Linda's (from Indiana) Journal

i am making real progress and that is such a relief. i hate being behind. at 4:30pm yesterday i finally had to stop and call about my desktop computer. i love this thing, but it gets real crappy at times and i had just simply had it. through the MLS i have a helpline i can call about computers, cameras, etc., and that is who i called. it took one hour but things seem better. the tech removed several programs and cleaned up my browsers. he said it was probably a corrupted file in one of my browsers that was causing me to constantly get an error message saying the script was busy or turned off. he also downloaded Google Chrome for me and now i am using that. i really liked Mozilla Firefox, but Chrome is very fast and i really like that. so, for now i'm using it. i mentioned it on Facebook and one of my "friends" who is a web designer said she likes Chrome and uses it for her personal web browser. he also cleaned up a bunch of stuff that came up whenever i turned on my computer and he told me to turn my computer off 2-3 times a week. yesterday i talked to one of the sellers my ad brought in who has a duplex to sell and still needs a lot of work. i told him i have had some leads/interest in it, but i want to have the property under contract before i start giving information out. i sent him the contract this morning (a very simple one) and told him i wouldn't pay earnest money because he can market the property too, if he wants. if he finds a buyer first (that isn't one of my leads) then he just needs to tell me and we'll cancel the contract. i also only asked for 30 days and put in the contract that it's subject to finding an end buyer and i will be assigning the contract. it's worth a shot and he needs to get rid of it. so, i was trying to think creatively and help us both. what i'd like to do is get a good price for it and then be able to give him a little profit too, although i did not mention that. i'm thinking i will try that route with the other sellers who have properties to sell and contacted me through my ad. the only one i can't really do that with is the rental property i mentioned yesterday because it's listed with a realtor. i have never heard anything back from the brokerage i hoped to join, despite 3 emails i sent. i consider it very unprofessional. they could have at least told me that it wasn't going to work out. i finally got the file made up for my new property and so far, the sellers have been great to work with. much better than i can say for the other property, which Chuck just wants me to let go of, but i think it will work itself out. the seller wife of the new property sent me some great pictures and i can't wait to work up an ad. flyers aren't working too well because i don't have a place to hang them, except for one grocery store and no calls off them. i worked on my official wholesale buyers list yesterday too. i did an Excel spreadsheet and have over 20 on the list. now i have to make the time to get them into my email contacts list so i can email them if i have a property. one guy asked for a 2 days' notice before anyone else got it, so i will keep him separate if it's a personal deal for me. if it's from my REI group, he's thrown in with the rest. so far, no accepted wholesale offers within our REI group. Desiree and Kadi leave tomorrow after school for IN and will be here Friday. i'm excited to see them and trying to figure out how i can get some work scheduled in too.

Hi, Linda

I'm Scott I'm stationed at Fort Campbell, Ky I'm a Staff Sergeant here I retire next year. I am also from Indiana originally Terre Haute but my Dad moved us when I was a young boy in the early seventies down south to Princeton, Indiana near Evansville. Its close for me to go home if I want to being stationed here at campbell. I am also pretty much starting out I've been dabbling in investing for about 6 years but I now want to make it my full time thing because of me going to retire from the Army next year. It will be a blessing after about 25 years doing the military thing I don't really want to work for anyone else but myself. I hope your son is doing ok, I know from experience I have 5 deployments to Iraq under my belt, he will be just fine as long as he listens to his leaders and remembers his training. Have a blessed day in Jesus ok and hope to see you on here with a great deal in the works.

Respectfully,
SSG Scott A. Clark
U.S. Army

I am so sorry, I have gotten SO behind in your journal. I LOVE reading your journal but with the rehab and getting my renter in, things just got extremely busy that I wasn't able to be on DG other than stealing a couple of minutes here and there.

WOW! Your first real DEAL! Linda, I am so proud of you! What a blessing! As I read through your journal I had to pause and print up the EPA's Lead disclosure pamphlet and do the smoke detector and CO detector disclosure verifying they work (new law requires CO detectors in homes; not sure if that is federal or state of CA, though). Your journal rocks, every detail! I have yet to catch up on the status of your dad, I will lift him in prayers.

