Proof......

My fabulous friends back at SeaGate sent me these pics - glad to see that Troy still loves dogs and that I have visual proof people are reading my blog!

Miss you guys - and my Subway brick! Take good care of it - it was part of history. :)

Peep Humor

OK, so I'm not condoning strippers, but this was too funny not to post!

Thanks to Iris for sending this to me for comic relief!!

Learning To Fly

Things here in Dallas continue to improve - I'm getting more familiar with the area around my new job in Irving (partly by exploring, partly thanks to Mapquest and partly by asking anyone I see how I get to XYZ place). However, as of tomorrow morning, I'm going to be leaving the Extended Stay hotel and moving over to Flower Mound (a northern suburb - northwest of Irving) to stay with Tammy from work for a little while. If the house situation goes on longer than another week, I'll probably go back to the hotel near work. I'm becoming kind of a nomad and I'm not a huge fan of that, partly because it's a pain to keep moving/being mobile, partly because just when Maggie gets accustomed to a routine, I change it! I guess God is trying to teach me patience in a big way - or He has a really warped sense of humor! Agh!

My job continues to go well - I'm learning a lot and I really like the people. I think it's the right fit - what I've been looking for. I think I'll be able to enjoy it more once I have a place to live and everything calms down in other parts of my life. Once I'm settled, I think I'll be really happy here in the Dallas area!

Sidenote: It's pretty late and I found an amazing Tom Petty concert on public TV. It's AMAZING - he is doing part of the concert totally acoustic. He is just so talented and sounds fabulous even after all these years (his voice has faired much better than Bob Dylan's - that's for sure!) - no wonder they chose him to play at the SuperBowl this year.

I hope you are all doing well - email me updates on your lives! I get sick of just thinking about my own life - I really want to know what you are all up to! Keep the comments coming - I love to hear what you think (but remember to sign your name if you leave an anonymous comment so I know who you are).

HAPPY EASTER!!

I Love a Rainy Night

My Dallas adventures continue......with a great big rain/thunderstorm passing through. Maggie and I are hiding away in the hotel to avoid the whole mess. Tomorrow I will be looking at "my" house again - I can't remember what it looks like anymore! Still no formal acceptance of my offer yet, but I got 26 pages of various ways to sign my life away to a mortgage company (from my mortage company, not the seller's). My mortgage company said that we should get all of this paperwork out of the way so we're ready to go when the seller's bank approves the offer. They say that banks want to close almost immediately after approving a short-sale offer. So next week might be really chaotic - the closing date is either the 27th or 28th, so I'll probably hear for sure on Tuesday or something ridiculous. At any rate, I am meeting with Teresa (realtor) tomorrow night to look at the house (and I just talked to her and she's bringing me some homemade banana pudding too!). We're going to do some measuring of the spaces for appliances while we're there.

I had a fun adventure at the post office today - a co-worker of mine told me that the post office here in Irving has a machine in the lobby that is accessible 24/7 that can measure your package or box and print your label and then you put it in the depository to be mailed. I love that I can go to the post office after-hours and take care of errands! It's the simple things in life that make me smile, I guess. One more thing to check off the list of things to do!

Also -Maggie achieved a doggie milestone today (a little late, but oh well): She finally realized what a mirror was and got all freaked out when she saw her reflection! The hotel closet doors are the sliding floor-to-ceiling doors that are all mirror on the outside. Well, I was getting ready in the bathroom and I look out in the hallway to see Maggie poking her nose on the mirror, then jumping back and yipping at her own image. She was amused/scared/angry all at the same time - wasn't this kind of thing supposed to happen when she was a little puppy??? I've held her in front of mirrors all her life, waiting for her to do this and she never cared - just didn't get it....until now! I had a good laugh at her expense.

One more Maggie tidbit - she is afraid of umbrellas that are sitting on the floor minding their own business and drying off from the rain. What an odd dog I have!

Workin' 9 to 5 (What a way to make a livin')!

Did everyone get the Dolly Parton reference in the title of today's blog entry??? I seem to want to always put song titles in that Title line......Oh well, I digress.......

