Dear Ones,
Just back from an important meeting with Jim re: ACN. There is much to learn for this exciting new business. Earlier I was blessed to be able to stop at a brokers home and pick up a check for an upcoming appraisal. During this day four cod orders were placed, almost enough to make a serious dent in the house payment. Pretty exciting!
This morning I was on hand when Kallie and Keanna woke up. Kallie drank part of her bottle but had a diaper that should be against the law! We managed to fix Keanna some breakfast and get everyone in the car on time. Not long after I returned home to fix breakfast and start working the sitter called to say Kallie was losing her cookies once again and her license did not allow a sick baby to stay in her care. Nikki was on assignment at Stanford University so after debating the best course of action I went and picked her up. I moved furniture around to form a safe play area but upon arriving she demonstrated she was sleepy so I put her to bed. With about one minutes of crying she settled down and slept over 2 hours. Being a novice at this sort of stuff I made many trips up to make sure she was OK and had not thrown up again. Lois was kind enough to come sit with her while I went to pick up Keanna from school and then we all spent time together until Nikki arrived. I then set up orders and did a bit more of work before leaving to buy meds at Longs, pick up a check for future work, do an interior inspection of a home and then drive to Jim and Martis for what is called a launch, a process of learning more about the new business. Jim is brilliant and the time was well spent. As I write I am so exhausted I can tell this blog is about to come to an end. 5:45 comes early in the morning and we've decided Kallie will come here in the morning to spend time with me. This evening as she was having dinner not all of it stayed down so we still have concerns about the bug she has picked up. Nikki will come home early with her government issued laptop so she can do some work at home.
I must say there are few moments more enjoyable and precious in the world than little Kallie lying still in my arms just content to be there, not wanting to let go. What a precious experience to be a grand parent of these three little tykes. How I wish Nan could be here to enjoy it like I get to. She was a natural at the whole process and would have known just what to do to help. But I am here and she is at rest so I'll do my best and treasure every moment of it.
For now I'm going to bed and I know you all understand why I need to, I'm beat but pleased too that I could help out. Work comes and goes but family is for eternity!
love
tim
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Down to work
Dear Family and Friends,
The only problem with enjoyable weekends is they can't last forever. Oh to win the lottery, of course one has to play to win and I'm way to cheap to throw away money so there goes that idea.
This morning I rose at 5:45 so I could be at the kids house in time. I fed Kallie her bottle and then listened as she settled down again for the next hour or so. What I did not know and I did not catch it, she lost her bottle soon after I put her back down. For the life of me I could not figure out why her bed was wet when I picked her up. I changed her into a new jammie and expected that the diaper had failed but it had not. later in the day Nikki called to say that the sitter had called to let her know Kallie was vomiting. Then it all made sense to me, why her bed was so wet. I just never thought about that possibility, grandparent ignorance!
After delivering the little angels to school and sitter I came back to the office. It was a mess, all desk surfaces were piled high with papers and files. So I took the time to file things that needed to be filed, listed all files on a grease board so I could see where I stood with work and got organized. Wow was I surprised. There is plenty to do for the next few days. Energized I set to work, prepared for a trip to inspect a house in Oakley, shoot comps for that one and two other appraisals and then came back to work. I've been in the chair ever since and several reports are now on their way to lenders via the Internet.
At this point in time there are so many things up in the air. On the first which is Wednesday we have to start preparing an additional page which will require about 30 minutes of time gathering data with each report. Then in one month our appraisal world will change again when new rules kick in which will outlaw COD payment for reports, prevent all my clients from ordering appraisals directly and instead they must order through a third party management company who in many cases will keep up to half the fee in the process. In the meantime days have gone by without any checks coming in the mail. It is disheartening to work this hard week after week without any payment coming in. While I know it will come eventually in the meantime there are bills to pay but no money to cover them. I do not let it stop me from working but at the same time it would be nice to have the stress removed by the ability to pay the bills that are due. plus of course in just 15 days the tax man arrives and I have no money to pay my taxes that will be due. So if I want to spend time worrying there is plenty to fill the time. However I am choosing to work instead of worry, trust instead of walk the floors at night and do what I can believing God also is aware of all of our needs.
It was so nice to take a break and catch up with family on Sabbath and to work with Jason doing manly work, installing base board. Fun stuff!
And right now its time to head to bed and see if I can catch up on some sleep, another good plan.
So I send my love and appreciation to both friend and family,
love
tim
The only problem with enjoyable weekends is they can't last forever. Oh to win the lottery, of course one has to play to win and I'm way to cheap to throw away money so there goes that idea.
This morning I rose at 5:45 so I could be at the kids house in time. I fed Kallie her bottle and then listened as she settled down again for the next hour or so. What I did not know and I did not catch it, she lost her bottle soon after I put her back down. For the life of me I could not figure out why her bed was wet when I picked her up. I changed her into a new jammie and expected that the diaper had failed but it had not. later in the day Nikki called to say that the sitter had called to let her know Kallie was vomiting. Then it all made sense to me, why her bed was so wet. I just never thought about that possibility, grandparent ignorance!
After delivering the little angels to school and sitter I came back to the office. It was a mess, all desk surfaces were piled high with papers and files. So I took the time to file things that needed to be filed, listed all files on a grease board so I could see where I stood with work and got organized. Wow was I surprised. There is plenty to do for the next few days. Energized I set to work, prepared for a trip to inspect a house in Oakley, shoot comps for that one and two other appraisals and then came back to work. I've been in the chair ever since and several reports are now on their way to lenders via the Internet.
At this point in time there are so many things up in the air. On the first which is Wednesday we have to start preparing an additional page which will require about 30 minutes of time gathering data with each report. Then in one month our appraisal world will change again when new rules kick in which will outlaw COD payment for reports, prevent all my clients from ordering appraisals directly and instead they must order through a third party management company who in many cases will keep up to half the fee in the process. In the meantime days have gone by without any checks coming in the mail. It is disheartening to work this hard week after week without any payment coming in. While I know it will come eventually in the meantime there are bills to pay but no money to cover them. I do not let it stop me from working but at the same time it would be nice to have the stress removed by the ability to pay the bills that are due. plus of course in just 15 days the tax man arrives and I have no money to pay my taxes that will be due. So if I want to spend time worrying there is plenty to fill the time. However I am choosing to work instead of worry, trust instead of walk the floors at night and do what I can believing God also is aware of all of our needs.
It was so nice to take a break and catch up with family on Sabbath and to work with Jason doing manly work, installing base board. Fun stuff!
And right now its time to head to bed and see if I can catch up on some sleep, another good plan.
So I send my love and appreciation to both friend and family,
love
tim
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Home after a great weekend
Dear Family and Friends,
Yes, I made it back home through some pretty interesting wind and with a cell phone that refused to work at all until I got home. It was hard to leave and Timothy was sad to see me go.
Jason and I got busy this morning and decided on a job of installing baseboard in the living room and Timothy's room. We made a quick trip to Home Depot to get supplies and then set to work. Jason got me set up and I painted the boards and let them sun dry. He worked on a planter box and got his brad / staple air gun to working. Then we began to measure and put down the boards. They look great and went in well. When I finally had to leave Jason was down to his last two boards.
This was a time of perfect weather. Very cool at nights, probably in the 50s so sleep came easily and then warm days with just enough wind to keep it comfortable. This morning as I walked with the dogs there was some fog in the air but the wind soon blew that away.
When I returned from the walk I found the motorhome locked. I thought jason was playing tricks on me so I went for the keys. He did not have them. Yes they were locked safely in the motorhome. Somehow the red locking device fell into place as he closed the door. It had never happened before. Well what do you do when the motorhome is locked up tight and the second set of keys is at Nikki and STeve's here in Discovery Bay. Well as you begin to check every window you also send up a prayer in the context of, this is not that important but we could use some help please. Then as I was checking the windows I found the tiny kitchen window was not locked, mind you this window is about 6 by 6 inches. It is also located directly across the motorhome from the door and front my vantage point on the ladder I could see the offending red lever. However the motorhome is very wide when you have the slide out and only after digging in Jason's garage did I come up with a very long stick. Using the stick and my arm I was able to touch the door and finally move the level to the unlocked position. Yes we were in!
Jason and Jo made some really good food for lunch and I learned new things in the process. Jo made some wonderful little toasted bread slices with cherry tomato and something else to put on the top. Jason made a wrap of several kinds of greens, cut up griller and stripples. What a feast! I can do a wrap, just roll up the whole wheat tortilla. Yes something learned.
As I headed home I found the radio had once again decided to have no volume and after weaving about on the road trying to get it fixed I surrendered to silence and the challenge of keeping the coast on the road in some very stiff wind. I was glad to make it home finally, dumped the tanks, moved supplies and clothes back to the house and said a silent prayer of thanks for a safe and meaningful trip. My attitude has experienced a 180 through the weekend.
So good night my friends and family, have a great peaceful week as you do your best to touch those lives God places before you.
love
tim
I've included three photos. When I got to the beach my batteries were almost gone so the good photos slipped away. The Timothy shot is at SS where he and a little girl are riding in the boat on the sea!
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Outstanding day
Dear Family and Friends,
Well this is the end of a very good day. After a week from the hot place a day by the beach really makes great sense out of life.
I woke at 7:30 this morning after a restful night by the ocean. Sabbath School was great as usual as very talented people plan and lead out with a very full and exciting program. Timothy loves it and so do the other little kidos.
Then it was back to the house for a wonderful lunch with Raymond and his wife and little son who is 9 months old. Every dish of food was outstanding and my two tomatoes were put to great use. Nikki and the girls arrived early afternoon after battling 300 motorcycles over Highway 17, Keanna told me there were 139 bikes, not sure how she arrived at that number. After a little while of kidos meeting kidos and playing we ventured down to the beach where the weather was perfect. The surf was gentle, the sand warm and Keanna and Timothy had a great time finding shells, digging with their play shovels, running and falling in the sand. Kallie enjoyed herself too and took a header and came up with sand totally covering her face, nose, mouth but in a little while Nikki had her as good as new and she smiled and continued to play. After a long time of fun in the sun we all headed back up the long walk to the house. The dogs were so tired when we got back as they should be having just pulled me up the hill. Starr drank and drank, I should have brought the water bottle designed for dogs that Lois and Ray gave me for her. The pizza was ordered and we enjoyed yet another good meal. Finally everyone had to head home except for me since my home away from home sits next to the house. Now I'm in the motorhome with the furnace on as the temp is about 50 degrees. I'm hooked up to the house with water, electrical power and even cable TV so I really have the comforts of home compliments of Jason and Jo.
I must say that Jason and Jo do a great job of hosting guests and family. Everyone of us here today have enjoyed a very full and friendly day. They know just how to meet everyones needs and for me to have my family under one roof was bliss. I love the times this can happen, I just wish Steve could have been with us but he was helping his brother who lives in Felton. The kids are at an age where they can enjoy each other and Keanna is such a helpful big sister. She played very nicely with Timothy and he is such a good kid, no problems, just fun and laughter. Kallie takes it all in and smiles and jabbers happily. Just keep her fed, warm, dry and she is a happy girl.
Well now its time for me to be in bed. There are some things I need to change and getting rest is one of them. Since Nan has been gone my self discipline has wavered a lot. She was so good about simply saying, bout time for bed or I'm going up, are you coming but with her gone and no voice to invite or remind I just hang out and waste rest time. Time to get a big grip.
I wish you all could have been here today, it was so perfect, we all need days like this from time to time when all the cares of this life and there are plenty of them, can be laid aside and we can relax in our love for each other and spend moments of pure joy.
Good night my family and friends,
love to all
tim
Well this is the end of a very good day. After a week from the hot place a day by the beach really makes great sense out of life.
I woke at 7:30 this morning after a restful night by the ocean. Sabbath School was great as usual as very talented people plan and lead out with a very full and exciting program. Timothy loves it and so do the other little kidos.
Then it was back to the house for a wonderful lunch with Raymond and his wife and little son who is 9 months old. Every dish of food was outstanding and my two tomatoes were put to great use. Nikki and the girls arrived early afternoon after battling 300 motorcycles over Highway 17, Keanna told me there were 139 bikes, not sure how she arrived at that number. After a little while of kidos meeting kidos and playing we ventured down to the beach where the weather was perfect. The surf was gentle, the sand warm and Keanna and Timothy had a great time finding shells, digging with their play shovels, running and falling in the sand. Kallie enjoyed herself too and took a header and came up with sand totally covering her face, nose, mouth but in a little while Nikki had her as good as new and she smiled and continued to play. After a long time of fun in the sun we all headed back up the long walk to the house. The dogs were so tired when we got back as they should be having just pulled me up the hill. Starr drank and drank, I should have brought the water bottle designed for dogs that Lois and Ray gave me for her. The pizza was ordered and we enjoyed yet another good meal. Finally everyone had to head home except for me since my home away from home sits next to the house. Now I'm in the motorhome with the furnace on as the temp is about 50 degrees. I'm hooked up to the house with water, electrical power and even cable TV so I really have the comforts of home compliments of Jason and Jo.
I must say that Jason and Jo do a great job of hosting guests and family. Everyone of us here today have enjoyed a very full and friendly day. They know just how to meet everyones needs and for me to have my family under one roof was bliss. I love the times this can happen, I just wish Steve could have been with us but he was helping his brother who lives in Felton. The kids are at an age where they can enjoy each other and Keanna is such a helpful big sister. She played very nicely with Timothy and he is such a good kid, no problems, just fun and laughter. Kallie takes it all in and smiles and jabbers happily. Just keep her fed, warm, dry and she is a happy girl.
Well now its time for me to be in bed. There are some things I need to change and getting rest is one of them. Since Nan has been gone my self discipline has wavered a lot. She was so good about simply saying, bout time for bed or I'm going up, are you coming but with her gone and no voice to invite or remind I just hang out and waste rest time. Time to get a big grip.
I wish you all could have been here today, it was so perfect, we all need days like this from time to time when all the cares of this life and there are plenty of them, can be laid aside and we can relax in our love for each other and spend moments of pure joy.
Good night my family and friends,
love to all
tim
Friday, March 27, 2009
At MBA
Dear Family and Friends,
Finally after a big week with lots of challenges, giant stresses, blessed moments and hundreds of miles driven the dogs and I are relaxing in the motorhome which is parked adjacent to Jason and Jo's home. I can hear the waves breaking on the beach if I strain and the air is crisp, salty and welcome.
I know you have faced challenges this week as well and I try not to forget that while I'm most aware of my own life the lives of those around me are also being lived at a fast pace and with stress and pressures.