Congrats on the lease option! Can't wait to read more, but I've been getting by with 4-6 hours sleep every night and I'm a walking zombie. I will catch up as soon as possible! This is so GREAT to hear! Did you end up using any parts of my lease? I know it was crazy thorough, but for good reason. I would love to see a copy of the option agreement you use. ALthough my T/B fell through and I had a backup renter who moved in this past weekend, he STILL may opt for the L/O but they want to be sure and cautious. LOVE my renters, they are neat freaks!

Hospitals! The same thing happened to my grandma during the 5 1/2 wonderful years I had the privilege of caring for her. EXCEPT, she had just been taking off of blood thinners about 6 months prior because of excessive bleeding from a not so nice place and they said keeping her on them would be life threatening . Then, she went into ER and they gave her blood thinners before I got to the hospital! That was a walking on eggshell day! They DIDN'T read her files! This is so scary!!!

I'm still reading, sorry, there will probably be a lot of replies from me coming

thanks for stopping by. nice to hear from you. Jared actually flew out of Ft. Campbell to head to Afghanistan in December. congratulations on retiring soon; the time will pass quickly. what is your MOS?

have you read Randy's journal (randy428 - i think)? he works with military families a lot and that might be a good way for you to work REI because of your background. just a thought....

so good to hear from you. i know you've been busy and i understand the "only getting on DG for a few minutes" thing. i'm so far behind myself and i love reading everyone's journals.

my dad is doing well. he rests a lot and they had his meds messed up, but he's doing better. he's a tough old coot!

i didn't use any of your L/O stuff because i emailed and asked for permission and never heard from you. probably because of all the deals you are working. what exactly did you want to see of mine? PM or email me and i'll send it your way.

no problem. it's just nice to know someone is reading all this posting i do.

we are having a few flurries, but it doesn't look like much of anything. i really have to look out the window and squint to see it. had a nice talk with Lea today. we usually talk on Friday, but with the kids coming and other things going on, this was our day to talk. i did some emailing about broker classes again. the investor that wants me to be his property manager needed to be updated and the girl that was supposed to call me back about classes never did. i just texted one of the owners at the brokerage i had hoped to move to. we'll see if he answers me back. Chuck felt that i shouldn't just drop it. i called on another property for my out of towner. it was listed with an REA and she was actually very nice on the phone. said she has begged her client to do a L/O but he/she refuses. i asked if i could email her my information and she gave me her email address, so i did it right away. the commercial broker for the 8-unit emailed that he had contacted the bank that owns it about financing the purchase and the rehab. he and Chuck talked on the phone and he insulted Chuck by saying he wasn't a serious investor. wrong thing to say! Chuck told him he would call his own bank and work with them; he would never work with this bank now. we were told that there were several offers on the property before the owner did a deed in lieu and he turned them all down. i'm kind of wondering about that right now, but i could be mistaken. i know that REA's can fudge that information without batting an eye. this afternoon we are going to that auction for the house we saw Monday. we want to see what it goes for; the highest offer is final and there is no reserve. Chuck also saw a standing tool cabinet he wants. can't wait to have a little time with Des and Kadi this week. i just don't want to be stressed about trying to fit in some work time too.

Des and Kadi are packing the car to leave right now and should be on the road very shortly. they will stay overnight on their side of St. Louis. the company that i want to take the broker classes with is moving the start date back a week to March 21st. they need 4 people to commit so it won't be cancelled. they have 2 people and i told her to get a third commitment and i will commit. they won't refund my money if they cancel the class, just hang onto it until the next class. well, who knows when that will be? i texted the guy at the brokerage i'd like to move to and kind of asked why i hadn't heard from him. he has been bedridden with the flu for almost a week and he said he did answer me 5 days ago. this is the second time my yahoo email didn't receive an email that was important. not sure what is going on with that, but i sure don't need it. i'm glad Chuck suggested i contact him again. i feel kind of stupid right now. the guy is supposed to respond again to me; i hope i get it. doesn't mean they want me, but at least he's not unprofessional. who said that????

