I look at the screen with only one eye. In bursts and I look away before there is any strain. I can blather but can't really do any work because that involves being able to study output. Conversation is different than analysis.

I heard an enormous and long rumble and crashing from upstairs. I go to investigate. Trashcan from the bedroom is upright and reeling and is now in the hall. Bathroom rug rucked up. Pumpkin is in the laundry basket in the spare room.

I keep the laundry basket in my bedroom, around the corner and down the hall past the bathroom. This cat.

flea, have you been asking to talk to everyone's supervisor on up the chain? Or do they refuse? Can you threaten to sic a lawyer or the BBB or something on them? Go into the bank and refuse to leave until they deal with your issue? No idea.

I am on hold trying to get Apple to allow FedEx to hold my iPad at a FedEx until I get home (currently not allowed), and not keep trying to deliver it and eventually sending it back!! (OK, they answered and apparently know what I"m talking about and will do it)

oh, ugh, flea. I would just keep on asking to talk to a person who can fix the error that they made. If there is a branch where you can go in to talk to someone face to face that might be good. So ridiculous!!

I made expensive, local, grassfed steaks tonight that I've been saving for a while and I freaking overcooked them. Tragic! I need to learn how to cook meat more accurately. Honestly, they were still tasty but I feel terrible about it!

(Oh, I'm not here, I'm grading.)

But I just took an internet break, which means I read "Beep Me", and I just had to jump into Natter and comment, because this was a string of such lovely happy-making posts, one after the other.

Oh, juliana, what lovely pictures! You looked so beautiful and radiant, both in singular as well as in plural (yes, Lee, I'm definitely talking about you, too!). I think my most favorite pictures were the ones in which you were not looking at the camera at all, but at each other, and all these emotions were so present and lively and, um, I already wrote "beautiful", right? I don't care. That's what it was.

And, oh, billytea! Ryan is such a big *boy* already. I keep seeing him in my mind's eyes as a toddler, when you write about him. But he completely doesn't look like a toddler anymore in those pictures - it's like he completed his trandformation into this beautiful (yeah, that word again. I can't help if the reality keeps being like this!) bright-eyes boy. And what a lovely boy, at that.

And, of course, Maria - you were daily in my prayers. I'm so relieved to read that at least this worry was now lifted from your shoulders.

And with that, alas, I have to get back to my grading. Even though it's 3am, and my morning starts a little after 5am. At least I have my pick of a few kinds of chocolates (did I ever tell you about the custom of trading goodies to eat on Purim? Well, it's very comforting to my stomach right now), and thosee lovely pictures and posts to make it worth being awake in this hour.

Nilly!

juliana and billytea both posted happy making pics today, for sure!!!

Nilly! You need to see the Sierpinskitaschen! [link]

Hey, Nilly!

I love that moment at the end of The Usual Suspects. I was totally suckered in. Totally. Poor Chazz.

flea,

are you in Georgia? What state is the property in?

Check out this information: [link]

What steps should I take if I think the lender is requiring too much money in my escrow account?

First, figure out the maximum amount RESPA allows to be required in your escrow account from the example. If you still believe your lender is requiring too much money, you should contact your lender for an explanation.

Section 6 of RESPA provides that borrowers may make a "qualified written request" to the lender concerning the servicing of their loan account. The request should not be included with the monthly mortgage payment. The lender must acknowledge the complaint within 20 business days and must resolve the complaint within 60 business days by correcting the account or giving a statement of the reasons for its position. If you do not get a satisfactory answer from the lender, you may wish to file a complaint with HUD. You should continue to make your mortgage payment during this time.

Flea My late father ran into a similar problem with a mortgage where they paid property taxes late, incurred a late fee then bumped up the property tax deduction because obviously they had underestimated property taxes. He finally resolved it by suing them in small claims court. I'm not a lawyer and would never advise anyone to sue, but the nice thing about small claims court is that you do not need a lawyer. Of course one thing to check is whether there is something in your mortgage is whether the jurisdiction is in another state. But worth considering. And once you file, you may never have to get to court.