For example this morning after caring for the girls, seeing a local property and then driving to Auburn the story of the homeowner was shared. In a short amount of time this dear lady has lost a husband, then her son in a dead on crash, then her daughter's oldest child died and her mother as well. She was right to explain that she felt like her life was under siege. Tragedy after tragedy, she wondered when it would stop. But who can say.
After enjoying time in the country side surrounding Auburn I headed back home where I found that Pam had finally really woken up and was moving past her jet lag into normalcy again.
I quickly loaded the motorhome but then became bogged down in the office attempting to cope with a mounting pile of conditions, unfinished reports and urgent requests. There are times this week that I felt I simply could not handle one more addition but they kept coming. I'm not sure why I bothered to get Direct TV. Getting it implied I might find time to sit for a few minutes and enjoy a program but that has not been the case. I catch the weather channel while I'm showering and dressing or going to bed. I catch some news when I sit at the table and eat and then I'm back to the office to work. And the hardest thing about work right now is that the majority of it is reverse mortgage work and by the time they fund usually a month to two months has passed so the work I'm laboring with now will not return funds for a very long time. Will I need the money then? Absolutely but I could also use some now. One bill that is hard to handle is the $571 charged by the hospital for a nose swab to check for whooping cough. Instead of a simple lab 1 minute process they ran me through ER and since my insurance has a $1,000 deductible I'm paying the entire amount. Yikes, this is no fun.
I'm thankful to be taking a breather from work but I regret not being able to take Keanna to Sabbath School in the morning. I hope that Nikki and the girls can come visit tomorrow here at Jason and Jo's. I know Keanna is looking forward to seeing Timothy again and he has grown so much. This evening they gave me a new photo of him taken recently and he is such a cute little man now.
Well I feel like its time for bed, Starr is snoring loudly as she rests in the drivers seat of the motorhome. This afternoon she did a very silly thing. She happened to be loose and in the driveby, something I never allow and she ran into Jazz, Lois and Rays beautiful lab. Starr waded into her snarling and biting and I had to grab her and pitch her into the motorhome before Jazz decided to fight back. I could not believe Starr was that lame, didn't she see that the dog she was attacking was 10 times as big as her? That goodness Jazz is calm. It really scared me and reminded me why I never let Starr run freely, she just has no sense when she is free. My heart was really beating hard after the event as I love Starr and want nothing bad to happen to her.
May you each have a peaceful weekend and enjoy time with your Creator in your own way. You are known, loved and cherished which makes you a pretty special person.
love
tim
Finally after a big week with lots of challenges, giant stresses, blessed moments and hundreds of miles driven the dogs and I are relaxing in the motorhome which is parked adjacent to Jason and Jo's home. I can hear the waves breaking on the beach if I strain and the air is crisp, salty and welcome.
I know you have faced challenges this week as well and I try not to forget that while I'm most aware of my own life the lives of those around me are also being lived at a fast pace and with stress and pressures.
For example this morning after caring for the girls, seeing a local property and then driving to Auburn the story of the homeowner was shared. In a short amount of time this dear lady has lost a husband, then her son in a dead on crash, then her daughter's oldest child died and her mother as well. She was right to explain that she felt like her life was under siege. Tragedy after tragedy, she wondered when it would stop. But who can say.
After enjoying time in the country side surrounding Auburn I headed back home where I found that Pam had finally really woken up and was moving past her jet lag into normalcy again.
I quickly loaded the motorhome but then became bogged down in the office attempting to cope with a mounting pile of conditions, unfinished reports and urgent requests. There are times this week that I felt I simply could not handle one more addition but they kept coming. I'm not sure why I bothered to get Direct TV. Getting it implied I might find time to sit for a few minutes and enjoy a program but that has not been the case. I catch the weather channel while I'm showering and dressing or going to bed. I catch some news when I sit at the table and eat and then I'm back to the office to work. And the hardest thing about work right now is that the majority of it is reverse mortgage work and by the time they fund usually a month to two months has passed so the work I'm laboring with now will not return funds for a very long time. Will I need the money then? Absolutely but I could also use some now. One bill that is hard to handle is the $571 charged by the hospital for a nose swab to check for whooping cough. Instead of a simple lab 1 minute process they ran me through ER and since my insurance has a $1,000 deductible I'm paying the entire amount. Yikes, this is no fun.
I'm thankful to be taking a breather from work but I regret not being able to take Keanna to Sabbath School in the morning. I hope that Nikki and the girls can come visit tomorrow here at Jason and Jo's. I know Keanna is looking forward to seeing Timothy again and he has grown so much. This evening they gave me a new photo of him taken recently and he is such a cute little man now.
Well I feel like its time for bed, Starr is snoring loudly as she rests in the drivers seat of the motorhome. This afternoon she did a very silly thing. She happened to be loose and in the driveby, something I never allow and she ran into Jazz, Lois and Rays beautiful lab. Starr waded into her snarling and biting and I had to grab her and pitch her into the motorhome before Jazz decided to fight back. I could not believe Starr was that lame, didn't she see that the dog she was attacking was 10 times as big as her? That goodness Jazz is calm. It really scared me and reminded me why I never let Starr run freely, she just has no sense when she is free. My heart was really beating hard after the event as I love Starr and want nothing bad to happen to her.
May you each have a peaceful weekend and enjoy time with your Creator in your own way. You are known, loved and cherished which makes you a pretty special person.
love
tim
Thursday, March 26, 2009
keeping it moving along
Dear Family and Friends,
Wow life gets interesting. I've been struck with how challenging life has become lately. Underwriting on appraisals has gotten much more critical, values are continuing to drop in most market areas where I work and money is very tight. Once again I face the house payment yet I will not lose sleep over it. God has provided every month and I think He is still in charge now.
This afternoon I drove over to SF and picked up Pam at the international terminal, how it has been improved and it has become easy to pick someone up now. Pam was very tired as it is tomorrow in Wales so right now she is sleeping in the guest room and I'm guessing she will sleep for a very long time.
In the early morning I'll be with the kidos helping them rise and get to their sitter appointment, then I'll see a local property for a loan rate reduction and then drive to Auburn to see a property, then drive back here and load the motorhome for a trip down to see jason, jo and mr timothy. It will be great to see them again and I'm feeling well enough that I really look forward to the trip.
Right now I'm heading to bed and hope to find a full night of sleep and rest. I just had a surprise call, Sylvia and Lydia were in the neighborhood visiting the grays who live over in the golf course and had extra spanish rice so they brought me some. That was a pleasant surprise and the dogs were thrilled to see someone besides me for a change.
This has been a no coughing day which was nice. This morning I did a quick inspection up in Oakley of a two house property, cute as can be and met a really nice real estate person. I find nice people everywhere it seems.
So tomorrow night I'll be writing from Monterey Bay Academy.
In spite of all the challenges life is pretty precious, even with the stress and worries.
So good night my friends and family, you mean the world to me.
love
tim
Wow life gets interesting. I've been struck with how challenging life has become lately. Underwriting on appraisals has gotten much more critical, values are continuing to drop in most market areas where I work and money is very tight. Once again I face the house payment yet I will not lose sleep over it. God has provided every month and I think He is still in charge now.
This afternoon I drove over to SF and picked up Pam at the international terminal, how it has been improved and it has become easy to pick someone up now. Pam was very tired as it is tomorrow in Wales so right now she is sleeping in the guest room and I'm guessing she will sleep for a very long time.
In the early morning I'll be with the kidos helping them rise and get to their sitter appointment, then I'll see a local property for a loan rate reduction and then drive to Auburn to see a property, then drive back here and load the motorhome for a trip down to see jason, jo and mr timothy. It will be great to see them again and I'm feeling well enough that I really look forward to the trip.
Right now I'm heading to bed and hope to find a full night of sleep and rest. I just had a surprise call, Sylvia and Lydia were in the neighborhood visiting the grays who live over in the golf course and had extra spanish rice so they brought me some. That was a pleasant surprise and the dogs were thrilled to see someone besides me for a change.
This has been a no coughing day which was nice. This morning I did a quick inspection up in Oakley of a two house property, cute as can be and met a really nice real estate person. I find nice people everywhere it seems.
So tomorrow night I'll be writing from Monterey Bay Academy.
In spite of all the challenges life is pretty precious, even with the stress and worries.
So good night my friends and family, you mean the world to me.
love
tim
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
16 hour day, I'm too old for this`
Good evening,
I'm just in after a day that started at 6 this morning. I'm very thankful for a safe day. I've seen 5 properties and enjoyed the sweet people at each house. I ended the day by attending an ACN meeting at the Marriott where hundreds of people gathered to hear from a vice president located in Modesto. He is the highest producer in the organization and a very good speaker.
As I've been driving a lot I've had many chances to think and have come to a conclusion that seems brilliant but is so obvious.
Facts: I am carrying 80 extra pounds compared to the majority of my adult life when I was about 150 lb. I keep thinking about what I need to do to dump the 80 lbs and of course so far nothing has happened. I decided today that I'll concentrate on 10 lbs. I think I can manage that and then I'll start again from that point.
At this point I'm going to sign off and drop into bed. I'm totally exhausted and I'm indebted to Art and then my brother Jerry for talking me home tonight. Thanks guys!
Sincerely,
tim
I'm just in after a day that started at 6 this morning. I'm very thankful for a safe day. I've seen 5 properties and enjoyed the sweet people at each house. I ended the day by attending an ACN meeting at the Marriott where hundreds of people gathered to hear from a vice president located in Modesto. He is the highest producer in the organization and a very good speaker.
As I've been driving a lot I've had many chances to think and have come to a conclusion that seems brilliant but is so obvious.
Facts: I am carrying 80 extra pounds compared to the majority of my adult life when I was about 150 lb. I keep thinking about what I need to do to dump the 80 lbs and of course so far nothing has happened. I decided today that I'll concentrate on 10 lbs. I think I can manage that and then I'll start again from that point.
At this point I'm going to sign off and drop into bed. I'm totally exhausted and I'm indebted to Art and then my brother Jerry for talking me home tonight. Thanks guys!
Sincerely,
tim
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Nice day
Dear Family and Friends,
So glad the day is finally winding down. I've been busy and enjoyed many of the moments of the day. This morning was special as kallie woke and took her bottle, that is such a special quiet time, she is precious, then Keanna finally woke up, slept in to 8:45. Then we loaded up and I delivered them to the special sitters for the day. I came home and worked a bit, made appointments and this afternoon inspected a local property and then drove to Tracy for a construction inspection of a newly started huge home in the country. Then back where Lois and Ray tempted me into sin, a burrito in Brentwood, then we drove back to the RV parking storage where we drove in and started the motorhome. As we tried to leave the electronic key lock said the lot was closed for the night, sorry they were an hour early so I finally called 411 and got the number for the RV storage, they finally answered and acted miffed that we needed their help to GET OUT of the storage area. I'll be finding a new place to store the motorhome, I'm fed up with them, this is the 4th time they have messed up and I think that's enough.
So then I went and gassed it up and Safeway gave me a .20 per gallon discount, yes. So the trip to see Jason and Jo just got less expensive.
Now I'm home, need to do some quick research for the 5 I am seeing tomorrow and then head to bed. Life is not dull. Most exciting was a call from Sylvia. She is home from her trip to Japan and she reports a great trip.
So good night my friends and relatives, love to all
Tim
So glad the day is finally winding down. I've been busy and enjoyed many of the moments of the day. This morning was special as kallie woke and took her bottle, that is such a special quiet time, she is precious, then Keanna finally woke up, slept in to 8:45. Then we loaded up and I delivered them to the special sitters for the day. I came home and worked a bit, made appointments and this afternoon inspected a local property and then drove to Tracy for a construction inspection of a newly started huge home in the country. Then back where Lois and Ray tempted me into sin, a burrito in Brentwood, then we drove back to the RV parking storage where we drove in and started the motorhome. As we tried to leave the electronic key lock said the lot was closed for the night, sorry they were an hour early so I finally called 411 and got the number for the RV storage, they finally answered and acted miffed that we needed their help to GET OUT of the storage area. I'll be finding a new place to store the motorhome, I'm fed up with them, this is the 4th time they have messed up and I think that's enough.
So then I went and gassed it up and Safeway gave me a .20 per gallon discount, yes. So the trip to see Jason and Jo just got less expensive.
Now I'm home, need to do some quick research for the 5 I am seeing tomorrow and then head to bed. Life is not dull. Most exciting was a call from Sylvia. She is home from her trip to Japan and she reports a great trip.
So good night my friends and relatives, love to all
Tim
Monday, March 23, 2009
A beautiful day
Dear Family and Friends,
The winds were back today and while they are rough on allergies they sure clear the air.
In life there are times when the air has to be cleared too, even in relationships there comes times when little things have become large and have to be faced. Any of you that know me well know how much I dislike confrontation of any form. I'm painfully learning though that to live a successful life one has to confront issues, people, ideas, bad behavior, poor performance. One has to speak up at times when things are wrong or people are being hurt. Its a very tough lesson to learn, so much easier to just let everything slide and not make waves. Easier but wrong on so many levels.
John and Karen Cress were helpful to us in so many ways, they were wonderful pastors, exciting human beings and loyal friends. John knew how to confront, he really did and it was helpful to all of us.
This afternoon an appointment came through for Richmond. One thinks twice about going to Richmond in the afternoon because by that time of day the dark side has woken up and are on the streets. Let me tell you one drives very carefully when in some of these neighborhoods, one would not want to have an accident, might be hard to find witnesses to tell it your way. The broker I work for in the Oakland area was robbed three weeks ago at gunpoint. Of course he drives a Mercedes convertible, a beautiful car while I drive a very old bug, it could be my safety blanket really.
Once again I was thankful to drive into the garage and turn off the engine. Today it turned 190,000 and for now is going strong. I give thanks to the master mechanic for keeping it going day by day.
I've sure enjoyed seeing friends lately, Art and Connie, Dolly, Bart, Bob and Carrol, Glen and Joyce and others, just great to feel the connection with friends. I'm so looking forward to this weekend. I think I'll get a chance to drive down to spend time with Timothy and his loving parents. Its been a while as I didn't want to go when I was coughing so badly. It seems to be better at least today.
This afternoon Nikki let me know they would be at UNO's having lunch so I managed to catch up with the girls and watch Kallie as she ate at some food that was ordered just for her. It was fun to find out what they were doing and from there I drove on to work appointments. Its a great lift to spend time with precious little ones. I think I know how excited Loren and Emily are these days as they begin to enjoy the pleasures of being grandparents. Its like nothing else.
May God use you to love someone today!
love
tim
'
The winds were back today and while they are rough on allergies they sure clear the air.