So today was my first day of work at FT here in Irving, Texas. I'm staying about 4 minutes from the office, so it was a very short drive into work! Yay! The morning was spent with Tammy in HR (Allison's cousin) filling out paperwork and signing that I received handbooks, employee conduct agreements, sexual harassment policies, direct deposit forms, health benefits, etc. etc. etc. The benefits at this company are out of this world - they pay for my cell phone bill, money toward my home internet bill, they issued me a laptop so I can work from home sometimes, everyone kind of makes their own hours (most people don't get there until 9am-10am), jeans are the norm, etc. The health, dental, vision, life, ST/LT disability, etc. are fabulous as well as the vacation, sick and holiday time off. Everyone is so nice and the culture is tremendous. The afternoon was spent doing some invoicing/accounting and I ended the day by getting my parking permit on the way out! (A bonus is that we get Good Friday off as a paid holiday, so this is a short week for me - no work on Friday!)

When I got home, Maggie greeted me with wet, sloppy kisses and we went on our evening walk. It's about 79 degrees, so it's absolutely magnificent for walking and Maggie LOVES the warm weather. She wants to play outside as long as I'll let her and she doesn't shiver at all. Her legs don't cramp up in the snow like they did in Ohio either - I have one happy wiener dog here!! Right now she's so tired that she's curled up in a ball next to me on her favorite blanket with her toy monkey. I wish you all could see it - it's the cutest thing ever.

We are supposed to get super crazy rain storms tonight into tomorrow and through Wednesday, so I've got my umbrella ready to go. It was really cloudy and super humid all day, so I can feel it coming! But those of you who know me and my hatred for humidity - I can't wait until the rain comes so it will take the humidity away with it! YUCK.

As for the house, still no formally accepted offer, but my realtor and the seller's realtor agreed on a lower price today of $95K, which is amazing to me. I guess they are going to submit the offer to the very slow bank and have it replace the old offer (and refresh their memory that we are waiting for an answer). I think the seller is getting nervous that I'll pull out and just move on because it's taking so long....they keep offering to let me move in before closing...I say NO WAY - not until I have a home inspection and an accepted offer from the bank!!

One other cool thing I forgot to mention earlier - I have already ridden in 2 bona fide big, huge Texas pickup trucks!! One belongs to the guy that I am sort-of-pseudo seeing (it's a F-150, but it's the Texas Edition - I think that translates to big-a**-truck edition). The other one is my new co-worker Erin's (well, her husband's) and we went out to lunch in it. There was absolutely no graceful way to get in or out of it - it was HUGE!! And she's 7 months pregnant, so it was kind of funny to see her trying to get in and out of it - I bet it's uncomfortable...
Well, that's all for now - keep me updated on your lives and the goings on in MN, OH or wherever this might find you. I miss you all tons!

Arkansas folks need to get creative

OK, maybe I'm stuck up or maybe I overanalyze things, but does anyone agree with me that Arkansas folks need to get some serious creativity training in the naming of their cities?? For example, as I drove through the state, I drove through both "Arkadelphia" and "Texarkana". Boy - those two cities sound an awful lot like Philadelphia and Texas! What is the deal with Arkansas - can't you think of ANY city names, besides stealing the names of other cities or states as "inspiration"???

PS - Take a look at the picture above - they are actually thanking someone named "Buford" - I thought that was just in the movies!!!!

God Bless Texas!

Well, sorry for the delay in blogging - I was so tired when I arrived in Dallas last night that I didn't even order the wireless internet! I am all moved into the hotel today and my wireless is obviously up and running. Maggie is getting accustomed to being carted around and is being quite a trooper about it (however, I did hear her barking in the room as I left down the hallway once today- yikes!). I am all ready for my first day at work tomorrow (Monday) and I went to Kroger, so I have a stocked mini-kitchen all ready to go.

Update on the house: Still no approval, although it was supposed to be done on Friday. My realtor Teresa and the seller's realtor Tim have been talking almost every day trying to speed this process up and he offered to let me move in now before anything is approved or anything. Initially that sounds good, but I still haven't officially locked in an interest rate, done a house inspection, have an accepted offer & price in writing, etc., so I don't think that's a good idea. I have non-refundable hotel reservations until Friday and then I will probably stay with Tammy from work after that since she has an extra bedroom in her house. Teresa said that hopefully she'll hear something on Monday, but I'll believe it when I get that phone call! I am soooo impatient!!!

