I only hired a tax attorney when I had the real estate business, I also hired a real estate attorney, and between these two, they saved me tons of money, not only on taxes but on purchases and other things. Naturally, they knew the laws and how they worked.
Most of the houses I bought for renovation purposes I bought at REO private auctions. This is the cheapest way to buy a house and end up with a clean title to it, with absolutely no encumbrances on the deed. Normally, the price I paid would be the Basis for those houses. However, if I hold the house for 30 days, then have the city appraiser come out and appraise the house before I record the sale. This generates the Basis for the house. They could care less if I paid more or less for it, their appraisal is what the assessment is based on, and what I would pay taxes on the following year.
I guess I shouldn't have said before I record the sale earlier, because the actual sale is not handled as a sale, it is handled only as a transfer of deed, or basically a name added to the existing deed, then the other name removed 30 days later.
It is like what I did with Debi's parents home down here to avoid inheritance taxes, which at the time at like 46% would have lost the house to the government. I simply had Debi and her Sisters name added to the two deeds. Then 30 days later had her mom's name removed from the deed. Then 30 days after that, I had her sisters name removed from the deed. The only caveat is her mom had to live for five years after her name was removed from the deed for the house to be clear of government grip. She did so all was well. No inheritance tax. Then about 5 years ago, that tax was ended. But a few months ago it was added back in again.
Although our SSI does go up about 3% per year, except during the years Obama was in and claimed no cost of living increases for a few of them. The amount for Medicare they take out, goes up about 10% per year, so our SSI check actually goes down each year. Plus from what we do get, we have to pay for the supplemental insurance, which seems to go up about 15 to 20% every year. So the amount of money left over to cover everything else goes down a lot each year. Sad!
How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
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Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
Lawyers are like doctors. Each one has a specialty. Those specialist should know their business and the laws that go with it, and for the most part they do a great job. The one's I've dealt with also collect a great fee. I know that you had your share of good and bad experiences with lawyers, but for the most part they earned their exorbitant fees by saving you a lot of cash.
The lawyer we used for building our house, and later selling it, seemed to be the equivalent of a general practitioner. LOL He did good by us, but did not take every kind of case that was brought to him. He advised us at one time to set up some kind of living trusts so that those inheritance taxes could be avoided when they were in full force. I never could fully grasp how they worked but it looked like I was giving my home to my heirs while still being responsible for taxes and maintenance while alive. Giving it away is what saved on the taxes because the property was held in trust by both of us. Somehow. Someway. We didn't do it mostly because we didn't understand the benefits. Running this house will cost me the same no matter what, and after I'm gone, how much should I care about how the asset is transferred? If my wife predeceases me, I probably will do something like you did and take the girls as co-owners of the estate assets. It would be something like joint ownership with rights of survival. I obviously don't know the legal mechanism, but if I pay a tax layer enough money, I'm certain they can come up with a scheme.
The lawyer we used for building our house, and later selling it, seemed to be the equivalent of a general practitioner. LOL He did good by us, but did not take every kind of case that was brought to him. He advised us at one time to set up some kind of living trusts so that those inheritance taxes could be avoided when they were in full force. I never could fully grasp how they worked but it looked like I was giving my home to my heirs while still being responsible for taxes and maintenance while alive. Giving it away is what saved on the taxes because the property was held in trust by both of us. Somehow. Someway. We didn't do it mostly because we didn't understand the benefits. Running this house will cost me the same no matter what, and after I'm gone, how much should I care about how the asset is transferred? If my wife predeceases me, I probably will do something like you did and take the girls as co-owners of the estate assets. It would be something like joint ownership with rights of survival. I obviously don't know the legal mechanism, but if I pay a tax layer enough money, I'm certain they can come up with a scheme.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
My wife's son is an attorney, but knows absolutely nothing about real estate or taxes.
Early on he thought about corporate law, but then did a major change to criminal law, but this was mainly because he was offered a job by the state, and he had to move to Nashville. And I think most of what he does has to do with those who abuse the welfare system. So now he's fairly well specialized in one thing too, hi hi. He says it is simple work that pays great, so why change.
He wanted us to put the house in his name, doing it the way I did it with his grandma, but both Debi and I are a little leery because he has some fairly high debts, and a few other things we don't like. Don't want to lose the house because of him, if you know what I mean.
The neighbor to my uncle back home, lost his house when his ex-wife got sued over something, long after they were divorced. He just never got around to taking her name off the deed. Big mistake there!
Early on he thought about corporate law, but then did a major change to criminal law, but this was mainly because he was offered a job by the state, and he had to move to Nashville. And I think most of what he does has to do with those who abuse the welfare system. So now he's fairly well specialized in one thing too, hi hi. He says it is simple work that pays great, so why change.