In life there are times when the air has to be cleared too, even in relationships there comes times when little things have become large and have to be faced. Any of you that know me well know how much I dislike confrontation of any form. I'm painfully learning though that to live a successful life one has to confront issues, people, ideas, bad behavior, poor performance. One has to speak up at times when things are wrong or people are being hurt. Its a very tough lesson to learn, so much easier to just let everything slide and not make waves. Easier but wrong on so many levels.
John and Karen Cress were helpful to us in so many ways, they were wonderful pastors, exciting human beings and loyal friends. John knew how to confront, he really did and it was helpful to all of us.
This afternoon an appointment came through for Richmond. One thinks twice about going to Richmond in the afternoon because by that time of day the dark side has woken up and are on the streets. Let me tell you one drives very carefully when in some of these neighborhoods, one would not want to have an accident, might be hard to find witnesses to tell it your way. The broker I work for in the Oakland area was robbed three weeks ago at gunpoint. Of course he drives a Mercedes convertible, a beautiful car while I drive a very old bug, it could be my safety blanket really.
Once again I was thankful to drive into the garage and turn off the engine. Today it turned 190,000 and for now is going strong. I give thanks to the master mechanic for keeping it going day by day.
I've sure enjoyed seeing friends lately, Art and Connie, Dolly, Bart, Bob and Carrol, Glen and Joyce and others, just great to feel the connection with friends. I'm so looking forward to this weekend. I think I'll get a chance to drive down to spend time with Timothy and his loving parents. Its been a while as I didn't want to go when I was coughing so badly. It seems to be better at least today.
This afternoon Nikki let me know they would be at UNO's having lunch so I managed to catch up with the girls and watch Kallie as she ate at some food that was ordered just for her. It was fun to find out what they were doing and from there I drove on to work appointments. Its a great lift to spend time with precious little ones. I think I know how excited Loren and Emily are these days as they begin to enjoy the pleasures of being grandparents. Its like nothing else.
May God use you to love someone today!
love
tim
'
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Friends are such fun
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a windy day, so much wind in fact that it wiped out our planned walk this morning. I used the time to do busy work in the office and then left for Napa where I had the privilege of having lunch with Dolly and Bart Vogel. These two along with Howard taught Nan and I the appraisal business about 22 years ago and we have always been very grateful for the chance they gave us at a new way to work and live. Lunch was great and to just see them and hear how they are doing was very very special. For those of you who know Dolly you know what a special person she is, she is God's own for sure and to get to spend time with her and learn of her latest adventures, well it was very nice.
Then I drove on up to Santa Rosa to do a driveby of a large home located on 12 acres. The day was beautiful with fleecy clouds high in the deep blue sky, the green fields, horse and sheep in the fields as I drove about. Then I drove back to Vallejo to complete an appraisal of a very different kind of property. One that was nice at one point but has been trashed by mindless youth, every window pane broken, holes knocked in the walls and the back door totally gone, missing. Wow, that was some experience.
Now at 8:30 I've just arrived at home and in a few minutes will leave again. Someone was nice enough to set aside a room at the local sports bar and steak house for those of us connected with ACN to watch the celebrity apprentice show that starts at 9. It should be fun.
Coming home does not have the same excitement that it had for the last 36 years. Knowing Nan was here and waiting always brought a smile to my face and a impetus to get home to see her and what she had planned. The dogs are glad to see me but it is certainly not the same.
So I'm sending you my best thoughts this evening and reminding you that I can help you move into the 21st century with a video phone, its a great way to shorten the distance between you and the ones you love. 50 million people can't be wrong.
love to all,
Tim
This has been a windy day, so much wind in fact that it wiped out our planned walk this morning. I used the time to do busy work in the office and then left for Napa where I had the privilege of having lunch with Dolly and Bart Vogel. These two along with Howard taught Nan and I the appraisal business about 22 years ago and we have always been very grateful for the chance they gave us at a new way to work and live. Lunch was great and to just see them and hear how they are doing was very very special. For those of you who know Dolly you know what a special person she is, she is God's own for sure and to get to spend time with her and learn of her latest adventures, well it was very nice.
Then I drove on up to Santa Rosa to do a driveby of a large home located on 12 acres. The day was beautiful with fleecy clouds high in the deep blue sky, the green fields, horse and sheep in the fields as I drove about. Then I drove back to Vallejo to complete an appraisal of a very different kind of property. One that was nice at one point but has been trashed by mindless youth, every window pane broken, holes knocked in the walls and the back door totally gone, missing. Wow, that was some experience.
Now at 8:30 I've just arrived at home and in a few minutes will leave again. Someone was nice enough to set aside a room at the local sports bar and steak house for those of us connected with ACN to watch the celebrity apprentice show that starts at 9. It should be fun.
Coming home does not have the same excitement that it had for the last 36 years. Knowing Nan was here and waiting always brought a smile to my face and a impetus to get home to see her and what she had planned. The dogs are glad to see me but it is certainly not the same.
So I'm sending you my best thoughts this evening and reminding you that I can help you move into the 21st century with a video phone, its a great way to shorten the distance between you and the ones you love. 50 million people can't be wrong.
love to all,
Tim
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sabbath
Dear Family and Friends,
I'm writing after a huge day of fun and worship. The dogs and I attempted to help Lois find a lost blue tooth earpiece from yesterday but no luck. We walked the park in vain but gained valuable exercise and fresh air. Then it was back to breakfast. Since Ms keanna had a full schedule today I drove to Lodi Fairmont Church and enjoyed wonderful choir music with Bob and Carrol, Joyce and Glen and Volney singing with gusto. The preaching was excellent.
Having a chance at a famous Conner potluck I leaped, the food was great, the conversations uplifting and it was a warm time. Then I headed over to see Bob and Carrol for a bit and then on to home where I found two very nice checks in the mail!
This evening Ray and I drove over to Dr. Jim's house for an ACN meeting which was well attended and nicely presented. Tomorrow evening at 9 PST the Celebrity Apprentice show will have two teams marketing the video phone that ACN offers. It should help create an even larger market for the popular video phone of which over 50 million are already in people's homes. I hope to cash in a bit on this very appealing addition to ones life. I'm ordering my phone tomorrow and soon I can see Timothy as well as talk to him on the phone.
Since it is way past time to be in bed sleeping and I have a huge day of travel tomorrow I'll sign off now. We walk at 7 in the morning. Art and Connie are here in Discovery Bay tonight so I'll get to walk with both Ken and Art in the morning, a rare treat.
Love to all
Tim
I'm writing after a huge day of fun and worship. The dogs and I attempted to help Lois find a lost blue tooth earpiece from yesterday but no luck. We walked the park in vain but gained valuable exercise and fresh air. Then it was back to breakfast. Since Ms keanna had a full schedule today I drove to Lodi Fairmont Church and enjoyed wonderful choir music with Bob and Carrol, Joyce and Glen and Volney singing with gusto. The preaching was excellent.
Having a chance at a famous Conner potluck I leaped, the food was great, the conversations uplifting and it was a warm time. Then I headed over to see Bob and Carrol for a bit and then on to home where I found two very nice checks in the mail!
This evening Ray and I drove over to Dr. Jim's house for an ACN meeting which was well attended and nicely presented. Tomorrow evening at 9 PST the Celebrity Apprentice show will have two teams marketing the video phone that ACN offers. It should help create an even larger market for the popular video phone of which over 50 million are already in people's homes. I hope to cash in a bit on this very appealing addition to ones life. I'm ordering my phone tomorrow and soon I can see Timothy as well as talk to him on the phone.
Since it is way past time to be in bed sleeping and I have a huge day of travel tomorrow I'll sign off now. We walk at 7 in the morning. Art and Connie are here in Discovery Bay tonight so I'll get to walk with both Ken and Art in the morning, a rare treat.
Love to all
Tim
Friday, March 20, 2009
Still going
Dear Family and Friends,
At long last it is Friday evening, one of my favorite times in life. This week has contained many challenges, opportunities, high moments and depressing ones as well. Today was a no cough day, yesterday was a cough day. I hope I am better as the antibiotic ran out this morning.
This morning I let myself sleep in and then the dogs begged for a walk to the park. We all three enjoyed the fresh morning air, sunshine and exercise. Then it was back for breakfast and this morning it was eggs and toast with juice. After working all morning I began to feel hungry and decided I would try baking a potato. I discovered the microwave has a preset for baking a potato and it turned out perfectly. I smothered it in cottage cheese and brown beans and it tasted great. I forgot to fix dinner as I was working and then needed to get into the third garage but the door was broken. Needing a change of pace I removed a whole lot of stuff from the third bay of the garage and set to work trying to stiffen up the door. It now works perfectly, opens and closes easily and in the process I threw away a lot of stuff, left over medical stuff that might have value somewhere in the mission field but no one wants it here so its gone.
Tomorrow Keanna is doing fun things with her mother and dad so I'm heading over to Lodi to hear the choir sing. Glen and Joyce emailed asking if I would like to come over and it sounds good to me.
Tomorrow evening I'm looking forward to a meeting a Jim and Marti's house in Antioch for ACN. It is so exciting to hear how people are doing well and learning to help other people get better deals for services they already use. I have friends that are coming which is also exciting.
On Sunday I'll drive to Santa Rosa and Vallejo to see properties. The one in Vallejo concerns me a bit. When I called for access I was told that I didn't need a key, that the back door had been totally removed by thugs who are tearing up the place. She thought there would be a lot of things that needed repair and I would notice them. Sounds like a great property! Going for $60,000.
I hope your weekend is wonderful, that you find time for calm conversation, hand holding, pet walking, worship and kid enjoyment. In spite of all, God is there, He is here and He still cares.
love
Tim
At long last it is Friday evening, one of my favorite times in life. This week has contained many challenges, opportunities, high moments and depressing ones as well. Today was a no cough day, yesterday was a cough day. I hope I am better as the antibiotic ran out this morning.
This morning I let myself sleep in and then the dogs begged for a walk to the park. We all three enjoyed the fresh morning air, sunshine and exercise. Then it was back for breakfast and this morning it was eggs and toast with juice. After working all morning I began to feel hungry and decided I would try baking a potato. I discovered the microwave has a preset for baking a potato and it turned out perfectly. I smothered it in cottage cheese and brown beans and it tasted great. I forgot to fix dinner as I was working and then needed to get into the third garage but the door was broken. Needing a change of pace I removed a whole lot of stuff from the third bay of the garage and set to work trying to stiffen up the door. It now works perfectly, opens and closes easily and in the process I threw away a lot of stuff, left over medical stuff that might have value somewhere in the mission field but no one wants it here so its gone.
Tomorrow Keanna is doing fun things with her mother and dad so I'm heading over to Lodi to hear the choir sing. Glen and Joyce emailed asking if I would like to come over and it sounds good to me.
Tomorrow evening I'm looking forward to a meeting a Jim and Marti's house in Antioch for ACN. It is so exciting to hear how people are doing well and learning to help other people get better deals for services they already use. I have friends that are coming which is also exciting.
On Sunday I'll drive to Santa Rosa and Vallejo to see properties. The one in Vallejo concerns me a bit. When I called for access I was told that I didn't need a key, that the back door had been totally removed by thugs who are tearing up the place. She thought there would be a lot of things that needed repair and I would notice them. Sounds like a great property! Going for $60,000.
I hope your weekend is wonderful, that you find time for calm conversation, hand holding, pet walking, worship and kid enjoyment. In spite of all, God is there, He is here and He still cares.
love
Tim
Thursday, March 19, 2009
A very long day
Good evening friends and family,
I've just got home about 45 minutes ago. For an old guy I've done a lot today. First off Ken and I walked our 3 miles this morning at 6:30. Then after a quick breakfast I worked on a super tough appraisal and then at 9: left for Danville. I enjoyed my visit there with a very nice senior who said that in spite of losing her husband 15 years ago she still misses him a lot now. Danville is a nice place to work as it is populated with lots of Redwoods, has little shops and coffee shops and while being very upscale is still very friendly. After completing my work in Danville I headed down to San Ramon to do a historical appraisal, meaning the date is sometime in the past, in this case about a year ago and its done for tax purposes and estate settlement. Then it was on to Castro Valley, an interesting community that refuses to become incorporated. The people keep voting it down, they don't want to have to have city hall, a major, city manager and all that expense rather they just allow the county to handle it and it seems to work fine. This historical appraisals was for many years ago. Upon completing the assignment I then turned to Pleasanton and arrived early for the afternoon seminar. Sponsored by the appraisal institute, the most respected appraisal organization in the United States the seminar had as its goal to train all 125 of us appraisers how to prepare a new single page form that will be required for all appraisals come April 1st. The seminar was totally professional and the people up front were as good as you get, clear, concise, knowledgeable and in control. They packed a whole lot of information into the three hour session and the last hour was a demonstration of how to fill out the form using the information we had learned in the first two hours. It turned a mystery into misery, at least for a while until we are comfortable preparing the form. This is the brainchild of Fannie Mae, yes the same organization that went broke and was taken over by the federal government. Well now they are government and even more determined to make our life interesting.
When the seminar was over I grabbed a quick Taco bell and then drove to Walnut Creek to a meeting of ACN, my new company I've joined. What an exciting evening with presentations by three people who are making a very good living and providing phone service, video phone, direct TV or dish TV, cell phone services and alarm services by ADT. What I really appreciate is that there is no promise of quick or easy money but if one will find people who want to save on their monthly phone bills, want better TV options, need an alarm or want to be able to really communicate with others using the video phone, if one will work then the results can be very rewarding for the rest of ones life.
This afternoon while I was in the seminar my business line, 925 634 4670 switched from being a vonage line to an acn digital line. For this line which is connected to the Internet instead of the phone line I have unlimited long distance, every feature you could think of including an email message when anyone leaves a message on the line, call forwarding to my cell, a blast function which lets a call forwarded call ring several numbers at the same time. Times have changed and if you are still with AT&T you are paying too much for too few features. If I can help you into less expensive service give me a call. Its easy, painless and you can keep your existing phone number.
So when I got home I connected the little phone adapter and plugged the phone line in and it worked perfectly. Then I went to the web site and set up the options I wanted for the phone service and now I'm set.
Well at this point its time to cut this short and got to bed. Frankly I think I've earned the right to go to sleep. All of this today and I coughed almost the whole day, yesterday there was no coughing and today its was awful. I don't understand at all.
