay the house payment by the 31st. Also in todays mail was a letter from a law office. Turns out Downey Savings had a loan go bad, one that we did the appraisal for in 2005 and they are coming after me for the money they lost. I was pretty concerned until I opened the appraisal and got a close look. It is bullet proof, 4 comps, all in the neighborhood, all same age, all same size and all were recent sales at the time. I'll turn it over to the E&O insurance but it was still very unnerving. First time in 23 years of business and almost 30,000 reports.
So instead of giving in to my feelings of inadequacy I settle down and went to work. By 6 I had finished an appraisal for Sierra Pacific Home Loans. It is unfortunately the last one I will receive from my friend Gina as she no longer will be ordering reports, its gone to a management company and although I'm approved with them I have no orders to show for it.
This evening I had dinner with a friend in Stockton and now I'm home winding up the day. I just can't say enough about how wonderful it is to have friends and family reach out and really care. That is a blessing.
love
tim
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Working 6 to 8 and loving every minute of it!
Hello Faithful Readers
As our adventure continues things change. I started the day with a short night behind me, had to complete a report and get it out last night. By morning it had been rejected and today I had to go back to shoot additional comparables, its OK though, this is the way one learns what lenders are expecting.
The girls were in rare form this morning, happy as clams, helping each other and just having a good time. They ate their breakfast quickly and we started out early, seems the early part always bleeds away somehow but at least they were on time.
Once they were safely delivered I raced home for a bit of breakfast and then research for the day. I left for Vacaville at 9:30 but today it took longer than the normal 1 hour so I was a bit late. The homeowner was really interesting, he had a beautiful Shelby Ford, original and perfect parked in his garage along with a 56 blue and white ford. This guy rebuilds engines, restores cars and is living the dream. The home was perfect and they seemed very happy with each other.
Once I was through with Vacaville I headed down 80 to Oakland. I had brought a hard boiled egg, a string cheese piece, water and a mocha. That carried me along as I drove against fairly strong winds to Oakland. Once arriving there the GPS took me to the door. I was doing a field review of an appraisal that was completed months ago, it was done for quality control and so I had to supply additional comparables as well. It took awhile winding around in the Oakland foothills but eventually I was done. On the way out I found a Subway so had soup and sandwich.
Then it was time to head back to Bay Point to shoot two more comparables for the rejected appraisal. Once I found them and shot photos I was back on the highway and arrived home around 5 pm. I found no money in the mailbox but I was encouraged by a very nice card from a friend and two faith lifting cards inside.
One item of interest today was a letter from PNC mortgage. They hold the first on my property. Each November they adjust the interest rate and last year it was a whooper upward. This year my monthly payment just dropped by $90, I'll take it and of course that is before any possible modificationn they might find for me. At this point in my life $90 is very good news indeed.
Last evening I drove Marilyn up to her friend's home in Sacramento where she spent the night. This morning she flew out of Sac and this evening I've been exchanging emails with her at her home in Rhode Island. She is tired but happy to be home where she is needed constantly, how can young kids possibly live without the advice of a sage senior woman? The house seems very quiet and even the dogs notice, they were extra excited to have me arrive home this evening.
So I'm sending you my best wishes this evening,
Love to all
Tim
As our adventure continues things change. I started the day with a short night behind me, had to complete a report and get it out last night. By morning it had been rejected and today I had to go back to shoot additional comparables, its OK though, this is the way one learns what lenders are expecting.
The girls were in rare form this morning, happy as clams, helping each other and just having a good time. They ate their breakfast quickly and we started out early, seems the early part always bleeds away somehow but at least they were on time.
Once they were safely delivered I raced home for a bit of breakfast and then research for the day. I left for Vacaville at 9:30 but today it took longer than the normal 1 hour so I was a bit late. The homeowner was really interesting, he had a beautiful Shelby Ford, original and perfect parked in his garage along with a 56 blue and white ford. This guy rebuilds engines, restores cars and is living the dream. The home was perfect and they seemed very happy with each other.
Once I was through with Vacaville I headed down 80 to Oakland. I had brought a hard boiled egg, a string cheese piece, water and a mocha. That carried me along as I drove against fairly strong winds to Oakland. Once arriving there the GPS took me to the door. I was doing a field review of an appraisal that was completed months ago, it was done for quality control and so I had to supply additional comparables as well. It took awhile winding around in the Oakland foothills but eventually I was done. On the way out I found a Subway so had soup and sandwich.
Then it was time to head back to Bay Point to shoot two more comparables for the rejected appraisal. Once I found them and shot photos I was back on the highway and arrived home around 5 pm. I found no money in the mailbox but I was encouraged by a very nice card from a friend and two faith lifting cards inside.
One item of interest today was a letter from PNC mortgage. They hold the first on my property. Each November they adjust the interest rate and last year it was a whooper upward. This year my monthly payment just dropped by $90, I'll take it and of course that is before any possible modificationn they might find for me. At this point in my life $90 is very good news indeed.
Last evening I drove Marilyn up to her friend's home in Sacramento where she spent the night. This morning she flew out of Sac and this evening I've been exchanging emails with her at her home in Rhode Island. She is tired but happy to be home where she is needed constantly, how can young kids possibly live without the advice of a sage senior woman? The house seems very quiet and even the dogs notice, they were extra excited to have me arrive home this evening.
So I'm sending you my best wishes this evening,
Love to all
Tim
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Marilyn leaves for home
Busy day today, I like busy days, days of accomplishment and production. Today my crowning achievement is spending really terrific time with the kidos. They were ahead of schedule this morning and we even played checkers before leaving for school.
Once they were delivered I came back to the office to generate some research and then left for a 10 am appointment in Brentwood. Once that was over I returned to work and then pick up Keanna at 12:45. We hurried through our lunches and then homework before heading for gymnastics class. I took the time to go inspect a house that had new appliances installed and then came back in time to see her strut her stuff. She is doing so well and knows it too which is nice.
After class we returned to home where Nikki and Kallie joined us in saying fairwell to Marilyn. She is flying out in the morning for Rhode Island. It will be different to have the house quiet with no one to talk to or humor or run the DVR. I wish her well as she returned to care for James and reengage with her family.
Tomorrow morning I have the kidos once again and then I'm off to Vacaville, Oakland and then back to the office to crank out reports. I am so thankful for work and there are some hints that more work may be coming down the pipe, sure hope so.
Due to the lateness of the hour I'll pass on the philosophy of life tonight, just get some rest.
Love to all
Tim
Once they were delivered I came back to the office to generate some research and then left for a 10 am appointment in Brentwood. Once that was over I returned to work and then pick up Keanna at 12:45. We hurried through our lunches and then homework before heading for gymnastics class. I took the time to go inspect a house that had new appliances installed and then came back in time to see her strut her stuff. She is doing so well and knows it too which is nice.
After class we returned to home where Nikki and Kallie joined us in saying fairwell to Marilyn. She is flying out in the morning for Rhode Island. It will be different to have the house quiet with no one to talk to or humor or run the DVR. I wish her well as she returned to care for James and reengage with her family.
Tomorrow morning I have the kidos once again and then I'm off to Vacaville, Oakland and then back to the office to crank out reports. I am so thankful for work and there are some hints that more work may be coming down the pipe, sure hope so.
Due to the lateness of the hour I'll pass on the philosophy of life tonight, just get some rest.
Love to all
Tim
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The Dam breaks
Dear Family and Friends,
Last night was one of the worst in a couple years. After falling asleep in the very warm room I woke to spend the next couple hours tossing and turning, mulling over the frightful possible outcomes to having no work, lets just say they were extreme and did not lull one to sleep. Finally I roused enough to realize that I needed the room AC on, I hate to turn it on because it costs money. Netherthe less I turned it on and in a few minutes began to feel things cool down. Finally at around 2 I fell asleep only to wake up at 5 still wired and filled with angst.
I had to get up at 6 to be ready to care for the girls. After a refreshing shower I headed over. The girls were on their best behavior, totally fun, ate their breakfast down and Kallie asked for more. Kallie wanted to come to Papa's house instead of the sitters which makes me happy. Keanna thought skipping school and coming to my house was a great idea too.
Once I got back to the house I began to work on writing a report, took several phone calls, the most important was from Honda. This time the lady was very polite and helpful. They offered that if I could get the payments current they would let me skip a month and then move the due date so in effect I would skip two months of payments. Of course that is a huge if, if I can raise the extra funds to pay the past due payments.
Early this afternoon the phone began to ring and within a few hours 3 orders had come in, more than the last two weeks. One was a rush so Marilyn and I drove to Bay Point where we inspected a little home. The lady at the management company needed a rush, its nice to know someone at these faceless management companies. So when she asked I responded with a resounding yes.
Another order was bittersweet. The nice lady told me this was the last appraisal she could order from me as all the orders were being challenged through management companies now. She is a wonderful lady and I wished her the best as she tackles tough processing work.
Another friend is actively pursuing getting management companies to order from me. She has been in contact with three of them in the last two days and has commitments to use me. We will see.
Our weather has warmed up a lot. We are now in more typical August weather and while its not fun its OK. I made the mistake of touching a thistle when I was measuring in Bay Point, next thing I knew my side felt like fire and Marilyn is still pulling out tiny little arrows of pain from my side. Not fun!
Well I'm going to head to bed, I think I can sleep tonight. I'm seeing a place at 10 in the morning and its COD, can you believe it? Actual cash to work with!
By cutting various things I've saved over $200 a month, the exercise club is on hold for a month, weight watchers is gone for now, the RV storage is cancelled. Next I'm going after the Direct TV and perhaps cancelling one of the house lines which I no longer need. Its sort of a slash and burn approach to get the monthly costs down and fast.
love
tim
Last night was one of the worst in a couple years. After falling asleep in the very warm room I woke to spend the next couple hours tossing and turning, mulling over the frightful possible outcomes to having no work, lets just say they were extreme and did not lull one to sleep. Finally I roused enough to realize that I needed the room AC on, I hate to turn it on because it costs money. Netherthe less I turned it on and in a few minutes began to feel things cool down. Finally at around 2 I fell asleep only to wake up at 5 still wired and filled with angst.
I had to get up at 6 to be ready to care for the girls. After a refreshing shower I headed over. The girls were on their best behavior, totally fun, ate their breakfast down and Kallie asked for more. Kallie wanted to come to Papa's house instead of the sitters which makes me happy. Keanna thought skipping school and coming to my house was a great idea too.
Once I got back to the house I began to work on writing a report, took several phone calls, the most important was from Honda. This time the lady was very polite and helpful. They offered that if I could get the payments current they would let me skip a month and then move the due date so in effect I would skip two months of payments. Of course that is a huge if, if I can raise the extra funds to pay the past due payments.
Early this afternoon the phone began to ring and within a few hours 3 orders had come in, more than the last two weeks. One was a rush so Marilyn and I drove to Bay Point where we inspected a little home. The lady at the management company needed a rush, its nice to know someone at these faceless management companies. So when she asked I responded with a resounding yes.
Another order was bittersweet. The nice lady told me this was the last appraisal she could order from me as all the orders were being challenged through management companies now. She is a wonderful lady and I wished her the best as she tackles tough processing work.
Another friend is actively pursuing getting management companies to order from me. She has been in contact with three of them in the last two days and has commitments to use me. We will see.
Our weather has warmed up a lot. We are now in more typical August weather and while its not fun its OK. I made the mistake of touching a thistle when I was measuring in Bay Point, next thing I knew my side felt like fire and Marilyn is still pulling out tiny little arrows of pain from my side. Not fun!
Well I'm going to head to bed, I think I can sleep tonight. I'm seeing a place at 10 in the morning and its COD, can you believe it? Actual cash to work with!
By cutting various things I've saved over $200 a month, the exercise club is on hold for a month, weight watchers is gone for now, the RV storage is cancelled. Next I'm going after the Direct TV and perhaps cancelling one of the house lines which I no longer need. Its sort of a slash and burn approach to get the monthly costs down and fast.
love
tim
Monday, August 23, 2010
A very long day but enjoyable
Dear Family and Friends,
Marilyn and I are just back from seeing a property at Valley Springs, a small community set in the foothills near Lake Hogan. As we neared the little town it brought back many memories from the past. When I was a pastor in Tracy we used to take the boat with teenagers every week for water skiing at the lake. Often Roxanna would bring her boat as well and many young people learned to ski due to those trips. Since we went during the week we often had the lake nearly to ourselves and it was ideal. It was about 1 hour from Tracy and we made a day of it often.
Today the object of the trip was to see a little ranchette located way up in the foothills. It has a view which extends all the way to Mt Diablo if the day is clear. It took hours to find all the sales and listings which were located on little streets and roads all over the place. We finally shot the last photo as the sun was setting. Frankly I was delighted to have the order to see the property. It came from an agent who is working with my brother on his refi up in Weed. Jerry told him about me and I ended up with the order. Small world indeed.
We are both rather tired this evening after hours spent in the car following this road and that road but we found all the properties eventually. My GPS helped with most and maps solved the rest of the puzzles. Our dinner was Taco Bell in Valley Springs and it tasted great.
