I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, yet now I see! Leave your troubles and your hairline behind and get on the fast-track to recovery!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Breaking FACML Exclusive!! That's FACML, Not FARML!!!

Our secret Foreclosure Avoiders insiders have told us off the record that both Casey Serin and Nigel "Comments Disabled" Swaby have inked lucrative contracts with Comedy Central to be featured as characters in the next season of Southpark.

The character "Mansack" will be loosely based on Casey Serin's life as a ne'er-do-well flipper and failure enthusiast. Award-winning proxy-expert and pleather investor Nigel Swaby will consult for the new character "Smarmy", a lonely Mormon kid who likes to give himself awards.

MANSACK

SMARMY


Also, don't miss this week's 6 Degrees of Casey Serin!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

[PRWeb] Nigel Swaby unveils new line of high performance hair products

[SelfPRWeb] Swabco Industries® has unveiled its new line of high performance hair replacement products with the line being anchored by their new Scalp Algae System™. The firm hopes to capture significant market share from industry leader Propecia.



Founder and award-winning blogger Nigel Swaby said "We feel that the hair replacement market is entirely too focused on research and results, and far too often pleather-wearing customers are forced to accept marginally effective and expensive products out of sheer desperation. It is just such a market of hysteria and pseudo-science in which we hope to find a niche for our fine product."

The product takes the novel approach of using all natural pool algae to create the appearance of lush, full, and moist hair-substitute. The user merely sprinkles the algae base onto their forehead, applies a special formulation of Axe Voodoo, and then exposes their head to solar radiation. "As I kept reading their story, I realized algae are very intelligent and pretty shrewd about reaching their goal of being mostly caused by the sun," Swaby added. The user may expose their scalp from anywhere between 30 minutes and 2 hours, depending on fullness of hair-substitute desired.

Currently offered varieties include Modesto Green, Larchmont Lawn Brown, Mormon White, and All-Weather Pleather Black.

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Refuting the Haterz lies with cold hard speculation

Today we examine some of the myths, half-truths, and outright lies perpetrated on the public by the housing industry as exposed under the expert tutelage of Nigel Swaby, award-winning blogger and search engine optimizer. Like all messiahs, those who preach differently than the rest of the crowd are bound to suffer significant persecution. The housing blogosphere is no different.

Let's begin with one such brilliant observation that has gotten a lot of criticism from those jerks over at Exurban Nation and the crybabies at Foreclosure Avoiders Ruined My Life. (I don't think they ever had much of a life to begin with.)

"Consider this parallel - When I was growing up, I could buy a McDonalds hamburger for 25 cents. No matter how much I hope, pray or wish for hamburger prices to come down, I will never see that level of hamburger pricing again. The same applies to housing." Nigel Swaby, SLC Real Estate Blog, 11/8/06.

What Master Swaby is saying here is a remarkable statement and it rings just as truthinessy today as the day he said it: except for the rare times when they go down, hamburger prices ALWAYS GO UP. This is because during the Spring hamburger buying season, excess hamburger inventories will be bought up by lethargic overweight Mormon children, while distressed burger flippers will either drop their prices accordingly or move into other more stable markets such as filet o'fishes or possibly Arby's melts. Then, through some kind of market mechanism, possibly due to Mormons needing somewhere to put their fat lazy children, the housing market will follow a similar pattern! Amazing! Using historical hamburger pricing data, the graph above (courtesy of Nouveau Swaby University) shows that there is in fact a strong correlation between fast food prices and Salt Lake real estate. The most surprising result was the uniform increase and subsequent depletion across all fast food sectors during the 2003 prlinkbiz visit. The data don't lie, folks.

Another problem that has been puzzling biologists for years is what exactly is the cause of algae. This debate has raged for decades with many scientists suggesting such hogwash as dirty pools are caused by quantum particles, black magic, and even going so far as to say that lack of maintenance might be a factor. Nigel Swaby knew this to be pure poppycock, balderdash, and tommyrot and that there could be only one correct conclusion: that algae is mostly caused by the sun. He then contracted his friend, an ass-kicking forensic algaeologist to conduct a scientificish study. (Seriously, he's an avid fisherman whose weaponry skills are utilized strongly by the Navy SEALs and Brian S. Nick. Sea life would never want to mess with this guy; he has no sympathy for plankton.) Anyway, the results came back, and yet again, Nigel was proven correct. As the pie chart above shows, the sun is indeed mostly the cause of algae. Furthermore, he suggests an ingenious plan to deprive the algae of the sun: put the pool indoors, like Nigel's pool! That's right, Nigel has a pool, and it's in his house! In fact, it's located between his driveway, which has a BMW parked on it, and the 28000 gallon pond in the backyard which is full of koi, which are fish.

So let this be a lesson to you haterz - before you go off haterzing on people, maybe you should do your homework.


Please check out these award-winning Foreclosure Avoiders resources: Foreclosure Avoiders Foreclosure Avoiders Foreclosure Avoiders

Monday, April 30, 2007

The rise and fall of Jeff from SDCIA

Running a close second behind Casey Serin in notoriety among the housing bubble blogs, Jeff from the San Diego Creative Investing Association forums purchased 14 homes in 14 weeks using 100% financing. Unlike Serin, it does not appear that he lied on his stated-income ("liar") loans. It is however surprising to say the least that a Taco Bell night manager would be able to qualify for this much debt. Here, through Jeff's own comments, we track his state of mind as he goes from cocky over-confident newbie investor to puking finger-pointing financial trainwreck.


In the beginning, the modest investor...

""Ludicrous" is a word in the same category as "irrational" (as in lacking rational thought) or "unreasonable" (as in lacking reason) or "foolish" (as in stupid). It does not fit well into a well-meaning discussion among thoughtful peers.

But even if it did, you should reserve it for cases where you are actually right. A 50% return is NOT ludicrous, or silly, or unreasonable. In fact, the idea that you should expect ANY less with a 5% downpayment is, to put it mildly, far-fetched."

No ego here...
"My hesitation at embracing your choice of words was NOT that ludicrous was offensive (though it was) but that it was wrong. It is NOT absurd to expect that a reasonably competent investor, one who is paying even the slightest attention, can expect returns of 50%."

Jeff knows best...
""I doubt you would make much money on this" indeed. How could you not make money on a house that is going up at 27% a year...dang!

First of all, I am not a flipper. I have no intention in trying to sell this home and "make" my ~30k this year. I am funding my retirement!"

Itsallgood...
"For the Benjonsians...first some good news. Due to some cost over-runs by the builder (can you trust any builders?), plus 4-8 months over on the construction loan limits (I have to pay the interest!), plus some hidden costs on the modification to term loans, the final 3 houses will cost me 10k to 20k to close. If true, this will entirely wipe out my primary cash reserves.