Good night or morning my friends,
love
tim
I've just got home about 45 minutes ago. For an old guy I've done a lot today. First off Ken and I walked our 3 miles this morning at 6:30. Then after a quick breakfast I worked on a super tough appraisal and then at 9: left for Danville. I enjoyed my visit there with a very nice senior who said that in spite of losing her husband 15 years ago she still misses him a lot now. Danville is a nice place to work as it is populated with lots of Redwoods, has little shops and coffee shops and while being very upscale is still very friendly. After completing my work in Danville I headed down to San Ramon to do a historical appraisal, meaning the date is sometime in the past, in this case about a year ago and its done for tax purposes and estate settlement. Then it was on to Castro Valley, an interesting community that refuses to become incorporated. The people keep voting it down, they don't want to have to have city hall, a major, city manager and all that expense rather they just allow the county to handle it and it seems to work fine. This historical appraisals was for many years ago. Upon completing the assignment I then turned to Pleasanton and arrived early for the afternoon seminar. Sponsored by the appraisal institute, the most respected appraisal organization in the United States the seminar had as its goal to train all 125 of us appraisers how to prepare a new single page form that will be required for all appraisals come April 1st. The seminar was totally professional and the people up front were as good as you get, clear, concise, knowledgeable and in control. They packed a whole lot of information into the three hour session and the last hour was a demonstration of how to fill out the form using the information we had learned in the first two hours. It turned a mystery into misery, at least for a while until we are comfortable preparing the form. This is the brainchild of Fannie Mae, yes the same organization that went broke and was taken over by the federal government. Well now they are government and even more determined to make our life interesting.
When the seminar was over I grabbed a quick Taco bell and then drove to Walnut Creek to a meeting of ACN, my new company I've joined. What an exciting evening with presentations by three people who are making a very good living and providing phone service, video phone, direct TV or dish TV, cell phone services and alarm services by ADT. What I really appreciate is that there is no promise of quick or easy money but if one will find people who want to save on their monthly phone bills, want better TV options, need an alarm or want to be able to really communicate with others using the video phone, if one will work then the results can be very rewarding for the rest of ones life.
This afternoon while I was in the seminar my business line, 925 634 4670 switched from being a vonage line to an acn digital line. For this line which is connected to the Internet instead of the phone line I have unlimited long distance, every feature you could think of including an email message when anyone leaves a message on the line, call forwarding to my cell, a blast function which lets a call forwarded call ring several numbers at the same time. Times have changed and if you are still with AT&T you are paying too much for too few features. If I can help you into less expensive service give me a call. Its easy, painless and you can keep your existing phone number.
So when I got home I connected the little phone adapter and plugged the phone line in and it worked perfectly. Then I went to the web site and set up the options I wanted for the phone service and now I'm set.
Well at this point its time to cut this short and got to bed. Frankly I think I've earned the right to go to sleep. All of this today and I coughed almost the whole day, yesterday there was no coughing and today its was awful. I don't understand at all.
Good night or morning my friends,
love
tim
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
In business full time
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been one of those days when you just settle down and work. This evening I'm much for on top of it than I was this morning.
I had a good time early this morning as I got to experience both girls waking up. Kallie was standing up in her little bed waiting to be snatched up. She settle in with her bottle in my arms and then after a quick diaper change went back to bed to play for awhile. Keanna launched herself out of bed and helped get everything together, then we drove to the sitters where a smiling Kallie greeted them. Then keanna and I headed to the house for breakfast, some video games on her part and I settled down to work. At 10:15 her friends came to pick her up and they all went to the local park for a girls scout morning. Nikki came home early and they spent the afternoon together. Jean, the appraisal writer, has been busy today working and together we have sent out many appraisals. progress is vital as appraisals are sort of like fish, they don't keep to well after getting started, they need to be finished and emailed to the lender quickly to keep the whole process going along nicely.
Son in law Steve is helping with the process too and will see some on Friday to help out.
Tomorrow I'm seeing three in the morning and then attending a workshop for 3 hours of credit and learning how to prepare a new additional form the powers that be have decided we need to include with each appraisal. Here we go again with trying to fix a problem that started 2 years ago and is pretty much over now. And the people forcing this new form, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the big player in the current mess we are in. I just love getting advice and counsel from losers.
For lunch today I took the time to saute some mushrooms in olive oil and then stirred them in with cut olives, diced cheese, sliced tomatoes, chopped up carrots and lettuce hearts. What a feast it was, really very good.
A few minutes ago I toasted one slice of my bread, put peanut butter on it and then sliced a tomato, so good. Can't wait to plant tomatoes and see them grow. Nan loved to watch the tomato plants do their thing on the back deck and its a tradition I'll keep going.
So I send my love and appreciation to each of you. In spite of terrible times people still matter to each other, walking is still free and good food is not expensive. Air is free and friendships are priceless. People are on the go, Art and Connie are just returning from some time with Sarah and Clay in Seattle and Sylvia left for Japan today. Pam is safely in Wales visiting friends and lecturing in public schools, Jason and Jo are about to start spring break and I think they are really ready to emotionally catch up. What a beautiful place to do it, Monterey Bay.
So good night my friends, I'm more excited about my new company ACN than ever before. Next week Donald Trump has his show on and the two teams will be competing as they attempt to market the new video phone. Its the phone that we carry and can have working in your home in less than a week. I can't wait to get mine soon.
love to all
Tim
This has been one of those days when you just settle down and work. This evening I'm much for on top of it than I was this morning.
I had a good time early this morning as I got to experience both girls waking up. Kallie was standing up in her little bed waiting to be snatched up. She settle in with her bottle in my arms and then after a quick diaper change went back to bed to play for awhile. Keanna launched herself out of bed and helped get everything together, then we drove to the sitters where a smiling Kallie greeted them. Then keanna and I headed to the house for breakfast, some video games on her part and I settled down to work. At 10:15 her friends came to pick her up and they all went to the local park for a girls scout morning. Nikki came home early and they spent the afternoon together. Jean, the appraisal writer, has been busy today working and together we have sent out many appraisals. progress is vital as appraisals are sort of like fish, they don't keep to well after getting started, they need to be finished and emailed to the lender quickly to keep the whole process going along nicely.
Son in law Steve is helping with the process too and will see some on Friday to help out.
Tomorrow I'm seeing three in the morning and then attending a workshop for 3 hours of credit and learning how to prepare a new additional form the powers that be have decided we need to include with each appraisal. Here we go again with trying to fix a problem that started 2 years ago and is pretty much over now. And the people forcing this new form, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the big player in the current mess we are in. I just love getting advice and counsel from losers.
For lunch today I took the time to saute some mushrooms in olive oil and then stirred them in with cut olives, diced cheese, sliced tomatoes, chopped up carrots and lettuce hearts. What a feast it was, really very good.
A few minutes ago I toasted one slice of my bread, put peanut butter on it and then sliced a tomato, so good. Can't wait to plant tomatoes and see them grow. Nan loved to watch the tomato plants do their thing on the back deck and its a tradition I'll keep going.
So I send my love and appreciation to each of you. In spite of terrible times people still matter to each other, walking is still free and good food is not expensive. Air is free and friendships are priceless. People are on the go, Art and Connie are just returning from some time with Sarah and Clay in Seattle and Sylvia left for Japan today. Pam is safely in Wales visiting friends and lecturing in public schools, Jason and Jo are about to start spring break and I think they are really ready to emotionally catch up. What a beautiful place to do it, Monterey Bay.
So good night my friends, I'm more excited about my new company ACN than ever before. Next week Donald Trump has his show on and the two teams will be competing as they attempt to market the new video phone. Its the phone that we carry and can have working in your home in less than a week. I can't wait to get mine soon.
love to all
Tim
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Something different tonight. Enough gloom and doom.
HUMOR FOR LEXOPHILES (LOVERS OF WORDS):
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all
right now.
The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.
The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in
his work.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.
The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.
Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.
We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.
The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it.
The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.
The dead batteries were given out free of charge.
If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.
A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.
A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
A will is a dead giveaway.
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
A backward poet writes inverse.
In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count
that votes.
A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum
Blownapart.
You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
A calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
A boiled egg is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
A plateau is a high form of flattery.
Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
Thanks Barbara Lammerding for sharing this, very clever.
love to all
Tim
I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all
right now.
The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.
The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in
his work.
To write with a broken pencil is pointless.
When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.
The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.
Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.
We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.
When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A.
The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it.
The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.
The dead batteries were given out free of charge.
If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.
A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.
A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
A will is a dead giveaway.
Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
A backward poet writes inverse.
In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count
that votes.
A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in France, resulted in Linoleum
Blownapart.
You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
Local Area Network in Australia: The LAN down under.
He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
A calendar's days are numbered.
A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
A boiled egg is hard to beat.
He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
A plateau is a high form of flattery.
Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.
When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.
Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
Thanks Barbara Lammerding for sharing this, very clever.
love to all
Tim
Monday, March 16, 2009
So tired
Finally this day comes to an end. The world I live and work in is so complicated right now that its almost impossible to claim victory or even defeat. There are so many lose ends, unfinished reports, conditions that must be fixed, properties to see and all are important to the people involved.
Its a different problem compared to a few months ago. Even more frustrating is that for this much energy being generated and hours worked there should be an increase in income, but that is not the case. For the 5th day in a row Honda called in spite of a payment that was made last Thursday, there seems to be a mentality that if they call every day you can't run away. What I will do is memorize their number and just fail to answer it, always the same questions, do you still live in the same place, have the same phone numbers etc. Today I said to the nice person, yes all the answers are the same as yesterday and no I won't give you a date when i can make the next payment because I can't know a date since my income is on a daily, weekly basis and might happen or might not happen.
After sorting things piled high on my desk I went to work today and have generated about 5 reports. What a good feeling that is, until one remembers there are others to get written and new orders to see.
Meanwhile I've started coughing pretty bad again, in spite of the Bioxin which I take faithfully morning and night I'm gradually getting worse again with chest wrenching coughing many times an hour. Thats the pits as I really need to feel well to tackle the load I'm facing right now.
But mixed in with working hour after hour I also made bread today and it turned out really large and tasty. I love the smell of break baking in the house, nothing else quite like it, well some gentle perfume would be nice I guess suggesting a female might be near but I'll just hang with the bread for now. Who has time to do anything else?
Barb and Gerry are coming to visit April 4 and stay for a couple days. Now that is great news and something to look forward to and I think I get Keanna tomorrow for the day so that is also something to look forward to. She always brightens up the day.
Right now I'm heading to bed, head hurts from coughing, chest is sore and I'm very tired. Rest is so welcome these days.
Please pray that I can get it together, hold it together and be a success.
love to all
Happy Birthday Nikki, you've been a real joy to watch in action over the years. What a success story and what a caring daughter.
Dad
Its a different problem compared to a few months ago. Even more frustrating is that for this much energy being generated and hours worked there should be an increase in income, but that is not the case. For the 5th day in a row Honda called in spite of a payment that was made last Thursday, there seems to be a mentality that if they call every day you can't run away. What I will do is memorize their number and just fail to answer it, always the same questions, do you still live in the same place, have the same phone numbers etc. Today I said to the nice person, yes all the answers are the same as yesterday and no I won't give you a date when i can make the next payment because I can't know a date since my income is on a daily, weekly basis and might happen or might not happen.
After sorting things piled high on my desk I went to work today and have generated about 5 reports. What a good feeling that is, until one remembers there are others to get written and new orders to see.
Meanwhile I've started coughing pretty bad again, in spite of the Bioxin which I take faithfully morning and night I'm gradually getting worse again with chest wrenching coughing many times an hour. Thats the pits as I really need to feel well to tackle the load I'm facing right now.
But mixed in with working hour after hour I also made bread today and it turned out really large and tasty. I love the smell of break baking in the house, nothing else quite like it, well some gentle perfume would be nice I guess suggesting a female might be near but I'll just hang with the bread for now. Who has time to do anything else?
Barb and Gerry are coming to visit April 4 and stay for a couple days. Now that is great news and something to look forward to and I think I get Keanna tomorrow for the day so that is also something to look forward to. She always brightens up the day.
Right now I'm heading to bed, head hurts from coughing, chest is sore and I'm very tired. Rest is so welcome these days.
Please pray that I can get it together, hold it together and be a success.
love to all
Happy Birthday Nikki, you've been a real joy to watch in action over the years. What a success story and what a caring daughter.
Dad
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Living alone
Dear Family and Friends,
How precious you are to me, to hear from you, to read your emails, see you at church, feel the warmth of your bear hug, take your cell phone calls. Living alone may be something some people long for or at least think they would love but then it happens and suddenly every minute of the day and night everything is up to you, just you, no one to encourage good behavior or frown on bad behavior, no one to share meals, walks, talks, TV shows, dinners out, trip planning, bill paying, its up to you. It does take some getting used to.
Many of you reading this know all to well what I am discussing, being alone, some by divorce, some by death, some by accident. I think twice before I step because if I would fall and break something, could not move, it would be days before someone would suspect anything wrong.
Lately I've become so busy doing appraisal work that I rarely think of anything else. It is a luxury to take a moment to share with Jerry or Art or Sharon or Lois or on special moments one of the kids. This weekend was made special by Keanna who came to visit and then my dear Nikki is experiencing a birthday so this afternoon we traveled over to Tracy to Olive Garden for a delightful late lunch with Nikki, Steve, Keanna, Kallie and me. What fun to see Kallie experience water through a straw and Keanna suck up her spaghetti. Oh that is good stuff and after we walked out I paused for a moment as the kids loaded the girls into the car to reflect on how much Nan would have wanted to be there for this special time. It saddened me as I have no clear reason why she could not be there in the great cosmic plan. Why are some struck down in their prime when they have all this love to give? What sense does it make and how do we survivors live with it, the loss. Is it really progress to become numb pretending that everything is fine? Mostly I cope by being so busy that I have no time to think or reflect very deeply.
When I hear of people deciding to divorce I want to scream, you loved once, you can love again if you will just try. How did we come to the place where relationships have become a throwaway casualty, oh it just did not work out so we divorced. Speaking as one who lost a lover through no choice of his own I would urge people to consider choices, consequences, little ones. I think I hate divorce nearly as much as I hate cancer, both rip and tear away precious relationships with little regard for the consequences. Cancer cells do what they do as they are out of control with a foot to the floor intensity, to grow grow grow. My only solice when considering Nan's lost life is that the hateful tumors died as well.
The coming week must be a week of production for me. I have dozens of appraisals to write and now new orders are coming in as well. Its time to settle down once again and crank being thankful for the work opportunities God has supplied.
This morning I ran Pam to the airport where she flew away to Wales to see her precious cousin and spend two weeks lecturing in schools about the US thus rendering the trip tax deductible. she had a piece of luggage that was bigger than she is and of course at check in it was way too heavy. It was filled with books to give children in Wales and they had to be moved to other bags but finally she boarded and flew away. I hope she has a wonderful vacation as she needs it.
