2017 - My year from Hell Part 3 - Refinancing my Home

 

 

That's my home. It's a townhome and the middle of a set of 6. Three stories of all mine. Ok and the bank's as well. I bought my home in August 5th, 2007. Just before the big crash when all lending stopped for homes. I was lucky to get in just under the stoppage and after the bubble burst so I didn't pay top dollar. It was brand spanking new. I was the first owner. All mine.

Now you have to understand that I had been a renter of apartments for over 30 years. I had dealt with old cheap carpet. White walls that you can't paint or you can but then you have to paint them back to white when you leave. Who wants to do that?! Ok I know a couple of folks have done that but not me. There is that thing where you have to cart your laundry and share the washer/dryer (and hopefully someone before you didn't wash colors that bleed before you) and later in renting career I was able to afford the apartments that had their own washer/dryer. But still. In my own home there is no dumpster. I get my own trashcan. Ahhhhh I was loving this "all mine" thing. 

 It was worth all the hassle to sign away my life in 2 inches of paperwork. The proverbial "sign here", "initial there", "initial that you signed here", "sign her that you initialed that".  That took an hour and I know how celebrities feel. Jeez. That whole process was VERY intimidating. I had a really good interest rate for 2007. It was 6.75%. Everyone else was at 7% or even 9%. So I thought dang I did good. 

Flash forward to 10 years later. Now everyone has either refinanced somewhere in the 3% or 4% range, or given their home back to the bank and moved one, or took the loss. I chose to stick it out. I had a job that was literally only 2 miles away and all my shopping was within that 2 miles. I had a unique home that I had waited all my life for. There wasn't any other place I wanted to move too. Why do anything. I was making my mortgage and all my other bills. I wasn't saving any money to my savings but I would later I thought. It then became painfully clear that I really needed to refinance. I had worked on my FICO score to get it to the 650 or higher. It was finally in a place that I could leverage it. I was so afraid of being taken because I had so many stories that was what kept me from doing it earlier. 

I contacted my mortgage company and it turned out to be quite a bit easier than I thought. I didn't negotiate (as I suck at negotiating) or anything. They offered 4.25% and that was 2.25% better than what I was paying. Oh heck yeah! I'll take it. I thought I would need all that same paperwork as before. But it was quite a bit easier. Just a couple of paycheck stubs, some bank statements etc. Scanned them in and sent them off. Now it was a waiting game. 

I forgot about the appraisal. Oh man. I have 10 years of junk and family members stuff in my house now. So goes the mad rush to clean up as best as I can. The appraiser was so nice. She explained the process and she took some pictures that took about 10 minutes. Whew! That wasn't near as bad as I thought it was going to be.

1 month later I was contacted to meet the notary to sign all the papers. That is what surprised me. The length of time it took to get it approved. So off I go to a Starbuck's and sign away my life again. Another round of "sign here", "initial there", "initial that you signed here", "sign her that you initialed that". And it was done. 

I was so sorry that I hadn't done it before. But that loan process was so intimidating. Now that I have gone through it I feel a lot more confident. But that is life. I was just so intimidated that I couldn't see past  the process. That is what took me so long to say to myself "just get it done". I do feel that whole thing help me in growing up a bit. I went through a rite of passage so to speak. And I did it all by myself. I was so proud of myself. Plus I saved over $500 a month on my mortgage. Who doesn't want that! Ha!

Our American Rights

OK I am not trying to be political here. But I get something off my chest. This by no means is new. I have seen numerous quotes, opinion pieces, not to mention just plain news about how out rights are being usurped by the current mandates designed to abate the transmission of the Coronavirus (COVID 19). 

I am just going to say it. I support any and all means to designed to inhibit the transmission and confine the those who have been exposed and possibly carrying COVID 19. 

There I said it. It is not ambiguous or confusing. I have a disclaimer though. In March of 2020 when we were all told to go home that the state of California was on lock down I totally disagreed with that move. I thought it was an overreaction to this flu. So it was the super flu. But anyone with a normal immune system, in my mind, meant most of us, could fight off this seasonal flu no problem. 

 I am here to say that I was totally WRONG. I have not been brainwashed by the democrats who are socialists in disguise. If that were true I be shocked to find out I am a socialist since I do identify as a democrat. 

But seriously, I was terribly wrong. I have known people who have had this disease. They ranged in age and in severity. I am grateful I have not contracted this disease. It was everywhere from hardly affecting family and work to nearly a death sentence and on the spectrum in between. 

The question really is requiring someone to get a vaccination is it a violation of our right to choose? A violation of our right to get a vaccination or not to get a vaccination. Yes, everyone has the right to make that choice - or do they? At what point is a requirement to come back to work only if you are vaccinated is an overreach?  I am not a learned council on constitution law or any other kind of law. But I can address this from my personal point of view. 