Walkin' in Memphis

Greetings from Memphis - land of everything Elvis (and a nice Marc Cohn song)! I am just outside Memphis at the end of Driving Day 1 of 2 at the Days Inn with Maggie. Other than constant rain throughout Ohio and Kentucky, the drive was pretty smooth and uneventful. I threw Paul's wedding ring out of the car window at the Findlay exit, as planned, and it was symbolic of moving on with my life - woo hoo! A new chapter in wonderful Texas!!

As much as I thought Maggie would be ready to run around and get some energy out, she's actually pretty tired and is already curled up in a ball under our favorite blanket that I took on the trip. I think it's because she was awake for most of the trip - the rain was loud and I guess she was just as engrossed in my book-on-CD story as I was. We are both pretty tired.

When I get to Dallas tomorrow (I have about 7-8 hours of driving left), I will be staying at an Extended Stay hotel right by my new place of employment - woo hoo! I'll probably pick up some groceries and get settled in the hotel and relax for the rest of the evening.

No word on the house yet, but Teresa (realtor) says it's totally normal for 2 weeks to go by and hear nothing from the bank in these silly short-sales and foreclosures. Ugh - annoying. But she called me and said that she has a few houses that just came on the market that I might also be interested in, so we will look at a few other ones while we're waiting too.

I miss all of you so much already!! I think the emotional piece of this big life change will set in once I'm there and have some downtime to think. I've just been so busy this week that I haven't dealt with the emotions yet....

Well, until tomorrow - wish me luck as I pass through Arkansas on my way to wonderful Texas!!

Slow banks are stupid

Another mini-update: Still no FINAL word on the house yet...I guess it's snowing in Dallas/Fort Worth and that apparently shuts down the entire world. Agh! But everything is in order for the house except the final OK from the seller's bank. As soon as that comes in and if everything is good, then I'll do the home inspection early next week and things will progress.

However, the bond market is acting really really crazy and so mortgage rates are fluctuating wildly all day every day. Please pray for/with me that I can lock in a decent rate and secure this wonderful house that I want so bad!!

ROAD TRIP!

Well, the time has come to plan the route that I will take on my road trip to Dallas with Maggie. We are both eternal tourists, of course, so I'm pretty excited about the final route! My friend Steve helped me choose the path to Texas and I get to go through 4 major cities that I have never been to before!


Here's the plan:


**Toledo to Cincinnati
(Iris-I get to see Big Butter Jesus one more time!)
**Cincinnati to Louisville
(I'm going to do a drive-by at the Kentucky Derby site)
**Louisville to Nashville
(Colby - want to go out for dinner?)
**Nashville to Memphis
(Hi Elvis!!)
**Memphis to Little Rock
(Home of the Clinton's - YUCK)
**Little Rock to Dallas
(Finally "Home" at the hotel!)


Whew - it will be an exhausting 2 days, but I'm excited to see some new sights along the way. I won't get to fully experience these cities as a good tourist would, but now I will be able to say that I have been to them.

Mini-update

Well, I got a call last night at 10pm from my real estate agent and she said that the contract for the house was executed yesterday (which I think that means that they formally accepted my offer). She is going to go over to the bank/seller's agent today and see the contract and pick up a copy in person to verify that they didn't change anything and that it's correct. I'm waiting to get the word that everything's a done deal.

Now if I could get the stupid mortgage guy to call me back and give me an updated "good faith estimate" on closing costs - I'm so annoyed that he's putzing around!!!

I guess the upside-down statue of St. Joseph that my Catholic co-workers gave me worked (you are apparently supposed to bury a statue of St. Joseph in your yard upside down in order to sell your home, but they got me one for my cube in the off chance it would help me buy a home). Thank you St. Joseph!!!!

Impatience - TIMES 10!

So I've been known to be kind of impatient (OK, a lot impatient) and I'm having a very tough time waiting to hear about this silly thing called a PLACE TO LIVE - a.k.a. A HOUSE. About 95% of my possessions are all packed up and things are almost all finished up here in Toledo (have to shut down utilities and get my hair straightened yet - and oh yeah - my going away party on Monday!). My realtor Teresa (who's the greatest) and I are still waiting to hear from the listing agent of the house and the owner's bank - basically a paperwork slowdown. It's almost a done-deal, but I still am apprehensive about thinking it's for sure until I see a contract, do a home inspection, etc. AGH! I keep waking up at 5am or so, wide awake and a million thoughts are going through my head so I can't go back to sleep (much to the chagrin of my little wiener dog Maggie). I'm still going to bed late at night since I'm a night owl by nature, so I'm running on very little sleep and TONS of stress. I'm going to crash soon and I need to stay healthy and rested for my big journey at the end of next week. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be in a straight jacket in a padded room by the end of this whole moving process!!

