Friday

Thank you Lord for a safe week, one in which there was enough to eat, a bed to sleep in, children to talk to, kiddos to enjoy, funds to cover the bills.

Tomorrow I get to take Keanna and Kallie to SS, can't wait.

Love to all

Tim

Great night

Dear Family and Friends,

Well I think Romney did a great job tonight, setting out a dream for the future with less government and more jobs created by private business.  I might even consider hiring again if the power moves to new hands in Washington.  Over the years we've written hundreds of checks to those working with us but right now its just Steve and me working for a lot of reasons.

My day was partially spent in the field seeing a little house in San Pablo and then checking out a new home that is now completed in Antioch, then back to the office to keep working until a few minutes ago.

I'm tired tonight and just look forward to resting for awhile.  I think about you often, wondering how your life is doing, are you reaching your goals, your hopes, do you get the feedback you need to know where you stand in this old world?

Life is an ongoing challenge with ups and downs, for me its always a battle to be better, lighter, move more, be more organized, to be able to help people.

Good night all

Tim

Paul Ryan gives an impressive presentation

Well this day has sort of slipped by,  I wrote on appraisals this morning until 11:40 when I picked up Keanna from school, seems the teachers need more time the rest of the week to meet with parents so school days end at 11:40 the rest of the week, I'm not impressed with any excuse to not teach!

Keanna did not want to go to McDonalds so we came home and I made pasta for her.  Then she made popcorn, drank a bottle of water and we purchased a game that she can play through the computer, she enjoyed that all afternoon.  First though she waded into some pretty tough homework and standing beside me at my desk she finished it on her own.  Her math methods are now beyond me and I just watch, I have only a rough idea of what she is doing.  She is writing stories, one a day which I think is incredibly good for this age and she came through the door tonight after her parent teacher conference to announce that she scored 100% in math for the state test.  She is a keeper.

Kallie was here for a couple hours so we drove down to Strawhat and got little pizzas.  She enjoyed putting quarters into a machine where she got rubber balls, I think she ended up with 6 of them!

Well now once again it is time to crash, today has been a warm one and it seemed even warmer.  I moved the sender for my new weather station to a place in the sun and it kept reporting over 100 degrees this afternoon.  That is wrong, it was not 104 degrees at all.  Got to keep trying to find the right place for it.

Right now its time to send you love,

Tim

Still moving forward

At the age of 64 things look a little different than when I was 30.  Back then getting old seemed far away and impossible, now when I roll out of bed I come up easy and wait a second while my head clears and I can safely stand up, bending over to get something on the floor while not impossible sure takes planning.  Even a brief excursion into the yard to work means sore muscles later and periods of heavy breathing!

Same with work, I now take my time measuring a house, why rush and get it wrong, just take your time and it begins to take shape on paper as you measure.  This afternoon we drove to Stockton, went through a security gate and found the home we were to see.  It was very nice and there was a shade tree so Marilyn would not bake while waiting in the car.  The house was great but a bit complicated so it took a bit longer, so what, better to get it right than try to remember later one what was there.

After we finished the house I was feeling the blood sugar free fall so we went to Spaghetti Factory and had a great dinner, adult portion, whole wheat pasta, broccoli on the side, of course everything was swimming in butter!  Anyway it was a great meal and we enjoyed it.

After we got home we heard little voices, it was Kallie who came into the office and grabbed me in a hug, with a huge smile on her lovely face and sparkling eyes the room came alive.  Keanna was in the living room in the children's play area and was already fast at work in her kitchen.  What a nice punch to an ordinary day.

Well good night to all and a special prayer request for a special friend, and another prayer request for Carol and Roger as they cope with the loss of Carol's father, and another special request that God guide over Carrol as she enters a new chemo therapy.  God bless them all.

Love

Tim

Life is at best interesting, at worst miserable

Good evening
Just back from a CostCo break, needed water, peaches, strawberries and soy milk, love that place and their prices.