This morning I got to help with the girls. They both woke up rested and very happy, we had fun as I prepared a simple breakfast and even delivered them early to their respective places.
A check arrived today which will probably allow me to make the July house payment. I'm receiving a variety of opinions regarding whether I should make the payment or not, some wisely say that if I don't make the payment the loan company is more likely to modify the loan and payment, others warn of missing payments which has a bad effect on the credit records. I'm not foolish but if I can make the payment then I think I will. I do have to keep an eye on upcoming expenses which there may be no money to cover, that is a huge concern. The lady at PNC mortgage was very kind and helpful but of course could not tell me not to make the payments. I'll have to do a bunch of praying over this issue to try to get clarity.
Do you have an opinion? my email address is timmustard@yahoo.com and I'd be very glad to hear from you.
This evening a text came in, it was so precious, Timothy was texting to say, "goodnight papa". Now is that a great use of technology or what!
Sorry to report there were no new orders today, lots of best intentions but NO orders.
Sending love to all,
Tim
Marilyn and I are just back from seeing a property at Valley Springs, a small community set in the foothills near Lake Hogan. As we neared the little town it brought back many memories from the past. When I was a pastor in Tracy we used to take the boat with teenagers every week for water skiing at the lake. Often Roxanna would bring her boat as well and many young people learned to ski due to those trips. Since we went during the week we often had the lake nearly to ourselves and it was ideal. It was about 1 hour from Tracy and we made a day of it often.
Today the object of the trip was to see a little ranchette located way up in the foothills. It has a view which extends all the way to Mt Diablo if the day is clear. It took hours to find all the sales and listings which were located on little streets and roads all over the place. We finally shot the last photo as the sun was setting. Frankly I was delighted to have the order to see the property. It came from an agent who is working with my brother on his refi up in Weed. Jerry told him about me and I ended up with the order. Small world indeed.
We are both rather tired this evening after hours spent in the car following this road and that road but we found all the properties eventually. My GPS helped with most and maps solved the rest of the puzzles. Our dinner was Taco Bell in Valley Springs and it tasted great.
This morning I got to help with the girls. They both woke up rested and very happy, we had fun as I prepared a simple breakfast and even delivered them early to their respective places.
A check arrived today which will probably allow me to make the July house payment. I'm receiving a variety of opinions regarding whether I should make the payment or not, some wisely say that if I don't make the payment the loan company is more likely to modify the loan and payment, others warn of missing payments which has a bad effect on the credit records. I'm not foolish but if I can make the payment then I think I will. I do have to keep an eye on upcoming expenses which there may be no money to cover, that is a huge concern. The lady at PNC mortgage was very kind and helpful but of course could not tell me not to make the payments. I'll have to do a bunch of praying over this issue to try to get clarity.
Do you have an opinion? my email address is timmustard@yahoo.com and I'd be very glad to hear from you.
This evening a text came in, it was so precious, Timothy was texting to say, "goodnight papa". Now is that a great use of technology or what!
Sorry to report there were no new orders today, lots of best intentions but NO orders.
Sending love to all,
Tim
Sunday, August 22, 2010
A Great Break at Jason and Jo's Home at MBA
Dear Family and Friends,
Since it is nearly midnight this will be short and mostly photos. I'm home after a wonderful relaxing and meaningful trip. The weather was heavenly, just enough sun, light breezes, fog and cool air. The food was great and both Jo and Jason prepared different meals.
I arrived Friday afternoon with fraying nerves and a lot of negative thoughts, so much has happened over the last few years and a lot of it has been pretty awful. Well I sense the trend is not quite over yet but this weekend sure gave it a good break.
Once I was on site I backed in with Jason guiding me, then using the automatic levelers I brought the coach to a nearly perfect level and proceeded to open the slide, unfasten the chairs, turn the front captain chairs around, plug in the electrical power and Jason brought a hose for water pressure. I was set. The frig switched over to electrical power from gas, the water heater began to heat water for showers and such and the furnace began to fight the chilly air. The dogs were very delighted to be on the road and enjoyed their walks on the huge yard.
Timothy was ready to greet me but later became very ill. Fortunately the next morning he was up and healthy again. We lunched at a very good tasting and very slow preparing pizza place in Scotts Valley and enjoyed the day. It ended with special friends of Jason and Jo's coming over, they are always fun to see. For dinner Jo prepared egg plant parm, oh so good, I mean great. Then for breakfast this morning Jason made some vegan waffles which were very good and hearty.
Once breakfast was over we set to work removing a section of vinyl at the entry, stripping away all the glue and got it ready to sand and then stain as natural hardwood. It will look great, sure better than the 20 year old vinyl that was down.
Finally it was time to consider leaving which always makes my heart heavy. I love my kids, they are great individuals and are a delight to be with, all of them and so I finally drove out to head home. The motorhome did a great job of the trip with a perfect performance.
This evening I've restrained myself to stay in the chair and write an appraisal that is due. Now it is completed and emailed to the lender. Feels good to have it finished as it was a tough one. Small ranchette with 8 comparables. I hope they see things my way, I've written a good report.
Well here are few photos, love to all of you, please include me in your prayers, I don't know what this week holds but I hope it holds some orders, please Lord touch the hearts of lenders and help them to remember Steve and me. And speaking of Steve, I've got the girls in the morning so this will be a short night!
Tim
Since it is nearly midnight this will be short and mostly photos. I'm home after a wonderful relaxing and meaningful trip. The weather was heavenly, just enough sun, light breezes, fog and cool air. The food was great and both Jo and Jason prepared different meals.
I arrived Friday afternoon with fraying nerves and a lot of negative thoughts, so much has happened over the last few years and a lot of it has been pretty awful. Well I sense the trend is not quite over yet but this weekend sure gave it a good break.
Once I was on site I backed in with Jason guiding me, then using the automatic levelers I brought the coach to a nearly perfect level and proceeded to open the slide, unfasten the chairs, turn the front captain chairs around, plug in the electrical power and Jason brought a hose for water pressure. I was set. The frig switched over to electrical power from gas, the water heater began to heat water for showers and such and the furnace began to fight the chilly air. The dogs were very delighted to be on the road and enjoyed their walks on the huge yard.
Timothy was ready to greet me but later became very ill. Fortunately the next morning he was up and healthy again. We lunched at a very good tasting and very slow preparing pizza place in Scotts Valley and enjoyed the day. It ended with special friends of Jason and Jo's coming over, they are always fun to see. For dinner Jo prepared egg plant parm, oh so good, I mean great. Then for breakfast this morning Jason made some vegan waffles which were very good and hearty.
Once breakfast was over we set to work removing a section of vinyl at the entry, stripping away all the glue and got it ready to sand and then stain as natural hardwood. It will look great, sure better than the 20 year old vinyl that was down.
Finally it was time to consider leaving which always makes my heart heavy. I love my kids, they are great individuals and are a delight to be with, all of them and so I finally drove out to head home. The motorhome did a great job of the trip with a perfect performance.
This evening I've restrained myself to stay in the chair and write an appraisal that is due. Now it is completed and emailed to the lender. Feels good to have it finished as it was a tough one. Small ranchette with 8 comparables. I hope they see things my way, I've written a good report.
Well here are few photos, love to all of you, please include me in your prayers, I don't know what this week holds but I hope it holds some orders, please Lord touch the hearts of lenders and help them to remember Steve and me. And speaking of Steve, I've got the girls in the morning so this will be a short night!
Tim
Be sure to see Jo, she is so active in spite of being pregnant. See how Timothy is growing. The kite was something Jason brought to the beach and everyone enjoyed it.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
A Peaceful Sabbath Day at MBA
Dear Family and Friends
This has been a really terrific day. The weather has been great and has moved from high fog to afternoon windy to late afternoon beautiful sun. We spent time on the beach and Timothy enjoyed playing with his buckets in the sand. There were many children on the beach and they all played together very well. Jason had brought a kite and several children and big children enjoyed flying the kite high in the air. Gradually the kite sank as the wind died. Then the beach became and even more enjoyable experience. There were many of the students who were competing in building a biblical sand castle contest. They created very elaborate scenes including a huge dragon of gigantic proportions. Finallly we tired of the ocean and Timothy became hungry. After we came back Jo started cooking and we had some very incredible egg plant parmasean. For desert she created peach torts, just so good.
This evening friends came to visit and Timothy enjoyed playing with these special friends. Now he has finally headed to bed and Jason is hovering over me since my laptop will not hook up to his WiFi. We've all tried to make it but so far, no good.
It was has been a wonderful break from the pressures and uncertainties of home, being here and I love it.
I sincerely hope that all of you have enjoyed an excellent weekend, that you are caring for your relationships with love and attention.
Love to all,
tomorrow night I'll have photos from this afternoon.
Tim
This has been a really terrific day. The weather has been great and has moved from high fog to afternoon windy to late afternoon beautiful sun. We spent time on the beach and Timothy enjoyed playing with his buckets in the sand. There were many children on the beach and they all played together very well. Jason had brought a kite and several children and big children enjoyed flying the kite high in the air. Gradually the kite sank as the wind died. Then the beach became and even more enjoyable experience. There were many of the students who were competing in building a biblical sand castle contest. They created very elaborate scenes including a huge dragon of gigantic proportions. Finallly we tired of the ocean and Timothy became hungry. After we came back Jo started cooking and we had some very incredible egg plant parmasean. For desert she created peach torts, just so good.
This evening friends came to visit and Timothy enjoyed playing with these special friends. Now he has finally headed to bed and Jason is hovering over me since my laptop will not hook up to his WiFi. We've all tried to make it but so far, no good.
It was has been a wonderful break from the pressures and uncertainties of home, being here and I love it.
I sincerely hope that all of you have enjoyed an excellent weekend, that you are caring for your relationships with love and attention.
Love to all,
tomorrow night I'll have photos from this afternoon.
Tim
Friday, August 20, 2010
Timothy is not feeling so well
I've arrived at Jason, Jo and Timothy's house and the weather changed from hot to very cool, make that cold. The sky is overcast with fog, the motorhome is all set up level, the doggies think they are in heaven just getting out of the house and I'm beginning to relax.
It has been a tough day, not tough like really bad but just not too good. The emotions that go with heavy concerns re: ones future tend to be downers. Its just hard to be jazzed when your future is uncertain, where are the orders? what does God have up His sleeve?
I spent hours getting all the things ready to submit to the loan company for a loan modification. They needed a mound of paper, copies of checking accounts, tax returns, hardship letter, forms etc. So this afternoon just as I left town I stopped at the post office and $9.50 later the package is on its way. I said a little prayer over the package asking God to guide it through the various channels it must navigate before an decision is reached. I'm told it could be 12 weeks and that seems like forever. Yet it felt very good to have it done and on its way.
Earlier in the morning I followed up with a new management company and after a few minutes I was told I'm approved. I was in shock over their fee schedule. Their standard appraisal is $250, that is for a report I've been charging $375 to $400 for the past 10 years. Yet what is one to do? Stand for principle or work and make at least some money. Doctors have been dealing with this same situation for years, they bill one fee and insurance and medicare pay about 1/2. It certainly feels different when its happening to you. So I end this week with one order. Something has to change but this weekend I'm going to give it a rest.
There is something very magic about coming to MBA and spending time with loved ones. We are less than 2 months from a new little girl addition to the family but Jo is handling it with grace and a very large tummy. This evening Timothy is so sick, he was getting ready for bed and starting losing his dinner. Poor little guy, he is so brave and his loving mother and father are helping him cope with the upset. Takes me back to a time when Jason used to be sick. Oh the joys of parenthood. Timothy has turned into such a beautiful little man with intense eyes and freshly cut hair. He is cute.
I'm about to head to bed. I've not been sleeping very well for a week and it seems I usually end up waking much too early with many things running through my mind. When I'm here I usually sleep very well and I look forward to a nice night with Starr and Lady nearby for protection!
I'm projecting that you will have a good weekend with time to love those who need loving, rest for your emotions and a chance to praise your Maker.
Love
Tim
It has been a tough day, not tough like really bad but just not too good. The emotions that go with heavy concerns re: ones future tend to be downers. Its just hard to be jazzed when your future is uncertain, where are the orders? what does God have up His sleeve?
I spent hours getting all the things ready to submit to the loan company for a loan modification. They needed a mound of paper, copies of checking accounts, tax returns, hardship letter, forms etc. So this afternoon just as I left town I stopped at the post office and $9.50 later the package is on its way. I said a little prayer over the package asking God to guide it through the various channels it must navigate before an decision is reached. I'm told it could be 12 weeks and that seems like forever. Yet it felt very good to have it done and on its way.
Earlier in the morning I followed up with a new management company and after a few minutes I was told I'm approved. I was in shock over their fee schedule. Their standard appraisal is $250, that is for a report I've been charging $375 to $400 for the past 10 years. Yet what is one to do? Stand for principle or work and make at least some money. Doctors have been dealing with this same situation for years, they bill one fee and insurance and medicare pay about 1/2. It certainly feels different when its happening to you. So I end this week with one order. Something has to change but this weekend I'm going to give it a rest.
