The Life and Times of Jim
Hi, there. I'm Jim. Welcome to my phlog!
This site was written for Las Vegas, then LouisVille. Now, it seems to be about anywhere. In these phlogs, you'll see a lot of my personal notes and pictures. I like to post my observations here to remember life and celebrate it. I'm not religious. I don't pray for good fortune. I'm ecstatically grateful for the gift of life and I think our time should be remembered and not taken for granted. I'm not a writer. I think pictures tell stories so much better than words. I love just about everything in this life, and, I guess that would have to include you. So, if you've seen me, don't be surprised if your picture is in here somewhere. Of all the critters, people are absolutely the most interesting. 
<< 03/2005 < 02/2006 Calendar 04/2006 > 03/2007 >>Sign InView Other Logs
Mon 
03/20/2006 13:19:52
 Jim  Truck Driving - Company Notes
+ Heartland Express - Pay is around 44 cents a mile. Home every week. Good things
+ Barr-Nunn - Pay is around 47 cents a mile. Home every week. Good things.
+ Knight Transportation - Pay is good. Home every week.
+ Averitte Express - Good Pay. Home every week.
+ FeEx - Decent Pay. Home every week.
+ UPS - hmmm. Good Pay. Home every week.
- CFI - Low Pay. Home every month.
- CR England - Very Low Pay. Home every month.
- Swift - Low Pay. BiMonthly
- Ozark - Home Bimonthly.
- Werner - Medium Pay. Bimonthly.
Sun 
03/19/2006 15:01:17
 jim  Vegas,NV-LakeMead Sky
Sun 
03/19/2006 15:01:17
 jim   (Reply)Vegas,NV-LakeMead Sky
Sat 
03/18/2006 15:27:26
 Jim  Bought a used stove
Bought a stove for the house for $120. It looks and works great. As usual though, the gas pipe to connect it turned out to be a royal pain. There doesn't seem to be a standard for gas fittings anywhere, so, I'm plagued with an assortment of adapters, none of which, work.
Sat 
03/18/2006 11:29:42
 jim  Henderson,NV-Jim,Becky
Sat 
03/18/2006 11:29:42
 jim   (Reply)Henderson,NV-Jim,Becky
Fri 
03/17/2006 20:28:08
 jim  Vegas,NV-Wynn
Fri 
03/17/2006 20:28:08
 jim   (Reply)Vegas,NV-Wynn
Tue 
03/14/2006 15:10:26
 jim  Stratosphere-Becky,Jim,Sonny
Tue 
03/14/2006 15:10:26
 jim   (Reply)Vegas,NV-Stratosphere-Sonny,Jim,Becky
Sat 
03/11/2006 21:50:41
 Jim  The appraiser came and went.
I talked with the dude for over an hour.
Our appraiser was more than happy to discuss how he got into his career. Things have changed.
It used to be that an house appraisers job was more like a juice job than anything. Its still, kind of, sort of,  that way now. But with the housing sales boom in Las Vegas, that attitude has relaxed. These guys go to school for 2 weeks (for $1,000), and you must be an apprentice for two years. They must have a job before they can get their license too.
Catch 22 - To get a job, you need a license. To get a license, you need a job. Hmmm. Who thinks this crap up?
He said you can expect to make $40,000 a year doing appraisals, it was easy work, and fun.
He said the best money in appraising was sail boats, and its a wide open field right now.
The things I didn't like about his appraisal:
He took pictures. And when he was in the kitchen, he mentioned we had a garbage disposal. So, I'd expect he's not going to fluff the appraisel like my last one did.
Thu 
03/09/2006 11:06:20
 Jim  The appraiser should be coming around tommorrow or
I've got to repair a ceiling today.
The loan is for $60k, 5 year fixed at $940 a month, which leaves a large margin for if I ever decide to rent this place out again. Everything is kewl.
The thing I don't like about refinancing is sending all of my information to someone. They wanted my business license and two checking statements this last time. In other words, they want to see if I have $3,000 before they write me a check for $60,000. hmmm. The logic eludes me.
Talked to Ida
She's quitting smoking. I wish her luck. She sounds like heck!
The Frontier called Sonny on his day off.
He'd fixed a food warmer switch with one his boss gave him, and the switch burned out again. They insinuated that Sonny can't fix crap. It turned out it was a faulty switch, an old one they had laying around.