This morning I did the right thing.  I was given an order for a property in San Francisco, turns out it was over 7,000 sf and when I ran the comps this morning I found they ranged from 5 to 17 million dollars.  I froze.  No way am I wading into such a mess.  By the way they started by offering $275 as a fee, then moved it up to $325, well I think they will end up paying $1,500 for the appraisal but when I saw what the stakes were I called and backed out, no way was I walking into a land mine like this one, my E&O insurance only goes up to a million, not 17 million!!

So I inspected a nice place in Piedmont, a uppity section of Oakland and then moved on to Livermore where I inspected a home that had been foreclosed by the bank, the people gave up fighting and then the back backed off the foreclosure, what a mess, lenders are not very impressive these days, instead of being good citizens they are hurting people every chance they get, I see it over and over again, when banks could help instead they inflict pain and suffering, people who try to talk to banks never get the same person when they call, banks call every day like robots just causing pain and suffering.

We are getting a nice break in the weather these days, in the high 80s instead of over 100.  It makes a huge difference in comfort and ability to do appraisals.

Well I'm heading for bed now so I can climb out early and enjoy the cool morning air, mornings are so special here by the lake and I treasure my setting, thankful for my blessings.

Well I'm signing off now, here is a photo I received today from Jo.  Timothy has just gotten his first belt in a martial arts class.  What a neat little guy!

Finally a super productive day

I first woke at 6, changed the alarm to 7 and went back to sleep.  Once I woke that time the morning was dawning and it was cool and beautiful outside.  I just got up, put on the tennis shoes and stepped onto the Nordic Track Treadmill and started walking.  All went well, my heart behaved and the program was perfect until about 4 minutes from the end it just quit.  I'm not sure what happened but it just stopped, the lights were still on but the tred was not milling at all.  So I think a service call might be in order.  Anyway the day was started with a bang.  I came down and made my mocha with the new coffee machine, how I love the taste of a little cream, a single slug of coffee and some mocha, it is great!

I immediately set to work and before long had produced my first appraisal, one from the Montclair district of Oakland, then I broke for breakfast, Marilyn was up and moving about.  So I fired up the range, put some olive oil in a pan, put some fresh mushrooms in to brown, then broke two eggs into a little mixing bowl and added in some soy milk, then I poured the eggs into the pan and added a bit of soy sauce.  I covered it with a glass lid so I could see what was going on.  Soon the edges began to brown and I spilled it out onto my plate along with some sour dough toast with avocado, poured a tiny glass of OJ and moved to the back deck to sit at the little bistro table and enjoy the morning.  It really was perfect, ducks and geese moved about, wind stirred in the trees, wow it was good to be alive.

For some reason and I can't begin to understand why I felt alive again, ready to accomplish things, it was nice.  And  accomplish things is just what I did, tonight there are several reports completed and filed with the lenders.  The day was a success.

Am I caught up?  Well not quite but I'm much closer than I was even last Friday.  Oh there was that break in the middle of the afternoon, to go make a deposit at the bank, you know the bank that is located adjacent to the Starbucks!  Well I deserved a break and I was able to stretch out the drink for hours.

This morning Carol sent a very sad email.  Her incredible dad, a 97 year old gentleman in every sense of the word passed away.  I know she and Roger will miss someone who has been a pillar in their life, a really great guy who loved to live.  Our prayers go to Carol and Roger this evening.

Well this is now time to close down the shop for tonight.  I'm sending the best to everyone who might stop by to read these words. Take time to love those nearby, while you can, while they are still young, while they are still with you, while they are needing you so much, take time to love.

Tim

A great Sabbath

So Pooka will not let me just come down and sip a mocha, no she has to bug me until I finally take her to the park, of course it was good for me too.

I got the call that Kallie could go to SS so I picked her up and we were #2 to arrive.  Jackie was already there, a very cute kid who just like Kallie does not always listen.  Kim is so patient and is a great teacher, what a nice morning we all had.

We came back home and picked up Marilyn and went to a local place called Byron Inn for lunch.  Then we returned Kallie to her home.  All in all it was great.

This evening we hit Olive Garden for a never ending pasta bowl, whole wheat pasta and 5 cheese marinara sauce.  It was great.

Tomorrow is another important day for getting lots of work done.  I hope your weekend is progressing nicely. 

Love to all

Tim