Good evening

Another day and several more dollars, grateful for work, home, food, family and a loving heavenly Father.

Today I started at a nice place in Brentwood in the 55 and over community, then on to San Pablo where I inspected a very clean duplex property and with great tenants and owner too.  meeting them was a delight and the property was very decent.

Then I headed to Fairfield where I inspected another nice property, had the biggest concrete parking area and patio I've ever seen.  This was 34' x 117', that is a lot of concrete let me tell you, looked like you could land a small plane there. Clean and very large the home stood out in its neighborhood of other large homes.

Then it was make my way home and I enjoyed the new book I'm listening to, its a spy thriller and that sort of keeps one awake.  I had crackers and a mocha with me to take the edges off my hunger.  I found an ARCO with $299 fuel, that was nice too.  Then a Starbucks with a drive thur and a grilled cheese waiting, so good and too big really for someone just riding around in a car but it was nice.  Home safely to find a decent check in the mail box too.

Then I went to work at home and have gotten the office sort of in order now.  But when I went to send out an appraisal I discovered the server at the software company I use in the south is down so no maps in my appraisal, I had to send it without a couple pages and by morning it will back up and working again and then I'll send the amended appraisal in.  not the ideal but there is no way to reach the server people and besides they know they have a problem, I'm guessing and they are scrambling to fix it.

Life is moving forward, one boring day after the next but its better than the alternative, pushing daisies!

Love to all, new orders came in today and that is a blessing for sure.

Tim

Friday night and all is well

So another big week has drawn to a close.

I'm home from an afternoon appraisal in San Pablo, a little town located next to Richmond.  What I found when I got there was a little house and a garage next to it with an extra unit built on the upper floor of the garage.  So do we have a duplex really? Or a small house with an inlaw unit?  What form do I use?  Not sure this evening, will have to consult with my client to get it straight.

I hope your week has been meaningful to you. Mine has been OK in spite of being very hot, weather wise, cranking through many difficult appraisals, dealing with the realities of more and more government intrusion into my profession.  We get to make fewer and fewer decisions, most are controlled by rule books now, written to be so restrictive its unbelievable.  Oh well, tonight I don't care, I'm thankful for safe miles driven, for work and pay, for health, for walks around the lake and for family interactions that are great and meaningful.

I'm also thankful that Ellen has managed to find used items to make her home livable again and on Sunday she and her mom are going to reclaim their home from the aftermath of the flood, it will take awhile before it feels like home again but they are bravely trying and I respect them for that.  Meanwhile we are trying every way possible to obtain the visa from immigration so she can visit me here and we can see if what we think we have by phone calls and messenger contacts is real when we are face to face.  I pray hourly for God's guidance and am prepared to follow His leading, God is the creator of love, relationships and our future.  I am persuaded that if we knew how to really love in the same manner that God loves our world would be much different and our own relationships would be much more clear and warm with less friction in them.  God's love is quite different from ours which so often is tinged with selfishness and self serving.  Its so true that God is NOT finished with us yet.

Love to all

Tim

Good evening

This week has been extra fun for me.  I've been taking Kallie to her local swim classes at the community center here in Discovery Bay, They have really great teachers and she enjoys learning all the different strokes and in general learning how to SWIM.  Keanna hangs around with me or reads poolside.  Then this morning we did Dollar Store because Jim, my IT guy was here installing a new server, the old one lasted 11 years, not bad really for a device that runs day and night every day of the year.  It took him much longer than he had hoped, Microsoft can be difficult to work with but tonight it is all done and working well, Jim is a little richer and I'm much less concerned about system failures.

My friend Ellen is working this week to find used furniture for their little home that was wiped out by the flood a couple weeks ago, the home is not clean and ready for them to come back so today Ellen was going from merchant to merchant to located items she could afford.  Tonight when I spoke to her she was tired but felt she has been led by God to a lot of important finds today and the things had all been delivered to their home.  She is hoping that they can move back in by Saturday and I hope so too, they are all wearing our their welcome living with other people as guests. 