There is something very magic about coming to MBA and spending time with loved ones. We are less than 2 months from a new little girl addition to the family but Jo is handling it with grace and a very large tummy. This evening Timothy is so sick, he was getting ready for bed and starting losing his dinner. Poor little guy, he is so brave and his loving mother and father are helping him cope with the upset. Takes me back to a time when Jason used to be sick. Oh the joys of parenthood. Timothy has turned into such a beautiful little man with intense eyes and freshly cut hair. He is cute.
I'm about to head to bed. I've not been sleeping very well for a week and it seems I usually end up waking much too early with many things running through my mind. When I'm here I usually sleep very well and I look forward to a nice night with Starr and Lady nearby for protection!
I'm projecting that you will have a good weekend with time to love those who need loving, rest for your emotions and a chance to praise your Maker.
Love
Tim
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Slow day
Dear Family and Friends,
Our wonderful summer weather continues, sure makes one think twice about the supposed global warming threat! While I worked in the office Marilyn has begin the long process of sorting all the appraisal files so they are in order. She does not know when to stop, take a break or put things off for the next day. She is relentless. Well at least tomorrow morning she travels to Sacramento to see her friend and sisters before she returns to the east. That will give her a break.
I am traveling myself tomorrow, traveling to MBA to spend time with Jason, Jo and Timothy, its been over a month since I've seen them for any length of time and I long to see Timothy in action once again. I'll miss Keanna at soccer but we talked and she understands I need to see Timothy too.
This afternoon I received a call from a loan officer in Vegas. He said he was calling because Jerry, my brother, had told him about me being in the business and they often had appraisals up this way and needed someone to order from. So on Monday I'm going to Valley Springs to see a little place, that is good news and doubled my orders for the week to "2". I am so thankful.
Late this afternoon we left for errands, buying stamps, making a deposit, shooting comparable photos for a ranch report, getting a hair cut, having a bean and cheese burrito with Marilyn and Lois. We accomplished all our objectives and are now back home. Of course Marilyn is once again pushing files in her relentless manner, she does not know when to stop but of course I am getting the benefit from having everything files where it needs to go, should help me for a long time to come and once it is caught up Loree can come in a keep it in order. That is once I get enough orders that I once again need her help, oh how I long for that day, she is incredible at what she does and I love having her help. Yet Marilyn has helped get everything caught up for the in between time when I can't afford to have Loree come on a regular basis.
This evening there was a little street fair on the street by the place where I get my hair cut and we wandered around a little bit. After the hair cut I was wishing I could get a photo for E Harmony while it still looked good. At the first table was a group from the Discovery Bay Garden Club and one of the nice ladies was someone I knew from the grief group, Mary Ogden. I have admired her from afar for a couple years, a very courageous fighter who so far is winning over her cancer. She offered to take some shots but didn't know how to email them to me so I'll take my laptop to her house in the morning and download the photos. I think she got a pretty good one and like Marilyn says today I was not wearing a Hawaii shirt, she is down on Hawaii shirts and now I'm thinking I'm not too hot on them all the time either. Anyway I'll get to see where she lives and get the photo as well. Slick huh!
Well its about time to consider going to bed as sleep is hard to achieve with all that is not going on these days. In the last 5 days I've added in about 6 or 7 management companies and not heard from any of them with work. At least the order that came as a result of my brothers urging has me getting into a management company sort of through the back door but who cares, in is in and they think they might have 8 or so a month up this way, that would be nice. When the orders come I will believe but its nice to hope.
So another day has passed. I keep looking for ways to help others, sometimes they pop up, some days go where it seems I help no one. I ask for God to lead every morning but I'm sure many days that is the last time I think about it until night time when my head hits the pillow.
So for this evening I'm signing off and wishing all of you an upcoming great weekend.
Love
tim
Our wonderful summer weather continues, sure makes one think twice about the supposed global warming threat! While I worked in the office Marilyn has begin the long process of sorting all the appraisal files so they are in order. She does not know when to stop, take a break or put things off for the next day. She is relentless. Well at least tomorrow morning she travels to Sacramento to see her friend and sisters before she returns to the east. That will give her a break.
I am traveling myself tomorrow, traveling to MBA to spend time with Jason, Jo and Timothy, its been over a month since I've seen them for any length of time and I long to see Timothy in action once again. I'll miss Keanna at soccer but we talked and she understands I need to see Timothy too.
This afternoon I received a call from a loan officer in Vegas. He said he was calling because Jerry, my brother, had told him about me being in the business and they often had appraisals up this way and needed someone to order from. So on Monday I'm going to Valley Springs to see a little place, that is good news and doubled my orders for the week to "2". I am so thankful.
Late this afternoon we left for errands, buying stamps, making a deposit, shooting comparable photos for a ranch report, getting a hair cut, having a bean and cheese burrito with Marilyn and Lois. We accomplished all our objectives and are now back home. Of course Marilyn is once again pushing files in her relentless manner, she does not know when to stop but of course I am getting the benefit from having everything files where it needs to go, should help me for a long time to come and once it is caught up Loree can come in a keep it in order. That is once I get enough orders that I once again need her help, oh how I long for that day, she is incredible at what she does and I love having her help. Yet Marilyn has helped get everything caught up for the in between time when I can't afford to have Loree come on a regular basis.
This evening there was a little street fair on the street by the place where I get my hair cut and we wandered around a little bit. After the hair cut I was wishing I could get a photo for E Harmony while it still looked good. At the first table was a group from the Discovery Bay Garden Club and one of the nice ladies was someone I knew from the grief group, Mary Ogden. I have admired her from afar for a couple years, a very courageous fighter who so far is winning over her cancer. She offered to take some shots but didn't know how to email them to me so I'll take my laptop to her house in the morning and download the photos. I think she got a pretty good one and like Marilyn says today I was not wearing a Hawaii shirt, she is down on Hawaii shirts and now I'm thinking I'm not too hot on them all the time either. Anyway I'll get to see where she lives and get the photo as well. Slick huh!
Well its about time to consider going to bed as sleep is hard to achieve with all that is not going on these days. In the last 5 days I've added in about 6 or 7 management companies and not heard from any of them with work. At least the order that came as a result of my brothers urging has me getting into a management company sort of through the back door but who cares, in is in and they think they might have 8 or so a month up this way, that would be nice. When the orders come I will believe but its nice to hope.
So another day has passed. I keep looking for ways to help others, sometimes they pop up, some days go where it seems I help no one. I ask for God to lead every morning but I'm sure many days that is the last time I think about it until night time when my head hits the pillow.
So for this evening I'm signing off and wishing all of you an upcoming great weekend.
Love
tim
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Keanna comes to visit this afternoon
Things always get more interesting when Keanna joins the party.
This morning I worked on a report and then at 12:45 we drove down to pick up her highness. We then went to McDonalds and ended up at Straw Hat for salads while Keanna had her snack. Then we ventured into the Block Bluster Video store that is closing where Keanna picked up a couple movies for the house. Then it was home for homework and off to gymnastics class.
Later I went to spin class where Nikki joined me. It was a grueling workout and at this moment I'm very very tired and sleepy which means this will be a very short blog this evening. On the good news side some money came in the mail today and on the bad news so far there has only been 1 order this week. In spite of getting on all these new management companies approved lists still there are no orders. I'm praying that the dam will break and some orders will come slamming into the office.
Good night friend and family member,
Love
tim
This morning I worked on a report and then at 12:45 we drove down to pick up her highness. We then went to McDonalds and ended up at Straw Hat for salads while Keanna had her snack. Then we ventured into the Block Bluster Video store that is closing where Keanna picked up a couple movies for the house. Then it was home for homework and off to gymnastics class.
Later I went to spin class where Nikki joined me. It was a grueling workout and at this moment I'm very very tired and sleepy which means this will be a very short blog this evening. On the good news side some money came in the mail today and on the bad news so far there has only been 1 order this week. In spite of getting on all these new management companies approved lists still there are no orders. I'm praying that the dam will break and some orders will come slamming into the office.
Good night friend and family member,
Love
tim
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Progress, Saint Marilyn rules........
This afternoon Marilyn completed the process of putting the checks into the system. Having that completed means I was able to run statements in an effort to discover who still owes money for past work. Turns out it is over $5,000 that is owed presently for work already completed and shipped out. I have all those statements printed, folded and inserted into envelopes, stamped and ready to mail out. What a blessing it is to know where I stand financially instead of just guessing and not able to bill anyone. She has worked tirelessly in a less than comfortable office and I thank her for her efforts.
After walking the three miles this morning with Ken I had a local inspection. It was one of those homes that you would just love to move into. 5 acres of orchards, inground pool, wonderful pool house, barn, perfect landscaping and well appointed home. Wow is all I can say. It was a real delight to inspect it and meet the owner who does something with photoelectric cells and obviously has made a success of it.
The papers are just about ready to be sent to the mortgage company to seek a loan adjustment, yes I know it could take 12 weeks but one has to start somewhere and at some point in time.
Late this afternoon a friend who has been in the mortgage business for many years called to ask if I was still in the business. She said many of her appraiser friends have quit totally. Once I confirmed that yes I'm still in the business she said that the contact she uses to process her loans ask her for the names of three appraisers she trusted and promised that they would use one of the three for all of her loans. So she wanted to submit my name. In the morning I'll start the process of getting on their list. I'm on so many lists now that if everyone of them would order one report a week I'd be way too busy, wouldn't that be nice!
This evening Marilyn said she thought someone was at the door so I checked and there was a very nice lady there, in fact a young couple who were interested in the motorhome so I went out, turned on the lights and let them see it. They are selling their van conversion in fact listing it tonight on EBay and hope to be able to purchase something else. They can't afford what the motorhome is really worth but my lender has already said they would take a short sale so tomorrow I'll call and find out if they are serious. Who knows the motorhome might be gone sooner than later. I cancelled the storage place today saving $75 a month in the process.
Poor little Starr is failing so fast these days. My dear little pug has trouble moving around, her hind legs do not work well sometimes. I don't know if I should take her for walks or let her rest. It breaks my heart to think of losing her, she is such a special buddy and I love her like she was a human being.
Well thats about it for tonight, sending love to all
Tim
If I knew how to rotate the photo I would. This is Starr in her younger days.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Could it be a sign?
This morning I drove to Nikki and Steve's at 6:30 and while I was sitting in a recliner my ipod made a soft sound indicating new emails had arrived. Once I checked them I was delighted to find one from 360 Mortgage which has an internal management company that I've tried for two months to join. On Friday it did not look so good, they had questions regarding tax issues. On Sunday I decided to write a formal letter explaining to the best of my ability how things had happened. So this morning the email that said the letter was helpful and I was approved was great news indeed. And then as I scrolled down I discovered that I had a new order from yet a different management company. It was a very nice start to the day.
The girls were great, Keanna was sleepy but dressed quickly and had breakfast in the car as we drove to school. Kallie was up and ready for the day, helped me put her clothes on and helped me wake up sister too. Once I had them placed I came back to the home office and set up the order, did the research for it and made the appointment. Marilyn and I drove to Emeryville this afternoon, inspected the cute little house, then went to the Oakland hills to shoot some other comps and headed home. It felt good to have work again. When I got home I discovered yet another new order but then 30 minutes later it was removed, not sure what that was about, perhaps I'll find out tomorrow.
Now its time to head to bed. I'm so sleepy and have been for the last few hours, I slept very poorly last night, just too much internal confusion going on to keep it asleep. It happens to us all at times, just now is my time.
In spite of everything there is much to be very thankful for. I feel so humbled by the incredible beauty of the little people, Kallie, Keanna, Timothy and the new little girl who will soon be with us all. Talk about a blessing I do not deserve but I totally enjoy.
So now I bid you good night.
Love
tim
The girls were great, Keanna was sleepy but dressed quickly and had breakfast in the car as we drove to school. Kallie was up and ready for the day, helped me put her clothes on and helped me wake up sister too. Once I had them placed I came back to the home office and set up the order, did the research for it and made the appointment. Marilyn and I drove to Emeryville this afternoon, inspected the cute little house, then went to the Oakland hills to shoot some other comps and headed home. It felt good to have work again. When I got home I discovered yet another new order but then 30 minutes later it was removed, not sure what that was about, perhaps I'll find out tomorrow.
Now its time to head to bed. I'm so sleepy and have been for the last few hours, I slept very poorly last night, just too much internal confusion going on to keep it asleep. It happens to us all at times, just now is my time.
In spite of everything there is much to be very thankful for. I feel so humbled by the incredible beauty of the little people, Kallie, Keanna, Timothy and the new little girl who will soon be with us all. Talk about a blessing I do not deserve but I totally enjoy.
So now I bid you good night.
Love
tim
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Passing through the slough of despond, supported by friends and family
Dear Readers,
No matter what time I got to bed I'm awake at 5 with things roiling through my mind, it gets irritating as I really like to get enough sleep.