So once again tonight I urge an old theme for me. If you have someone there with you, under your roof that you have committed your life to let them know once again how lucky you feel to have them, cherish them, spend extra minutes creating notes, leave messages, if you are in love then act like it. If you have someone that can put up with you be overjoyed. Life is good, very good.
Sending love to all,
tim
How precious you are to me, to hear from you, to read your emails, see you at church, feel the warmth of your bear hug, take your cell phone calls. Living alone may be something some people long for or at least think they would love but then it happens and suddenly every minute of the day and night everything is up to you, just you, no one to encourage good behavior or frown on bad behavior, no one to share meals, walks, talks, TV shows, dinners out, trip planning, bill paying, its up to you. It does take some getting used to.
Many of you reading this know all to well what I am discussing, being alone, some by divorce, some by death, some by accident. I think twice before I step because if I would fall and break something, could not move, it would be days before someone would suspect anything wrong.
Lately I've become so busy doing appraisal work that I rarely think of anything else. It is a luxury to take a moment to share with Jerry or Art or Sharon or Lois or on special moments one of the kids. This weekend was made special by Keanna who came to visit and then my dear Nikki is experiencing a birthday so this afternoon we traveled over to Tracy to Olive Garden for a delightful late lunch with Nikki, Steve, Keanna, Kallie and me. What fun to see Kallie experience water through a straw and Keanna suck up her spaghetti. Oh that is good stuff and after we walked out I paused for a moment as the kids loaded the girls into the car to reflect on how much Nan would have wanted to be there for this special time. It saddened me as I have no clear reason why she could not be there in the great cosmic plan. Why are some struck down in their prime when they have all this love to give? What sense does it make and how do we survivors live with it, the loss. Is it really progress to become numb pretending that everything is fine? Mostly I cope by being so busy that I have no time to think or reflect very deeply.
When I hear of people deciding to divorce I want to scream, you loved once, you can love again if you will just try. How did we come to the place where relationships have become a throwaway casualty, oh it just did not work out so we divorced. Speaking as one who lost a lover through no choice of his own I would urge people to consider choices, consequences, little ones. I think I hate divorce nearly as much as I hate cancer, both rip and tear away precious relationships with little regard for the consequences. Cancer cells do what they do as they are out of control with a foot to the floor intensity, to grow grow grow. My only solice when considering Nan's lost life is that the hateful tumors died as well.
The coming week must be a week of production for me. I have dozens of appraisals to write and now new orders are coming in as well. Its time to settle down once again and crank being thankful for the work opportunities God has supplied.
This morning I ran Pam to the airport where she flew away to Wales to see her precious cousin and spend two weeks lecturing in schools about the US thus rendering the trip tax deductible. she had a piece of luggage that was bigger than she is and of course at check in it was way too heavy. It was filled with books to give children in Wales and they had to be moved to other bags but finally she boarded and flew away. I hope she has a wonderful vacation as she needs it.
So once again tonight I urge an old theme for me. If you have someone there with you, under your roof that you have committed your life to let them know once again how lucky you feel to have them, cherish them, spend extra minutes creating notes, leave messages, if you are in love then act like it. If you have someone that can put up with you be overjoyed. Life is good, very good.
Sending love to all,
tim
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Sabbath really works
Dear Family and Friends,
Well once again I survived Pappa duties. Nikki brought Keanna last evening and I finally got her to bed fairly late. At 2:30 this morning I heard a noise and opened the bedroom door to find her sleeping peacefully on the floor. Rather than wake her I went and found a nice little comforter, covered her and went back to bed. She coughed some during the night and every time I checked on her she seemed to be sleeping fine. In fact she slept until after 8 this morning. She explained that she had a bad dream with bad men in black which scared her so she came as far as the door.
We had a good breakfast but the dog grabbed her sausage which did not make her day. Today we went to the Kingdom Kids, the next level of Sabbath School and Sylvia had an excellent program which Keanna enjoyed. Then we stayed for children's church. Knowing there would be nothing Keanna could eat due to her multiple allergies, dairy, wheat, soy, nuts we went to her favorite gourmet place, McDonalds where chicken mcnuggets were on the menu. She played for a long time and finished every bit of her meal. Then we set out for Pleasanton and she watched every mile click off on the GPS wanting to get there NOW. She got to see the rows and rows of children's things and toys and most important got to see her mom in action helping with the sale. It was at a building at the Pleasanton County Fairgrounds. Then we headed home and when we arrived the warm sunshine beckoned us to take the dogs and head to the nearby park. Keanna played and made friends with a little girl and I made friends with her grandmother, fun fun.
Finally at 5:30 I delivered keanna home and went to Longs for some meds I've been out of for days. Now I'm home relaxing, writing intense notes to my bank since my debit card did not work at the store even though there is plenty of money in the account. This happens all too often and I'm sort of getting tired of it. I'm on the second new card this year due to VISA exposing account information improperly. What a complex world we find ourselves in these days. I really enjoy conversations with Keanna who sees things in a much more basic manner and cuts through the nonsense. Today we learned what destination means and several other words as well. She loves the "bossy lady" who talks through the GPS.
Tomorrow I'll make a run to the SF airport with a friend who is leaving the country for a long anticipated trip and then crank out appraisals hopefully by the dozens, yea right!
Today our new pastor, Jessica, was installed officially by the president of our conference. It was an interesting experience and she seems incredibly capable for the task of pastoring. I remember well the excitement of coming to Tracy as my first church as the pastor in 1976. We were treated with great kindness and welcomed in a manner only the Tracy church is capable of. It was a real honor to be the pastor of such fine people and Nan and I were blessed by the experience.
Now Nan rests from her labors and I sort of flounder trying to find myself and survive. This morning before 8 am two bill collectors had already called, on for the 3rd time in two days in spite of my making a payment on Thursday online. Someone is wasting a lot of money on personnel these days making calls that only irritate.
Well my fine friends, outstanding family and fellow gisters it is time to hit the sack. I'm tired and worn out but gratified that I was able to share time with Keanna and enhance her life, help her parents and bring her to SS.
Love to all,
Tim
Well once again I survived Pappa duties. Nikki brought Keanna last evening and I finally got her to bed fairly late. At 2:30 this morning I heard a noise and opened the bedroom door to find her sleeping peacefully on the floor. Rather than wake her I went and found a nice little comforter, covered her and went back to bed. She coughed some during the night and every time I checked on her she seemed to be sleeping fine. In fact she slept until after 8 this morning. She explained that she had a bad dream with bad men in black which scared her so she came as far as the door.
We had a good breakfast but the dog grabbed her sausage which did not make her day. Today we went to the Kingdom Kids, the next level of Sabbath School and Sylvia had an excellent program which Keanna enjoyed. Then we stayed for children's church. Knowing there would be nothing Keanna could eat due to her multiple allergies, dairy, wheat, soy, nuts we went to her favorite gourmet place, McDonalds where chicken mcnuggets were on the menu. She played for a long time and finished every bit of her meal. Then we set out for Pleasanton and she watched every mile click off on the GPS wanting to get there NOW. She got to see the rows and rows of children's things and toys and most important got to see her mom in action helping with the sale. It was at a building at the Pleasanton County Fairgrounds. Then we headed home and when we arrived the warm sunshine beckoned us to take the dogs and head to the nearby park. Keanna played and made friends with a little girl and I made friends with her grandmother, fun fun.
Finally at 5:30 I delivered keanna home and went to Longs for some meds I've been out of for days. Now I'm home relaxing, writing intense notes to my bank since my debit card did not work at the store even though there is plenty of money in the account. This happens all too often and I'm sort of getting tired of it. I'm on the second new card this year due to VISA exposing account information improperly. What a complex world we find ourselves in these days. I really enjoy conversations with Keanna who sees things in a much more basic manner and cuts through the nonsense. Today we learned what destination means and several other words as well. She loves the "bossy lady" who talks through the GPS.
Tomorrow I'll make a run to the SF airport with a friend who is leaving the country for a long anticipated trip and then crank out appraisals hopefully by the dozens, yea right!
Today our new pastor, Jessica, was installed officially by the president of our conference. It was an interesting experience and she seems incredibly capable for the task of pastoring. I remember well the excitement of coming to Tracy as my first church as the pastor in 1976. We were treated with great kindness and welcomed in a manner only the Tracy church is capable of. It was a real honor to be the pastor of such fine people and Nan and I were blessed by the experience.
Now Nan rests from her labors and I sort of flounder trying to find myself and survive. This morning before 8 am two bill collectors had already called, on for the 3rd time in two days in spite of my making a payment on Thursday online. Someone is wasting a lot of money on personnel these days making calls that only irritate.
Well my fine friends, outstanding family and fellow gisters it is time to hit the sack. I'm tired and worn out but gratified that I was able to share time with Keanna and enhance her life, help her parents and bring her to SS.
Love to all,
Tim
Friday, March 13, 2009
Wow, what a week!
Good evening dear ones,
Keanna is winding down in her room after an evening of playing her video game and having a late dinner. Nikki was so tired when she dropped her off I worried that she would fall asleep driving home. She has had a huge day at the Twin's Yard Sale, a huge process where thousands of items are tagged and sold at the county fairgrounds. It has become a very big project of the twin club mothers in Pleasanton and area. Nikki helps out and gets a high percentage on all the things she sells there. She makes in the hundreds of dollars and is able to purchase future clothes for Kallie at a huge discount as well as toys and other baby items.
I'll take Keanna to Sabbath School in the morning and we'll see if I can sell her on church as well. Our new pastor has a birthday and potluck is in her honor tomorrow which would be nice to attend. I'll have Keanna for the day and might make it over to let her see the huge sale which is taking place. She is very interested in what her mother is doing. I also have a very tempting offer from Bob and Carrol for Olive Garden which is just opening in Stockton, yea! One more option.
I'm really looking forward to sleeping the night away as I'm tired after this grueling week. I saw more properties today and finished up the ones I ran out of sunlight for last evening. Traffic was a bit much coming home from Oakland this evening.
I found out today that when Lois took a tumble beside her car at McDonalds she ended up breaking a bone in her knee. She went to minor injuries at Kaiser today and discovered the break. She has a cane and wrapping to use around the knee both of which she was without this evening as she and Ray came to watch me use the edger on some weeds.
My little girl turns a year older on the 16th which is hard to believe. I can remember the day she was born very well. How exciting that was and how very relieved Nan was to be done with the pain and have the precious little one in her arms. I remember driving to the hospital on a Friday night in the 240z which we owned at the time and she was already in labor and letting me know it. Nan did not care much for pain and how very ironic that in her final years she would experience so much terrible pain and learned to cope so very well.
Irene had a sad message to report today. She was denied entrance into the IPI504 due to an elevated test result from her liver I think it was. It is possible that the number will drop and that she will yet be admitted but I know she was disappointed as was everyone in the program up in Portland. Her faith and daily actions are so strong yet she needs our prayers as well seeing God's hand in and over her.
The weather was beautiful today, bright, sunny and not even cool in the shade. A delightful day for sure. I feel very fortunate to have work and yes there was a check in the mail when I got home.
So I bid each of you a relaxed and meaningful weekend. God bless!
love
tim
Keanna is winding down in her room after an evening of playing her video game and having a late dinner. Nikki was so tired when she dropped her off I worried that she would fall asleep driving home. She has had a huge day at the Twin's Yard Sale, a huge process where thousands of items are tagged and sold at the county fairgrounds. It has become a very big project of the twin club mothers in Pleasanton and area. Nikki helps out and gets a high percentage on all the things she sells there. She makes in the hundreds of dollars and is able to purchase future clothes for Kallie at a huge discount as well as toys and other baby items.
I'll take Keanna to Sabbath School in the morning and we'll see if I can sell her on church as well. Our new pastor has a birthday and potluck is in her honor tomorrow which would be nice to attend. I'll have Keanna for the day and might make it over to let her see the huge sale which is taking place. She is very interested in what her mother is doing. I also have a very tempting offer from Bob and Carrol for Olive Garden which is just opening in Stockton, yea! One more option.
I'm really looking forward to sleeping the night away as I'm tired after this grueling week. I saw more properties today and finished up the ones I ran out of sunlight for last evening. Traffic was a bit much coming home from Oakland this evening.
I found out today that when Lois took a tumble beside her car at McDonalds she ended up breaking a bone in her knee. She went to minor injuries at Kaiser today and discovered the break. She has a cane and wrapping to use around the knee both of which she was without this evening as she and Ray came to watch me use the edger on some weeds.
My little girl turns a year older on the 16th which is hard to believe. I can remember the day she was born very well. How exciting that was and how very relieved Nan was to be done with the pain and have the precious little one in her arms. I remember driving to the hospital on a Friday night in the 240z which we owned at the time and she was already in labor and letting me know it. Nan did not care much for pain and how very ironic that in her final years she would experience so much terrible pain and learned to cope so very well.
Irene had a sad message to report today. She was denied entrance into the IPI504 due to an elevated test result from her liver I think it was. It is possible that the number will drop and that she will yet be admitted but I know she was disappointed as was everyone in the program up in Portland. Her faith and daily actions are so strong yet she needs our prayers as well seeing God's hand in and over her.
The weather was beautiful today, bright, sunny and not even cool in the shade. A delightful day for sure. I feel very fortunate to have work and yes there was a check in the mail when I got home.
So I bid each of you a relaxed and meaningful weekend. God bless!
love
tim
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Busy
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been another very busy day. We walked, I worked and then met Nikki and Keanna for lunch, then did appraisals in Castro Valley, Oakland hills, Berkeley, more Oakland hills, then two more in western Oakland close to the bay. Finally I headed home and by then the traffic had cleared. Upon arriving home I checked the mailbox but was disappointed to find no checks. I did find left overs and had a nice dinner. Now its time to head to bed.
Due to FHA raising the amount of money they will loan the reverse mortgage business is booming for right now, hence I've been very very busy seeing properties. These will pay in a month or two so its like putting money in the bank for the future.
Tomorrow night Keanna comes for a sleep over and I do look forward to the sabbath hours. Our pastor in Tracy is having a birthday and potluck will be in her honor. I've not had a chance to hear her preach yet but I'm looking forward to it, reports say she has a lot of good to say.
So for now, love to all
Tim
This has been another very busy day. We walked, I worked and then met Nikki and Keanna for lunch, then did appraisals in Castro Valley, Oakland hills, Berkeley, more Oakland hills, then two more in western Oakland close to the bay. Finally I headed home and by then the traffic had cleared. Upon arriving home I checked the mailbox but was disappointed to find no checks. I did find left overs and had a nice dinner. Now its time to head to bed.
Due to FHA raising the amount of money they will loan the reverse mortgage business is booming for right now, hence I've been very very busy seeing properties. These will pay in a month or two so its like putting money in the bank for the future.