Any advice to calm the nerves (besides lots of alcohol??)

My **TENATIVE** new house

Well, I will hear tomorrow if I get my new house when I move to Texas! The picture above is the house in question and I LOVE IT. It's a short-sale, so if I get it, it will be a smokin' deal. Only $100K!! I'm putting a link on this post so you can check it out if you are interested. I am crossing my fingers and toes that I get the house. If not, then it wasn't meant to be and God has a better one out there for me. My real estate agent says that I should hear one way or another by TUESDAY - I can't wait!!

http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?ctid=31352&ml=3&mnp=18&mxp=17&bd=4&bth=5&typ=1&sqft=9&pfbm=41210&sid=772e10bbdf36495299e657b4543d3ac2&lid=1088785426&lsn=1&srcnt=5#Detail

PS - If you take the MLS number and go to http://www.remax.com/ and put it in, the listing there has a few more pictures...

Dallas Updates....

Well, my 3 day house-searching marathon has come to an end and I do not have a house lined up yet. While I understand my expectations of finding a house, making an offer and having it accepted in 3 days was a little unrealistic, I'm still disappointed. However, I did find a house I REALLY like and I put in an offer just before rushing off to the airport to come home. It's a short-sale, so the house is almost in foreclosure with the current owner, so I put in a low offer and we'll see if they'll take it to get it off their hands so the bank doesn't have to put it into foreclosure and deal with it. If they accept it, then I'll be a homeowner very soon....if not, I'm back to the drawing board when I go down there for good around the 14th of March.

The trip down to Dallas this time was emotionally draining, mentally challenging and very stressful because I put so much pressure on myself to accomplish this 'house' conquest. But I have to believe that this will all work out in the end and that I'll have a place to call home sometime soon. It's very daunting to try and do this all at once, but people do this every day and they don't end up in a straight jacket, so I'm sure I can do it!!

I also had another milestone - I sent and received my first text messages ever!! I know that might sound ridiculous to most of the folks reading this, but I have had just a Nextel work phone for the last 3.5 years and it didn't have all the bells and whistles on the plan (no texting, no camera phone, etc.). This is so much fun!!!!!

Restoring faith in the human spirit

Well, I think my faith in the human race has been restored...While hurrying through the Dallas airport, I caught a short glimpse of what it means to be an American. In my haste, I looked over to my left to see a young man in full military camo shaking hands with a 55-ish civilian man and I noticed that the man was slipping the military soldier some cash and I heard him thank the young soldier for his service to our country. The soldier looked surprised, but immediately had a look of honor and gratitude in his eyes and in a split second, the stranger disappeared back into the crowd of people. I caught up with the gentleman and asked if he knew the soldier and he said no. I told him that what he did was wonderful and I was lucky enough to see that exchange. He brushed it off and said something to the effect of 'it's just what you do to show respect". Agh! I almost burst into tears - there is still honor and respect in this country! Kindness is still alive and well! Hurray!

ALERT!! SECURITY BREACH AT THE AIRPORT!!

I had a crazy adventure at the Detroit airport today - I was minding my own business, following all procedures to get through security (liquids separated in quart-size bag, shoes off, laptop out, jewelry off, jacket off, allowing female TSA employee to pat me down because I was wearing a sweatshirt that could've been hiding weapons, drugs and other contraband) and everything was going great - I was ahead of schedule and even had time to grab Quizno's for lunch before my plane was supposed to board. So I got lunch, went to my gate and sat down to eat. Mid-sandwich, the security alarms go off and they announce that there was a security breach in the airport and that all planes at gates had to de-plane, all passengers in the gates, concourses, bathrooms, restaurants, etc. had to leave the area immediately and go back through the security process. So everything turned kind of chaotic since the planes were emptying back into the concourse and the area was flooded with irritated and worried people. We were all herded back to the check in area of the airport and got in a line that one man estimated to be about 300 yards as of where we were in line - it was circled around the inside of the airport 3 layers deep. Apparently the metal detectors at the security checkpoints weren't actually detecting metal and so in the name of national security, they had to evacuate EVERYONE. The bomb-sniffing dogs were out in full force (they were so cute!) and had to sweep every single plane at the gates and then had to sweep all of the concourses. They were busy pups!! So they waited a while and fixed the metal detector and then started the security process for about 3 hours worth of flights. AGH! But I was in line with 4 retired school principals that were flying to Tampa to see the Detroit Tigers at training camp. They were so much fun that we almost forgot we were really annoyed. Eventually, we all got through the security checkpoint and on our flights - only took off 1.5 hours late - not bad for how long the lines were! Everything went great after that.