Today Ken and I walked which was very good, then I tried to figure out how to proceed but it was so much work instead after an excellent breakfast of fried eggs, toast and steel cut oats with strawberries I fell asleep. Ray called to seek a ride to Fremont where he had purchased a work truck so we piled into the bug and headed that way. I had filled it with diesel this morning after checking out Nikki and Steve's yard sale. So I was ready to travel. Frankly it felt good to do something for someone else for a change. Marilyn rode shotgun in the back seat of the bug, now I've got to tell you, that is NOT a pleasant place to ride but she did it without grumbling and made it look fun. Of course Ray had to go by Harbor Freight, a very interesting place to visit if you have money, any money. We then delivered him to his truck and we headed home via Taco Bell, Arby's for Marilyn, then Home Depot to return something and finally home again.
After he got home and showed Lois his new purchase they came over for a minute and Ray looked over some papers that I need to submit to get my loan payment reduced, I've even heard of someone getting a loan payment cut in half, that would be a huge help in this survival process. Tomorrow I'll keep pursuing more management companies, the loan remodification process but first in the morning I have the girls since Steve leaves early for work. That will be the high light of the day, helping the little ones get ready for their day.
This morning when I pulled up at the yard sale Kallie was racing around trying on shoes and boots, playing with the toys that were for sale and charming the customers. Keanna was shopping at the neighbors yard sale. I hope they sold lots of things today.
Can I ask for your prayers once again as the new week arrives. I am praying for God's leading, for His opening and closing of doors, for new orders, for new clients, for old clients. I am willing to work hard, long hours, travel great distances but first I need the orders. I am also well onto the path of reducing the amount it takes to live, the motorhome rental agreement came today so that is one possibility as well, they suggest a rental amount of $960 a week and that minus their commission would certainly help cover expenses. Its either than or the motorhome must be sold.
Thanks for hanging in with me, this is a challenging time for many and I'm getting a bit of the challenging reality myself.
Tonight I wish to thank Dolly, Sylvia, Art, Nikki and Steve, Marilyn, Jason and Jo and my brother Jerry, they have all called or written today and what a lift talking to them has been, what insights they have shared.
Love to all
Tim
ps Timothy took to the stage to help his daddy with song service on Sabbath, talk about cute!
No matter what time I got to bed I'm awake at 5 with things roiling through my mind, it gets irritating as I really like to get enough sleep.
Today Ken and I walked which was very good, then I tried to figure out how to proceed but it was so much work instead after an excellent breakfast of fried eggs, toast and steel cut oats with strawberries I fell asleep. Ray called to seek a ride to Fremont where he had purchased a work truck so we piled into the bug and headed that way. I had filled it with diesel this morning after checking out Nikki and Steve's yard sale. So I was ready to travel. Frankly it felt good to do something for someone else for a change. Marilyn rode shotgun in the back seat of the bug, now I've got to tell you, that is NOT a pleasant place to ride but she did it without grumbling and made it look fun. Of course Ray had to go by Harbor Freight, a very interesting place to visit if you have money, any money. We then delivered him to his truck and we headed home via Taco Bell, Arby's for Marilyn, then Home Depot to return something and finally home again.
After he got home and showed Lois his new purchase they came over for a minute and Ray looked over some papers that I need to submit to get my loan payment reduced, I've even heard of someone getting a loan payment cut in half, that would be a huge help in this survival process. Tomorrow I'll keep pursuing more management companies, the loan remodification process but first in the morning I have the girls since Steve leaves early for work. That will be the high light of the day, helping the little ones get ready for their day.
This morning when I pulled up at the yard sale Kallie was racing around trying on shoes and boots, playing with the toys that were for sale and charming the customers. Keanna was shopping at the neighbors yard sale. I hope they sold lots of things today.
Can I ask for your prayers once again as the new week arrives. I am praying for God's leading, for His opening and closing of doors, for new orders, for new clients, for old clients. I am willing to work hard, long hours, travel great distances but first I need the orders. I am also well onto the path of reducing the amount it takes to live, the motorhome rental agreement came today so that is one possibility as well, they suggest a rental amount of $960 a week and that minus their commission would certainly help cover expenses. Its either than or the motorhome must be sold.
Thanks for hanging in with me, this is a challenging time for many and I'm getting a bit of the challenging reality myself.
Tonight I wish to thank Dolly, Sylvia, Art, Nikki and Steve, Marilyn, Jason and Jo and my brother Jerry, they have all called or written today and what a lift talking to them has been, what insights they have shared.
Love to all
Tim
ps Timothy took to the stage to help his daddy with song service on Sabbath, talk about cute!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Our weather is so perfect
Dear Family and Friends,
The weather has just been amazing today and I've been out in it quite a bit. Keanna has entered the wonderful world of soccer and played in her second game today. While some might wonder why I would prefer attending a soccer game instead of sitting in church for me its pretty easy. In life words are easy to mouth, easy to use, words like family comes first, investing in little people is always the right thing to do, etc. At this point in time Nikki and Steve have decided to expose Keanna to soccer, she has her little uniform, shin protectors, special shoes and outfit. She is going to practice several times a week and plays on Saturday morning. Games times range from 8:30 to something past noon. The games are played in Brentwood on a field created next to a new shopping mall and there can be at least 4 games played at the same time due to the huge size of the fields.
Today Keanna's team, Lucky Charms, were down two goals when they started to play better as a team and for the last quarter Keanna was goalie. Well this is a proud Papa writing but she did pretty well for her second game ever. She hustled back and forth grabbing the ball again and again once it got into her area. The coach told her she made three saves and her team went on to get more goals, 3 to 2. Last week they lost 8 to 0. Keanna is playing better and is the smallest little girl on the field but she is fast and quick so she gets her kicks in. We were all yelling like made encouragement to her and she could hear us I know. It was a super experience for all of us, Steve, Nikki, Marilyn, Kallie and Papa as we sat lined up in our chairs in the sun. While I love to take the girls to their Sabbath School programs and I believe that is a very good experience right now I've decided to be there for Keanna, every week she asks me if I can come, will I be there and I love it, the chance to be in such a precious little life where people are everything.
As we move through life we constantly encounter forks in the road where choices have to be made, many of the decisions are fraught with uncertainty but they still have to be made. As Marilyn and I were munching our food from In N Out Burger under a shade tree and talking through what I should do to try to reduce the cost of living the motorhome came up for discussion. A friend had pointed out a web site that helps people rent their motorhomes out for several weeks a year. I have visited that web site and frankly I'm going to give it a try. I have decided that either I rent the coach out or it must be sold. It is a luxury that I cannot afford at this point in my life. Few of you will understand what a bitter pill that is as I dearly love the motorhome, the freedom it offers, the joy it brings to me and the chance to travel in safety and comfort. However something, in fact many somethings have to give and everything in my monthly budget is up for review. That is not a hardship but a reality, millions of people are doing it all the time. Steve spoke to me today about taking the 92 gallon reef (salt water) tank off my hands. I've never learned how to keep it pristine clean like Steve does his tanks and it costs me quite a bit every month for the power that runs the two pumps, the light, the chiller and there is money for frozen fish food as well, plus money for salt water to do water exchanges. It is the loss of a memory for me, Nan loved her tank and she and Steve became experts on the keeping of salt water fish. It was her passion and I have kept it going out of love for her but its time to move forward and do what is vital for now. Steve has a huge tank that a homeowner gave me one day at an inspection. It is a huge beautiful tank that he has never been able to set up. With the fish and live rock from my tank, the light and the pumps he will have a start on his new tank and I know what his tanks look like, they are so beautiful they remind you of diving in Hawaii or even better.
I'm learning about myself that part of the reason I hate change so much is I'm stubborn, unwilling to dream new dreams, accept new realities and take risks. Does that sound familiar to any of you? Do you hate change? Uncertainties? Risk?
Life is this huge risk, chance, gamble and we all have to face it, move forward into it, keep renewing it.
So hold on for the adventure to come!
love
Tim
The weather has just been amazing today and I've been out in it quite a bit. Keanna has entered the wonderful world of soccer and played in her second game today. While some might wonder why I would prefer attending a soccer game instead of sitting in church for me its pretty easy. In life words are easy to mouth, easy to use, words like family comes first, investing in little people is always the right thing to do, etc. At this point in time Nikki and Steve have decided to expose Keanna to soccer, she has her little uniform, shin protectors, special shoes and outfit. She is going to practice several times a week and plays on Saturday morning. Games times range from 8:30 to something past noon. The games are played in Brentwood on a field created next to a new shopping mall and there can be at least 4 games played at the same time due to the huge size of the fields.
Today Keanna's team, Lucky Charms, were down two goals when they started to play better as a team and for the last quarter Keanna was goalie. Well this is a proud Papa writing but she did pretty well for her second game ever. She hustled back and forth grabbing the ball again and again once it got into her area. The coach told her she made three saves and her team went on to get more goals, 3 to 2. Last week they lost 8 to 0. Keanna is playing better and is the smallest little girl on the field but she is fast and quick so she gets her kicks in. We were all yelling like made encouragement to her and she could hear us I know. It was a super experience for all of us, Steve, Nikki, Marilyn, Kallie and Papa as we sat lined up in our chairs in the sun. While I love to take the girls to their Sabbath School programs and I believe that is a very good experience right now I've decided to be there for Keanna, every week she asks me if I can come, will I be there and I love it, the chance to be in such a precious little life where people are everything.
As we move through life we constantly encounter forks in the road where choices have to be made, many of the decisions are fraught with uncertainty but they still have to be made. As Marilyn and I were munching our food from In N Out Burger under a shade tree and talking through what I should do to try to reduce the cost of living the motorhome came up for discussion. A friend had pointed out a web site that helps people rent their motorhomes out for several weeks a year. I have visited that web site and frankly I'm going to give it a try. I have decided that either I rent the coach out or it must be sold. It is a luxury that I cannot afford at this point in my life. Few of you will understand what a bitter pill that is as I dearly love the motorhome, the freedom it offers, the joy it brings to me and the chance to travel in safety and comfort. However something, in fact many somethings have to give and everything in my monthly budget is up for review. That is not a hardship but a reality, millions of people are doing it all the time. Steve spoke to me today about taking the 92 gallon reef (salt water) tank off my hands. I've never learned how to keep it pristine clean like Steve does his tanks and it costs me quite a bit every month for the power that runs the two pumps, the light, the chiller and there is money for frozen fish food as well, plus money for salt water to do water exchanges. It is the loss of a memory for me, Nan loved her tank and she and Steve became experts on the keeping of salt water fish. It was her passion and I have kept it going out of love for her but its time to move forward and do what is vital for now. Steve has a huge tank that a homeowner gave me one day at an inspection. It is a huge beautiful tank that he has never been able to set up. With the fish and live rock from my tank, the light and the pumps he will have a start on his new tank and I know what his tanks look like, they are so beautiful they remind you of diving in Hawaii or even better.
I'm learning about myself that part of the reason I hate change so much is I'm stubborn, unwilling to dream new dreams, accept new realities and take risks. Does that sound familiar to any of you? Do you hate change? Uncertainties? Risk?
Life is this huge risk, chance, gamble and we all have to face it, move forward into it, keep renewing it.
So hold on for the adventure to come!
love
Tim
Friday, August 13, 2010
Pushing paper, looking for work!
Good evening,
This has been a day of working through mounds of paper, managing to land on at least three management company approved lists, cleaning up details, faxing and emailing proof of errors and omissions to clients and searching for orders. Finally late this afternoon an honest to goodness order arrived pushing the weekly total up to an amazing 3. This one is located nearby in Byron but when I read the order it said it had been ordered on the 7th and was due back the 11th. Well therein lies a problem. Today is the 13th, not the 7th. There is this huge layer of busy people pushing paper, talking to each other and they do not help the system in any way. They stand between the people who need to order reports and the people who do the reports and charge a small fortune for paying the orders from one side to the other. One company is holding up my approval since I have a tax lien from the state over a very small tax amount.
Oh how maddening this whole process is. Meanwhile it is the 13th and another day without money in the mail. I despair about when money will ever come again even though I've been busy for the last few weeks writing reports, the pay might be 45 days away still. I was so unsure of where to turn this morning, of how to proceed, I just felt the weight of the whole world at least my little world pushing down on me. Eventually I fried some eggs and made good wheat toast, had grapes and juice and started in on the pile of paper that has grown. Whatever came up next I faced it and solved it. There were some quick results. I took an hour filling out paperwork for AMCSS, a management company that looked like it has its act together and about an hour later an email came back saying I was approved, that was nice. I finished the paperwork for obtaining $63 the state has of mine, Phyllis pointed it out to me long ago and I'm finally getting all the documents filled out and out the door. I made my kids the recipients of the life insurance policy which is substantial, it went to Nan before. I just kept wading until at this point I'm near the bottom of the stack.
Meanwhile Marilyn had taken up her post in the lower office and began to work on the files. By this afternoon she had nearly worked her way through the entire stack of paperwork. She loves to file and really did a great job of it. I miss Loree so much but of course with the tiny volume of work I'm doing I can't afford to have her help anymore.
This evening we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory with the girls. Now that was fun. In fact so fun I've included a couple photos of our time there. So a tough day ended well.
I'm still not sure how to process what is taking place, I do not want to over react nor do I want to be complacent. I think the coming week will help things become more clear.