Now the bad news...for you B.J. guys...even using this new conservative approach to valuing my homes (using the minimum value), I still come up with an estimate of an increase of $42k per house--or a total increase of $582k. Another way to look at it, I have turned my original $198k of equity (in my primary residence) into $706k of equity in 14 other houses. This is about a 350% return (albeit "on paper") in roughly 20 months of investing."

Whoops...
"The bad news is...I can't quit my job as night manager at Taco Bell.

The good news...I was fired from my job as night manager at Taco Bell. I am unemployed."

Jeff sasses Ben Jones...
"Once again, my thanks to Mr. Jones...for his help in teaching us "morons" a thing or two about taxes!"

"I love America..."

Everything is FINE...
"Though not as remarkable as my earlier estimates, a conservative 170% is still pretty good for ~20 months of investing..."

Just PEACHY...
"You can state whatever you want, that is the problem with (beauty of?) stated income loans!

The short answer is I "feed it" the same way I purchased it--with 100% borrowed funds."

Cracks in the facade...
"I am having difficulty renting two properties. One in ABQ (slow time of the year) and one in Cape Coral (too much competition or bad PM, I can't decide). These two houses alone are costing me ~3k a month. Ouch!

Change in perspective or approach? I can say that I adamantly wish I hadn't bought any houses in Cape Coral! If only I would of known that they were going to be the worst performing. Except for them, I would say that I am batting a thousand. All my other houses have gone up remarkably and cost me very little each month."

Storm clouds on the horizon...
"O.K., I am sick to my stomach and have tears in my eyes...

The above two cut-and-pastes, taken together, seem to support the view that only the Katrina Go Zone, 1400M(1), qualifies for the bonus depreciation...

I am so MAD at my tax guy, he assured me I qualified (and charged me $750 bucks!). He is "looking into it..." and will get back to me...""

Prophecy time...
"I would of bailed on these houses--took my loses--if I hadn't been given assurances by several professionals that I could get Go-zone depreciation bonuses on these houses. Turns out that is unlikely (not absolutely sure STILL), so sticking with them was an even bigger mistake.

On the flip side, every other purchase I made that year was a good one. So not counting the Cape Coral homes I am WAY ahead. My two SLC houses probably have increased 120k all by themselves. Still, those CC houses really burn my hide...

Anyway, am I happy I did it? You bet. I'll be even happier in 20 years when I retire with 8 million in equity (assuming 6% appreciation).

Or I'll go bankrupt in the next two years...one or the other."

Not looking good...
"Sadly...it looks like those who warned me that Florida properties won't work were right--so far, it might change (acknowledgment to those that warned me this might be the case...).

This is true despite many Realtors and others, (professionals!) swearing to me that Florida DID qualify--including the nationally famous Marshall Reddick."

Uh oh...
"As you suggest...selling one of my SLC houses is a good idea (or a requirement!). In fact, I have been "selling" them for two years...in the sense that a LO is "selling." As it turn out, none of my "sales" has gone through. I hope to hold on for one more year...~25% appreciation (the second highest in the nation) is difficult to walk away from. But I will need the money from one of these houses simply to pay the negative on my "dogs."

I am embarrassed/disappointed to report that I am well into my "back up" reserves. They will hold me for another year or so depending on vacancies. A sale of one of my SLC houses will hold me for another year or so..."

EVERYTHING IS FINE...
"I will be the first to admit that my CC homes are a huge problem, one without any easy solution. But even if I end up losing 30k a piece on them, I am still ahead of the game a couple hundred thousand dollars (so far).

If I would of listened to the Ben Jones crowd I would still be huddled under my bed yelling "the recession is coming, the recession is coming" and praying that everyone else looses their shirts in real estate so that I can "buy in." No thanks.

Am I sorry I took the plunge and did something crazy? No way. I will cry all the way to the bank."

It's not Jeff's fault...
"Sadly, regrettably, this is exactly where I have my houses. Even more sad is I have three of them. I am not the type of person to sue other people (even though I was misled or outright lied to by the broker, the builder, the lender, and the PM!), so I will just be trying to keep up my end of the bargain (even though the builder and the lender did not keep up their end).

These houses were my one clear mistake in my year of purchases (I actually signed contract on 14 houses in 14 weeks). But they are BIG mistakes I am am trying to live with them."

DOH!!!!
"Basically, they promised that I would close on this loan in less than 12 months, and that I would have to bring no money to closing.

Instead, because the builder went over the 12 months (it has been 25 months on one house that has about three more to go). I am paying about $1700 a month holding costs on a house under construction, and I will have to pay about 8k-10k for a refinance on this loan. Times three houses.

Ouch."

It's the lenders' fault...
"The problem is when lenders either lie or encourage other people to lie to get a loan...like the guy whose payments were over 100% of his income--I do blame those type of lenders..."

RUH ROH...
"Well...as many of you know I own three terrible houses in Cape Coral Florida. Through a series of misjudgments and being taken advantage of (and lied to), I am losing ~$1000 on month on each of these houses when they are rented. I am just sick about them and often cannot sleep--like now."

Humble pie...
"I am not so cocky now!

I am in the process of evicting the tenant in one house in SLC. When she leaves I am putting that house up for sale."

RUH ROH RUH ROH...
"I do have some new info to share. One new fact is that "short sales" are now going for as low as 185k for these houses. Ouch!

The lender doesn't even want to discuss with me my options until the house has been on the market 60-90 days...and they won't tell me what price to put it on at for a short sale...I am supposed to just guess and bring offers...

Going to bed...night all. With any luck I'll be able to sleep. I know this has been coming for months now, but I feel that it all became real only in the last couple of days..."

MEGA RUH ROH...
"Depends...these houses "appraised" for 315k. They are selling on the MLS for anywhere from 209k (possible short sales?) to 230k. I was told yesterday that some short sales are going as low as 185k. Selling on the MLS adds an additional cost of ~15k in Realtor fees...

I currently have my empty house on the market as a LO at 284k. I am also offering to carry a 10% second at this price. My agent in the area says this is a "possible"--so far two weeks and no bites."

*** side note: 4/25/07 Jeff busts Nigel on his lack of fact checking ***

*** Jeff disappears ***

Jeff begins to crack up...

"I have been ill...

I can't sleep, I can't eat, when I do eat it comes up. This morning I started the day with a shower and threw up in the shower...

I am barely functioning, I try to read everyone's posts...

To those of you that insist that these houses were a mistake, you were right.

To those of you offering constructive advice and support, thank you.

I try to read everything but the words are just swimming, I'll try again later..."