For ONCE in my life, I would like to compliment the TSA employees for stepping up to the plate and rushing TONS of people through the security checkpoing while still maintaining order and checking bags and people thoroughly. Kudos!

New phone, CHECK.....House, (crickets chirping).....

Well, there are new developments in my transition to Texas.....I got a new Verizon cell phone and it's RED! That shouldn't surprise anyone who knows me. It's a great new little phone and now I can officially receive and send text messages (I couldn't before because I had a Nextel work phone and it was a pretty stripped down plan with no texting). Soooooooo, very soon I will be sending my very first text message of my life! I don't know how to do it yet, but I'll learn quickly.

So the next task I need to conquer while I'm down here in Dallas is to FIND A HOME!! My real estate agent, Teresa, and I will be hitting the streets looking for a house that I will buy and officially become a homeowner for the first time. Maggie isn't here with me, so I'll have to trust that I know what she would like (a fenced in backyard and lots of carpet so she can run and have traction!). I'm also looking for a kitchen that has a sprayer sink faucet so I can give my little orange dog a bath in the kitchen sink like I do in Toledo! We'll see - this process should be more exciting, but I'm just too busy being scared like a deer in headlights about this whole home buying process! I know that later on I'll be kicking myself for not enjoying this exciting experience more.........

And a big shout-out to my fabulous friend Colleen who drove me to the airport once again - you're awesome, Dessler!! And also a huge thank you to my wonderful friend Holly who is watching my little Maggie-poo for the millionth time!

The stars at night are big and bright.....

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS!! Giddy up - I just got a job in Dallas and I start on St. Patty's Day!!!! Thank you to all of you who gave me encouragement that this day would actually arrive! I have wanted to live in the Lone Star State for 6 years and it's finally happening. My mind is a whirlwind of ideas, emotions, tasks, worries, and many other things. I am super super excited, but will miss my Toledo friends immensely when I leave. However, that gives all my northern friends (MN & OH) a warm place to visit in the winter. :) As soon as I buy a house and get my guest room set up, any and all are welcome to come and spend some time here.

PS - Anyone who visits has to ride the longhorn steer that I rode in Fort Worth. You'll really take the bull by the horns (and man, they are LONG horns up close!)

The waiting is the hardest part

So on my last jaunt to Dallas, I was "tenatively" and "informally" offered a great job with a great company with great benefits in a great area of Dallas (Irving). They have to wait until March 1st to see how profits are for the year are so far before making the final decision to create this position or not. It's looking good, but I never realized how long 3 weeks really are! My life will completely change and I will begin a totally new chapter if this position is indeed created and I accept the offer! I don't want to get ahead of myself and assume it will all happen as planned, because anyone who knows me knows that I get very worked up about something and then if it doesn't happen, I am terribly disappointed. I have a bunch of boxes in my house that I stare at every day and wonder if I should fill them with my possessions or wait until I get the confirmation on the job before getting ahead of myself.

Any advice for the waiting?????? I still have 2 more weeks to be in suspense and it's making me crazy!!!!

Ramblin' Man

What is the deal with men who TALK INCESSANTLY and RAMBLE ON & ON & ON & ON and think that you actually want to hear the meaningless nonesense that they are bragging about??? Maybe they don't have bad intentions, but the arrogance that is pouring out of them is tremendously annoying. Lately, I feel like a lot of the guys that I have met or talked to lately just want to talk about themselves all day long and it's making me crazy.