For now its Sabbath and we can just put away lots of this scary stuff and rest in Him.
Love to all and thanks for your many FB birthday greetings and cards. I appreciate every one of them very much.
Tim
This has been a day of working through mounds of paper, managing to land on at least three management company approved lists, cleaning up details, faxing and emailing proof of errors and omissions to clients and searching for orders. Finally late this afternoon an honest to goodness order arrived pushing the weekly total up to an amazing 3. This one is located nearby in Byron but when I read the order it said it had been ordered on the 7th and was due back the 11th. Well therein lies a problem. Today is the 13th, not the 7th. There is this huge layer of busy people pushing paper, talking to each other and they do not help the system in any way. They stand between the people who need to order reports and the people who do the reports and charge a small fortune for paying the orders from one side to the other. One company is holding up my approval since I have a tax lien from the state over a very small tax amount.
Oh how maddening this whole process is. Meanwhile it is the 13th and another day without money in the mail. I despair about when money will ever come again even though I've been busy for the last few weeks writing reports, the pay might be 45 days away still. I was so unsure of where to turn this morning, of how to proceed, I just felt the weight of the whole world at least my little world pushing down on me. Eventually I fried some eggs and made good wheat toast, had grapes and juice and started in on the pile of paper that has grown. Whatever came up next I faced it and solved it. There were some quick results. I took an hour filling out paperwork for AMCSS, a management company that looked like it has its act together and about an hour later an email came back saying I was approved, that was nice. I finished the paperwork for obtaining $63 the state has of mine, Phyllis pointed it out to me long ago and I'm finally getting all the documents filled out and out the door. I made my kids the recipients of the life insurance policy which is substantial, it went to Nan before. I just kept wading until at this point I'm near the bottom of the stack.
Meanwhile Marilyn had taken up her post in the lower office and began to work on the files. By this afternoon she had nearly worked her way through the entire stack of paperwork. She loves to file and really did a great job of it. I miss Loree so much but of course with the tiny volume of work I'm doing I can't afford to have her help anymore.
This evening we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory with the girls. Now that was fun. In fact so fun I've included a couple photos of our time there. So a tough day ended well.
I'm still not sure how to process what is taking place, I do not want to over react nor do I want to be complacent. I think the coming week will help things become more clear.
For now its Sabbath and we can just put away lots of this scary stuff and rest in Him.
Love to all and thanks for your many FB birthday greetings and cards. I appreciate every one of them very much.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Ship sinking slowly, hope for rescue dimming, news at 11!
Dear Family and Friends,
Another day without funds in the mail, my last regular client informed me today that their managers have decided to use management companies instead of have them order, no new orders, where does one go from here?
At this point I have one report left to write up and then I'm completely caught up. At that point I'll shift to working the management companies full time until something breaks loose. I got word today that another company has put me on their approved list to use, of course no orders but another yes, better than no.
The highpoint of this day came at 4:15 when I picked up the girls and took Keanna to soccer practice at a local park, dedicated coaches work with these little ones honing them to focus their kicks, keep their eyes on the ball and run run run. Kallie played nearby and then came to watch her big sissy play. Nikki arrived to watch the action and to cheer Keanna on. Getting over concerns about being stepped on or kicked will take awhile. We are making progress though and she is running her little heart out on the field. It was a drastic change of pace after fretting over writing two reports up today and getting them to the lender ahead of time, thinking about the absence of orders and wondering how in the world I'm going to be able to cover the daily bills. To just lay on the grass and watch the little tykes race around and pursue the ball, to see the excitement and joy when the foot and the ball connect, good stuff.
I read some very interesting articles today about my professions. For years the balance was there between the needs and the numbers of appraisers, then in the boom years schools pushed the idea that becoming an appraiser was a great way to riches and thousands joined our ranks. Now we are stuck with them and while some are quitting not enough have moved out yet to clear the way for experienced appraisers to make a living. One set of numbers was rather startling today, 27% of homeowners are behind on their loan payments and 47% are behind if they have one of the funny loans, interest only or high interest or no money down type. Nearly half of these will go under and 90% of homes in California have loans that are higher than the homes are worth. This is going to take some time to get through and its going to get worse before it gets better is my opinion. Getting some new blood in congress will help stop the stupid spending but to get this buggy turned around completely will take some time.
At this point I'm still sleeping pretty well. I tend to wake up early every morning filled with concern and dread about the day but after the walk things seem more possible. I would appreciate your prayers so I'll know how to cooperate with the Lord as He leads and opens and closes doors. Right now it seems like there are so many bills, its like trying to keep water in a bucket that just got shot with a shotgun, how do you plug all the holes where money runs out? Its a challenge for sure.
This evening Marilyn, Lois and I took my certificate for a free mini pizza to Straw Hat, got the little pizza and salads thanks to Marilyn's generosity, then we hit up Nikki's house for some cake and ice cream. It was a very nice end to a troubled day.
Love to all,
Tim
Another day without funds in the mail, my last regular client informed me today that their managers have decided to use management companies instead of have them order, no new orders, where does one go from here?
At this point I have one report left to write up and then I'm completely caught up. At that point I'll shift to working the management companies full time until something breaks loose. I got word today that another company has put me on their approved list to use, of course no orders but another yes, better than no.
The highpoint of this day came at 4:15 when I picked up the girls and took Keanna to soccer practice at a local park, dedicated coaches work with these little ones honing them to focus their kicks, keep their eyes on the ball and run run run. Kallie played nearby and then came to watch her big sissy play. Nikki arrived to watch the action and to cheer Keanna on. Getting over concerns about being stepped on or kicked will take awhile. We are making progress though and she is running her little heart out on the field. It was a drastic change of pace after fretting over writing two reports up today and getting them to the lender ahead of time, thinking about the absence of orders and wondering how in the world I'm going to be able to cover the daily bills. To just lay on the grass and watch the little tykes race around and pursue the ball, to see the excitement and joy when the foot and the ball connect, good stuff.
I read some very interesting articles today about my professions. For years the balance was there between the needs and the numbers of appraisers, then in the boom years schools pushed the idea that becoming an appraiser was a great way to riches and thousands joined our ranks. Now we are stuck with them and while some are quitting not enough have moved out yet to clear the way for experienced appraisers to make a living. One set of numbers was rather startling today, 27% of homeowners are behind on their loan payments and 47% are behind if they have one of the funny loans, interest only or high interest or no money down type. Nearly half of these will go under and 90% of homes in California have loans that are higher than the homes are worth. This is going to take some time to get through and its going to get worse before it gets better is my opinion. Getting some new blood in congress will help stop the stupid spending but to get this buggy turned around completely will take some time.
At this point I'm still sleeping pretty well. I tend to wake up early every morning filled with concern and dread about the day but after the walk things seem more possible. I would appreciate your prayers so I'll know how to cooperate with the Lord as He leads and opens and closes doors. Right now it seems like there are so many bills, its like trying to keep water in a bucket that just got shot with a shotgun, how do you plug all the holes where money runs out? Its a challenge for sure.
This evening Marilyn, Lois and I took my certificate for a free mini pizza to Straw Hat, got the little pizza and salads thanks to Marilyn's generosity, then we hit up Nikki's house for some cake and ice cream. It was a very nice end to a troubled day.
Love to all,
Tim
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
An afternoon in the park
Sometimes you just have to take a meaningful break. This afternoon after collecting Kallie from the sitters I just headed to the park. I knew Nikki was coming soon but for a few minutes it was just magic observing the two girls enjoying the swings, the slides, the money bars and the warm afternoon sunny air. Kallie tried her hand at the big swings today. I showed her how to hold on to the chain and hold on she did, she gripped the chains, kept her balance and sat in the swing for several minutes with a huge grin on her face. She was being like sister. She loved the slides and would shout out, ready or not here I come and then race down the slide. Keanna was hanging from the monkey bars going back and forth like they were nothing and Kallie kept an eye on her and you could see that she wants to try it so badly but at 2 years old, well thats a bit early. Eventually their mother arrived and then they were off to another big adventure but for a few minutes I was in bliss land with no money worries, no order worries, just the job of little ones loving life.
Why is it we forget how to live? To breath, to relax, to soak in the warmth of the sun or observe the ducks as they paddle by? Days race by and they have contained little pleasure, minimal peace but are jammed with stress and concern. It takes getting into the old motorhome for me to begin to relax and once I've herded it down the road to the destination then I can unwind, sleep like a baby and pretend that everything is OK. I'm considering it this weekend, to take an overnighter somewhere for a change of pace, and why do I have to do that when I live on a nice lake with pleasant breezes stirring the water? I really can't fully explain it but I know I'm more relaxed at Jason and Jo's place by the sea than I am at home.
This is the strangest time work wise. No orders, almost no calls from a myriad of clients who used to order, there is almost nothing happening in the whole industry right now. I now hear experts predicting that we won't recover for at least the next 7 years, frankly I don't have that long, I'll be on the street if that happens but of course living on or near the street would involve a lot less stress, well I think so.
This evening we had a lovely dinner with my friends Ron and Lydia Samoian at their home here in Discovery Bay. The food was perfect, the conversation fun and it was a rare moment to relax and socialize. They are just back from trips to Australia, New Zealand and to attend the reception for Melissa and Ryan on the east coast. Oh to travel again, sure would be nice but then I think about all the traveling we did for years once Nan became a travel agent and found the deals. Of course many of the trips were medical related but they were still trips and we mostly loved them. Easy to forget good times and past blessings that were precious.
So I bid you a goodnight now,
love
tim
Why is it we forget how to live? To breath, to relax, to soak in the warmth of the sun or observe the ducks as they paddle by? Days race by and they have contained little pleasure, minimal peace but are jammed with stress and concern. It takes getting into the old motorhome for me to begin to relax and once I've herded it down the road to the destination then I can unwind, sleep like a baby and pretend that everything is OK. I'm considering it this weekend, to take an overnighter somewhere for a change of pace, and why do I have to do that when I live on a nice lake with pleasant breezes stirring the water? I really can't fully explain it but I know I'm more relaxed at Jason and Jo's place by the sea than I am at home.
This is the strangest time work wise. No orders, almost no calls from a myriad of clients who used to order, there is almost nothing happening in the whole industry right now. I now hear experts predicting that we won't recover for at least the next 7 years, frankly I don't have that long, I'll be on the street if that happens but of course living on or near the street would involve a lot less stress, well I think so.
This evening we had a lovely dinner with my friends Ron and Lydia Samoian at their home here in Discovery Bay. The food was perfect, the conversation fun and it was a rare moment to relax and socialize. They are just back from trips to Australia, New Zealand and to attend the reception for Melissa and Ryan on the east coast. Oh to travel again, sure would be nice but then I think about all the traveling we did for years once Nan became a travel agent and found the deals. Of course many of the trips were medical related but they were still trips and we mostly loved them. Easy to forget good times and past blessings that were precious.
So I bid you a goodnight now,
love
tim
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
62 and loving it so far
Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you for the many birthday greetings that have come through Face Book today. I am overwhelmed by the warmth and caring expressed there and in other email cards and cards in the mail. After periods of feeling pretty well alone this day and its affirmations has been very sweet.
Ken and I walked this morning, then it was back to work. An order had come in last night so I made the appointment and Marilyn and I drove there this afternoon at 2:40 to see the house. She read in the shade while I worked, its OK, I made money and she read in the shade.
For lunch we had gone to Red Robin where an email had promised a free burger. It was great and I had a side salad with it but no fries. After reading about how loaded fries are with bad stuff we both decided to forgo them and be good for a change salads. But after the meal they brought me this wonderful hot fudge sundae. Now we are talking pretty good stuff. Oh my, about 900 calories I think.
This evening Nikki invited us over for dinner. She made the most delicious dinner with everything I love. What a feast and I got to bring the rest home afterwards, more great news. The girls were in a happy mood, sang to me, performed musical numbers and were a total delight. Having little people in my life means so much, especially at a time when many things seem up for grabs, the little ones ground me to what is really important and I thank God for my kids and their kids.
This morning a very special friend appeared at my door at about 8:30, now mind you she lives a ways away and it was so surprising and exciting to see her. She brought some very beautiful balloons, share a very special prayer with me and was just a total inspiration. It warmed my heart so much. There are friends who really care. Wow.
The one thing I had thought would be nice to get for a gift for my birthday was head bands, to control the sweat when I'm working out and don't really want to wear a hat. Marilyn gave me two today, thank you Marilyn for that special gift. The girls had prepared some special pictures for me and even made a card. These were tucked into a birthday card. Talk about special.
Thank you for the many birthday greetings that have come through Face Book today. I am overwhelmed by the warmth and caring expressed there and in other email cards and cards in the mail. After periods of feeling pretty well alone this day and its affirmations has been very sweet.
Ken and I walked this morning, then it was back to work. An order had come in last night so I made the appointment and Marilyn and I drove there this afternoon at 2:40 to see the house. She read in the shade while I worked, its OK, I made money and she read in the shade.
