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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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!

I've been noticing the truck drivers along the way.
Many are older, male, caucasion. Some are couples.
Though they are professional drivers, many of them aren't paying attention.
A lot of them drive while on the cell phone.
It looks like there's plenty of room to be the best in this field.
Yesterday, we watched two movies coming from Oklahoma City.
It makes the time fly by.
Its easy to pay attention, because most of the time, I'd just be listenning to the movie.
We have surround sound in the truck.
I think my plan will be
- Get a CDL. After being in Missippi and talking to these guys, I know it isn't rocket science.
- Buy a truck outright.
- I want 500hp, 70"s headroom, Laptop station, GPS. It just makes sense.
- A rear view cam and an approximity monitor would be a good, cheap investment too.
One of the things I did right after deciding my Programming career
Was to investigate what was needed to become the best. Taking typing and accounting seemed obvious.
The same thing should be true with driving.
I think at this stage of life, I just want to fade away. I don't want power, advancement, or any of the things I wanted when I was younger. I just want back some of the life I missed while being a cube dweller.

Very pretty at night. The downtown buildings glow with pastel colors.
We got lost (intentionally) for 2 hours last night. The driving was pretty wild here. People seem to be in a hurry everywhere. The roads are pretty wild too. We've run into several places where, to go straight, you have to make a right and two lefts. We can't leave the Econolodge and come back the same way. When we leave here, we want to go north. To do that, we'll have to drive East (make a U turn), then West, then South (Make a U turn), then North. Very strange!
Here is a traffic violation waiting to happen, since the signs say not to do the most logical things.
Right now, we're 8 hours from Vegas, and 4 hours to Flagstaff.
Becky wants to see Cottonwood, and I want to see the Grand Canyon again.

I feel like every place is a lot like Florida and California. There's thousands of people for every mile you drive.
Not true on this trip. America seems to be largely unpopulated.
Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Kansas, and Arkansas are just barren.
Colorado, Utah and Nevada are vastly barren.
There's a lot of land in this country thats just wasted, not growing food and barely supporting life. Its just wasteland.
I've always thought of the USA as being a land of opportunity. It is, but not where we've been.
Most of the little towns have multitudes of empty buildings.
So far I've seen 26 states
Alabama,Arizona,Arkansas,California,Colorado,Florida,Georgia,Hawaii,Idaho,Illinois,
Indiana,Iowa,Kansas,Kentucky,Louisiana,Mississippi,Missouri,Nebraska,Nevada,New Mexico,
Ohio,Oklahoma,Oregon,Tennessee,Texas,Utah
I haven't seen these 24 states
Alaska,Connecticut,Delaware,Maine,Maryland,Massachusetts,Michigan,Minnesota,Montana,New Hampshire,
New Jersey,New York,N.Carolina,N.Dakota,Pennsylvania,Rhode Island,S.Carolina,S.Dakota,Vermont,Virginia,
Washington,W.Virginia,Wisconsin,Wyoming
What I've noticed about our technology and the population
Chronologically, cities have sprung up around trails(horses), rivers(boats), railroads(trains), highways(cars), and finally, Interstates.
I wonder, in the next 100 years, which cities will rise and fall from our next transportation era.
If teleportation is every achieved safely, the world will change.

An ancient town, and it's especially closed on Sundays. This area is rich with Covens and Babtists. It almost seems like there may be a quiet war going on here.
Tulsa, Ok
Ok...um...we whizzed by it.
Oklahoma City, Ok
A little less than Ok. We drove along Route 66, which was in better condition than I44
Clinton, Ok
We stopped at the Clinton Motel here for $31 a night. Taxes brings it up to $38. They have wireless internet, cable TV and a bed, plus a hot breakfast, and that works for me!

I don't think its affiliated with the franchised Outback though. It was a nice experience.
The food and lodging in Branson are extremely reasonable. I guess that's what makes this place work.
However, we ordered a prime rib and a steak. I also told them I wanted an oyster appetizer.
They delivered it in the same order we placed it. It was funny, getting the appetizer after finishing the meal.
Also, I had potato soup. The last thing we got, after finishing our meals was crackers...lol.
I still left a 15% tip, but I thought the service was very strange.
We ate downtown at the Branson Cafe.
$1.99 for egg, bacon and toast. It snowed a lot when we were there.
The restaurant was open 9am to 3pm. I thought that was strange. Most of the shops were closed anyway, due to it being the off season.
I would love to live and work in Branson Missouri.
They work 9 months out of the year then get laid off. Most of the work is entertainment related.
The cost of living here is very reasonable. Hotel rooms for $210 a week are available. And they're decent.