Some days seem to work better than others

Hi
Today didn't work so well. The bright spot was as always Keanna coming to visit. Today she mastered drawing a star which she has been wrestling with, worked with the stapler, did colors, family drawings, snacked on crackers, enjoyed McDonalds and lite up the whole house.
The rest of the day was rugged. At this point in time lenders are being highly unreasonable in terms of what they want. Then they evidently don't read the reports. Today one ask for the 1004MC form, it was already in their hands, they ask for photos of all 4 sides of the house, the photos were already included, they ask for how many days the comps had been on the market and of course it was clearly marked on the grid, are they blind?
This morning I determined to tackle something I'd been working on for some time. I decided to learn to do my own payroll as I really could not ask someone to keep doing it for free. So I signed up for a nifty program that only costs $9.95 a month from Intuit but setting it up was no small process. I had waded through about half of it already in the past but decided today was the day to get it done and start using it so I can cut checks to the valuable people who are a part of the team. It took hours but I was able to make it work and cut the check I needed to cut. Then while I was at it I decided to upgrade the Quick Books Pro from the 2006 version I had to a 2009 version. They had let me know that as of the end of the month they would no longer process check payments I would receive from people unless I upgraded so I had a coupon for a savings and waded through that process as well but it took hours and I ended up at the end talking to that little guy in India who is sitting on his bicycle and talking on the phone, at least is sounded like that. He went through a long spiel before finally giving me the final code to make the whole thing work. Over half a day wasted in busy work that yielded no income. Then I set to work on important appraisals but of course it was 2 pm and time to pick up Keanna. That was a nice break which I enjoyed. She allowed me to work with only an occasional request for assistance though she did express her displeasure that we could not go to the park and play.
Now its bed time and I'm trying to make sense of everything. Four new orders arrived today which is thrilling but I have several to finish up and many to schedule, to see.
In the morning Tonya comes to make sense of this place so I have to clean ahead of her the really nasty things the dogs do, no one wants to deal with that. Sort of a pre cleaning!
I've hardly had a time to pause today between phone calls, orders, complaints and conditions. I grabbed a griller for lunch, 90 seconds in the microwave and oatmeal for breakfast, bagel tonight for dinner.
I spoke to another appraiser friend today. He and I have worked in this area for many years and he is just as nervous about what to expect in May as I am. He has heard stories from young appraisers who are totally willing to produce FHA appraisals for $200. I really don't know how they can live with such a low fee. I guess appraise on one hand and food stamps on the other. In contrast I've been charging $450 for FHA appraisals for the last 6 years and give a discount for upfront payment. My clients are perfectly fine with that but the new wave of management companies will destroy all of our relationships to brokers and the work will go to the lowest bidder and there is always someone who will bid it lower. Perhaps its time to remember that the Lord remains on His throne and nothing catches Him by surprise.
Today I've enjoyed a conversation with Dana. She reported that on Saturday it rained 11 and 1/2 inches during that one day. If it happened here we would be in flood conditions. That is a whole lot of rain.
Well good night from my house to yours.

love to all

Tim