Thrilling new web poll!! The excitement is palpable.

Evil haterz temptress Stephanie J has been hard at work glamourizing the sordid lives of the accursed haterz with her obviously fraudulent haterz census. We here at FACML want to set the record straight once and for all as to who schooled who in the Nigel Swaby / Exurban Nation debates. Clearly, our main man the Swabster served up the haterz with a heaping helping of steaming self-righteous and only semi-plagiarized facts, while the best the haterz could do was to talk about economics. Nice try, loosers. Check out these examples:

"Of course housing isn't a zero-sum game. We learned that along time ago that any economy module wasn't when mercantilism got busted by Smith. But, poor lending practices and rampant consumerism, ignorance, stupidity, and other vices of mainstream america are hurting communities throughout, though since alot of the hurt isn't in plain sight, folks miss it." - some looser haterz
See, what the hell is this gibberish. They're making up words. What does Anna Nicole getting busted have to with economics?


"Consider this parallel - When I was growing up, I could buy a McDonalds hamburger for 25 cents. No matter how much I hope, pray or wish for hamburger prices to come down, I will never see that level of hamburger pricing again. The same applies to housing." - award-winning blogger Nigel Swaby
Amen, Brother Swaby, I couldn't have put it better myself. To put these intellectual concepts into language that the non-NRU educated can understand: if you believe in housing bubbles, you therefore hate happy meals, and consequently children. Haterz can be so hateful.


We're confident in the ultimate outcome of this poll. Our prediction: Nigel - 1000, Rob - 12 (that's how many haterz there are, just ask Nigel.)












Who roolz, who droolz?



Who is the clear winner of the Nigel Swaby / Exurban Nation feud?






Rob Dawg
Nigel Swaby, because he deleted all comments to the contrary
Nigel Swaby, because he has a pool
Camp Idiot trolls
Unilever, maker of Axe body spray
Duane Legate, Brian S. Nick, and Chris Record, because everybody forgot about them
Isamu the sockpuppet
Google Ads
the Olympic pin industry
Mish

Current Results



FACML Exclusive!! Hott Stephanie J photos!!!

All right you filthy haterz pervertz, today we bring you exclusive candid shots of sexy ball-kicking jeep babe Steph J for your viewing pleasure. We can't reveal how we obtained these, but let's just say it may have involved large sums of dirty pennies and the loss of several super-accountants' lives. As you stare into the eyes that broke 2759 haterz' cold black hearts, remember which website brought you this story-of-the-year.

Haterz demand sizzling flipper-squashing jeep washing action, and FACML listens. (Unlike FARML, which is essentially a big digital sausage party.) Remember, vote FACML at the Carnival of Blogging About Other Blogs this week.

By the way, you owe us $2.99 per minute for staring at this post and drooling, you haterz pervz. (Unless you're The Original Kevin, in which case you owe us $9.99 per minute.)









P.S. Who is the man?
Nigel Swaby Nigel Swaby Nigel Swaby Nigel Swaby Nigel Swaby

Saturday, April 28, 2007

[PRWeb] Nigel Swaby announes new line of spray-on hair products

This is as of press time unconfirmed, but our industry sources report that award-winning real-estate blogger and Olympic pin salesman Nigel Swaby is preparing to not only tile his tub but also unveil his new line of Swabco brand spray-on hair products. Ron Popeil is supposedly involved, along with Ryan Seacrest whom Nigel got to know intimately backstage at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

This will expand on Swabco's already succesful line of home cranial pubic implant kits.


http://www.iamfacingforeclosure.com/213/last-foreclosure-no-houses-no-money-no-stereo/

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Award-winning koi enthusiast smeared! We are outraged.

As the leading Foreclosure Avoiders site on the web, we here at FACML are shocked and horrified at the way our award-winning mentor has been portrayed in this video. While we grant the music is indeed awesome, the portrayal of Nigel Swaby, award-winning web journalist and author of such award-winning blogs as Stuff for Sale in Salt Lake and Salt Lake Real Estate Blog, is not even remotely awesome.

Perhaps there is some credence to the criticism that Nigel Swaby, a licensed mortgage broker should not be associating and partnering with Casey Serin, an admitted mortgage fraud swindler. However, this sort of video criticism is unjustified. Please spread the word throughout the internet that the information contained therein is indeed false. There is a pastable link below. The size of Nigel swaby's sphincter is no one's business butt his own. (Haha, we used the word "butt" intentionally. This is the kind of award-winning humor that we've picked up from the comedy master Nigel Swaby at his award-winning Robert Cote attack site, RobertCoteSux. Don't miss the one where he photoshops Robert's head onto a walrus. Comedy gold, I tell you!)




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RE8_xJj2_Y

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Nigel Swaby: Elements of Style

Essentials to the Nigel Swaby Look

Here is a helpful guide from mortgage industry power broker Nigel Swaby to assist you, the pathetic haterz looser, in becoming an award-winning aspiring web jounalist and blogger.

Brought to you by Foreclosure Avoiders, the #2 Foreclosure Avoiders site on the web.


"As an award-winning aspiring web journalist, I am often asked by my 2759 fans, how exactly did I manage to land the real-estate story of the year, and win 3rd place at a blog carnival?

Well, it's all in the way that you present yourself to others. How others perceive you will dramatically influence the outcome of any business or romantic situation. Below are some tips on making that all-important first impression.

You'll want to start it off with either the tiger striped or leopard print speedos. This will add a little bonus flavor for the ladies when they discover your hidden wild side.






Next, add the pastel polo shirt and the pleated dockers. White is best, although khakis will work in a pinch.



These go perfectly with always stylish Topsiders and the classic pleather Members Only to make a bold statement.



For special occasions (such as Friday nights) bust out the custom Bill Shatner toupee, otherwise stick with the sensible neck-cape cap to hide your gleaming scalp.



Of course, you'll need sunglasses with leather side visors (preferably Ray-Bans) to give you that I'm mid-30's and impotent look.






And let's not forget to accessorize! The 18k gold plated calculator watch and collectible Jamaican bobsled team pin let everyone know that you're the kind of guy who can get access to even the most restricted Olympic VIP rooms.



Give yourself a good dousing with Axe body spray and Hai Karate. Apply liberally to the groin area. Now you're looking and smelling like an award-winner!



Throw on your water wings so that the ladies know you have a pool. Go outside and hop into your used BMW and you're ready to go turn some heads!"




The inevitable end result: success!! fame!! koi ponds!! 2759 fans!!

Haterz give up your copyright infringing ways, stop hatin', and start relatin'.