He wanted us to put the house in his name, doing it the way I did it with his grandma, but both Debi and I are a little leery because he has some fairly high debts, and a few other things we don't like. Don't want to lose the house because of him, if you know what I mean.
The neighbor to my uncle back home, lost his house when his ex-wife got sued over something, long after they were divorced. He just never got around to taking her name off the deed. Big mistake there!
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I once knew a guy who was a patent attorney for a big corporation. He liked the job for the same reason your wife's son likes his job; it was easy and paid a lot of money. While all that was very nice I don't think this lawyer would know what to do in traffic court, but he certainly knew about obscure laws in the patent world. He was a pretty well rounded individual but seemed to be locked into one specialty when it came to law.
We hear all kinds of horror stories when it comes to divorces. The real estate lawyer I had back home told us he didn't get into that because of the complications involved with every situation. Going through a divorce is a bad time to try and be logical about legal matters and it's very understandable how people could overlook the obvious. I don't know how true it is, but it seems as if most of the hard luck stories coming out of divorces are from the male component. Women for some reason tend to get the better deals. LOL
We hear all kinds of horror stories when it comes to divorces. The real estate lawyer I had back home told us he didn't get into that because of the complications involved with every situation. Going through a divorce is a bad time to try and be logical about legal matters and it's very understandable how people could overlook the obvious. I don't know how true it is, but it seems as if most of the hard luck stories coming out of divorces are from the male component. Women for some reason tend to get the better deals. LOL
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
You got that right!
When my first wife and I separated, and left me with the kids, she didn't want anything.
It took us three years to get our divorce finalized, because the judge didn't want to agree to our terms.
We wanted joint custody in important matters concerning the kids, but not the two week long sharing of the children, she only wanted them every other weekend is all.
After many trips to court with a modified agreement, he finally made a couple of small changes, but we could get by not doing them ourselves and he would never know. He wanted weekend visits every weekend, and we would have to meet at a half way point each weekend. This was sorta OK until she moved 30 miles away. So then we were back to every other weekend.
I also had to pay her 25 dollars per child, since they were living with me, to cover treats and entertainment for them.
That was doable, but didn't last long. She decided she wanted the girl to live with her, and actually came and discharged her from the hospital against the doctors wishes, then disappeared for a long time.
My daughter called me every so often to help her do something, which I did.
One thing is she wanted to go back to school, and was living at a reverends house at the time.
I just figured her mom knew where she was, so went and brought her school clothes, and other things she needed.
I got a summons to appear in court, had no idea what for. But the judge made me and my ex-wife get together and go out and try to find our daughter, with the brunt of the problem on me, since according to their records she was in my custody. Which of course she wasn't for like three years.
I'll get into more about this at another time. Suffice it to say, a crooked judge, and DCSE, cost us a whopping pile of money, none of which was ever seen by my daughter.
When my first wife and I separated, and left me with the kids, she didn't want anything.
It took us three years to get our divorce finalized, because the judge didn't want to agree to our terms.
We wanted joint custody in important matters concerning the kids, but not the two week long sharing of the children, she only wanted them every other weekend is all.
After many trips to court with a modified agreement, he finally made a couple of small changes, but we could get by not doing them ourselves and he would never know. He wanted weekend visits every weekend, and we would have to meet at a half way point each weekend. This was sorta OK until she moved 30 miles away. So then we were back to every other weekend.
I also had to pay her 25 dollars per child, since they were living with me, to cover treats and entertainment for them.
That was doable, but didn't last long. She decided she wanted the girl to live with her, and actually came and discharged her from the hospital against the doctors wishes, then disappeared for a long time.
My daughter called me every so often to help her do something, which I did.
One thing is she wanted to go back to school, and was living at a reverends house at the time.
I just figured her mom knew where she was, so went and brought her school clothes, and other things she needed.
I got a summons to appear in court, had no idea what for. But the judge made me and my ex-wife get together and go out and try to find our daughter, with the brunt of the problem on me, since according to their records she was in my custody. Which of course she wasn't for like three years.
I'll get into more about this at another time. Suffice it to say, a crooked judge, and DCSE, cost us a whopping pile of money, none of which was ever seen by my daughter.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I can't think of anything much more impossible than an attempt to legislate terms for people to get along with each other. Divorce lawyers have a hell of a challenge on their hands, but the judges who decide the outcome are in an even more difficult position. About the only thing you could expect with certainty is that none of the parties to a divorce will be completely satisfied. Then, too, on rare occasion, I hear stories about people who divorced and remained good friends afterwards. There are even websites for do-it-yourself divorces if there are no complications. Apparently it is possible for there to be no complications, but I have yet to see such a situation documented.