Today was a full workday for me and now I'm off to bed. Tired and ready for a full nights sleep.

Love to all, prayers for the dear people in Ghana, hundreds are putting their lives back together after the 20 year flood did so much damage.

Good night

Tim

A long but good day

One never knows how the next day will be for sure.

This one has turned out to be long but good.

Walked,
Keanna and Kallie came to visit, shopped, had lunch out, watched Kallie swim, did an appraisal with a very nice family and good work in the house, had a great subway dinner tonight with whole wheat sandwich with vegie patty, soup and low calorie chips.  Perfect meal.

And a very nice discussion with the girl making the food about being vegetarian, she because she does not like any living creature to die so she can eat, I get it.

Now to bed but thankful for new orders, safety and a great day with two very bright and interesting young ladies, Barnes and Nobles will not be the same after we bought the place out! Or so it seems.

Love to all, life is good

Tim

Weeks end

Good evening family and friends,

Well the family is starting to come home, Steve drove to his mom's house today which is way down south, he picked up Kallie and now they are back safely.  Jason has been hitting the books about 12 hours a day while Jo and the kids are visiting Denver and points in between, tonight they are in Salt Lake City visiting friends and are heading back soon.  Keanna is home again and has just confirmed that she is ready for Sabbath School in the morning so that is great news for me.  I love to see the girls visit Sabbath School and I do dearly love Tracy, a very special church filled with special people.

My week has been hectic but my health is good.  I'm still behind tonight, trying to get things completed but never have enough time it seems.  I have two helpers who write things up partially from time to time and I logged order 300 this afternoon, all of last year only say about 370 orders so the pace is faster this year.  Plus each appraisal takes much longer now, thanks to the government stepping in with their ability to ruin a profession and not even be aware of it, so I work about twice as long doing an appraisal, make about 1/3 less than I did 10 years ago and that is the state of my profession. Any appraiser who could quit has already done so. which leaves people like me without the ability to retire but still not having the energy of being young and having a ton of expertise to apply to each assignment.  Lets just say that I go to bed every night knowing there is a lot more to do that I've not gotten to during the day.

Jessy came this afternoon after her regular job and wrote up two, then we went to Big Al's a local place for breakfast, the food was good and she went home full and happy.  I appreciated her help so much.

So I'm happy, am sending my love and appreciation to all family and friends,

Love to all

Tim

Working and feeling the heat

Today was Mexican owner day.  I started the day at a home there no English was spoken and that went OK, perfect little place in every way.

Then I went to Hayward to another place where some English was spoken, better than they realized and it was a very nice property, then back to home for office work until now when I crash in bed.

So I work and sleep with nice times on the phone with my friends and family and I'm so thankful to not be alone in this old world.

Now I rest and send love to all,

Tim

Back at it

Good evening family and friends,

Tonight my family is spread all over, Jo and the kids are in Utah someplace for a couple days, Jason is in San Jose working hard preparing for the bar at the end of July,  Steve and Nikki are here and at their jobs but Kallie is with Steve's mom for a week on a horse ranch which she loves so much, Keanna is with family in Grass Valley or Lodi I think.  I love it that everyone is getting to do their thing.

My friend Ellen is tired but satisfied with having directed a group of family, friends and paid workers who have cleaned the mud out of their home, a few things could be saves but most everything was lost, photos, DVDs, clothes, furniture, all those things that make up a home, gone, wiped out.  As of this evening their home is clean and so is the cosmetics shop where her mom runs a business.  I just called her this morning and we spoke for only a couple minutes but it was so good to hear her musical voice with the west Africa accent.

I spent the morning in a car repair place waiting to get some problems with the green bug repaired.  the last shop I went to for a 4 wheel alignment ruined several parts and caused a mess.  So now it will be many dollars in repairs to get it right again.