While $1 is good in some states, make sure to check your state. Some of them to make the contract legal and legitimate, require a minimum 'deposit' of $10.

good advice. while i worked at the title company i saw many $1, $5 and $10 down payments, fees, etc. i was so glad to know you could really do that. the other thing is, "other valuable consideration" does not mean it has to be money. some consider the contract itself to fit the bill. it all can get really confusing.

i managed to get a few things done, despite a late start because i had a hard time getting up. i'm such a businesswoman!!! the auction last night was long and the weather was windy, damp and very cold. i went into the house and sat down until they auctioned it off. Chuck wanted a standing tool box and was willing to pay $50 for it; he got it for $42. the house went for $52,000 cash and i had just been talking for 45 minutes to the lady who bought it. she didn't look like she had that kind of money, so never judge a book by its cover. she has several investment properties, but she didn't seem to know that much about doing it. there were 2 investors i knew there; one bid and the other didn't. it was a very nice house to rehab and i would have loved to get it. this morning i had to run to the store for a few things for our company and then got to work on a few things. i have 2 sellers possibly interested in coming on board with my idea about doing a contract for an end buyer. we'll see if anything comes of either one, but it's the best offer they're probably gonna get. i posted a bunch of ads for the weekend on the 2 houses i have under contract. i also heard back from the brokerage i would like to move to. i have to sit down and really understand what he said in the email, but he said they are willing to work on anything. so....i hope to change over to them next week. i'm trying to mentally prepare for broker classes, but it's not easy. help!!! why do i always take on so much? i must think i'm super woman, but i'm really not. of course, i haven't heard back from them today to say it's a go, but i'm trying to be prepared just in case. i think it will do me good to have the kids here for several days. i finally got to talk to Jared today. he's doing well and he said they are having beautiful weather. they are going to get pizza from a little Afghan restaurant tonight. he asked about when he comes home on leave in August and wants me to drive his pickup to KY to meet him and then we will drive to OK together. i can do that! he finally got a package Danelle sent him and it only took 9 weeks. our call was cut short because the connection was lost, but it was so good to hear his voice. Des and Kadi will be here in an hour, so i better get ready.

2 deals, and now becoming a broker. You are really outdoing yourself! Way to go!!!

Please let me know about being a broker and an investor together; I took a broker class back in 2006 and never went in for the test because I felt it was a conflict of interest as an investor and here in CA its expensive to be a broker unless I have some agents working for me; and that's not really what I want to focus on. I can't wait to see how it works out for you being an investor and a broker.

I did all my broker classes with a take home DVD course from a big broker in town. Don't know if it was the best course, but it was semi entertaining and I learned a lot and they had a guarantee that I'd pass the test; just never went and did that part. (Its amazing how little the courses themselves teach about the REI side of things!)

thanks! to be honest, i would not get my broker's license if i hadn't all ready done everything with the realtor stuff. i'm becoming a broker so i can just be on my own and do my own thing. i really don't want any agents under me and if i had this to do all over again, i would not become a realtor. i do feel that it can be a conflict of interest and it can make it hard to do what you want. i can't even pay a referral fee to someone that isn't licensed. it is very frustrating for me. on top of that, being under another broker creates even more frustration because they want a piece of every deal and want to make money off all your hard work and they only carry the E & O Insurance. maybe being a broker will make a big difference for me, but i'm not gonna hold my breath. to be honest, this is a sore spot for me, but hopefully being a broker will make a difference.

i've been busy with Des and Kadi, so i have done very little REI since Friday afternoon. my newest seller wife emailed me over the weekend and said she wanted a sign in their yard, so Chuck and i put a very simple sign together, handwritten and hung on a garage sale holder, and we put it in their yard last night. i have had 3 calls from that sign today. don't know that anything will come of it, but at least i know it's drawing calls. i haven't had anything off the ads i put out Friday, but that ugly, poorly made sign, is pulling in calls. i got a call on Friday from a guy in Los Angeles that has a tri-plex here and wants to sell it. that one ad i borrowed from Jen (Bama Girl) also pulled in calls. i told him right up front how it was, and he said he was glad that i wouldn't bs him. sometimes i feel like i am because i'm still "faking it till i make it", but i am honest with these people. i got an inquiry today on the first house so i emailed the seller wife and asked if they had renters yet. she said no and to go ahead and show the house if i get a chance to. i have an appointment Wednesday to sign the papers to change to the new agency, so i will have to drive downtown again. not my favorite thing to do, but i think they can offer me a lot more on the realtor side of things. they seem excited to have me; we'll see how this all plays out. the 3rd person has not confirmed for the broker class yet, so i'm still hanging on. they want me to go ahead and confirm, but i am not tying up my money with them because we won't know when they will have another class. it's not our fault if they have to cancel for lack of interest, and there should be no issue with refunding our money if they are the ones to cancel. ok, just a little venting here.