I have read in dating books or books about the communication styles of men and women that on a first date a lot of women walk away from the date thinking "What an arrogant jerk - all he did was talk about himself the entire time!" and the guy walked away thinking that she didn't have much to say. Apparently the 'real story' is that men feel that on a first date, they need to 'sell themselves' as if it's an advertisement for themselves or a job interview. But women take it as an arrogant, conceited jerk who isn't interested in anything but themselves. OK, fine - a misunderstanding because of the fact that men and women think/communicate differently. But after that initial "get to know you" phase, shouldn't that non-stop rambling wear off?!?!?!?

Anybody have an opinion on rambling men and why they constantly talk instead of asking questions once in a while?

Jon & Kate Plus 8 - IN PERSON!

Well, for anyone who reads this blog in northwest Ohio, I am making a trek to Defiance next Saturday, Feb. 23rd to see Jon & Kate Plus 8 (Well, I'm not sure about the "Plus 8" part at this particular appearance) at a church doing a speaking engagement!!!! Woo hoo!!

If you want to go with me, let me know!

My favorite winter activity

So, I had the chance to practice my favorite winter activity today on my friend's Jeep Liberty - kicking the big chunks of snow/ice/dirt/etc. off cars, you know, the stuff that accumulates behind the tires and hardens. For whatever reason, I LOVE doing this and when I walk past cars in parking lots that have great ones, I have to really fight the urge to kick strangers' cars! But I saw a particularily GREAT one on my friend's Jeep this morning and I could NOT resist it and had the joy of starting my day kicking the snow/ice off!!!

Anybody else love doing this?????

PS - there is actually a word in the urban dictionary for this phenomenon - snard!
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=snard

MORE Dallas adventures

Well, I made it down to the Lone Star state in one piece, but barely. Well, that's a little extreme (but I'm known for that). I had to fly through Houston to get to Dallas/Fort Worth, which is fine, but when I got on the plane in Houston bound for Dallas, they said that Dallas was having storms and there was a "ground block" and no planes could land, so they wouldn't let us take off. We proceeded to literally sit on the runway for 2 HOURS waiting for the 'all clear' from Dallas. Eventually, we took off and made it there safely.

Now, for those that know me on a daily basis, you know that I am obsessed with seeing cars with Texas plates in Ohio - I see it as a sign of my impending move to Texas and I get very excited. So you can imagine how exciting it is for me to be down here driving a rental car with Texas plates, right? Well, the last time I was here, it was thrilling to drive a "Texas car" and I enjoyed it immensely. I was looking for the same thrill this time - especially after all the chaos with the flights. So I check in, get my luggage and take the shuttle to the rental car place. They give me a silver Ford Focus -great, everything is going well. I throw my stuff in the car and head onto the freeway toward the hotel. It wasn't until I reached the hotel and unloaded the car that I realized that I was driving a car with FLORIDA PLATES!!!!!!!! Agh! To a 'normal' person, this would be no big deal and they would move on, but for me it was horrifying! But I'll recover.......

PS - I miss my little Maggie!!!

Dating Adventures

Well, I'm going on a tour of Texas next week (well, not really a 'tour') - flying to Dallas on Tuesday until Friday, then flying down to see my Mom in Harlingen on Friday until Monday. Woo hoo!! South Padre Island, here I come!

However, while I'm in Dallas and meeting with recruiters, I will also be going on a first date with a guy I met online and we've been talking on the phone quite extensively for about 3 weeks. We'll see - maybe he'll be just the cowboy for me - wish me luck!

SCAM ARTISTS SUCK!

OK, so I almost got screwed over by a "recruiter" in the Dallas area yesterday and stuff like that makes me lose faith in the human race! That jack*ss wasted 40 minutes of daytime cell phone time and talked and talked and talked about how he was going to help me get down to Dallas and make really good money in this new job he was going to find.....and then he dropped the bomb.....I had to pay him $3,170 for his services!!!!!!! And when I picked myself off the floor, he was so kind to say that I could defer it for a year - what a gentleman. And then when I called him on that and said that I bet there would be interest charges, he fumbled around and basically lied to me. I said I wouldn't be interested and then he got nasty and started pressuring me and telling me he was the only one who was going to get me down there with a great job. I told him I would think about it and call him if I was interested (I wasn't going to lower myself to his level and say what I REALLY thought of him).

Well, then I went on the internet and Googled his company and his name - there were fraud and scam warnings all over the internet about the company and HIM specifically!!! AGH!!!!!! Situations like this can really make a person like me jaded. DAMN.