Nigel Swaby: Elements of Style
http://slcrealestate.blogspot.com/2007/04/march-was-tough-month-for-real-estate.html

Nigel Swaby: Elements of Style
http://www.iamfacingforeclosure.com/193/nigel-swaby-and-foreclosure-help-site/

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

This just in


Casey Serin gets a playful shove from the swamp creature that has evolved in the backyard of his Modesto property. Although the swamp creature acted in jest, Serin was none too pleased and has since labelled the creature "a hater."

http://www.iamfacingforeclosure.com/210/pool-maintenance-in-foreclosure/

The inevitable results of guru training


Yes Casey, you are. It boils down to a simple financial transaction. Duckets are transferred from aspiring scamtards to successful scamtards (with fashion victim wives) in exchange for telling the loosers what they want to hear.



This message (not) brought to you by Nouveau Riche University, home of first rate instruction by convicted felons.

Exciting Casey Serin hair auction!

Now is your chance to purchase some of housing-collapse poster child Casey Serin's masterfully highlighted hair.

There's a mere 12 days left, and it looks like it's going fast. In fact it looks like a certain award winning aspiring web journalist may be interested. Be sure to ask the seller a few questions on this fine once in a lifetime opportunity!

http://www.myebid.com/cgi-bin/auction/view?cmd=view&listingID=3911


Casey's Able Buyer site can be viewed here:
http://ablebuyer.com/1/welcome-to-able-buyer/

http://www.iamfacingforeclosure.com/212/somethings-gotta-give/

Monday, April 23, 2007

Nigel Swaby got game

Our foreclosure hero Nigel Swaby, has taken some criticism in the past from various internet meanies about his award-winning ways. However, I offer you proof that he is indeed hanging out with celebrities backstage at the Olympics, and the ladies do indeed dig his pleather. Below you can check out the sweet backlinks that are on his SLC blog from just a few of his 2759 fans.





I can't tell you just how exciting this is for us here at Foreclosure Avoiders Changed My Life. Much like his scalp, the man is smooth as silk.

In other news, we found out today that Foreclosure Acoiders Changed My Life has eclipsed our mentor Foreclosure Avoiders. Already our Alexa reach is gaining by leaps and bounds and it's all due to the amazing SEO and pool maintenance techniques we learned from our award-winning mentor, Nigel Swaby.

Be sure to check out Nigel Swaby Salt Lake City mortgage broker extraordinaire's new award-winning attack site, robertcotesux.blogspot.com where he puts internet bully Rob Dawg in his place repeatedly and redundantly.

Casey Serin describes his "Earth Mission"

The following is a capture of Earth Mission, a blog maintained by Casey Serin from January to July of 2006. The blog has since been deleted, and the version you see below was reconstructed from exalead cache. Although it is fairly spotty, it details his daily activities during the period when he committed most of his mortgage fraud and gives an excellent glimpse of what he and Galina were doing during that time. Although often hilarious, it really doesn't shed much light on how the two of them managed to blow through around $300,000 in a year and three months.

It is provided here as background info on Serin who has become a public figure in the housing bubble scene, and been featured in numerous television shows and magazine articles.

His site, I Am Facing Foreclosure, contains more recent details of his activities from September 2006 to the present.


(Captured from Exalead on 2/3/07) *** Props to Trent ***

sercasey’s earth mission log

a daily record of events and thoughts

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About

C a s e y K o n s t a n t i n S e r i n

… also known as “sercasey” on the web.

Casey is a Servant, Husband, Friend, Blogger and Real Estate Investor from Sacramento area, California.

On Earth since 1982. Originally from Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In the USA since 1994. Graduated from Bella Vista High School in 2000. Married to Galina since 2004.

A mostly outgoing, tough-minded, deep-thinking, achievement-driven Innovator Rationalist (ENTP) and a thrill-seeking, risk-taking, easy-going, competitive, Promoter Artisan (ESTP) personality.

The primary purpose of this web log is to document daily activity and raw thoughts.

Feel free to participate through your comments.

To contact Casey visit serin.us.

Sunday July 17, 2006

Posted by sercasey in daily journal. add a comment

Lot has happened since the last entry. I took a break for about a week from blogging and then decided to continue writing a short recap of each day on my pda saving it in the drafts. I kept at it for the entire time not skipping a day up until today. Then in my attempt to backup all the messages I accidentally deleted them! I felt really bad and became very irritated and was snapping at Galina for no good reason.

I spent several hours trying to figure out what to do about blogging and stuff. I looked at the old Blogger blog but decided to stick with this one because it already has a lot of posts and comments. I’m still very upset that the last several months have been erased. I hope to review it from memory in the next couple of days. I also want to get into a habit of daily writing like I have been on the PDA for the last couple of months. Its too bad Wordpress doesn’t support post-by-email like Blogger. It would have been nice to just post straight from PDA before going to bed. They will probably have a feature for it pretty soon. Going on my laptop every night will be a good habit to develop anyway because I could also upload pictures and update Money along with blogging. So now its 3:25AM Monday and I need to get going. But first a quick recap of Sunday.

We drove from Hollywood to San Diego and checked into a hotel. In Hollywood we attended David Lindahl’s seminar on apartments for 4 days. This week we’re going to go to Kris Kirshner’s seminar on buying and selling houses efficiently.Its going to be a 5 day seminar. We just came back form dinner at Red Lobster. I was reading The One Minute Millionaire book and getting some good ideas too. In the car to San Diego we talked about our relationship and business.

I feel so irritated by the fact that I’m up so late and and that all those records were deleted from the PDA. I must learn from this to backup my posts. I also don’t like using the computer again to write these posts. Using the PDA seemed easier and the posts ended up being very short and concise. I will give it some more thought. Lord please help me figure out a way to do this journal.

Should I go on? May 8, 2006

Posted by sercasey in uncategorized. 1 comment so far

I have not skipped a day in the journal for this entire year but about a week ago I stopped caring about it. I stopped posting and let several days go by. With every day that passes the discipline and motivation is getting weaker. I want to keep doing this but i’m not sure why. What benefit is there?

Comments»

1. caleb dunlap - June 14, 2006

of course u should. please? ~Caleb

Tuesday Muncy Bid, Dallas and Organize April 26, 2006

Posted by sercasey in daily journal. add a comment

We decided to finish the rehab on Muncy. So we meet with Tom and his wife Hidi at the property this morning to have him re-bid the rehab work. We liked Tom the best last time we did the bidding. This time Galina is handling the process and she made a big detailed list for him to go over and fill-in the amounts. This way we’re getting a more precise bid which should result in fewer surprises down the road.

I’m happy Galina is taking charge of this. I think she will be really good at it. She has great attention to detail and makes a good manager. She can use a little work on being more extroverted and outgoing but that’s really her only challenge beside the lack of experience/knowledge. The knowledge we can help acquire by going to a rehabbing bootcamp one of these days.