i had a nice time with Des and Kadi; they left for OK today. Lea called and i was talking to her about how important a person's name is. Kadi's actual name is Kadence, which to me is about military "music". that kid sings and hums all day long every day. i would sing real loud and off key and she would say "that is not good!". talked to Jared through Skype messaging. he has been out on missions for days. he said he smelled like cow poop and hadn't had a decent meal in days. he was finally going to shower and eat. he did say he loves being busy though. i am getting several calls a day on that ugly hand-written sign for rent to own. right now they all appear to be "lookey loos", but i know one will pan out. today i went and signed papers with the new brokerage i'm joining and tomorrow i will have my soon-to-be ex-broker sign the transfer papers. this new agency is being very fair with me and i'm pleased with what we worked out.

it's been so nice to have this beautiful weather. not having to wear a coat is wonderful. i got my transfer paper signed by the broker and i could tell he was shocked. he was very nice about it and wished me well, and i'm glad to have that part over with. still getting calls on the Reed house; now i would like someone to be really serious. i would like to do a couple open houses, short and sweet. i'm not doing much with the Omee house besides advertising it because of how i've been treated. if i can fill it, i will, but it's no longer a priority. i contacted several sellers for my out of town T/B and have a possible seller, so i will contact him tomorrow. i talked again with the guy with a rental that answered my ad on CL a couple weeks ago. we had talked about doing a contract and letting me see what i can do with it. we are supposed to tour the property next Tuesday and then go to his office to sign papers; he said he is very interested in working with me. we will see how that all turns out. i don't know if i can help him or not, but it's worth a try. once under contract, i will send it to my buyers list and see if i can get any takers. i also want to comp it out tomorrow. Monday i am meeting with the new broker and turning in the transfer paper and paying another $10 to transfer to that brokerage. he is supposed to help me with comps as well because that is a weak area for me. my kids got home safe. Des barely has a voice so it's real hard to talk to her on the phone. Jared and i talked through Skype again and he's doing well, just really busy. a woman i met on facebook through something i'm a member of sent him a big package with all kinds of stuff for him and the other guys. she also included letters from her son's class. i think that was a real neat surprise for the guys. they love getting stuff from home. i hope i can once again get back into my routine. i can tell that it affects my attitude when i don't do all the things i need to each day.

i talked to Lea this morning for a few minutes and mentioned i wanted to take it a little easy today. what was i thinking?! i'm getting so many calls from that ugly sign. today i got 2 calls that sound serious, but who knows. they seemed to understand having to fill out a questionnaire and go through a process to become a T/B. that was nice. i called back a guy i contacted yesterday because he would consider doing a L/O, but i haven't heard back from him yet. i just put in ads on CL for both houses. i haven't had one call on the newer house from CL; all of them are from the sign. the first house isn't pulling in much and even if i put a sign in the yard, it's not gonna see much traffic because of location. bandit signs are no longer allowed, so i'm not sure what to do. i'm thinking i could possibly put one in at the front of the neighborhood (a rent to own sign, that is). i think that would be allowable. at least i would have my google voice # on there so they shouldn't be able to track me down to fine me. i still need to get some wholesale offers ready to put in the mail tomorrow. even if i just do 3, that is more than i have done. i got my 2009 amended tax return sent off today and i will send in my $35 IN state taxes before the due date. hopefully i will get my 2010 refund in the next week or so. very glad to have all that out of the way. i had to replace our house phones this week. i hung on as long as possible, but i couldn't make out everything on the calls anymore and that is not professional, to say the least. i had dropped one handset in the toilet about 3 years ago and the other one was just going bad. it is so nice to be able to hear and understand what people are saying, and not hear all kinds of noise in the background. Jared is finally having a calm day and he was thankful for it. i found out i can use a flat rate postal box and it only costs $12.95 to send it to him and i can fill it as full as possible. i'll have to think of some surprises, like no-bake cookies. he eats very few sweets, but he loves those. i have my REI club meeting tomorrow and my credit repair guy is the speaker. he wants to meet and talk after the meeting, so i will be home late. i can't wait to finally have some T/B's placed! have a great weekend!