Finally I was on the road again and ventured to Trilogy, a 55 and over community in Brentwood.  The home I inspected by totally beautiful, the people were so kind and solid.

The day turned out just fine and I am so thankful for God's blessings on all of us.

Much love to each of you

Tim

Family

So nice to spend the day with Jason, Jo, Clayton, Timothy and Mia.
This is a great family, we had lunch at a wonderful place, then spent some time in the cool buildings before heading back to their non AC dwelling, amazingly they have learned how to use the fans really well and it was pretty comfortable.

The kids are great readers and are so pleasant to be with, just a great experience.

Tomorrow Jo and Clayton take the little ones on a road trip for a few days and Jason will hit the books, the classes and tests for 12 hours a day as he prepares for the state Bar which is the end of July, he is taking the whole process very seriously and I just pray that God will bless him and he can pass the first time, it is one of the hardest tests on can ever face and he is taking a special course with instruction every morning of the week, over 2000 multiple choice questions, SAs nearly every day and just cramming the information about all parts of the law into his memory.

Now I'm back home and have enjoyed having a nice phone conversation with my friend Ellen this morning, her afternoon and then as I was driving home from San Jose we talked using messenger nearly the entire trip, tomorrow morning she will be in church to give praise and thanks to God for His help, this week they have worked day after day to get her mom's cosmetics shop clear of the mud from the terrible flood that hit Accra.  The shop is now totally clean and ready for new stock on the empty shelves when they can afford it.  Getting it clean was a minor miracle and many hands helped do it.

They have now started on their own home which was also hit by a flash flood during the middle of the night, they are not completed with it yet but have made much progress.

They appreciate our prayers as they try to get back on their feet after the floods, the worst in 20 years per Yahoo and Google, the photos there are heart breaking the filth and trash on the streets is unbelievable and yet it continues to rain most days, many night they have no electrical power so life is not easy there.

Sending love to all

Tim

Good evening

Once again I had to fight my way through a warning message about the blog not working but now I know I can get around the message.

Busy day and diverse.  Drive green VW today only to hear a strange noise, went my my VW mechanic and he wants to see it on Monday, CV boots are broken for some reason, makes no sense at all, not a good sign and not sure of the cost to fix.

Did some work and then got new orders, that was a very good sign for the business and I do thank God for the work.  I've already seen one this evening and it was a perfect home in every way, great people too.

Not sure about girls for SS tomorrow, will have to find out in the morning I guess.

Sending love to all and so thankful for God's rich blessings.

Tim

having trouble

I'm having a lot of trouble getting a blog message out right now, not even sure if this one will get out.  Things are good, life is normal, kids made it back from Disneyland safely and for that I'm thankful.

Jo is completed teaching her school year and is planning a road trip somewhere, Jason is working 12 hours a day preparing for the Bar exam at the end of July.  He needs our prayers so much.

Sending love to all,

Tim

Life is interesting

Big event in Discovery Bay, McDonalds catches on fire.  The deep fryer caught on fire and closed the whole place down for a few hours but they scrambled and its going strong again tonight, amazing, a hint of smoke is the only way you can tell it happened

I've been very busy doing appraisals, thankful for the work and the chance to meet nice people, work with good people and try to keep up. Last night was a late night getting the appraisal out so tonight I'm about to turn in for the night, tired and need to catch up a bit.

Tonight Jessy was working here and she suggested we do sushi, we did it the other day and I learned that there are vegetarian things one can order.  Tonight I had some deep fried vegies, so good and then some rolls with tofu and different vegies and so good.

Now I'm off to bed, this morning I made oatmeal but had to leave for an appraisal that was earlier than I remembered so I never got to eat it after all.  O well I had crackers in the car and a Starbucks Mocha, low fat version and that was breakfast. 

Life is good, I feel good and I'm very thankful for life every day when I wake.

Love to all

Tim

Kallie turned 7 on Sunday, wonderful party at Tracy Pump it up, good people and good facility, clean and well run, she had 15 guests and it was really fun.