Afterward we go home. Galina takes a nap and I work on trying to do the Angleridge property in Dallas. Mark found me a really good hard-money lender that may be able to close by next week. However, the lender wants to do their own appraisal and inspection which I have to pay for upfront. Also they want a contractor’s bid to be submitted to the appraiser for them to calculate their numbers and After Repair Value. The good news is that the lender is quick and they can do upto 70% ARV. They do charge 5 points with 14% interest and 3 month prepay. That’s what makes it “hard” money I guess.

I gave them the lender the info they needed to get started and I will be hearing from the appraiser and inspector tomorrow. I need to get a rehab bid as soon as possible tomorrow morning.

I don’t really like all the work that’s going into this deal, specially since the margin is not as big as I thought. However, I want to make a good impression on the wholesaler and lender so that I can use them again. By doing this deal and coming through I will build a good reputation and be able to do more deals better and faster. This gives me a way into the market in Dallas.

I join Galina for a quick nap. We wake up and get the fax back from Tom and Hidi. Galina calls them back to double check some of the numbers. The bid is in line with our budget so Galina is going to meet with them tomorrow sign some kind of paperwork and get them started.

The rest of the day, I continue to organize the office, taking a trip to Fry’s to pickup some stuff: 1) a CD case for organizing all the training audio/computer/video CDs and DVDs, 2) a copy of Microsoft Money 2006 to finally start to organize the finances and 3) phone jack splitter so I can connect both the fax and a regular phone into the Vonage adapter and use one line for both.

Tuesday Phone Calls and Errands April 25, 2006

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Wheatgrass juice!A day of trying to track down some financing for the deal that came up in Dallas Texas from a wholesaler. That takes many different phone calls to the loan people - mortgage brokers and hard money lenders.

Pickup mailI also run some errands - pickup mail where I get my mini-SD memory cards so I can now turn my PDA/phone into an MP3 player, take care of the Guadalajara well paperwork, send Myles some deposit money for the Texas deal, stop by the old apartment to pickup the last of the stuff, and stop by and pay Brian for his hauling job. I also talk to some different people today - friends David Ga. and Brad catching up on stuff, Sherry about land development syndication in Texas, RV sellers trying to get a descent cheap one to drive around Texas, and other investors.

One phone call in particular was not so pleasant. I talk to Tennis who is an investor/loan officer I met through Whitney courses. I call him to catchup and he complains that I don’t use him for loans. He is upset that he has been giving me free information and referrals and I’m not returning the favor. I guess that info came with strings attached, heh? He got pretty upset and hung up on me. I couldn’t believe it. So unreasonable. Now for sure I’m not going to use him. I got kind of worked up by it at first and wanted to call him and tell him how I felt but then decided to let it slide and move on.

Monday A Little Organizing April 24, 2006

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Organizing the officeA day of doing a little bit of organizing around the new place. After I finally getup I do some work on getting the office and electronic systems in shape. A lazy unmotivated day for me. I need to give myself a kick-in-tha-butt!

Sunday David Lindahl Seminar April 23, 2006

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David Lindahl's Seminar on Apartment House InvestingWake up early and go to San Francisco to attend David Lindahl’s bonus worshop on apartment investing. It came free with the study-at-home course I bought of his back at the Real Estate Annex in San Francisco. The thing ended up being mostly education and some selling of his 3-day bootcamp. Can’t get away from having stuff sold to you at every one of these things. That’s natural. I don’t mind, as long as they don’t go over board and still provide quality education. I did sign up for the 3-day course. I’m a sucker for some of these things. I have been signup up and buying lots of education lately. Its all good though because I will learn the stuff and actually apply it and be successful at it.

During the seminar one of the Learning Annex guys offered me a “good deal” on a loft in SF, South of Market area. I talked to him and his broker friend afterwards but realized that its not much of a deal for me. I can’t easily resell it at their asking price and I will not be able to cashflow it at all. Yes I can try to offer a lower price and try to haggle a bit but I decided not to bother right now. I need to stay focused. It was a good experience to analyze the deal and meet the “slick” broker nevertheless. His marketing materials were really nice. He is a young guy too. Its good to see young people in the real estate business.

We go home afterwards and visit some of Galina’s family and call it a day.

Saturday Moving Day April 22, 2006

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Me and the moversWe wake up and Max and Lamine, the movers, call me in the morning while I’m still sleeping. They want to know when to come. There must have been some miscommunication with Brian because I thought Brian was coming too. I found later that Brian doesnt do moving, just hauling. So he referred me to Max. That’s OK, I still have them come ‘cuz I don’t have any other help. That’s what happens when I don’t plan things out in advance.

The movers are supposed to come at 1pm. Galina and I need to get our butts out of bed and pack everything up before then.

Its 8am or so. Galina is a hard worker so she jumps out of bed right away and starts packing. I’m being lazy and I lay in bed for a bit longer and she gets upset at me. She has every right to. I’ve been lazy and passive for this entire move while she has been working hard. So I kick myself in the butt (yes its possible) and get going.

We pack and pack. The movers come late because they are confused about directions. That’s good because we have a little extra time. By the time they get here we’re mostly done with packing. They bring a moving truck that looks just like the one you rent from U-Haul. A 17 foot one I think.

The movers are from some French-speaking African country. Max has been in America only 1 year and Lamine a little longer. They both speak adequate English. We tell them we’re immigrants too and that stirs some conversation and a little bit of a connection. They are nice guys. I wish they were more careful with our stuff though. They are not as professional as we wanted. But hey, it was last minute and we didn’t have time to shop around, so that’s what we get.

The move goes pretty good and we pack the truck up tight. Pretty much everything fit. I also borrowed the pickup truck from my dad to carry extra stuff.

The movers’ truck has a flat tire so we go and fill up some air on our time while we’re paying them hourly. Not a good thing. I wonder if they do this kind of thing on purpose to get more money. Probably not. I give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they didn’t know about it. Still, that’s something a professional mover should notice before going on the job. You would think.

OK OK. I will not complain so much. They are nice guys. And they say they don’t charge very much, just $75/hour flat for 2 people. Nothing extra for truck or driving time/miles.

The only other company we shopped was “Starving Students”. Starving Students wanted a little more per hour and charge double while driving. But maybe they are a little more professional and careful. Will have to shop around more next time.

When we get to Yulia’s place in West Sac we get some extra help. Galina’s dad comes out to help and Yulia does too. The move goes quicker. The monster desk was a challenge back in the apartments and is even bigger hassle here. It takes 4 of us this time to get it up the narrow stairs and into the bedroom.