For lunch we had gone to Red Robin where an email had promised a free burger. It was great and I had a side salad with it but no fries. After reading about how loaded fries are with bad stuff we both decided to forgo them and be good for a change salads. But after the meal they brought me this wonderful hot fudge sundae. Now we are talking pretty good stuff. Oh my, about 900 calories I think.
This evening Nikki invited us over for dinner. She made the most delicious dinner with everything I love. What a feast and I got to bring the rest home afterwards, more great news. The girls were in a happy mood, sang to me, performed musical numbers and were a total delight. Having little people in my life means so much, especially at a time when many things seem up for grabs, the little ones ground me to what is really important and I thank God for my kids and their kids.
This morning a very special friend appeared at my door at about 8:30, now mind you she lives a ways away and it was so surprising and exciting to see her. She brought some very beautiful balloons, share a very special prayer with me and was just a total inspiration. It warmed my heart so much. There are friends who really care. Wow.
The one thing I had thought would be nice to get for a gift for my birthday was head bands, to control the sweat when I'm working out and don't really want to wear a hat. Marilyn gave me two today, thank you Marilyn for that special gift. The girls had prepared some special pictures for me and even made a card. These were tucked into a birthday card. Talk about special.
So I've shared some photos from today. You see Lady and Starr, beautiful balloons from this morning and Kallie and Keanna this evening fresh from their baths and full of energy and love.
Love to all,
Tim
Monday, August 9, 2010
Productive day
Hi
This morning after we walked I left for San Rafael. The drive over was very enjoyable, I had a good book playing, had a 0 calorie ice tea and a water while I drove and arrived nearly on time. What a place. Purchased about 3 years ago the owners have constructed a Tahoe Blue gunite pool, have made many upgrades and the entire property is beautiful. Beyond the property one can see coastal mountains in the distance, everything is green, lots are large and well landscaped. There are reasons the values are so high there, it is just a stunning place to live. Once I completed the inspection and shot the comps I headed back to the office. Steve had completed a report we were working on together and emailed it over so I could lock it up and send it out. Then I settled down to work and spent the afternoon writing. The computer worked well with no lingering effects of the bad times last night.
At 5:12 I drove to Brentwood to Weight Watchers where the scales did not have good news but the following meeting was very helpful as usual, I think WW is really great.
As soon as the meeting let out I scooted over to the gym for a machine workout and about half way through Nikki showed up, looking very worn out. She had just been in some very stressful workout class and was recovering. We walked over and got to see the girls, they both were very happy to see their Papa, how that warms my heart.
Then I went back to the machines and they headed home for dinner. Once I was completed with the club I drove to Mountain House for a quick inspection, yep, the power was on finally so now the loan can close and the new owners can move in.
Once I got home I made a fried egg sandwich. Jerry mentioned having one the other day and its been in my mind. So yummy and on the 100 calorie bread too.
Marilyn finally made it home after being stopped cold on the levee road due to an accident. After a long time of waiting she finally was able to make it through and she is so glad to finally be back in her own room and bathroom with a nice shower.
Now I'm heading to bed. No money in the mail today which was very disappointing. One wonders what comes next. I've had a very successful day with many safe miles driven. This evening a new order arrived which was a great event. Its hard to remember when they used to come in 10 a day and it took a team of appraisers to get to all of them. Money flowed like water, how times change for so many of us.
Love to all,
Tim
This morning after we walked I left for San Rafael. The drive over was very enjoyable, I had a good book playing, had a 0 calorie ice tea and a water while I drove and arrived nearly on time. What a place. Purchased about 3 years ago the owners have constructed a Tahoe Blue gunite pool, have made many upgrades and the entire property is beautiful. Beyond the property one can see coastal mountains in the distance, everything is green, lots are large and well landscaped. There are reasons the values are so high there, it is just a stunning place to live. Once I completed the inspection and shot the comps I headed back to the office. Steve had completed a report we were working on together and emailed it over so I could lock it up and send it out. Then I settled down to work and spent the afternoon writing. The computer worked well with no lingering effects of the bad times last night.
At 5:12 I drove to Brentwood to Weight Watchers where the scales did not have good news but the following meeting was very helpful as usual, I think WW is really great.
As soon as the meeting let out I scooted over to the gym for a machine workout and about half way through Nikki showed up, looking very worn out. She had just been in some very stressful workout class and was recovering. We walked over and got to see the girls, they both were very happy to see their Papa, how that warms my heart.
Then I went back to the machines and they headed home for dinner. Once I was completed with the club I drove to Mountain House for a quick inspection, yep, the power was on finally so now the loan can close and the new owners can move in.
Once I got home I made a fried egg sandwich. Jerry mentioned having one the other day and its been in my mind. So yummy and on the 100 calorie bread too.
Marilyn finally made it home after being stopped cold on the levee road due to an accident. After a long time of waiting she finally was able to make it through and she is so glad to finally be back in her own room and bathroom with a nice shower.
Now I'm heading to bed. No money in the mail today which was very disappointing. One wonders what comes next. I've had a very successful day with many safe miles driven. This evening a new order arrived which was a great event. Its hard to remember when they used to come in 10 a day and it took a team of appraisers to get to all of them. Money flowed like water, how times change for so many of us.
Love to all,
Tim
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Crash
Dear Family and Friends
This evening I'm writing on the little laptop as my main computer decided to stop working about an hour ago. Jim, my faithful IT guy has been working by remote to try to get it working again and I've been saying prayers in hopes I can be able to use it again so I can finish my work. I depend on it for nearly everything and sure hope I don't need to replace it right now.
For the last few minutes it is just hung up, not doing anything but the screen is up and the harddrive appears to be working.
I had just completed a report and was starting to put in the photos when things froze up. Then when I did a warm boot it would not start up again, over and over I tried but it would not come back, then I called Jim and he was able to guide me through different commands and suddenly it was back again, but I don't think it is back, really back yet. I have to be in Marin county in the morning at 10 to see a house and I need to do research first. Perhaps I can use the laptop, I'm not sure if I can or not but this is just another hitch in a challenging life. It happens, no more smooth sailing at least for awhile.
This morning I drove to Union City and inspected a interesting property. The owners have enjoyed their little court located home for years, have a family room addition, a pool and spa and recently constructed an inlaw unit to the side of the house. It is so cute, tiny living room, tiny kitchen, bedroom with nice bathroom, slider to its own patio, just very nice. So my challenge is to do the entire property justice for them. After I completed the inspection I was experiencing low blood sugar so I went in search of food. I found Fuddruckers, a burger place and they make a wonderful garden burger which I enjoyed very much.
Then I drove to Tracy where the bug got an oil change. When I pulled in the young guy told me, no they could not help, they were out of oil filters, I had drive a long way so asked if I could go buy an oil filter, they said yes so I did that and had them change the oil. The engine is much smoother now. Could I afford it, no but could I afford to let the bug die, no no.
Once I came home I went to work on an appraisal that is due tomorrow. Now my ability to complete it is in question.
Our weather continues to be pleasant but Jason says they have gone for many days with overcast, only one day of sun. He says that if our weather were hot then he would have heavy fog which would burn off during the day. So far that has not happened this summer.
Well here comes a new week. What great things are going to happen this week? I can't wait to find out.
Love to all
Tim
This evening I'm writing on the little laptop as my main computer decided to stop working about an hour ago. Jim, my faithful IT guy has been working by remote to try to get it working again and I've been saying prayers in hopes I can be able to use it again so I can finish my work. I depend on it for nearly everything and sure hope I don't need to replace it right now.
For the last few minutes it is just hung up, not doing anything but the screen is up and the harddrive appears to be working.
I had just completed a report and was starting to put in the photos when things froze up. Then when I did a warm boot it would not start up again, over and over I tried but it would not come back, then I called Jim and he was able to guide me through different commands and suddenly it was back again, but I don't think it is back, really back yet. I have to be in Marin county in the morning at 10 to see a house and I need to do research first. Perhaps I can use the laptop, I'm not sure if I can or not but this is just another hitch in a challenging life. It happens, no more smooth sailing at least for awhile.
This morning I drove to Union City and inspected a interesting property. The owners have enjoyed their little court located home for years, have a family room addition, a pool and spa and recently constructed an inlaw unit to the side of the house. It is so cute, tiny living room, tiny kitchen, bedroom with nice bathroom, slider to its own patio, just very nice. So my challenge is to do the entire property justice for them. After I completed the inspection I was experiencing low blood sugar so I went in search of food. I found Fuddruckers, a burger place and they make a wonderful garden burger which I enjoyed very much.
Then I drove to Tracy where the bug got an oil change. When I pulled in the young guy told me, no they could not help, they were out of oil filters, I had drive a long way so asked if I could go buy an oil filter, they said yes so I did that and had them change the oil. The engine is much smoother now. Could I afford it, no but could I afford to let the bug die, no no.
Once I came home I went to work on an appraisal that is due tomorrow. Now my ability to complete it is in question.
Our weather continues to be pleasant but Jason says they have gone for many days with overcast, only one day of sun. He says that if our weather were hot then he would have heavy fog which would burn off during the day. So far that has not happened this summer.
Well here comes a new week. What great things are going to happen this week? I can't wait to find out.
Love to all
Tim
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Weekly cycle makes sense
Dear Ones,
Have you ever thought what living would be like if the week went for 10 or 15 days before a weekend? It would be rough, no I think our Maker knew about what we could take and when we would need a breather and the weekly cycle is pretty nice. For me its been a day of resting, nudging little tasks a bit forward, like trying to adjust the 3ABN dish so I can once again watch the channels I love but no luck on that front. Guess I'll have to look into getting some help.
Ken and walked and then I drove to Brentwood to cheer and enjoy Keanna's soccer game. It was so cute, the little girls racing around kicking and trying to drive the ball toward the goal. Keanna ran herself so hard her side hurt. We were all very proud of her and cheered her on. Kallie even cheered for her. Oh how Kallie wants to play soccer but she will have to wait a bit yet since she is only 2. It was a nice time with Steve, Nikki, Steve's friend Brett, Kallie and me all lined up in our chairs in the cool morning air.
This evening I had dinner with a friend and the food was very good and by ordering water only the ticket was not too steep.
Money came in the mail for 2 appraisals today, I noticed they were ordered the first of June so I just need to remember to give them a couple months to pay up. I was so thankful to see money and this evening it is already tucked safely in the bank. If all goes well I should be able to make the house payment early in the week.
I'm enjoying playing with E Harmony. Some of the nice people who have responded are obviously not my type but several have very good stories to tell. Nearly everyone is a professional, either a teacher, bank official, lawyer, nurse and on it goes. I'm enjoying learning more about a lot of people before taking the next steps. And of course I'm being told that I've got to put in some photos. I'm usually the one taking pictures, I rarely end up having them taken of me.
My wish for you is to continue to enjoy the weekend, this time to catch our breath, reconnect with loved ones, find calm for our souls.
Love
tim
Have you ever thought what living would be like if the week went for 10 or 15 days before a weekend? It would be rough, no I think our Maker knew about what we could take and when we would need a breather and the weekly cycle is pretty nice. For me its been a day of resting, nudging little tasks a bit forward, like trying to adjust the 3ABN dish so I can once again watch the channels I love but no luck on that front. Guess I'll have to look into getting some help.
Ken and walked and then I drove to Brentwood to cheer and enjoy Keanna's soccer game. It was so cute, the little girls racing around kicking and trying to drive the ball toward the goal. Keanna ran herself so hard her side hurt. We were all very proud of her and cheered her on. Kallie even cheered for her. Oh how Kallie wants to play soccer but she will have to wait a bit yet since she is only 2. It was a nice time with Steve, Nikki, Steve's friend Brett, Kallie and me all lined up in our chairs in the cool morning air.
This evening I had dinner with a friend and the food was very good and by ordering water only the ticket was not too steep.
Money came in the mail for 2 appraisals today, I noticed they were ordered the first of June so I just need to remember to give them a couple months to pay up. I was so thankful to see money and this evening it is already tucked safely in the bank. If all goes well I should be able to make the house payment early in the week.
I'm enjoying playing with E Harmony. Some of the nice people who have responded are obviously not my type but several have very good stories to tell. Nearly everyone is a professional, either a teacher, bank official, lawyer, nurse and on it goes. I'm enjoying learning more about a lot of people before taking the next steps. And of course I'm being told that I've got to put in some photos. I'm usually the one taking pictures, I rarely end up having them taken of me.
My wish for you is to continue to enjoy the weekend, this time to catch our breath, reconnect with loved ones, find calm for our souls.
Love
tim
Friday, August 6, 2010
At last its Friday evening
Dear Family and Friends,
After a week of intense work and few rewards I anticipate next week to be better. Today I cranked out two reports, one for a home built in 1935 and located high in the Oakland hills above Piedmont. It was a funky little house which had been rebuilt several times over the years. Think of that, it was built during the depression, was a new home during world war II, existed all through the 50s, 60s, 70, 80s, 90s and is still faithfully serving its new owners now. I enjoyed writing the report and it certainly was easier to move the digital photos into place in the report than to take the photos which involved several hours of driving all over the hills on narrow twisted little roads that even made the GPS give up a couple times. And this time the report was not rejected by the system. I must be learning. Now I just hope for more orders from them.
