I am going to put this chronological order, so bear with me. But as of 3:00 p.m. yesterday, I am officially filing chapter 13 bankruptcy. It was far less painful to file compared to finding an affordable lawyer. I am not sure what that says.
First off, I had the exquisite pleasure of calling my boss up and telling him I would not be in to work because of various financial difficulties that needed to be dealt with immediately. Once that was accomplished, I headed off to meet the 2nd bankruptcy lawyer. Let me interject a bit of back ground here. The 1st lawyer I met with was incredibly nice in a down home, good old boy manner. However, they did not discuss any options with me and informed me that I would be filling Chapter 7 and that would be $1300 due immediately. Well, if I had $1300, I would not be talking to the lawyers! Sheez! So I decided to follow my shopping mantra of "Price EVERYTHING!" So I made yesterday's appointments.
Anyway, so after making the call, I went to meet the lawyer. I was already feeling a bit iffy about this entire experience, was terrified of how much this would cost, and uneasy because the add had a really weird looking fellow running around, poking his head around corners and just being strange. I could not get the humor in the character. When I walked in there, the staff was incredibly professional, answered all sorts of questions, told me about the options, and gave me their suggestions. After answering my questions, I agreed that a chapter 13 would be my best option, and in a year or so I would convert to a chapter 7 & my life would improve dramatically. The problem was they not only wanted $200/month, but the lawyer himself. He kept striding in to his paralegals office like God Himself, asking if she was done, how much longer she would take, and never once actually looked at me. I left there feeling slightly more optimistic about my situation, but leery of hiring him as my lawyer.
I then took the time between appointments to run errands, run in to an old college friend who was shocked by the length of my hair, and then got a magnificent phone call. Old of my closest friends has had her baby and I am beyond thrilled for her and her husband. I hope they realize how lucky they are and know how happy I am for them because this is perfect for them. I m so thrilled!
Enough gushing and on to my 3rd lawyer appointment. He is proof that the old cliche of "third time is the charm" is a cliche for a reason. I walked in to his office and felt relaxed by the ambiance immediately. Compared to the 1st to, who were in hole in the wall, crowded, dark, dirty locations, this man had renovated an older home in to his office and it was surprisingly welcoming. I admit that I did not appreciate having to wait 45 minutes, but when the couple left who had been taking up my appointment, I felt guilty for being impatient.
It was an elderly couple who, from what I had blatantly eaves dropped on, were having problems with the insurance company of the man who put her on a walker and him in multiple casts. She was obviously upset and I know my new lawyer spent a lot of time calming her down and was incredibly nice.
So, it was my turn. He looked everything over and not only gave me the same information lawyer #2 had given me, but explained which way I could go for all the options open to me and their consequences. He then gave me his recommendation and all the reasons he felt that was my best option. Following that, he explained to me why he would not do a few things because, in his opinion, I am "barely making enough to eat after I take my fees out. I'm not going to do that to you." Any guesses as to why I made the decision to have him represent me?
So, I filled out some additional forms, we reviewed time lines, and that was it. He then laughed at me because I was stunned at how painless he had made the experience, and he escorted me out of the building, just as he had with the couple before me. I definitely appreciated that level of common courtesy. Mostly because it is so rare!
I then drove home and talked to the new mom and heard all about the new baby and its so thrilling to know that 2 such wonderful people are now parents. I am just proud as can be because they are going to be excellent parents and that child is going to have a great life. Am I being too cheerleader-ish?
I then spent the next few hours watching TV & reading. Out of that short list, I read The Icon by Neil Olson, Bedlam's Edge edited by Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edgehill, and started Ghosts by Noel Hynd. The Icon was decent, but rather dull. The thrill was definitely absent. It was one of those painful books were the author tries soo hard to be grammatically correct, but fails and it comes across as remarkably stilted and fake. There was no real emotion to the writing. If it was a textbook, I would recommend it. It is a thriller though so something went seriously awry, which is a shame because the premise is a good one. The author just could not carry through with it.
Next was Bedlam's Edge. I like Lackey any which way, so this was a fun read. There is nothing complicated about this collection of short stories dealing with elves from Lackey's world. In fact, most were so simple that even if the authors wanted too, I doubt there was any way to stretch the tales into a longer book. But they were fun and the editor's notes at the end clarifies all sorts of strangeness about the other elven series and gives those fascinating details that just make an author more fun.
Ghosts was probably a mistake given what happened later on. I will post a more detailed review later, but suffice to say that the story is amazingly well done without any of the gore of King or just strangeness of Koontz. I am enjoying it immensely.
The problem lies in what happened from 8:00 p.m. until midnight last night. Starting at 8:00 p.m. all 3 of the dogs started barking like lunatics. This is not unusual by any means. I mean really, 1 is a fox hound used to hunt deer and possum and who knows what else; the other is a beagle also used to hunt deer, possum and raccoons among other things; and then there is the pit bull/lab mix who can take it in to her head that something is debating an invasion on go on a barking frenzy just because.
I ignored them because they routinely go on barking frenzies because something is in the trees that they feel must be barked at. Around 10:00 p.m., I started paying attention because my 3 indoor cats all scrambled away from the 1 door, the 2 cats I keep in the laundry room at night so they can eat started acting up, and the 3 dogs came tearing around to the pen, hackles raised, teeth bared, growling, and acting like they wanted to tear something to bloody bits. At the same time, the ladder out front fell down and something tried the FORTUNATELY locked door. The one closest to my bedroom. For some reason, I called the police. They arrived and by the time everything was said and done, it was midnight before the nice police officer left. Since I get up at 5:00 a.m., I am seriously dragging today. I did not feel too bad or like too much of an idiot because while the nice officer could not tell me what had come scratching at the door, it was something and the dogs were good doggies and chased whatever/whomever away. They got treats this morning.
It is now Wednesday and I am soooo looking forward to going home and relaxing. Just a few errands and then I can crash out in my bed. I just have to get through the next few hours. WAAAH!
No comments:
Post a Comment