We pay the movers for 5 hours of work and let them go. This is the first time we use hired help. Even though we would have preferred better quality movers I still enjoyed having them. It was convenient not having to rent the truck. Also I didn’t want to bother friends and family last minute. We have been moving a lot lately too - on overage once every six months for the past three years! I feel like friends and family may do it out of obligation with resentment. I sure don’t always enjoy helping people move. I have thought of writing an article about it.

I swing by the Peychev’s get together where my dad is. I give him back the truck and go to Suprun’s place where we have some food. Then back to Yulia’s. I’ll start calling this “home” from now on. Galina goes to sleep right away. She is smart because tomorrow we need to get up at 4am to get to San Francisco by 8am and go to the Apartment seminar. Its 12:45am and I need to get my butt into bed now. As soon as I finish this post.

Friday Cable Guy and Not Packing April 21, 2006

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PICT2959We spend the first part of the day at Yulia’s place (our new place) waiting for cable guy to show up. I work on ripping the NIV Bible on CD onto my computer, finally got a chance to start on it. Its a big task and I think I will write an article on how to do that in the future. Galina plays with Yulia’s cat with a laser pointer. The cat takes a dump and smells up the whole place. Not fun.

The cable guy comes and connection the internet. I take care of business via phone and laptop. Galina takes a nap. While she’s napping I talk to Dorthy and propose the idea of her helping me work the leads. I also sign for the Cracking the Millioner Code 3-day seminar next weekend as Dorthy’s guest, ‘cuz its free. I talk with Galina later and she thinks both of these things are not a good idea. She makes some valid points, though I resist her opinion at first.

Also, one of the leads was a wholesaler (via a realtor) who has a great deal in Dallas area, Texas. I talk to him and want to jumps on this deal but he already has a buyer. On monday I will find out if the buyer backed out. I called around to see where I can get some hard money or private money. Uncles don’t have that kind of money and my hard money connection is non existant at this point. I really need to get some cash lined up to take advantage of such deals.

PICT2963Later at night we go to my parents’ place and have some food and tea and go to the apartment kind of late. Galina is upset at me because I spent the whole day and we didn’t pack for tomorrow. Tomorrow was supposed to be the moving day. I agree with her. I have been very lazy / passive about the whole moving thing. I really don’t like moving. So its now a mess because we don’t have any movers or friends lined up to help us move tomorrow.

I make a quick call to Brian the guy who did the hauling job for me on Burdett property. I asked him if he can come out and help us move tomorrow morning. He said he’ll get back to me. We go to bed. I really need some of this sleep since I only got like 2-3 hours last night.

Thursday Modesto and Bruce Norris April 20, 2006

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Muncy property with new doorsWe go to Modesto to look at the stuff that Joel did on the Muncy property. Its funny because the whole time I thought he was the other contractor (Tom). So when he walked in I couldn’t figure out what was going on for a second. Its just he is more expensive then the other guy I wanted to use.

The job was done pretty much in line with what I wanted, so its good anyway. This was supposed to be just a quick half-rehab and then decide on what to do next. Either continue to the full rehab and retail or just try to sell it as is. In order to improve the initial curb appeal I had him replace the garage and front doors, fix the living room ceiling, clean up the trash and try to clean up the pool/spa water. The pool is better but is still cloudy. The spa bottom is dirty. He says its stained by the leaves that were there. I pay him and he goes on his way. We think about it for a bit.

I feel overwhelmed by all this work and having to figure out how much money and effort we will need to sink into this thing. California market is reversing and I need to sell this thing quickly. Galina and I get into a little bit of a conflict on the way back because I’m kind of taking some of my frustration on her. That’s not fair to her though. So I need to stop. Part of me also wants her to take this job on so I don’t have to deal with it. She’s not ready for that yet. But she is willing to do this kind of stuff in the future so that makes me feel good.

We also get a tip from Joel about some other investor who has property he may want to sell as is. After picking up some food at Olive Garden we swing by the property. I talk to the investor on the phone and get the numbers. Its 6 units on one lot - 3 houses and one triplex. After looking at the rough numbers and the neighborhood I decide not to touch it.

We drive back through some traffic and come home. I am feeling sleepy and want to take a nap but Galina wants to go to Home Depot to look at some materials and prices. I don’t want to at first but then agree to go. Once there it was good. I look at some of the stuff that we talked about when getting contractor’s bids. Knowing the prices and the possibilities is a good thing. It opened up my mind a little as to what I can do when remodeling. A lot of stuff is easier then I though. For example instead of tiling the shower walls I can buy a whole shower box and just drop it in. Same with other things like ready-made cabinets, counters, etc. No reason to go custom and pay the big bucks. So it was educational. Bruce Norris on the California Crash

After that I take a nap and go to Norcal REIA to see Bruce Norris. Since I’m doing the California Investor Series with Bruce the stuff he was talking about was review to me. Still I took some good notes and thought about some things I need to start doing to get ready for the “California Crash” that’s going to happen. If I get my act together this will be one of the best times to pickup good deals for pennies on the dollar. I need to get talking to REO agents and get my hard money lined up. That’s basically the strategy.

The networking was good tonight. Got to talk to Stephany from the Norris group, Zack, RC and Dorthy. I met some other people too. I need to implement some kind of a follow up system.

Wednesday Starting the Move April 19, 2006

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Keeping the cargo tightToday we finally start our move. But that’s not until night time. During the day I meet with Levent for lunch to catchup on our lives and Dustin also swings by. We have some good food at Mongolian BBQ. Its good to see friends. I borrow my dad’s truck and go back to the apartment where Galina already started packing. I help her pack and we move our entire office that night to Yulia’s. We got home around 1am. I’m reminded how I hate moving because of all the manual labor involved. It seems like wasted effort to me. There is got to be a better way. Since we move so often we should be getting more efficient at it by now. We’re actually considering hiring movers this weekend instead of obligating friends and family to help us again.

Tuesday Boxes But Not Packing April 18, 2006

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A day of getting boxes from Walmart, doing some work, but not starting the packing yet…

For once in a few days we get up early, somewhat, at 7am or so. We go over to Walmart because they give out their used boxes to people who are willing to get up at the crack of dawn and go and pick them up. So we get the boxes but we don’t do any moving today. Instead we work on some business and Galina does lots of good work today. I feel good about that. She is really starting to get into it. We take a nap around 3 and end up sleeping longer then planned. I managed to cleanup the kitchen. The rest of the place is still a mess. We need to get packing because its already Tuesday and we need to be moving this Saturday. We’re also trying to decide between hiring movers or asking friends to help. The longer we wait the less time to ask people and actually get somebody. On Sunday there is David Lindahls apartment boot camp in San Francisco. So it would be nice to be all moved by then. So all this talk about moving and packing, now I’m getting really determined to get up tomorrow and work the whole day on that.