I wonder how many of places do that kind of thing.
They called him at home to make him feel crappy about his work. No apologies or mention of the switch came up again.
Sat 
03/04/2006 20:47:58
 jim  VegasStrip-Ballys,Stardust,Rio,Caesars
Sat 
02/25/2006 13:21:53
 Jim  Just left the ol condo
Tim (a friend of Sonny's was painting it) and there was absolutely no place to park. And if it can happen, it will happen. Along come the garbagemen.  We had time to load up a bathtub and somekind of other stand thingy...lol.
Sat 
02/25/2006 12:44:35
 Jim  My rate quotes so far
Goals - Lowest payments, low fixed interest, most amount of equity out, interest only ok, 40yr ok.
Terms - Stated income, 780 credit rating, don't want to list condo, home value SB $240,000.
Current - Country Wide
1st @ 4.35% arm 30 yr.
Quicken Loans
1st @ 7.9% 30yr fixed. 2nd @ 8.3% var. Closing $4,500
BestRate
ALL @ 6.35% 40yr int only. Closing $1,400
John Heraliow:Fax 949-608-1599:Tele 877-389-3863x3014
Will call back 2/28
Home Lending
Kathren:Fax 818-559-2516:800-311-2988:Tele 800-311-2984x4388
Will send me an email to fax back.
Franklin Security
Tiffany Kueber:Fax 866-654-8088: 866-354-8800x192
Fri 
02/24/2006 20:47:58
 jim  Vegas,NV-Ballys,Bellagio
Fri 
02/24/2006 20:47:58
 jim   (Reply)Vegas,NV-Ballys
Fri 
02/24/2006 13:08:40
 Jim  We rearranged the living room.
We've got lots of things we're going to toss away here, but getting to that point is going to take awhile.
This week, we've spent two days monkeying around with Robert and Joy.
Amy got sick, so, we've been in and out of Quick Care and the hospital.
All of the local newstations have been hogging the entrance where we need to go because of some terrible event.
I've been researching loans, trying to finding whats right.
The first offer I got was from QuickenLoans. 
I thought about and it was terrible, and I may get dinged $500 for just trying.
Quicken Loans is not a good place to shop for loans.
I finally went to LendingTree.com where things may turn out much better.
Meanwhile, getting everything in place in this house has been a pain.
We've got mice!
Little boogers have found our pantry and they must go!
Wed 
02/22/2006 14:02:02
 jim  Vegas,NV-UMC Amy
Mon 
02/20/2006 15:55:34
 Jim  Ah - Back in Vegas
And my internet is working! Yea!!! Here's a few things I missed talking about.
Sedonia, Az
The 6,000' altitude, medium sized pine trees with slightly red rocks set off this place. Sedonia is a popular tourist attraction for the stars and many claim it has spiritual properties (vortexes). Dionne Warwick used to pitch it a lot. The town has some very unique shops and its growing, but probably not as fast as Ms Warwick would have hoped.
Cottonwood, Az
An old town, Becky lived there for 2 years. I didn't see much that liked, but I suppose if I ever lived there, I'd see everything in a different light. To me, it was just another small desert town.
Becky saw a cashier at a Safeway where she once worked.  I grabbed $4.50 worth of berries and told her to buy them through her line (so I could take pictures). Not only did the cashier say she didn't know Becky, but she charged her $13. I asked the cashier, and finally the manager, WHY? They said because I didn't have their little card, and the manager and his assistant said I didn't have a Safeway card, there were no Safeways in Las Vegas, and they don't have a card to swipe if you don't have one with you. I got a refund, and they lost my business. hmmm. The highlight of Safeway was how Becky's face lit up when a customer recognized her. She smiled so BIG!!!
Phoenix, Az
Dusty, big, with tight traffic. We looked for Becky's house(s) and couldn't find them. It seemed like we saw 400 houses all with the same layout, but different window dressing. I still remember the layout: carport, window, door, window, window.
Grand Canyon, Az
Amazing views. Interesting features. The South Rim is a lot more commercial than the North Rim. It was in the 20's there, so hiking was out. The lodges were nice. They had the Grand Canyon Railroad, and I still don't know where it goes.
Flagstaff, Az
Nice little tourist town. It's central to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon.
Laughlin, Az
Its amazing how far away Becky and I thought Laughlin was from Vegas. We stayed at the Pioneer for $25 a night. The room was very nice!

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