The second report was of the strange three story high home which looks like a new york store, very strange looking and has a lot size of less than 2,000 Sq.Ft. I finished that one at 5:45. Lois and I were both hungry so she bought me a Subway sandwich which I really enjoyed, I ordered the 6 inch wheat with the garden burger.
Once I got back home I decided the front lawn could benefit from a clipping. Jason is letting me use his weed eater system but lately it won't stay running. Tonight I found out the problem. The fuel line that extends from the carb into the tank was actually broken in two places, sort of hard to suck fuel through a broken line. I was glad to make that discovery so now its just a matter of purchasing a new little fuel line, installing it and we should be in business again. I love the system, it has attachments that include: blower, rototiller, weed eater and edger. They all work very well but all need the basic 4 stroke engine to be running strongly.
My duct tape repairs of the grass catcher have failed so tonight some grass blew up and into my face, no problem, the lawn looks great at least in the dark it does.
Once I emailed the second appraisal out I then turned to the bank account, reconciling the last month. Would you believe it came out to the penny the first time? Now that just does not happen to me very often. I also discovered that a reason for my present financial discomfort, last months income was about $3,000 below the norm. That can have a negative effect on things.
I walked this morning thinking that a walk would help clear my head of negative vibes. It sure did. It was a lovely morning, cool and crisp. I even tried running for a few blocks and that took my heart by surprise. Once I had breakfast I was very sleepy so I took a nap in the work chair but had a terrible time waking. Finally I tempted myself out of the chair with a promise of Starbucks if I would drive down and fill the diesel tank. Probably good thing I did that. It took 13.2 gallons and I think it only is supposed to hold 13, yikes that was close. A nice thing happened too, Safeway is once again giving a 10 cent discount per gallon if you have spent $50 in the food store. Well I had so my diesel cost just $3.01 per gallon, the best price I've seen in a very long time. So my fillup was just $39 and I'm set for the next 550 miles. Thank God for the diesel bug. It is a money saver and I happen to love to drive it. I have to admit having the IPOD makes driving even nicer as it is very simple to listen to books while I drive and I can check the email messages by just pulling up to any McDonalds or Starbucks. All of this is until I can afford to move to the Iphone but I'll do that when the big four are paid, health insurance, house payment, van payment and motorhome payment and then there is E&O insurance that is due right now and dental work that is vitally needed and there is that skin biopsy that I need on my lip to check for cancer. Well I'm not bored with life, not in any way.
So my dear friends, now you have the weekend to pull your family back together, will you do it? Why not. I'd just say do it while you can and do it to your best ability.
Love
tim
After a week of intense work and few rewards I anticipate next week to be better. Today I cranked out two reports, one for a home built in 1935 and located high in the Oakland hills above Piedmont. It was a funky little house which had been rebuilt several times over the years. Think of that, it was built during the depression, was a new home during world war II, existed all through the 50s, 60s, 70, 80s, 90s and is still faithfully serving its new owners now. I enjoyed writing the report and it certainly was easier to move the digital photos into place in the report than to take the photos which involved several hours of driving all over the hills on narrow twisted little roads that even made the GPS give up a couple times. And this time the report was not rejected by the system. I must be learning. Now I just hope for more orders from them.
The second report was of the strange three story high home which looks like a new york store, very strange looking and has a lot size of less than 2,000 Sq.Ft. I finished that one at 5:45. Lois and I were both hungry so she bought me a Subway sandwich which I really enjoyed, I ordered the 6 inch wheat with the garden burger.
Once I got back home I decided the front lawn could benefit from a clipping. Jason is letting me use his weed eater system but lately it won't stay running. Tonight I found out the problem. The fuel line that extends from the carb into the tank was actually broken in two places, sort of hard to suck fuel through a broken line. I was glad to make that discovery so now its just a matter of purchasing a new little fuel line, installing it and we should be in business again. I love the system, it has attachments that include: blower, rototiller, weed eater and edger. They all work very well but all need the basic 4 stroke engine to be running strongly.
My duct tape repairs of the grass catcher have failed so tonight some grass blew up and into my face, no problem, the lawn looks great at least in the dark it does.
Once I emailed the second appraisal out I then turned to the bank account, reconciling the last month. Would you believe it came out to the penny the first time? Now that just does not happen to me very often. I also discovered that a reason for my present financial discomfort, last months income was about $3,000 below the norm. That can have a negative effect on things.
I walked this morning thinking that a walk would help clear my head of negative vibes. It sure did. It was a lovely morning, cool and crisp. I even tried running for a few blocks and that took my heart by surprise. Once I had breakfast I was very sleepy so I took a nap in the work chair but had a terrible time waking. Finally I tempted myself out of the chair with a promise of Starbucks if I would drive down and fill the diesel tank. Probably good thing I did that. It took 13.2 gallons and I think it only is supposed to hold 13, yikes that was close. A nice thing happened too, Safeway is once again giving a 10 cent discount per gallon if you have spent $50 in the food store. Well I had so my diesel cost just $3.01 per gallon, the best price I've seen in a very long time. So my fillup was just $39 and I'm set for the next 550 miles. Thank God for the diesel bug. It is a money saver and I happen to love to drive it. I have to admit having the IPOD makes driving even nicer as it is very simple to listen to books while I drive and I can check the email messages by just pulling up to any McDonalds or Starbucks. All of this is until I can afford to move to the Iphone but I'll do that when the big four are paid, health insurance, house payment, van payment and motorhome payment and then there is E&O insurance that is due right now and dental work that is vitally needed and there is that skin biopsy that I need on my lip to check for cancer. Well I'm not bored with life, not in any way.
So my dear friends, now you have the weekend to pull your family back together, will you do it? Why not. I'd just say do it while you can and do it to your best ability.
Love
tim
Thursday, August 5, 2010
When faith and reality collide
So life moves on one plodding day at a time. Each day I'm looking for a bit of silver in the lining, sometimes I catch it, like when I get to see the kids and the kidos other times not so much.
Today was pretty interesting, the couple I saw in Walnut Creek lived in a lovely home, he confined to a wheel chair and married over 50 years, they were a joy to meet. Then it was off to a house in Concord that has been rescued and looks great now, ready for buyers. From Concord a short drive brought me to Hercules where I inspected a very strange home. It looked like a hotel or a business, three stories high, many small windows but inside it was very liveable as long as you don't mind stairs. Within a few blocks to the bay the house was a part of a subdivision of rather strange homes on tiny lots and big living areas. Once I was completed with that one I headed to Emeryville to shoot a comp photo of an empty lot, then on to the Oakland hills were darkness prevented me from finishing my job the other night. I just kept telling myself, stay the course, hang in there. There was no time to stop and eat so my meager lunch bucket kept yielding snacks, water, ice tea (no calorie), mocha 100 calories, low calorie string cheese and the last Oats and Honey bar in the car door.
It was nice to get back and since the car was below empty I planned to stop at Safeway and fill with diesel but of course they had that place wrapped in yellow tape and closed down. Now I have a bug that is very low on fuel. And to complete the day there was NO money in the mailbox. For a time it seemed that month after month the money would arrive just in time to pay the house payment, this time that is not the case. So what do I make of it? Seems this is the time when faith and reality collide. Makes one think real hard and question just about everything. I don't have any more hours to work and everything I've done for the past two weeks pays about 1/2 of what it used to pay. The only solice I have is that many appraisers are already gone so when there is work again in the future perhaps things will brighten up a bit. If I can hold on until then.
On a positive note I woke this morning at 5:05 to hear a creature come through a little hole in the screen of my bedroom slider, run across the room, run into the door that was closed to downstairs and then turn and race back out. But mr racoon hit the screen with a bang, bounced back and then torn right through it leaving a 3 foot slit in the screen. Talk about a wake up call! Eventually I did fall back asleep but I felt under seige from the racoons. They have torn holes in every screen door in the house and are hell bent on coming in. What next?
Well good night to you all,
love
tim
Today was pretty interesting, the couple I saw in Walnut Creek lived in a lovely home, he confined to a wheel chair and married over 50 years, they were a joy to meet. Then it was off to a house in Concord that has been rescued and looks great now, ready for buyers. From Concord a short drive brought me to Hercules where I inspected a very strange home. It looked like a hotel or a business, three stories high, many small windows but inside it was very liveable as long as you don't mind stairs. Within a few blocks to the bay the house was a part of a subdivision of rather strange homes on tiny lots and big living areas. Once I was completed with that one I headed to Emeryville to shoot a comp photo of an empty lot, then on to the Oakland hills were darkness prevented me from finishing my job the other night. I just kept telling myself, stay the course, hang in there. There was no time to stop and eat so my meager lunch bucket kept yielding snacks, water, ice tea (no calorie), mocha 100 calories, low calorie string cheese and the last Oats and Honey bar in the car door.
It was nice to get back and since the car was below empty I planned to stop at Safeway and fill with diesel but of course they had that place wrapped in yellow tape and closed down. Now I have a bug that is very low on fuel. And to complete the day there was NO money in the mailbox. For a time it seemed that month after month the money would arrive just in time to pay the house payment, this time that is not the case. So what do I make of it? Seems this is the time when faith and reality collide. Makes one think real hard and question just about everything. I don't have any more hours to work and everything I've done for the past two weeks pays about 1/2 of what it used to pay. The only solice I have is that many appraisers are already gone so when there is work again in the future perhaps things will brighten up a bit. If I can hold on until then.
On a positive note I woke this morning at 5:05 to hear a creature come through a little hole in the screen of my bedroom slider, run across the room, run into the door that was closed to downstairs and then turn and race back out. But mr racoon hit the screen with a bang, bounced back and then torn right through it leaving a 3 foot slit in the screen. Talk about a wake up call! Eventually I did fall back asleep but I felt under seige from the racoons. They have torn holes in every screen door in the house and are hell bent on coming in. What next?
Well good night to you all,
love
tim
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Keanna lights up the day
Dear Family and Friends,
Since Ken had special classes today we did not walk. I came down and went right to work and within a couple hours had one emailed out using the new AI format. It got rejected twice. There were some computer glitches that kept including addendums from a very old appraisal and I could not get them out of the finished product. Finally I had to import the key pages into a new file and do it that way. Poor reviewer must have been pulling his hair out with me. Finally I got the blessed words, file accepted.
At 12:45 I was in line and picked up Keanna. She came marching out with an unhappy face. She said someone had mentioned that she had hair on her arms, kids! She quickly recovered and we drove to McDonalds where I had a smoothie, does anyone know how many points or calories it has?
We came back home for a bit while I fixed some lunch for myself, whole wheat burritos with vege meat, beans, brown rice, oh so yummy.
I took Keanna to gymnastics and that was a blast. She has advanced so much and does cartwheels like someone else who is just walking. She knows she is doing well and that helps a lot I think.
When class was over we met Steve at a property where he expertly measured and photographed everything. Then Keanna and I left and stopped at a local park where she did more climbing, money bars and running to chase birds. Energy plus.
We met up with Nikki and Kallie who were already at the house and then they were all gone. It was great to see them.
Pam had given me lots of food from her time with Jenny Craig and I had one of those tonight. It tasted great.
Now its bed time and I'm ready. Our cool weather continues which is a huge blessing, August with less than 90 degree weather, just unbelievable so much less expensive with PG&E.
Love to all,
Tim
Since Ken had special classes today we did not walk. I came down and went right to work and within a couple hours had one emailed out using the new AI format. It got rejected twice. There were some computer glitches that kept including addendums from a very old appraisal and I could not get them out of the finished product. Finally I had to import the key pages into a new file and do it that way. Poor reviewer must have been pulling his hair out with me. Finally I got the blessed words, file accepted.
At 12:45 I was in line and picked up Keanna. She came marching out with an unhappy face. She said someone had mentioned that she had hair on her arms, kids! She quickly recovered and we drove to McDonalds where I had a smoothie, does anyone know how many points or calories it has?
We came back home for a bit while I fixed some lunch for myself, whole wheat burritos with vege meat, beans, brown rice, oh so yummy.
I took Keanna to gymnastics and that was a blast. She has advanced so much and does cartwheels like someone else who is just walking. She knows she is doing well and that helps a lot I think.
When class was over we met Steve at a property where he expertly measured and photographed everything. Then Keanna and I left and stopped at a local park where she did more climbing, money bars and running to chase birds. Energy plus.
We met up with Nikki and Kallie who were already at the house and then they were all gone. It was great to see them.
Pam had given me lots of food from her time with Jenny Craig and I had one of those tonight. It tasted great.
Now its bed time and I'm ready. Our cool weather continues which is a huge blessing, August with less than 90 degree weather, just unbelievable so much less expensive with PG&E.
Love to all,
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Rituals
So here goes one more chapter in my obession with blogging. Do I do this for you? or me? or for something that we all count on every day? I am a child of habits, I like routines and want to know what I can count on so doing the blog most anywhere I am comes natural. Yes, I know I've missed a few nights but never because I'm lazy or just didn't care. When there is no computer, no signal and no way then I miss doing a blog, otherwise I'm here.