Tomorrow night Keanna comes for a sleep over and I do look forward to the sabbath hours. Our pastor in Tracy is having a birthday and potluck will be in her honor. I've not had a chance to hear her preach yet but I'm looking forward to it, reports say she has a lot of good to say.
So for now, love to all
Tim
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Working 5 to 9
Wow, this has been one of those super productive days! Does that mean I'm caught up, well no, not even close but still seeing about 6 properties certainly helps.
I started today at 5 am and worked on an important purchase in Lafayette until it was time to go help with the kidos at 6:30. They were in great form this morning. As I fed Kallie her bottle in the darkened room she would reach up with her little tiny hand and run it through my beard and then giggle, over and over again she repeated her little routine. What a precious little bundle. She now stands erect and lets go of the wall or table but has not taken steps yet. It certainly won't be long now. Keanna is adjusting to having TWO teeth missing and is going fast at whatever she is working on or playing at. I planned my day so I could work in the office and then race out at 11:40 since she had a half day of school. Then we drove to the sitters where she was for the afternoon. I left from there for a direct and on time arrival at Pleasant Hill, then three back to back in Berkeley. I was pleased on one visit to find the owner who last time was feeble and on continuous oxygen to be spry and off oxygen this time. What fun to spend time with these gentle people as I move from house to house. My system of mapping out the locations really worked well and I had no wasted time between appointments. In fact I was ahead enough that I was able to have dinner at Applebees after my Albany appointment. Then on to Hercules and finally home.
While I was busy in the field Lois was assisting back here. I decided to ask her to have an oil change on the van since it was over a 1,000 miles past time for a change. I thought I was asking a simple thing, just run the car into town to the Speedee. Well they refused because Honda had put some sort of epoxy around the drain plug last time. Lois then decided to try Tracy Honda and they finally said they could fit her in at 4 pm. Then they decided the drain plug threads were stripped and might have to keep the car overnight as they installed a new pan! Yikes that sounded expensive but Lois put it back on them reminding them that they had done the last oil change on the car. Well they rethreaded and made it work but her little helping endeavour ended up taking half the day. Tonight she is tired and very glad to have it over. Thanks Lois for your help.
The emails were interesting when I got home. More dire warning about the appraisal business. Starting next month brokers can no longer order appraisals directly. Instead the lenders must do the ordering and there is total chaos in the industry, no one knows what to expect but we all know its going to be a mess and some of the middle men involved are keeping half the appraisal fee for themselves. How this helps anything I don't know. I just love it when government decides to fix things, I get this picture in my mind of someone with mittens on trying to do delicate work on the insides of a ladies watch. Whatever they touch gets messed up, costs more and does not work as well. Its hard to remain calm when watching the criminals try to police themselves in congress. How long will it be before the people rise up and vote a whole bunch of these idiots out? I'd rather trust the first 200 names in a phone book to run the country than the current crop of tax and spend. Its the worst I have ever seen in my life time.
Carol send an email containing some comments by Lincoln which I hope I can enter into this blog. I'm going to try. Well I can see it worked and I hope you gain as much insight from these few words as I did. It is so right and so forgotten currently in Washington. I just have to remind myself, God is in control of the eternal picture and that is good.
This morning when I sat at the keyboard I find the Internet would not work. Since much of what I do is directly dependent on being connected it was alarming. I rebooted the router and the 10/100 switch but nothing. Finally after a few minutes I prayed simply saying, Lord this is not a big deal, not life threatening but I could certainly use the connection to work again. Once again I repowered the router and the switch and it worked. Thank you Lord once again. This evening when my bug came to a stop in the garage I silently prayed a prayer of thanks for a safe and meaningful day.
So I send my love and good thoughts to you friend and family member.
love
tim
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Keeping busy
Greetings to all
I'm writing early as I plan to go to bed shortly. Ken and I walked this morning and it was cold, well at least cold for our world here in California. We hustled around our 3 miles and went our individual ways. I inspected two sales of bank foreclosures, both in decent shape and one selling for just over $100,000! Then the phone rang and a kind gentleman reminded me we had an appointment out in the country to see a ranch. I had written it down somewhere but forgotten. So I beat a hasty drive over to make the inspection. Then it was to Longs for meds and home where I worked until 2 when it was time for her special highness to come visit for the afternoon. Nikki had provided a new learning video game and Keanna and I retrieved grammies TV from her desk and set it up in the family room, plugged in the cables, I had Keanna do it and she played happily learning lessons all afternoon. Snacks included non butter popcorn, apple juice, two red jellos and Reeses crackers.
This evening Ray and Lois invited me over for pizza which we enhanced with fresh tomatoes and olives. Lois was celebrating her birthday so I sang the happy birthday song to her. I think she was shocked that I could sing and frankly its been a while since I sang and I was shocked too. All to soon the fun was over and I headed back to make appointments. I currently have 16 appraisals to make appointments for and about 12 to write up. Suddenly I am snowed under with work and while most of it won't pay for a month or two it is very welcome. This evening I created a master map showing where each of the properties are located and then set to making appointments. I have nearly all of them set up for visits tomorrow and Thursday. Yes I will be a busy boy for sure.
It is so gratifying to see work of this magnitude coming in. One never knows for how long but I have to do the best I can with the current situation and let the future care for itself.
I am still enjoying sharing the Lincoln expression, people are about as happy as they chose to be. There is so much truth in that simple phrase. How happy have I decided to be? To be totally frank I have not come to the place where I enjoy life alone. I like to share ideas, meals, walks, slow Sunday mornings, times of watching the sun set over the lake. Yet at this point alone is where I find myself so might as well be happy.
Keanna added a great deal of fun to the afternoon. Her antics, mood swings, spunk and expressions are delightful. Yesterday she lost her second tooth so she has a new look to her which I think is totally cute and refreshing.
A few minutes ago a friend and mortgage broker called to ask if I minded coming out to meet her at her car. She had cash for me for an upcoming appraisal, what a nice surprise that is.
Good night my friends near and far. Art and Connie are in Seattle caring for two delightful kidos for a few days so they are getting a huge dose of grand parenting, they are having fun with it.
love
tim
I'm writing early as I plan to go to bed shortly. Ken and I walked this morning and it was cold, well at least cold for our world here in California. We hustled around our 3 miles and went our individual ways. I inspected two sales of bank foreclosures, both in decent shape and one selling for just over $100,000! Then the phone rang and a kind gentleman reminded me we had an appointment out in the country to see a ranch. I had written it down somewhere but forgotten. So I beat a hasty drive over to make the inspection. Then it was to Longs for meds and home where I worked until 2 when it was time for her special highness to come visit for the afternoon. Nikki had provided a new learning video game and Keanna and I retrieved grammies TV from her desk and set it up in the family room, plugged in the cables, I had Keanna do it and she played happily learning lessons all afternoon. Snacks included non butter popcorn, apple juice, two red jellos and Reeses crackers.
This evening Ray and Lois invited me over for pizza which we enhanced with fresh tomatoes and olives. Lois was celebrating her birthday so I sang the happy birthday song to her. I think she was shocked that I could sing and frankly its been a while since I sang and I was shocked too. All to soon the fun was over and I headed back to make appointments. I currently have 16 appraisals to make appointments for and about 12 to write up. Suddenly I am snowed under with work and while most of it won't pay for a month or two it is very welcome. This evening I created a master map showing where each of the properties are located and then set to making appointments. I have nearly all of them set up for visits tomorrow and Thursday. Yes I will be a busy boy for sure.
It is so gratifying to see work of this magnitude coming in. One never knows for how long but I have to do the best I can with the current situation and let the future care for itself.
I am still enjoying sharing the Lincoln expression, people are about as happy as they chose to be. There is so much truth in that simple phrase. How happy have I decided to be? To be totally frank I have not come to the place where I enjoy life alone. I like to share ideas, meals, walks, slow Sunday mornings, times of watching the sun set over the lake. Yet at this point alone is where I find myself so might as well be happy.
Keanna added a great deal of fun to the afternoon. Her antics, mood swings, spunk and expressions are delightful. Yesterday she lost her second tooth so she has a new look to her which I think is totally cute and refreshing.
A few minutes ago a friend and mortgage broker called to ask if I minded coming out to meet her at her car. She had cash for me for an upcoming appraisal, what a nice surprise that is.
Good night my friends near and far. Art and Connie are in Seattle caring for two delightful kidos for a few days so they are getting a huge dose of grand parenting, they are having fun with it.
love
tim
Monday, March 9, 2009
Finally a great day!
4:55 alarm goes off, horrible sound, can't ignore
5:05 wrap up warm and go out into the dark, walk the 3 miles at a brisk pace, no cars, many walkers and runners out, crazy people!
6:05 shower, never felt better
6:30 arrive to care for kidos
8:45 home with kidos delivered, fed and dressed, what fun, their smiles are unforgettable!
8:50 oatmeal and toast
10 leave for first appointment with research done
11: arrive in Berkeley hills, enjoyed panoramic view of SF, bay, bridges on trip
1: arrive in San Leandro to find the nicest house on the block was the subject, nice lady raising 13 year old daughter
2:15 lunch at Olive Garden
3: driveby appraisal in Hayward, historical report, meaning date is when someone died, use old comps to find value
4:15 head home through lovely traffic
5:30 arrive home to discover email offering a check for $400 for upcoming appraisal if I want to pick up, yes I want to pick up.
6:30 pick up check, hit taco bell
7:30 home to do value checks, set up orders, enjoy talk with brother Jerry in Weed
9:20 heading to bed.
At the Berkeley appraisal I enjoyed seeing my friend whose wife decided after 40 years to elope with a high school flame who lived in Sweden. A super nice guy at peace with the world. He sold me a Lincoln saying, people are usually about as happy as they have decided to be. Wow is that saying a lot. What have you decided regarding being happy? Are you emotionally at war most of the time or at peace? Do you find something wrong no matter what someone else does? Or are you a problem solver, a people lover, a solution? Worth thinking about, I know it sure made me think.
Even though I've coughed some today in general I'm doing great. One dark note in an otherwise fine day. A bill from Sutter Delta where they took the swab to test for whooping cough. Since my deductible is not fully funded for the year my part of the bill is $541. Pretty steep for a swab of ones nose. yikes, that money will come hard. Oh well somehow the Lord and I will meet this challenge too.
So goodnight,
love
tim
5:05 wrap up warm and go out into the dark, walk the 3 miles at a brisk pace, no cars, many walkers and runners out, crazy people!
6:05 shower, never felt better
6:30 arrive to care for kidos
8:45 home with kidos delivered, fed and dressed, what fun, their smiles are unforgettable!
8:50 oatmeal and toast
10 leave for first appointment with research done
11: arrive in Berkeley hills, enjoyed panoramic view of SF, bay, bridges on trip
1: arrive in San Leandro to find the nicest house on the block was the subject, nice lady raising 13 year old daughter
2:15 lunch at Olive Garden
3: driveby appraisal in Hayward, historical report, meaning date is when someone died, use old comps to find value
4:15 head home through lovely traffic
5:30 arrive home to discover email offering a check for $400 for upcoming appraisal if I want to pick up, yes I want to pick up.
6:30 pick up check, hit taco bell
7:30 home to do value checks, set up orders, enjoy talk with brother Jerry in Weed
9:20 heading to bed.
At the Berkeley appraisal I enjoyed seeing my friend whose wife decided after 40 years to elope with a high school flame who lived in Sweden. A super nice guy at peace with the world. He sold me a Lincoln saying, people are usually about as happy as they have decided to be. Wow is that saying a lot. What have you decided regarding being happy? Are you emotionally at war most of the time or at peace? Do you find something wrong no matter what someone else does? Or are you a problem solver, a people lover, a solution? Worth thinking about, I know it sure made me think.
Even though I've coughed some today in general I'm doing great. One dark note in an otherwise fine day. A bill from Sutter Delta where they took the swab to test for whooping cough. Since my deductible is not fully funded for the year my part of the bill is $541. Pretty steep for a swab of ones nose. yikes, that money will come hard. Oh well somehow the Lord and I will meet this challenge too.
So goodnight,
love
tim
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Better
Dear Family and Friends,
Better, much better. Today I've hardly coughed all day, sneezed a bunch but had an incredible work day. This morning I missed Ken as I set the alarm 12 hours off and did not wake until 7:30. Having my heart set on walking I dressed and went out, decided to walk the normal course in reverse so I could cross paths at some point with Ken but I found out later Ken did the same thing. His clock did not get set forward so we are not sure when he actually walked. Bummer, I like walking with Ken.
I came home and instead of making breakfast I had a shake with a banana, tasted great and held me for hours. I went in and set to work avoiding distractions as much as possible. Today I've written or finished about 6 reports! It feels so good to have some work accomplished again. The new software helps as it creates the maps automatically, saves some time and gets it right every time.
I'm trying to walk at 5 in the morning so I'd better cut this short and go to bed. So thankful to be feeling much better and thanks for the kind emails of encouragement.
love to all
Tim
Better, much better. Today I've hardly coughed all day, sneezed a bunch but had an incredible work day. This morning I missed Ken as I set the alarm 12 hours off and did not wake until 7:30. Having my heart set on walking I dressed and went out, decided to walk the normal course in reverse so I could cross paths at some point with Ken but I found out later Ken did the same thing. His clock did not get set forward so we are not sure when he actually walked. Bummer, I like walking with Ken.
I came home and instead of making breakfast I had a shake with a banana, tasted great and held me for hours. I went in and set to work avoiding distractions as much as possible. Today I've written or finished about 6 reports! It feels so good to have some work accomplished again. The new software helps as it creates the maps automatically, saves some time and gets it right every time.
I'm trying to walk at 5 in the morning so I'd better cut this short and go to bed. So thankful to be feeling much better and thanks for the kind emails of encouragement.
love to all
Tim
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Rest
Good evening
I'm writing late but just wanted to say a quick hello. This new Direct TV just has too many interesting programs, lots of religious ones and ones about just about anything from snowboarding to how the Titanic sank. All afternoon I've sat in the recliner with the heated blanket the kids got so long ago and with Starr at my side rested and watched the christian dish. Great programs from the mission field, beautiful scenery photos with music, music from the 3ABN network, vespers from Loma Linda. In life there are some gifts that just keep on giving and the dish is just that, I smile in appreciation every time I turn it on.
This morning I picked Keanna up and we arrived on time at Sabbath School. The room was filled with little ones, it was exciting but unfortunately I felt pretty awful. I made it through and got Keanna back home for her special guest that came at noon to play.