I believe in the right to make your own choices in life and how to live your own life. Freedom of choice is inbred in us Americans like we are to like Apple Pie. But too much of our rhetoric today is about what we are guaranteed by the Constitution and like our politics is all one sided. What happened to common decency? I believe that we lose our right to make choices when we endanger others by that choice. In this case when someone invokes their right to not get vaccinated and is therefore in a heightened chance of contracting and disseminating a proven lethal disease they are then no longer free to make that choice. They are making a decision for others by leaving themselves open to this disease and by interacting in some way with others without any protection they are taking the choice to be healthy from others. 

By not protecting themselves and being around others who may or may not have been vaccinated they are then saying they care less about their fellow man than they do about themselves. That is very selfish. I understand their may be misgivings on the safety of the vaccine for themselves both now in the future. I get that. But if you weigh what nearly every medical scientist has stated that it is generally safe and there are protocols in place if someone has an adverse reaction, and that person still says no to vaccination then that individual is short sighted and selfish. They by definition need to isolated so they cannot hurt others. 

We are a social group, we humans. We need each other for a variety of reasons. So you give up the luxury of making a choice when we interact with each other. There are certain requirements that necessitate the dismissal of certain rights. It's not something we can put on paper or legislate. This is a about, well, sportsmanship as they would say in the sporting world. It's about thinking of someone else before yourself. It's about feeling more for your fellow man/woman then you do for yourself. We Americans were at one time the epitome of that understanding. Where has that gone? Are we so individualistic that we can't come together for a common societal good? I still believe that we can do this. I believe we just need to be reminded of what sacrifice is and what it looks like. There are a great many folks out there that have done exactly this. Made a sacrifice. Some have made the ultimate sacrifice. I ask you, the reader, to ask yourself where are you on that continuum?

 

2017 - My Year from Hell Part 2 - My Babies. My Children. My Cats.

EXIDE

My Big Boy. My Sylvester. My Exide. He had all those names.

Yes these 2 were everything to me. I am not blessed to have children of my own but I had these two. 2017 was a banner year. I am so glad it's no longer with us. We are well past it. But it still lingers. 2017 was the year I had to put my cats down. Not a good year.

My Big Boy (Sylvester) was first. He had been having a challenge to his health for 3 years already so it was not a surprise that it was time. But that spring when that time came it hurt. I had him for over 18 years.He was just a little guy when I heard myself say to the little tykes at my door that asked for some food that if they didn't find anyone else I would take him. I closed the door and already knew I was getting a kitten and chastised myself. "YOU SAID WHAT?!" Ha. He was so cute and fit in my hands. 

He grew by leaps and bounds and was eventually 25lbs and as big as a medium sized dog. He sat like a dog as well. He had a best temperment. Nothing bothered him. He loved to be held and as long as I paid attention to him he didn't care what I did to him. I could clip his nails no problem. He loved to be brushed and purred so loudly that if I was on the phone the other person could hear it. 

Speaking of phones - when I had a land line (way before cell phones) if anyone called he was answer the phone. I swear. He would paw the phone off and then meow into the receiver. I just couldn't get him to take a message or hang it up again. When my father was in emergency with bladder stone the nurse called then wondered if he had given her the wrong number and said that something answered but not sure what. He then moaned and said that was her cat. The nurse had to keep trying to call me. Finally got through. 

But his health was not good the last couple of years and I didn't dare leave him. So I can say that I did not leave my house for longer than 16 hours at any given time. I was ALWAYS home to give him his medicine, food and water and love. I couldn't do anything else. He had always given me so much love how could I not be there for him. 

I often wondered if he was a human person who would he be? He was so not cat like but he had so many human qualities. Dang I loved that cat so much. Whew! It's getting a bit warm here.

JULES

My baby girl. My Jules. My Julien. So small but ruled like the Queen she was. She was linked to my Big Boy. She was all girl too. Since she was 1/3 of the size of my Big Boy she would lure my Boy to play. 

 They would get pretty rough and when he was finished he would just lay on top of her to quiet her down. She would scream like there was a blood-letting or something. He would be jolted and let her up and look at her as if saying "What Up". She would run about 2 feet away and then look back and say well are coming after me? Total Queen Diva. 

She hated being held and all actions were on her schedule not anyone else's. The only time I could love on her was when she was in heat. Then she was nice and lovable. I didn't fix her early on because she was an inside cat and my Boy was fixed. Then as she got older no vet would fix her. Or it was outrageously expensive. One of those decisions that you make regarding any animal. 

She was devastated when my Big Boy didn't come back after taking him to the vet that last time. She looked for him for days. Then she declined quite quickly. Within 4 months she was gone as well. 

 GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

 Though my babies are gone I have not forgotten them. They are always with me in my thoughts. I have never gotten this close to an animal before and wonder if I ever can be again.  In some ways it was a relief. I didn't have to give them their medicine everyday and watch them for signs that would lead to a vet visit. I could go and travel somewhere without feeling guilty or trying to find someone to watch them for me. But I also don't have anyone in my bed in the morning sleeping next to me. I can honestly say that I loved them more than anything. And all these years later still miss them.