Monday a Waste Mostly April 17, 2006

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A day of waking up very late and not doing very much, except for meeting with dad, that’s good…

This has to be one of the laziest unproductive Mondays in a long time. By the time we got out of bed it was around 3pm. I’m have been feeling kind of unmotivated the whole day. Not sure where to start working. The apartment is a mess. Lots of loose ends with the business. Moving this weekend. Gotta plan the next move with the business. Etc.

The thing that kind of saved the day is that I met with my dad today at Fresh choice for dinner and we talked about marriage, relationships, God, etc. It was a good time and dad encouragement me in my struggles in marriage. I feel blessed being able to have a good relationships with dad that we can meet and talk honestly.

The only other thing is that G and I have been doing good today and she got some work done while I was out. Also I got to say hi to Rita and Steve at home. I realize I want to hang out more with my family and siblings and develop a relationships. I need to find a way to do that. I need to find a way to balance.

Sunday Easter in West Sac April 16, 2006

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A day of going to church in West Sacramento, and hanging out with Supruns, stopping by Mistuiks and Peter’s…

A pretty good Easter service at the Russian church in West Sacramento, celebrating Jesus Christ’s resurrection. Then lunch at Suprun’s, then we swing by Mistuiks, then I go to Peter Peychev’s house and talk to him about real estate.

Saturday Analysing Deals April 15, 2006

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Shopping in the Morning. Nothing spectacular. It nice to finally go though. We haven’t gone shopping in a while and our fridge has been empty for a couple of days — ever since we came back from Hawaii. Everybody is shopping at the same time as we are. Of course, it is Saturday morning and it is the day before Easter. I get some good organic food for juicing and eating for a couple of weeks and Galina gets stuff to make food for tomorrows family thing.

Look at RC’s deal on Westeria. Its a pretty good house in good part of Orangevale. I take a few pictures and notice the repairs needed. Then I go to parents house to lookup the comps. The original reason i go there is for Steve to fix my ignition problem. So I look at the comps but they are coming in about 20K lower then I was told. I call RC and tell him about it. I pass on the deal.

Look at open house. On the way back from Westeria I look at some open house. I notice it because of the multiple signs on the street advertising it. I have seen the signs before. They are unique — made out of plastic pipes. The signs also say “free list of homes for sale in the area”. I like the marketing so I go and talk to the agent about it. The agent there is not the listing agent. I guess that’s usually the case with open houses. Maybe not. The agent there is a buyer’s agent looking to find a buyer to work with that might comes through the door without an agent. I talk to him for a bit and at the quality of the remodeling job. He has some kind of House Buyer’s Club thing that’s supposed to be better/fresher info for the public then realtor.com. However, he wants me to signup for it and have him be my buyer’s agent for 120 days. I decline.

I see an agent advertising on a fence of a house on the way back. I’ve seen it before. Its an interesting place to advertise. First I would think its violating some kind of city code. And if its not, then its great advertising because its located on a busy street and its a big sign. I wonder if the owner of the house is the agent himself or if he allows people to advertise on his fence and how much. It would be nice to put up a big “We Buy Houses” sign there. I go and investigate and realize its not a house but a small baseball field. There are more signs on the inside of the fence for the same agent. I call the agent and leave a message. Interesting.

Steve fixes my car and changes the oil. I’m happy to have a brother who is a car mechanic. He has been improving in this area. It used to be that I was hesitant to have him fix stuff because a couple of times he didn’t do a great job. However, in the last couple of years I feel good about his ability. Of course I pay him but he gives me a good deal and I can trust him.

I look at the house for sale next door to parents house. Meet Mike and Larry - contractor/wanna be investor and his relative Realtor. We get to talking and realize that Mike wants to buy a house around the corner but doesn’t have the credit. He thinks that maybe I can partner up with him and buy the house and sell it to him on a lease option. I go and look at the house with them and we consider the deal. I want to help with a reasonable profit of course. We negotiate the deal some but I start to get the feeling that this deal doesn’t seem right. I don’t want to get stuck with this house and I already told myself I am not doing deals in California unless its a really really good deal and no holding property. Here I am considering buying and holding something. I tell them that I’ll think about the deal and run some number first before I can go on. I also give Mike the idea to ask the owner to carry 20% financing so he can get in on a 80% loan. He already told me that he qualified for 80% with his bruised credit. We leave off on that.

I go back to the house and talk to Steve about doing a new salvage car. The Taurus is getting up in miles, almost 100,000 and I should sell it before it starts to really break down on me. Steve thinks I can only get like 2 grand for it. I don’t really want to deal with selling it. I think of going to CarMax and seeing how much money they would offer me. Then maybe I can have Steve find me a car on the auction and fix it for me so that its cheap yet quality.

I go home, Galina made some nice looking jello deserts for the party tomorrow. We go to sleep late.