Ken has called and we will walk at the new 7 am in the morning. I know I won't be excited to get up then but walking is so vital. This afternoon I threw the ingredients into the bread maker and now have a new loaf of delicious bread. The tomatos from CostCo actually taste pretty good for this time of year so I've enjoyed some tasty peanut butter and tomato sandwiches this evening.
As one copes with loss as profound as losing Nan it takes a long time to fully realize just what is gone. Nan was a very solid person, calm, firm in her beliefs and pretty much confident that she could run her own life. She was a huge help to me on a daily basis with her steady hand, bedrock love for me and for the family, good judgment and a master of little things, security numbers, paying bills on time, creating tasty meals, devising fun events and always looking for ways to support the kids.
All these years I have relied on her for good judgment and stability and I've not yet learned to pick up the controls of my life and be stable, keep healthy and live life well. Frankly this is probably not the time to do a self examination as I'm pretty ill now, coughing, head cold, fever and general malaise. I just long to be of help to others, to get out of debt, to hold the complicated life I live in balance. Sometimes I feel pretty good about things in general and yet many times I just feel overwhelmed, so many fires to put out, people to help, deadlines to meet, bills to pay.
This has a day of reflection and as I watched the mission programs I'm so drawn to really getting in and helping hungry people, hurting people, people without wells or churches. At this point I don't see a thing I can do to help.
I've included a photo from a section of the front yard where flowers that Nan planted long ago return every year. She was always deeply touched when she saw the flowers, glad to welcome yet another spring of life. How I miss this dear lady, just wondering if I can ever be whole again without her. Just wondering........
love
tim
Friday, March 6, 2009
Whew, its finally over.......
Some weeks go better than others, I think we can all agree on that and for me this has been a week that is less than stellar. Most disappointing for me is the return of the serious coughing, accompanying head aches and a feeling of malaise. Oh don't get me wrong, there have been wonderful high points, getting to greet the little girls each morning as they start their day is the best and returning to the car after measuring a house in the driving rain, that felt pretty good. Or soup at UNO's the other day, hot, steamy and delicious. Hearing from friends is always a treat and even when they face serious challenges it is a great honor to get to talk with them, share with them and gain strength from the conversations.
Even though I don't often mention it it seems I am destined to live about one check from disaster at all times. While there is more work than last fall there is only so much time to do the work and I'm up to the challenge when I feel well but as the week progressed and the illness returned it became harder and harder to concentrate and produce.
This morning after the girls were safely delivered I did a local inspection. It was a wonderful 10 acre property with massive improvements and now the owners question what to do next financially. I enjoyed seeing the property and wrapped tightly in my ski parka I stayed comfortably warm as I worked. Then I returned home to deposit the check, do research for a Stockton inspection of an ongoing foreclosure and gather the pieces of the Comcast DVR and remote. I returned them to the office and cancelled the TV cable only to learn that since I no longer had TV cable the price of the Internet would rise from $45 to over $60. Yikes. So I'll be looking for a less expensive Internet provider soon. The Direct TV works great in all four rooms and is easy to operate. But of course who has the time to watch the 100s of channels. I did enjoy watching the Fox Business Network over lunch.
The trip to Stockton was a shocker once again. The subject property was a very appealing home in an upscale neighborhood with a large lot, over 1/2 an acres, quiet setting and what appeared to be good condition. The shock came when I started to drive the comps with large parcels, instead of the $500 or $600,000 values I expected I found values just over $200,000. When will it stop? When properties get to zero? Like Citi bank stock today trading at less than $1.00 on the market. We are certainly in strange times, a period in history no one could have guessed or imagined. Yet this is America and if allowed to improvise the citizens will find a way to succeed and improvise and prosper, providing the government is not in the way. There is intense anger with homeowners who have paid the monthly payments faithfully over the years only to find their neighbors being bailed out from not making their payments.
So once again I remember what Sharon, Nan's sister in law, who lives in Texas will say, its in the Lord's hands, don't lose sleep or get angry, let God handle it and she is so right. God is not surprised by current events, He loves each of us and wants only our eternal good. Oh that we could just remember that as the days go by.
So this evening in spite of constant coughing as I write and a head that is throbbing I am very thankful. I will sleep warm, have food to eat, can take Keanna to SS in the morning, can worship freely, can fellowship with friends. My prayer is that you can have a blessed two days away from work and struggle, that you can rebuilt your relationships and have time for God to speak to your heart, listen as He whispers sweet peaceful, hopeful thoughts into your heart.
love to all
tim
Even though I don't often mention it it seems I am destined to live about one check from disaster at all times. While there is more work than last fall there is only so much time to do the work and I'm up to the challenge when I feel well but as the week progressed and the illness returned it became harder and harder to concentrate and produce.
This morning after the girls were safely delivered I did a local inspection. It was a wonderful 10 acre property with massive improvements and now the owners question what to do next financially. I enjoyed seeing the property and wrapped tightly in my ski parka I stayed comfortably warm as I worked. Then I returned home to deposit the check, do research for a Stockton inspection of an ongoing foreclosure and gather the pieces of the Comcast DVR and remote. I returned them to the office and cancelled the TV cable only to learn that since I no longer had TV cable the price of the Internet would rise from $45 to over $60. Yikes. So I'll be looking for a less expensive Internet provider soon. The Direct TV works great in all four rooms and is easy to operate. But of course who has the time to watch the 100s of channels. I did enjoy watching the Fox Business Network over lunch.
The trip to Stockton was a shocker once again. The subject property was a very appealing home in an upscale neighborhood with a large lot, over 1/2 an acres, quiet setting and what appeared to be good condition. The shock came when I started to drive the comps with large parcels, instead of the $500 or $600,000 values I expected I found values just over $200,000. When will it stop? When properties get to zero? Like Citi bank stock today trading at less than $1.00 on the market. We are certainly in strange times, a period in history no one could have guessed or imagined. Yet this is America and if allowed to improvise the citizens will find a way to succeed and improvise and prosper, providing the government is not in the way. There is intense anger with homeowners who have paid the monthly payments faithfully over the years only to find their neighbors being bailed out from not making their payments.
So once again I remember what Sharon, Nan's sister in law, who lives in Texas will say, its in the Lord's hands, don't lose sleep or get angry, let God handle it and she is so right. God is not surprised by current events, He loves each of us and wants only our eternal good. Oh that we could just remember that as the days go by.
So this evening in spite of constant coughing as I write and a head that is throbbing I am very thankful. I will sleep warm, have food to eat, can take Keanna to SS in the morning, can worship freely, can fellowship with friends. My prayer is that you can have a blessed two days away from work and struggle, that you can rebuilt your relationships and have time for God to speak to your heart, listen as He whispers sweet peaceful, hopeful thoughts into your heart.
love to all
tim
Thursday, March 5, 2009
At long last it ends
Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a long day with few enjoyable moments. Unfortunately the cough has returned along with sore throat, head aches and limited fever. Since the Direct TV installer was to be here between 8 and 12 I planned to stay in today. Ken and I walked this morning which ended up feeling good at the completion. I started work after an oatmeal breakfast. I found that after the set back thermostat cut the heat back to 62 the rooms began to chill. So I kept my little heater under my desk on a low setting and that helped a great deal.
First I set up about 13 new orders, then began to write appraisals. I'm nearly completed with 3 reports for the day. The installer actually made it about 2:30 and set to work. I made a terrible decision regarding where the dish could be mounted. He had me come out front and told me where the best place place would be for finding all four satellites and that happened to be on the front wall of the house. I gave it little thought until LeAnn pointed out how really ugly the dish was sitting there and she is right. It is no small process to move the dish once it is in place and he did a great job of the attaching to the house process. So we will see but I'd like it elsewhere too, just not sure where it would work right. After discovering that I had ruined her day I really felt lousy, already felt bad physically but to hurt LeAnn, well she has been wonderful to us all over the years and she didn't need this.
Nikki called and could tell I was feeling pretty down and she set out to cheer me up. That helped. She also reminded me that Keanna was doing tumbling from 5:30 to 6:30. Well the installer was still programming boxes when it was time to leave. Finally everything was working perfectly in all four rooms and I signed the paper and he left. Then I drove over and watched Keanna for a few minutes and ended up taking her to dinner at the Mexican place nearby. She ate like a very hungry adult and was thrilled when the roving band of musicians began to play. She loved it.
In the morning I'm back at their house at 6:30 to help with the kidos. I just hope I feel better by then.
For now I'm going to sign off and try to get some sleep.
love to all
Tim
This has been a long day with few enjoyable moments. Unfortunately the cough has returned along with sore throat, head aches and limited fever. Since the Direct TV installer was to be here between 8 and 12 I planned to stay in today. Ken and I walked this morning which ended up feeling good at the completion. I started work after an oatmeal breakfast. I found that after the set back thermostat cut the heat back to 62 the rooms began to chill. So I kept my little heater under my desk on a low setting and that helped a great deal.
First I set up about 13 new orders, then began to write appraisals. I'm nearly completed with 3 reports for the day. The installer actually made it about 2:30 and set to work. I made a terrible decision regarding where the dish could be mounted. He had me come out front and told me where the best place place would be for finding all four satellites and that happened to be on the front wall of the house. I gave it little thought until LeAnn pointed out how really ugly the dish was sitting there and she is right. It is no small process to move the dish once it is in place and he did a great job of the attaching to the house process. So we will see but I'd like it elsewhere too, just not sure where it would work right. After discovering that I had ruined her day I really felt lousy, already felt bad physically but to hurt LeAnn, well she has been wonderful to us all over the years and she didn't need this.
Nikki called and could tell I was feeling pretty down and she set out to cheer me up. That helped. She also reminded me that Keanna was doing tumbling from 5:30 to 6:30. Well the installer was still programming boxes when it was time to leave. Finally everything was working perfectly in all four rooms and I signed the paper and he left. Then I drove over and watched Keanna for a few minutes and ended up taking her to dinner at the Mexican place nearby. She ate like a very hungry adult and was thrilled when the roving band of musicians began to play. She loved it.
In the morning I'm back at their house at 6:30 to help with the kidos. I just hope I feel better by then.
For now I'm going to sign off and try to get some sleep.
love to all
Tim
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Coughing again
Dear Family and Friends,
I regret to mention that the coughing has returned today. So far its not bad and I've been able to work hard all day. I had a great start with the kidos this morning, how I love to see them in the morning when they are just waking up, eating breakfast and heading off to school and the sitters.
Then it was home to fix a good breakfast with oatmeal, stripples and some excellent rye bread that Ray gave me. After time to do conditions for a couple reports, take phone calls and set up orders I left for Antioch where I say a house that was $570 and is now selling for $197,000. Cute 4 bedroom house in decent condition and the comps said the price was right. This one I did for a discount as the broker involved mentioned that money was very tight for these buyers and who would not want to help.
I needed a box of legal sized paper so next stop was Staples which was just around the corner. That box of paper is now $49.00. Things have changed. UNOs Chicago Style Pizza beckoned as I left Staples so I slid into the bar and had soup, two bowls of it and a cheap little cheese and tomato pizza for just $2.49. I walked out with lunch costing an amazing $5.00 plus tip. It was so good, so warm and so filling. Then I headed back to Discovery Bay to deposit the check which the account needed and set the GPS for Fairfield. If you think the Antioch house was going cheap the Fairfield one was even more of a shock. $85,000 is the selling price. True the house was pretty basic but still it had 3 bedrooms, indoor plumbing, all tiled floors and a quiet neighborhood. $85K for a house in CA! As the day drew on I grew more and more tired. No feeling too good I headed home. It seemed every mile was filled with more fatigue and I was so very glad to finally turn the corner and be home.
I've just spent the last 3/4 of an hour filling out an application for Kaiser on line. I'm tired of paying $840 a month for Anthem Blue Cross so at least I'm looking into another choice. We have a beautiful new Kaiser hospital in Antioch, most of my friends either have it or are considering getting it and if I can save $400 a month I'll make the change. Blue Cross is very different since the name Anthem has been added. Its worth a try.
So now its time to part company, I'm going to bed, I'm tired and the jetted tub is calling. Good night my friends and family.
Love to all
Tim
I regret to mention that the coughing has returned today. So far its not bad and I've been able to work hard all day. I had a great start with the kidos this morning, how I love to see them in the morning when they are just waking up, eating breakfast and heading off to school and the sitters.
Then it was home to fix a good breakfast with oatmeal, stripples and some excellent rye bread that Ray gave me. After time to do conditions for a couple reports, take phone calls and set up orders I left for Antioch where I say a house that was $570 and is now selling for $197,000. Cute 4 bedroom house in decent condition and the comps said the price was right. This one I did for a discount as the broker involved mentioned that money was very tight for these buyers and who would not want to help.
I needed a box of legal sized paper so next stop was Staples which was just around the corner. That box of paper is now $49.00. Things have changed. UNOs Chicago Style Pizza beckoned as I left Staples so I slid into the bar and had soup, two bowls of it and a cheap little cheese and tomato pizza for just $2.49. I walked out with lunch costing an amazing $5.00 plus tip. It was so good, so warm and so filling. Then I headed back to Discovery Bay to deposit the check which the account needed and set the GPS for Fairfield. If you think the Antioch house was going cheap the Fairfield one was even more of a shock. $85,000 is the selling price. True the house was pretty basic but still it had 3 bedrooms, indoor plumbing, all tiled floors and a quiet neighborhood. $85K for a house in CA! As the day drew on I grew more and more tired. No feeling too good I headed home. It seemed every mile was filled with more fatigue and I was so very glad to finally turn the corner and be home.
I've just spent the last 3/4 of an hour filling out an application for Kaiser on line. I'm tired of paying $840 a month for Anthem Blue Cross so at least I'm looking into another choice. We have a beautiful new Kaiser hospital in Antioch, most of my friends either have it or are considering getting it and if I can save $400 a month I'll make the change. Blue Cross is very different since the name Anthem has been added. Its worth a try.
So now its time to part company, I'm going to bed, I'm tired and the jetted tub is calling. Good night my friends and family.
Love to all
Tim
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Life is good
Dear Family and Friends,
The music of the rain, nice to be heard, less nice to be standing in, even less nice to be working in but all is OK.
I'm just back from having some desert with Lois and Ray and watching NCIS. Its a fun show to watch and Nan always loved to see Mark Harmon in anything so i got hooked too. Lois had created this banana bread and it was great. Earlier today Lois and Ray made a house visit to give Lady a bath, cut her nails and clean the dog door. What a difference on all three counts. Lady has self respect again. She was pretty dirty and after watching Lois bath her I've decided the groomer is a great idea or beg Lois to do it once in awhile. They were a great team, one holding her while the other cut her nails. Lady was not too pleased at all the attention but didn't bite or snap. Just went and hid every change she got. Lady is a Scottish Terrier and a great dog, given to me on my 50Th birthday. Starr was not pleased that she was not the center of all attention.