got 6 wholesale offers ready to mail tomorrow morning. it can be time-consuming because of how we're doing it. i don't know if anyone else in our group has made time to send out any offers, but i figured i better get with it. just got off the phone with another prospective T/B for the newer house. he seemed interested because when i told him he would have to fill out a questionnaire before i would show the house, he insisted i send it now. i did. i also ran comps on my first house. a little behind and i have no idea how it will turn out, but figured it was time. now i need to do it for the newer house. i'm done for the evening; gotta rest up for my meeting tomorrow.

great meeting this morning at my REI club. my credit repair guy was the speaker and he knows what he is doing. talked with other members and might have some more stuff going before long. more calls from my ugly sign while i was gone and after i got home. for some reason my cell phone was dead this morning and i sure hope it's not a battery issue. shouldn't be as it's brand new. gotta look up some short sale properties and a turn-key property from a member realtor at our club. he does lots of the cheap stuff and has been around a long time. good guy. got some leads on RE attorneys too, which is very helpful. not much time to post today and i hope everyone is out there making money!

i usually use my weekends to regroup and rest, but not this weekend. i just got back from showing a prospective turn-key rental property to a couple from my REI club. they had tried to buy a short sale through me in the summer, but the bank refused to look at any offers we submitted or anyone else because they were too low. the bank actually went ahead with foreclosure. we met out at this house and the tenant had 2 dogs, 2 cats and the house stank like animals and was dirty. it looks like a decent house minus all that. it's in an older area of the city, very good rental area and not too far from IPFW. the seller is asking $29,900 cash but would probably take less. it's a 3/2, no garage, full basement, mostly finished, 2-story. nice staircase and woodwork, decent little kitchen. the yard is nice and has a very nice deck. taking lots of calls on the Reed Road house and yet, nothing serious. of course, it's only been a week, but i'm ready for a success story. the sellers want Omee filled, but i will have to ask about lowering the rent they want. they are only $50 below the Reed house and they are definitely not the same type of house. i thought they would have a renter from the applications they got a couple weeks ago when they did an open house, but apparently nothing has panned out so far. my dad turns 80 today so i called him and wished him Happy Birthday. he is doing well and feeling stronger than he has in a long time. i am going to take the rest of the day off and get ready for another busy week.

i have been asked twice today if i heard the storm we had last night. of course not; i sleep best during storms and with tornado sirens going off. still gotta find me one of those nighttime sleep recordings with that on there because i would sleep good every night! i met with my new broker to finish up my transfer. we talk a lot and he told me he enjoys talking to me. we seem to be on the same track, despite me being old enough to be his mother. i did email the sellers on my first house asking them to consider lowering the rent some. i know they can't go down much, but it might help get more interest. who knows? i've been wondering if i even know what i'm doing lately. more calls on my second house, but none on the first. it makes me kind of sad. i'm supposed to meet with a seller tomorrow morning at his rental property. we have talked about me doing a contract on the house, but he can still market and sell it on his own too. he's very interested at the moment, so we'll see how things go. have to get what i call a "bump out" list going to my sellers of the second home; they are looking for a place to move to and i can set up automatic email notices for them that fit their criteria. also will be running comps again on my properties because my new broker, Justin, showed me a better (?) way to do it. also have to run comps on the property for tomorrow so i kind of know what to put on the contract for my price. that might be a little helpful. back to work!

Just stopping by to see how you are and what you have been up to. sounds like you are staying busy! Good

thanks for stopping by. yes, i'm plenty busy. now if it would just produce some income!

it is ugly out there today and i had to be out in it. i met a seller at his rental today. he doesn't want to be a landlord and he really wants out of the house. the young couple living there seem like nice kids and the seller seems like a really nice guy too. i told him i didn't think the property would bring what he wants out of it, but that we could start there and see what happens. he took the contract with him because he was in a hurry. he seems interested, but i told him i would be honest with him and not lead him on. the house is in good condition, but there are things that need to be replaced, such as the siding. the neighborhood is ok and the tenants said they have good neighbors. i stopped in to see my mortgage broker on the way home; we had a nice chat. really sweet woman and we love visiting. my second sellers are meeting with her tomorrow. just got off the phone with a seller's wife. he wants to sell outright if he can so i said try that first and come to me if it doesn't work out. very nice lady and i'm sure he is too. was hoping to get that for my out of town T/B, but i haven't heard from her for a week. i didn't realize it's a mobile home and a stick built home together, which could make it tough for financing down the line. i'm really tired today, despite sleeping fairly well. i don't think my thyroid medicine is where it needs to be, but my doctor hates raising the dosage and i usually have to fight him on that. i hope to get to Dean and Matt's call from early March today. i just haven't had the time to do it and i want to hear it. i need to perk up, that's for sure!