Tuesday, February 28th, 2006 February 28, 2006

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I woke up around 6:15am and got up to turn off the alarm and felt pretty very tired/sleep still since we only got 4 hours last night. I took my phone with me back to bed and set the alarm for 7:15 so I can catch another hour of sleep. I told G to turn off her alarm because she has a habit of snoozing it for a very long time, don’t get any sleep that way. Well I slept through my alarm at 7 and kept sleeping for a bit until I got a phone call from Diana the tenant buyer in Burdett property. She asked about some minor repairs that still needed to be fixed and gave me her fax number to fax the contracts over for her records. I didn’t get to do that today, I need to get back to her tomorrow on that and ask Peter to finish the fixes. I didn’t fax it because I have been trying to get the fax machine setup with Vonage all day. Back to the morning. I hangup with Diana and try to do figure out what i’m going to do. I hate waking up late because the whole morning is off. I do some juicing and try to do some work. Galina is upset because I didn’t wake her up after I got up and since I asked her to turn off her alarm she kept sleeping. We enjoy our juice on the couch for a bit. I take a shower reciting the first set of topical verses and do my cold water treatment. I have not missed it since I started doing these. Everytime I’m taking a shower since I have been turning on the cold water at the end for 30 seconds or so and back to warm, and sometimes just end with cold. Its always hard to do and takes some willpower. It gets a little bit easier but not by much. However, I always feel refreshed. Its overwhelming because I have lots of stuff that’s coming together all at once and there is stuff that I need to do to keep stuff going. I talk to Bill about Muncy loan and tell him to go for stated/stated since I’m having problems doing a VOD of my wells fargo account. Its a long process and I need to close. RC calls me to checkup on Muncy and I tell him that everything is smooth except for the VOD and we should be closing soon. Highland, UT property is coming along smoothly too according to Mark and should be closing by friday or monday too. I’m overwhelmed because I’m not sure what I will be doing with Sonora property in Albuquerque and Highland UT. My plan was to make a trip out there and to lease option them out real quick. However, I’m not sure if I should fly or drive and I’m not sure how much time it will take. It may take longer then a week. Or maybe I should use a property management company to take care of my lease optioning. Also if i’m going to do it myself I need to get the website going and put an ad in the local paper so that it will run this weekend. That way I can lease option it out right away. So much to do and so many decisions to make. Also i’m not sure if I should take Galina with me or not. Its going to be expensive to fly together, but driving it should not add much additional cost. The other factor is that I wanted to get away for a bit and enjoy some alone time. One side of me really wants that. Especially since my resolve from a week ago about taking some time apart. The other side of me wants to work together and work toward unity. Lately she has been working pretty good and starting to want to help out with the business. I can definitely use her and it would be great to have a husband-wife team. I’m torn. Lord please help me and guide me. Also there is the 2nd St foreclosure/short sale thing I have to do. Its been 5 days since Dora sent me the stuff. I just need to package it up and send it to the bank. I feel overwhelmed with that. Also I’m feeling lots of pressure because my cell phone plan ran out yesterday and I’m using toll minutes now. Every phone call I hear the seconds ticking and bill increasing. I’m still thinking about switching to Verizon and getting a slightly bigger plan plus their wireless broadband service. Though I don’t have to switch to have the broadband service, just pay a little bit extra. I do want to get a phone/pda combo and the one I saw in the verizon store by Wells Fargo on Pleasant Grove was pretty good. The guy said he will give me a good deal on it. Its an older model and he only has one in stock. The stuff I don’t like about it is that it doesn’t have a comact flash card expansion so that I cannot get one of these 8GB flash drives. [I just took a break from writing this post and wrote up a description for a personal blog/journal that I want to launch. I plan to launch it tomorrow - March 1st - its a good date to launch it. I lost my train of though… lets get back]. So I am also trying out Vonage. I picked up the adapter at BestBuy and signed up for service. I also bought a plain vanilla cardless phone. I signed up for Vonage service and plugged in the adapter into the wireless router which is plugged in to my cable modem with Comcast. I also plugged in the cordless phone to charge since the manual said it needs like 15 hours to charge. That’s as far as I got. Oh and I ordered an additional fax line for 9.95 (on top of the 24.95 for the main service). The numbers they assigned me are OK. I want a better vanity number that spells something or one with repeated digits or lots of zeros for better recognition and easier remembering. I was going to ask my dad to order a second line and have me choose the number then transfer the number to Vonage. I may still do that. [I just came up with the name for my daily journal/blog “Daily Brain Backup” which is basically me writing down what happened during the day and any thoughts that go along with it for backing up or achiving purposes. I may want to search the archive later and go back and see what happened on a particular day. I like this progress.] Back to the day. The good news is that I called Rio Grande title in Albuquerque and they said that Sonora property closed and funds were dispersed today. So I talked to Tina and gave her my wiring info so that as soon as they get the money they will wire it over. Praise God for that deal. Galina took down the tree and started cleaning up our living room of Christmass decorations. That’s nice, since today is the last day of winter. Good day to do that. Right now she is just watching a little TV and I was watching too. I felt though that I’m wasting time and I have lots of stuff I gotta do. So I wrote this very long post. Tomorrow i’m converting this to my blog. I’m still thinking about what I’m going to edit and what I’m not going to edit. Why should I do this? Is this just an impulsive thing? I don’t know. There is stuff in wrote in the last 2 months that may be not so good to let out in the public. I’m going to have to use a little bit of caution. But I am not going to convert everything all at once probably. Just a couple of posts a day. Or maybe all of them. I’m not sure yet. I like this conversational type of writing. Its kind of messy and hard to follow but that’s how we talk. So on the blog I probably will use Blogger and email the posts that way I’ll have a copy of them also in my sent box. I’m also thinking that I should not discuss intimate details of G and I relationship, just on the surface. Enough to get me an idea of what was going on if i was to read it later. Maybe use some kind of code word. We’ll see. Another thing is that I should be careful not to reveal too much stuff about other people because they may get offended. Maybe not even use their last names. Hmmm… its a dilema. If I start censoring too much I will get away from my purpose which is a brain dump, just how it is. But I still really want it to be public. I don’t know exactly why. Part of my just wants to be open and transparent with no regard for other people’s feelings about it. That’s probably wrong if taken too far. I know that G will not like it big time. She wants to stay private. I don’t blame her. Its a good thing sometimes. But I don’t feel any need to disclose. I also want to use Flickr to snap pictures throughout the day. I have the camera phone for something. I can use Flickr free account for this purpose and have it post directly to my blog or just have a side bar in the blog. I will use SmugMug for actual photo galleries and I will pay for that service, its worth it. I will convert those over some day. Not sure when. I also today worked on AbleBuyer logo. I had an interesting idea to go with the “Creative Real Estate Solutions” tag line and have a jig-saw puzzle inside of a house as the logo. I started working on it in a photoshop file. We’ll see what happens from it. Its 1:15am and Its time to go sleep. I will wakeup tomorrow at 6am and will not complain about it. I will prioritize my day in the morning and have a super-productive action-filled day. Not just any action but action that makes a difference. Lord be with me and help me follow You.

Sunday January 1, 2006

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Sleep in from around 6pm to 2pm. Upset at Galina from last night, and refusing to talk about it. I need some space.

Meet up with David Ga. at our favorite Denny’s to return his cell that he left at the party. We talk for a couple of hours about last night, 2005 performance, 2006 goals, life, faith, struggles, etc. We encourage each other and pray. Come back to apt. Talk w G about last night, and make peace.

I make and drink 2 cups of carrot juice to get the juicing goal started.

We go to my parents because G wants to talk to Margarita and Kristina. We snack and hang out with Steve and Kristina for a bit then all of us go pick up Jessy.

We go bowling at Crestview and get to interact with Jessy for more than just a few minutes. Come back to the house and hang some more.

Galina and I debate whether we should take a random trip out of town for her b day. She wants to do something special but I don’t feel like it. We end up taking Chris’ Jeep and going to South Lake Tahoe. No packing. No warm clothes. No problem.

Its about 11pm. Rain/wet snow. Chain control. We got 4×4. We keep going. We get into town.

Shop for hotel via Google SMS. Lakeside Inn wins. Our favorite cheap breakfast place / drink place from before. After some minor inconvenience with getting wrong bed count we get in to a room with a king. The inside is surprisingly nice - cabin style. We go to sleep around 2-3am.