Dana takes her place in the kitchen, we feast.

Dear Family and Friends,
I wish you all could have been here this evening to enjoy the feast Dana prepared. Ronnie was busy with the BBQ and Dana created cottage cheese loaf, mashed potatoes, greens, gravy and white corn. What a great time we had as Nikki and Steve with kidos joined us. Actually Keanna joined us this morning and spent the day with Anthony, they were in the lake with their life jackets on most of the day and then in the cold spa in between. It was a nice day only a bit warm this afternoon.
Meanwhile I settled down in the office to crank out an appraisal for a high dollar property in Santa Cruz and then one in San Jose. Then Jean, the writer, had one completed and that one went out as well. After dinner I had to drive to Richmond which is a place you think twice about going to since it is so dangerous and whites are at risk in some neighborhoods. Well the house I had to see tonight was right in the middle of one of the worst areas and I was thankful to be safely driving out just before dark. What a rough house. How people can take a house just built in 1996 and have it that bad, it blows the mind. The carpets looked like nothing had ever been picked up, filthy.
Now I'm home and pretty depressed after listening to the horrible news from Washington, the Cap and Trade details are starting to leak out, no one had read it when they voted on it and every person in the US will pay dearly for living, freedoms we have come to accept as normal will be gone, choices about how to live, what to buy, well they will be regulated in a manner that is just incredible. How can this be happening to our free society? What has America done to itself? I urge you to become aware, read up on what has been voted on, find out if that is what you want and if its not then speak up. The winds of change are already taking place, polls show twice as many Americans consider themselves Conservative as liberal already and today's polls show Americans consider the democratic party to far to the left. Duh!
I experienced a sad situation today. A friend of mine who sells real estate offered a little house for sale which had recently been purchased and totally updated, everything is new and nicely done. She had me do an appraisal on the property for the seller just to get a sense of where the market was. She had 30 offers on the property including one that offered $20K over the asking price. Finally the seller accepted an offer and the buyer selected a lender, the lender selected a management company who ordered an appraisal. Today it was completed and the appraiser cut the value of the purchase by nearly $40,000. Mind you there are 30 people ready to purchase the house at $180K or above and the appraiser comes in at $143K. Of course it kills the deal but I find it hard to understand how he could arrive at such a number in light of the condition of the house and the sales of other homes with extensive updating that supported it. My first impression is to report him to OREA. I am in shock over this and the same thing is being reported all over now as deal after deal falls apart over bad or poor appraising. But what do you expect when you only pay these new appraisers or hacks $175 for a $400 job. This is progress!
I know of very few things that the government does well, I happen to think that Nikki does one of those things, she does audits of how people are spending money, that is a good thing and I think she earns her paycheck and there are many in government that do their best but the idea that government can run healthcare, manage energy use, spend our way out of a recession, no way!
It is so nice to have the house full of happiness and good smells as food cooks or laughter as the kidos play. This is a time of joy.
Tomorrow morning I'll be in Livermore at 10 am, then back to write a report, then off to Petaluma for a 4 pm appointment and then drag myself back home.
I hope your life is making more sense on a personal level right now than mine is.
Sending love to all,

Tim