The privilege of working

Dear Family and Friends,
In a time when many are finding themselves between jobs it is a blessing to have work. True I'm working at a rate that is 1/10Th of a good year. I'm just working on DBH0300 now which is slowest year in all 20 years I've been appraising. When work picks up it will seem like such a blessing but for now its survival time.
This morning the instant message system on my screen popped into action and it was Loree telling me that she would be arriving soon for work. That was a very nice surprise and I can tell by the way boxes have been worked over that she had a good day. Shortly after she arrived I had to leave for the first appointment in Diablo Grande, a subdivision that is in the midst of very tough times. Originally created by the inventor of the nicotine patch who invested untold millions in its development the project is only about 1/10Th completed. A few months ago the original developer and his investors gave up and the court sold the whole development to someone else for a few million dollars. Since that time they have solved the fresh water problems, reopened the country club and are doing things that will eventually get the whole place back on track. The entire drive there was in heavy fog but as I approached the end of the 10 mile Diablo Grande Parkway the sun burst through and the entire time spent there was in warm sunshine. The subject property backs directly to a vineyard and was one of the most perfectly landscaped and decorated properties I have ever seen. The poor lady had a broken Dyson vacuum on the living room floor so I asked if I could help. I was able to get it back together and it worked fine. She was relieved and grateful. Seems an important part of life is to pick your battles and then enter the fray expecting to win.
After I finished the property inspection I turned to finding the best way to Ripon. I found roads that reached across from I 5 to Highway 99 and as I traveled the fog thickened. When I arrived in Ripon it seemed dark. The pictures I took at the second inspection will be very interesting indeed. I think of the biblical words, now we see through a glass darkly. This was a smaller home with one attached wall located in a 55 and over community. There has been only one sale in the development in the past 6 months so I gleaned sales of homes in other subdivisions. Finally the work was completed and I turned toward home. Fog everywhere which kept the drivers down to about 65 or 70 and bumper to bumper. Once I turned onto 4 from Stockton some chicken heart decided to hold us all back as they drove an amazing 25 to 30 mph. By the time we reached Discovery Bay the line of traffic behind was extensive.
Now I'm home after a quick stop by Nikki and Steve's to see the girls. They had a visit with the doctor and Kallie got 4 shots and Keanna got 1. She was proud of her little band aid and gave us a sneak preview of the songs she will sing at her concert on Thursday night at the school. They are very cute. Then there is also a dance recital this week. I had the high honor of holding Kallie for awhile and attempted to interest her in the bottle she was supposed to be drinking, no thanks, I'd rather watch sister or pull my socks off or wiggle and laugh. Great fun with the kidos and Nikki fed me dinner, how nice.
Art reported that he and son Matt changed the struts on Matt's MR 2 which is a sports car by Toyota. They bonded through about 16 hours of labor and in spite of their limited abilities Matt drove that car home this morning on the new struts. Nice work guys!
When the furnace heard that her highness, Loree was coming to work today it decided to work and lifted the temp from 63 to nearly 70 in just a few minutes. How nice to be warm for awhile.

have a pleasant evening.

love

tim