I worked in, labored with conditions, wrote appraisals, ordered cards for the new business and in general had a low energy day. The girls were a blast this morning, Keanna is so into the consequences program that at 7:14 she was already down and dressed this morning, 30 minutes early. Once again she got all 4 checks and we were on time, happy and contented.
All day as I worked I could hear the gentle rain falling outside and binging on the AC unit outside. It was a pleasant sound.
Now its time to head to bed and my brother reports from Weed that it is snowing heavily this evening. I'm talking to him as I write and he just took his little dog out and the snow was heavy, falling fast and getting deeper. Sounds pretty!
Well goodnight my friends and family,
love
Tim
The music of the rain, nice to be heard, less nice to be standing in, even less nice to be working in but all is OK.
I'm just back from having some desert with Lois and Ray and watching NCIS. Its a fun show to watch and Nan always loved to see Mark Harmon in anything so i got hooked too. Lois had created this banana bread and it was great. Earlier today Lois and Ray made a house visit to give Lady a bath, cut her nails and clean the dog door. What a difference on all three counts. Lady has self respect again. She was pretty dirty and after watching Lois bath her I've decided the groomer is a great idea or beg Lois to do it once in awhile. They were a great team, one holding her while the other cut her nails. Lady was not too pleased at all the attention but didn't bite or snap. Just went and hid every change she got. Lady is a Scottish Terrier and a great dog, given to me on my 50Th birthday. Starr was not pleased that she was not the center of all attention.
I worked in, labored with conditions, wrote appraisals, ordered cards for the new business and in general had a low energy day. The girls were a blast this morning, Keanna is so into the consequences program that at 7:14 she was already down and dressed this morning, 30 minutes early. Once again she got all 4 checks and we were on time, happy and contented.
All day as I worked I could hear the gentle rain falling outside and binging on the AC unit outside. It was a pleasant sound.
Now its time to head to bed and my brother reports from Weed that it is snowing heavily this evening. I'm talking to him as I write and he just took his little dog out and the snow was heavy, falling fast and getting deeper. Sounds pretty!
Well goodnight my friends and family,
love
Tim
Monday, March 2, 2009
Soaked appraiser, drip dry
Dear Family and Friends,
Today for once I earned my money. I watched with growing alarm as I drew nearer and nearer to my destination in Lafayette. The mild rain seemed to grow in intensity each mile I drove and when I arrived at the property I was relieved to see it was a one story. I was also pleased to find only a mild rain when I stepped from the car. However as I started to measure this complicated home the rain began to fall with greater intensity until it was a downpour. Of course the builders of this home didn't believe in much overhang so there was no where to stop out of the rain and write on my sheet. Of course I was using pencil as ink and damp paper do not go well together. As I reached the rear of the home I found the entire patio to be several inches deep in standing water and nearby creek was roaring with runoff. Of course my camera chose that moment to come up with a dying battery. One just has to say, go ahead you are only getting wetter thinking about it. Then through the mist I discovered a second little house on the back of the site that also needed to be measured and huge Redwood trees were dripping huge droplets of water. Water water everywhere.
What do you do after you finish measuring the exterior, well you go inside, great here I am dripping but once I saw the interior carpet I realized it didn't matter, it was rough. Once the inspection was completed I settled into the warm bug with heater blasting, AC on to remove the moisture and before long I was restored to my usual good humor. An hour later after driving all over on tiny mountain roads I landed at Taco Bell, used their tiny bathroom and munched down a burrito and tostado. It was so good and tasty. Then it was time to reclaim my place on the windy rainy roads and head back to Discovery Bay. While traveling I caught up with the events at Marilyn Titherington's place in Rhode Island. Nearly a foot of snow had fallen since last night and schools were closed, she was staying warm and watching foolish drivers trying to make their way about in the snow.
Once back to Discovery Bay I arrived at a condo, stepped out into a gale, winds were whipping the trees and lawn furniture but no rain. Then on to yet another vacant home and finally I arrived home to discover a check in the mail, friendly dogs with their greeting and a warm house. After the night I had last night I'm ready to go to bed now at 9 pm. For some reason a new container of low salt Planters peanuts happened to be near where I was sitting and the next thing I knew 1/2 the jar was gone. At 1:30 this morning I woke to wild dreams, painful tummy and no thought of sleeping. Finally in desperation I climbed out, staggered down to the computer and set to work. At 3 I was sleepy again so went back and slept until 6:04, the alarm went off at 6:05 but I was so afraid I would sleep through that my mind woke me. When I arrived at the kids house all was quiet, too quiet. They had both overslept and just woke up when I arrived at 6:30. That is when they both were set to leave so they quickly got ready and headed out.
After consultation with Keanna we had agreed on a new plan that deals with consequences instead of pappa yelling. So when Keanna wakes up at 7:40 she gets a check and when she comes down dressed and ready at 7:50 she gets a check mark and when she is ready to eat breakfast on time a check and when she is ready to walk out the door at 7:20 yet another check. She handled everything very well, no yelling or harsh words and we had a wonderful morning. I've promised a shopping trip for a special Dora doll if she can get 3 out of the 4 checks each morning. Wow it was nice and we both enjoyed the morning.
Irene wrote today to tell me a very interesting sequence of events that led her to direct contact with Travis, a trial facilitator for various GIST trials. He was absolutely wonderful in his help to us in Boston. He made everything work out right and did it with class and courtesy. I was so happy to hear that he was able to help Irene as she plans for the IPI504 trial in Portland. With Travis helping I know she is in very good hands, hands with compassion and experience. Irene is very thankful for your prayers on her behalf.
I am getting more and more excited about my new business connection with ACN. What a good company and so far they do what they promise. I'm about to order my video phone and I just can't wait to start calling Timothy and not only hear him but get to see him in action too. Why not let me help you get started with your own video phone. Getting started is simple and within a week you can be making those special calls a whole lot more special. When you are ready you can contact me and I can walk you through the ordering process with each of us on our own computers. Its only a matter of time until many homes will have a video phone and our company is the only company at the present time to offer one for such a reasonable price. A nice feature is with the connection of a single cable the picture on the phone can be put through your TV so the whole room can see what you are seeing in the little screen.
Well enough of this excitement for now. Take care, stay warm, dry and look out for global warming! Not.
love
tim
Today for once I earned my money. I watched with growing alarm as I drew nearer and nearer to my destination in Lafayette. The mild rain seemed to grow in intensity each mile I drove and when I arrived at the property I was relieved to see it was a one story. I was also pleased to find only a mild rain when I stepped from the car. However as I started to measure this complicated home the rain began to fall with greater intensity until it was a downpour. Of course the builders of this home didn't believe in much overhang so there was no where to stop out of the rain and write on my sheet. Of course I was using pencil as ink and damp paper do not go well together. As I reached the rear of the home I found the entire patio to be several inches deep in standing water and nearby creek was roaring with runoff. Of course my camera chose that moment to come up with a dying battery. One just has to say, go ahead you are only getting wetter thinking about it. Then through the mist I discovered a second little house on the back of the site that also needed to be measured and huge Redwood trees were dripping huge droplets of water. Water water everywhere.
What do you do after you finish measuring the exterior, well you go inside, great here I am dripping but once I saw the interior carpet I realized it didn't matter, it was rough. Once the inspection was completed I settled into the warm bug with heater blasting, AC on to remove the moisture and before long I was restored to my usual good humor. An hour later after driving all over on tiny mountain roads I landed at Taco Bell, used their tiny bathroom and munched down a burrito and tostado. It was so good and tasty. Then it was time to reclaim my place on the windy rainy roads and head back to Discovery Bay. While traveling I caught up with the events at Marilyn Titherington's place in Rhode Island. Nearly a foot of snow had fallen since last night and schools were closed, she was staying warm and watching foolish drivers trying to make their way about in the snow.
Once back to Discovery Bay I arrived at a condo, stepped out into a gale, winds were whipping the trees and lawn furniture but no rain. Then on to yet another vacant home and finally I arrived home to discover a check in the mail, friendly dogs with their greeting and a warm house. After the night I had last night I'm ready to go to bed now at 9 pm. For some reason a new container of low salt Planters peanuts happened to be near where I was sitting and the next thing I knew 1/2 the jar was gone. At 1:30 this morning I woke to wild dreams, painful tummy and no thought of sleeping. Finally in desperation I climbed out, staggered down to the computer and set to work. At 3 I was sleepy again so went back and slept until 6:04, the alarm went off at 6:05 but I was so afraid I would sleep through that my mind woke me. When I arrived at the kids house all was quiet, too quiet. They had both overslept and just woke up when I arrived at 6:30. That is when they both were set to leave so they quickly got ready and headed out.
After consultation with Keanna we had agreed on a new plan that deals with consequences instead of pappa yelling. So when Keanna wakes up at 7:40 she gets a check and when she comes down dressed and ready at 7:50 she gets a check mark and when she is ready to eat breakfast on time a check and when she is ready to walk out the door at 7:20 yet another check. She handled everything very well, no yelling or harsh words and we had a wonderful morning. I've promised a shopping trip for a special Dora doll if she can get 3 out of the 4 checks each morning. Wow it was nice and we both enjoyed the morning.
Irene wrote today to tell me a very interesting sequence of events that led her to direct contact with Travis, a trial facilitator for various GIST trials. He was absolutely wonderful in his help to us in Boston. He made everything work out right and did it with class and courtesy. I was so happy to hear that he was able to help Irene as she plans for the IPI504 trial in Portland. With Travis helping I know she is in very good hands, hands with compassion and experience. Irene is very thankful for your prayers on her behalf.
I am getting more and more excited about my new business connection with ACN. What a good company and so far they do what they promise. I'm about to order my video phone and I just can't wait to start calling Timothy and not only hear him but get to see him in action too. Why not let me help you get started with your own video phone. Getting started is simple and within a week you can be making those special calls a whole lot more special. When you are ready you can contact me and I can walk you through the ordering process with each of us on our own computers. Its only a matter of time until many homes will have a video phone and our company is the only company at the present time to offer one for such a reasonable price. A nice feature is with the connection of a single cable the picture on the phone can be put through your TV so the whole room can see what you are seeing in the little screen.
Well enough of this excitement for now. Take care, stay warm, dry and look out for global warming! Not.
love
tim
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Everything but work
Dear Family and Friends,
Today as been a productive day, the kind where you know what you need to do but something inside recoils at the thought of doing it so you avoid doing it by doing lots of other good things instead. Lets see, I have a clean kitchen, my office floor is vacuumed, my two working surfaces are free of piles of papers needing to be filed and sorted, trash is emptied, many loads of laundry are clean and dried to perfection, light bulbs that had burned out are replaced, the fax line has been switched from AT&T to ACN so not only do I get lower rates each month but I also benefit each time I pay the bill, Comcast has been replaced with Direct TV with many more channels to waste my time and even in HD for less money, my business line is now switched from Vonage to ACN as well but ask me if appraisals are written and emailed out, well, one has just been emailed out now and several are waiting patiently for completion. Oh well it was Sunday after all and I had a chance to catch up with friends and family on the phone, make a great salad for lunch, a griller for dinner, drink lots of liquids all day.
In the morning I'm back to grampa day care at 6:30 so that will be fun. Then its off to Lafayette to see a place and then on to Hayward to see another and hopefully Stockton as well if the light holds.
For me it has been a day of quiet reflection, I came across the beautiful book of Nan that was assembled by Karen with photos scanned by Nikki at the time of nan's passing. It is a powerful collection of a wonderful woman's life, I really had it good, very good, we all did. She was a wonderful piece of work, a great lady, a sparkplug for our whole family. Man do I ever miss her. I'll just bet you do too.
I was drawn to consider Nan's struggles when I read a painful email from our dear friend Irene this afternoon. In spite of a recent surgery and different types of meds a recent scan shows significant growth of the tumors invading Irene's gentle body. Like she said so well, not the answer she was hoping for at all. So once again I call upon each of you to bring Irene before the kind Lord seeking His will and His healing. She is about to embark on a new treatment called IPI504. Its the one that led Nan to Boston for long periods of time during which she lived at the hospitality of Rick and Roxanna in Conn. How I hope and pray that the program will help Irene if she decides to go that route. It will mean she lives in Portland part of the time for that is where the nearest infusion site is for the trial.
My thoughts and my heart goes to Ron and Irene this evening as they face this next step in the journey caused by GIST.
love
tim
Today as been a productive day, the kind where you know what you need to do but something inside recoils at the thought of doing it so you avoid doing it by doing lots of other good things instead. Lets see, I have a clean kitchen, my office floor is vacuumed, my two working surfaces are free of piles of papers needing to be filed and sorted, trash is emptied, many loads of laundry are clean and dried to perfection, light bulbs that had burned out are replaced, the fax line has been switched from AT&T to ACN so not only do I get lower rates each month but I also benefit each time I pay the bill, Comcast has been replaced with Direct TV with many more channels to waste my time and even in HD for less money, my business line is now switched from Vonage to ACN as well but ask me if appraisals are written and emailed out, well, one has just been emailed out now and several are waiting patiently for completion. Oh well it was Sunday after all and I had a chance to catch up with friends and family on the phone, make a great salad for lunch, a griller for dinner, drink lots of liquids all day.
In the morning I'm back to grampa day care at 6:30 so that will be fun. Then its off to Lafayette to see a place and then on to Hayward to see another and hopefully Stockton as well if the light holds.
For me it has been a day of quiet reflection, I came across the beautiful book of Nan that was assembled by Karen with photos scanned by Nikki at the time of nan's passing. It is a powerful collection of a wonderful woman's life, I really had it good, very good, we all did. She was a wonderful piece of work, a great lady, a sparkplug for our whole family. Man do I ever miss her. I'll just bet you do too.
I was drawn to consider Nan's struggles when I read a painful email from our dear friend Irene this afternoon. In spite of a recent surgery and different types of meds a recent scan shows significant growth of the tumors invading Irene's gentle body. Like she said so well, not the answer she was hoping for at all. So once again I call upon each of you to bring Irene before the kind Lord seeking His will and His healing. She is about to embark on a new treatment called IPI504. Its the one that led Nan to Boston for long periods of time during which she lived at the hospitality of Rick and Roxanna in Conn. How I hope and pray that the program will help Irene if she decides to go that route. It will mean she lives in Portland part of the time for that is where the nearest infusion site is for the trial.
My thoughts and my heart goes to Ron and Irene this evening as they face this next step in the journey caused by GIST.
love
tim
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