i just got an email from my second seller wife. it was not a nice one. people are calling me about rent to own, then calling her and tattling that my down payment requirement is too high. they obviously don't understand rent to own and i've just about had it. it sounds so easy until you really start doing it. this community is very conservative and they will take you down, if they can. i emailed her back and apologized several times for any misunderstandings. i told her that i was very honest and upfront that i would not charge them a fee, but i would charge the T/B's my fee, plus pay for credit repair, etc., out of that money. i told her they are trying to play us off each other. i told her if she wants to cancel the contract, email me. if she wants me to run my numbers again and lower the down payment, i will work on it. this abuse with people i'm trying to help is getting real old real fast. i don't think this is how it's supposed to be, and i've had enough of it. yes, i do need to vent and i'm venting here. sorry about that. i've worked my tail off trying to help people and i have to wonder what i'm doing wrong. (?)

i called Lea after cleaning my bathroom this morning. i decided i might as well use that excess energy from being upset to do something constructive and away from REI. Lea helped me a lot and i knew i just needed someone to talk to someone that has a level head and doesn't get carried away with things like this. it's so good to have a good friend like that. thanks, Lea. i sent 2 emails to the seller trying to carefully explain everything, yet letting her know she could cancel the contract if she wanted to. she sent me a very nice email saying that things are fine between us and she isn't upset with me; she just can't understand the amount required to move into the house and rent to own. i am now being careful to ask people who call about it if they understand rent to own and i am explaining it to them. i'm carefully outlining all that money covers and how we are only going to rent to someone who actually wants to buy the house. i also contacted my mentor about this and set up a call for tomorrow. i posted in his forum and he answered pretty quickly, so that is helpful too. everyone always makes it sound so easy, but it isn't. i know Richie can tell us about that, but he doesn't give up. i'm not giving up, but for a moment i did want to. practically everything i do is centered around REI, so if i gave it up, what would i do with myself? probably eat a lot of bonbons for starters! anyway, i feel better about things and i should not get emotionally involved ever, but i do. i think we women are more prone to that, but i know i can be tough when i need to be. i just want to help these people so much and i can't get caught up in it like that. if i had made some money at this all ready, it might be a little easier to take, but when you work your tail off and still have nothing to show for it, it makes it harder to swallow. not only that, but i am truly exhausted and that does not help my frame of mind. (if we could just get my thyroid meds correct for a change) ok, enough of that. onward and upward. i CAN do this! something great is just around the corner and i must hold on!

Glad we got to talk this morning. I think you are level headed you were just thinking it out and then talking it out with me. You are always professional, considerate and kind to those you work with. Everything you do is well thought out and well executed. You go the extra mile. Like we've said to each other before it's a learning process.

Hope your thyroid meds get adjusted correctly soon and you get some well deserved rest.

Lea

Hi Linda, You certainly do work your tail off. Don't ever give up on yourself!
You have a world of knowledge in REI and will find a way to get around things.
Sometimes you just need to take a deep breath for a minute then sit and think up another plan and put it in effect. Ask Denny, I throw things out to him as we speak as they pop into my head
I wasnt sure what you are doing with the houses you mention above, are you trying to find buyers or renters? Some of the idea's that i remember from here is to put a letter in the mail boxes of the neighbors saying you will give them a referal fee say like 500-1000 if they know of someone that wants to buy or rent the house. They get paid when the deal is closed. I dont think there would be a legal issue with it since they are not acting as a broker but just refering someone to you. the other would be to post signs in someones yard near a busy intersection. You can offer to pay them when it sells. I would also put up hand written letters in food shopping centers, home depot and laundry matts. Another idea would be to go to a church that does the pre-cainer classes for people that are getting married and may need a home.
Just a few ideas i had
good luck
Never EVER give up!!!
Richie

thanks for stopping by. it's always good talking to you and i always appreciate your time. thanks for the kind words. it's just been a rough week. they said there would be days like this, but i thought that was for everyone else.