Today has been another whirlwind, walk, breakfast, crank out work, balance new orders, make appointments, snack here and there. At 3:50 I left so I could make a deposit at the bank before 4 and then be on the road at 4 for San Leandro.
Upon arriving on time I found a very interesting 4 plex. Once the owner arrived he told me and showed me a lot of points I would have missed. This building from the 1930s once sat where Freeway 580 is now. Instead of tearing it down they cut it in two pieces and moved it down a hill, then down the subject street and then up the sloping site to sit it on a new foundation that had thrown together. In time their work settled and when the present owner purchased it it was leaning 6 inches toward the street and moving slowly toward destruction. He like many of us men love a challenge. He has done so much but there is much more to be done to make it liveable. Only one unit is rented, the rest are gutted and are very sad. He is so upside down in the building financially that only a miracle would see him ever make any money on it. The inspection and conversations tool almost two hours and pushed me off schedule badly.
I raced up the freeway to a different neighborhood where I did a field review of someones appraisal. Once that was done I headed up into the hills and I do mean hills above Piedmont into Montclaire. I arrived at the subject property early, shot photos of the exterior, then tried to shoot the comps I had selected. I only got to two before darkness set in. I went back to the house and shot interior photos and then headed home. It was 8:45 when I left.
I'm pretty tired tonight and very glad to be heading to bed. Is the house payment covered? Not yet but I'm over half way there now with the check from the 4 plex. I refuse to get hung up in worry since worry never paid any bills but I do feel the dark cloud knowing I am not keeping up right now. I know about the dark cloud because when I'm through paying the payment I feel as light as air. Today I heard about yet another appraiser who has given up and moved to a new profession. This time we lost a really good guy, great appraiser and honest.
This afternoon Marilyn texted me to say that her friend Diane's dad had passed away. Marilyn is where she belongs, she is a stable force and will be a great help to the family. Yet it saddened me to think of a family in grief. I know grief and there is no escape from its clutches. Only time begins the healing.
Good night all,
love
tim
Today has been another whirlwind, walk, breakfast, crank out work, balance new orders, make appointments, snack here and there. At 3:50 I left so I could make a deposit at the bank before 4 and then be on the road at 4 for San Leandro.
Upon arriving on time I found a very interesting 4 plex. Once the owner arrived he told me and showed me a lot of points I would have missed. This building from the 1930s once sat where Freeway 580 is now. Instead of tearing it down they cut it in two pieces and moved it down a hill, then down the subject street and then up the sloping site to sit it on a new foundation that had thrown together. In time their work settled and when the present owner purchased it it was leaning 6 inches toward the street and moving slowly toward destruction. He like many of us men love a challenge. He has done so much but there is much more to be done to make it liveable. Only one unit is rented, the rest are gutted and are very sad. He is so upside down in the building financially that only a miracle would see him ever make any money on it. The inspection and conversations tool almost two hours and pushed me off schedule badly.
I raced up the freeway to a different neighborhood where I did a field review of someones appraisal. Once that was done I headed up into the hills and I do mean hills above Piedmont into Montclaire. I arrived at the subject property early, shot photos of the exterior, then tried to shoot the comps I had selected. I only got to two before darkness set in. I went back to the house and shot interior photos and then headed home. It was 8:45 when I left.
I'm pretty tired tonight and very glad to be heading to bed. Is the house payment covered? Not yet but I'm over half way there now with the check from the 4 plex. I refuse to get hung up in worry since worry never paid any bills but I do feel the dark cloud knowing I am not keeping up right now. I know about the dark cloud because when I'm through paying the payment I feel as light as air. Today I heard about yet another appraiser who has given up and moved to a new profession. This time we lost a really good guy, great appraiser and honest.
This afternoon Marilyn texted me to say that her friend Diane's dad had passed away. Marilyn is where she belongs, she is a stable force and will be a great help to the family. Yet it saddened me to think of a family in grief. I know grief and there is no escape from its clutches. Only time begins the healing.
Good night all,
love
tim
Monday, August 2, 2010
Great day
5:50 alarm wakes me
6:20 arrive to watch girls, steve leaves for work
8:30 drop off Keanna at school, Kallie at sitters
9:00 do research, call Heinz to activate the amazing $48 a month from Nan's pension. Hey I'll take it and be very thankful.
10:45 leave for Fremont
11:50 arrive early at first home
2:50 arrive second home
4:15 head to Brentwood for Weight Watchers
5:15 weight in, scales broken, weighted to heavy, hope they have it fixed by next week
5:45 Foodmax for groceries
6:30 Home and tomato sandwiches were on the menu
7:30 watch rerun of favorite show "The Mentalist"
8:30 back to work, set up orders, do research
9:30 consider and then write this blog.
This is the way my life goes and it has a lot going for it. I'm busy, mostly I'm doing what I enjoy, I'm feeling pretty good, I think I'm helping people so in spite of serious financial issues life is OK.
Love to all,
Tim
6:20 arrive to watch girls, steve leaves for work
8:30 drop off Keanna at school, Kallie at sitters
9:00 do research, call Heinz to activate the amazing $48 a month from Nan's pension. Hey I'll take it and be very thankful.
10:45 leave for Fremont
11:50 arrive early at first home
2:50 arrive second home
4:15 head to Brentwood for Weight Watchers
5:15 weight in, scales broken, weighted to heavy, hope they have it fixed by next week
5:45 Foodmax for groceries
6:30 Home and tomato sandwiches were on the menu
7:30 watch rerun of favorite show "The Mentalist"
8:30 back to work, set up orders, do research
9:30 consider and then write this blog.
This is the way my life goes and it has a lot going for it. I'm busy, mostly I'm doing what I enjoy, I'm feeling pretty good, I think I'm helping people so in spite of serious financial issues life is OK.
Love to all,
Tim
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Getting it all together, multi tasking
Dear Family and Friends,
Well Ken and I hit the trail this morning while it was very cool. Our walk was great. Once home I drove to Safeway for shopping. The frig and cupboards were getting a bit bare of essentials. So $75 later and with sacks filling the trunk I drove back home. Once the things were unloaded and tucked away in their places I went back to the garage and pulled out the shop vac someone gave me long ago. Talk about power, it really will suck up just about anything and in a few minutes the trash on the floors of the bug were history. Then I noticed how many cobwebs there were on the garage ceiling so I took care of them. Ken had come over after our walk and together we thought we had solved the very difficult timer that controls the sprinklers. For a couple months it has been coming on at least twice every other day, maybe three times and things are way to wet. This timer looks so unassuming, just a few buttons and a little screen, yea right. It takes a masters degree to even begin to understand the sequence required to control and set it. To prove that point I came out at noon to find it had come on again at about 11:30 and sprinkled all over again, in spite of our brilliant minds and our work setting it. Well now I was pretty ticked off, no little two bit piece of china made junk was going to stump me. First I read the little instructions, then I pushed buttons, no luck. Finally by a stroke of luck, not wisdom I found that by pushing two buttons at the same time, the off and on buttons that a cycle could be turned off, or course, that makes great sense, push the on and off buttons at the same time, why didn't I think of that? Now I believe that the timer will come on at 5 am, work through its three different stations and then turn off for the day. Would I bet money on it, no way, I won't be surprised if I find it watering at midnight!
While I was shopping the idea of a bagel hit me hard. So in compromise I purchased 1 multigrain bagel and it was very good. I found fruit juice that has 5 calories a glass, fresh peaches, soy milk, eggs for just $1.50 a dozen.
For lunch today I enjoyed a salad with a whole tomato cut into little pieces, I'm getting better at that process, lettuce, pinto beans, string cheese cut into little pieces and 0 calorie Italian dressing. It was incredible.
Other tasks that have occupied my time include: going through piles of papers and taking care of what each required while I had it in my hand. I finally have all the papers needed to apply for Nan's retirement benefits from Heinz and once I make a call in the morning to ask questions I'll get that in the mail. I found questions from management companies that had not been answered, offers to purchase this or that that just went in the trash, paperwork to retrieve $63 that the state has of my money and has had for years. I think Phyllis B told me about that awhile back. So many little details to care for. In another time I had staff to help with many of these things but now I am staff, appraiser, receptionist, accountant and clerk.
Marilyn sent a sad email this afternoon. She is with her friend Diane whose father is very ill and losing ground rapidly. Marilyn is sitting with her helping her cope with this tragic next step. Yes he is very old and has a great life but that makes no difference, loss is loss and you feel it like a truck hit you when it happens. Marilyn lost Walt a few years back and knows full well what Diane is feeling and facing. She is in the right place tonight.
In the morning I get to do Papa day care which will be very fun. Steve has a job that requires that he leave early so I'll step in and help a bit. It is so fun to help the girls have breakfast, load up in the car and then deliver them to where they go for the day. Once that is over I head to Fremont for two appointments, would you believe that are just blocks from each other, that does not happen often and will help the day pass. One rush appraisal was ordered without any phone number so I am waiting to hear from the company that ordered it. Would be nice.
Today has not been a good day on the delta. Twice I have heard the medivac helicopters come in to land at the park near my house where the paramedics bring the injured victims for transport. Sundays are not a great time to be on the delta, just too many boats, too much drinking and way too many jet skiis with unskilled drivers going far too fast.
Well my friends, here comes the week? For me a huge question looms, will I see enough money to cover the house payment that was due today? I sure hope so. I sort of like living here and I'm kind of used to it.
Sending good vibes to all and asking that you pray for little Timothy who is battling a nasty cold.
Love
tim
Well Ken and I hit the trail this morning while it was very cool. Our walk was great. Once home I drove to Safeway for shopping. The frig and cupboards were getting a bit bare of essentials. So $75 later and with sacks filling the trunk I drove back home. Once the things were unloaded and tucked away in their places I went back to the garage and pulled out the shop vac someone gave me long ago. Talk about power, it really will suck up just about anything and in a few minutes the trash on the floors of the bug were history. Then I noticed how many cobwebs there were on the garage ceiling so I took care of them. Ken had come over after our walk and together we thought we had solved the very difficult timer that controls the sprinklers. For a couple months it has been coming on at least twice every other day, maybe three times and things are way to wet. This timer looks so unassuming, just a few buttons and a little screen, yea right. It takes a masters degree to even begin to understand the sequence required to control and set it. To prove that point I came out at noon to find it had come on again at about 11:30 and sprinkled all over again, in spite of our brilliant minds and our work setting it. Well now I was pretty ticked off, no little two bit piece of china made junk was going to stump me. First I read the little instructions, then I pushed buttons, no luck. Finally by a stroke of luck, not wisdom I found that by pushing two buttons at the same time, the off and on buttons that a cycle could be turned off, or course, that makes great sense, push the on and off buttons at the same time, why didn't I think of that? Now I believe that the timer will come on at 5 am, work through its three different stations and then turn off for the day. Would I bet money on it, no way, I won't be surprised if I find it watering at midnight!
While I was shopping the idea of a bagel hit me hard. So in compromise I purchased 1 multigrain bagel and it was very good. I found fruit juice that has 5 calories a glass, fresh peaches, soy milk, eggs for just $1.50 a dozen.
For lunch today I enjoyed a salad with a whole tomato cut into little pieces, I'm getting better at that process, lettuce, pinto beans, string cheese cut into little pieces and 0 calorie Italian dressing. It was incredible.
Other tasks that have occupied my time include: going through piles of papers and taking care of what each required while I had it in my hand. I finally have all the papers needed to apply for Nan's retirement benefits from Heinz and once I make a call in the morning to ask questions I'll get that in the mail. I found questions from management companies that had not been answered, offers to purchase this or that that just went in the trash, paperwork to retrieve $63 that the state has of my money and has had for years. I think Phyllis B told me about that awhile back. So many little details to care for. In another time I had staff to help with many of these things but now I am staff, appraiser, receptionist, accountant and clerk.
Marilyn sent a sad email this afternoon. She is with her friend Diane whose father is very ill and losing ground rapidly. Marilyn is sitting with her helping her cope with this tragic next step. Yes he is very old and has a great life but that makes no difference, loss is loss and you feel it like a truck hit you when it happens. Marilyn lost Walt a few years back and knows full well what Diane is feeling and facing. She is in the right place tonight.
In the morning I get to do Papa day care which will be very fun. Steve has a job that requires that he leave early so I'll step in and help a bit. It is so fun to help the girls have breakfast, load up in the car and then deliver them to where they go for the day. Once that is over I head to Fremont for two appointments, would you believe that are just blocks from each other, that does not happen often and will help the day pass. One rush appraisal was ordered without any phone number so I am waiting to hear from the company that ordered it. Would be nice.
Today has not been a good day on the delta. Twice I have heard the medivac helicopters come in to land at the park near my house where the paramedics bring the injured victims for transport. Sundays are not a great time to be on the delta, just too many boats, too much drinking and way too many jet skiis with unskilled drivers going far too fast.
Well my friends, here comes the week? For me a huge question looms, will I see enough money to cover the house payment that was due today? I sure hope so. I sort of like living here and I'm kind of used to it.
Sending good vibes to all and asking that you pray for little Timothy who is battling a nasty cold.
Love
tim
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)