It's almost a metaphysical certainty that the children of a divorced family will suffer the most. What I didn't know for much of my life is that once a child reaches a certain age they can essentially choose new parents. I'm unaware of the legal term for this and the age varies from state to state, but it seems to be pretty common for 14 year olds to have this right. It's just a matter of the child petitioning the court for new parents. I don't know of any kids who know how to do that, and there are even fewer who can hire a lawyer to do it for them - and most judges won't hear it without a lawyer. This sounds like one of those crazy laws inherited from 13th century jurisprudence, but it actually has practical application in the 21st century where children are being abused by their parents and have no other way out. It would seem like a grand idea for the children in a divorce situation to have some say so regarding their custody. But, alas, most kids can't make that kind of decision and it seldom, if ever, happens. But, there are legal options nonetheless.
My earlier comment about women seemingly getting preference in divorce matters was somewhat flip. The concept of mothers being the nurturers and protectors of her children has some bearing on the court's decisions, I'm sure. It's also true that women in society were generally viewed as inferior to the males and thus merited some special considerations. All of that is old school, and many of the laws were written in those days. But, society has been in upheaval for many decades now and even the concept of family has changed. My old lawyer had it right. Avoid divorce cases at al costs. LOL
It's almost a metaphysical certainty that the children of a divorced family will suffer the most. What I didn't know for much of my life is that once a child reaches a certain age they can essentially choose new parents. I'm unaware of the legal term for this and the age varies from state to state, but it seems to be pretty common for 14 year olds to have this right. It's just a matter of the child petitioning the court for new parents. I don't know of any kids who know how to do that, and there are even fewer who can hire a lawyer to do it for them - and most judges won't hear it without a lawyer. This sounds like one of those crazy laws inherited from 13th century jurisprudence, but it actually has practical application in the 21st century where children are being abused by their parents and have no other way out. It would seem like a grand idea for the children in a divorce situation to have some say so regarding their custody. But, alas, most kids can't make that kind of decision and it seldom, if ever, happens. But, there are legal options nonetheless.
My earlier comment about women seemingly getting preference in divorce matters was somewhat flip. The concept of mothers being the nurturers and protectors of her children has some bearing on the court's decisions, I'm sure. It's also true that women in society were generally viewed as inferior to the males and thus merited some special considerations. All of that is old school, and many of the laws were written in those days. But, society has been in upheaval for many decades now and even the concept of family has changed. My old lawyer had it right. Avoid divorce cases at al costs. LOL
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
My ex-wife made 250 bucks a week while I was only making 150 bucks a week, plus she didn't want the burden of taking care of the kids. She was busy with her new lifestyle of bar hopping and you can guess what else.
Our divorce would have been simple and completed right away if it were not for a judge who didn't like what we agreed on.
It was fairly simple, the kids would live with me, and I would pay for their health insurance, and all essentials, which I normally did anyhow. She would get the kids every other weekend, and pick them up from my house on Friday night after work, and bring them back on Sunday night after dinner. For matters of importance, we wanted joint custody, which the state did not allow at that time. So we went back to court like every other month making minor changes to our agreement, and the judge would say no, each and every time.
I won't get into the details, but several times the kids were left unattended while with their mother, and a few times she dropped them off at construction sites, where the cops hauled them in and called me to come pick them up.
It was after a few times of this, that the ex finally agreed to give me full custody, as long as we kept our agreement among ourselves. Which is what we did. The judge finally agreed to give us a Divorce under a lot of his terms. We had to meet half way between our houses on visitation weekends. I had to pay her 25 dollars per child at this exchange, which comes to 50 bucks a month. Plus pay for anything and everything the kids required. That was doable because I was already doing it all along.
My daughter got sick, and although it grieved me greatly, I finally agreed to have her hospitalized.
My ex did not like that I put her in the hospital and went and took her out against doctors wishes.
And that is when the battle started!
I'll get back to the DCSE screw-over in the next go around.
Our divorce would have been simple and completed right away if it were not for a judge who didn't like what we agreed on.
It was fairly simple, the kids would live with me, and I would pay for their health insurance, and all essentials, which I normally did anyhow. She would get the kids every other weekend, and pick them up from my house on Friday night after work, and bring them back on Sunday night after dinner. For matters of importance, we wanted joint custody, which the state did not allow at that time. So we went back to court like every other month making minor changes to our agreement, and the judge would say no, each and every time.
I won't get into the details, but several times the kids were left unattended while with their mother, and a few times she dropped them off at construction sites, where the cops hauled them in and called me to come pick them up.
It was after a few times of this, that the ex finally agreed to give me full custody, as long as we kept our agreement among ourselves. Which is what we did. The judge finally agreed to give us a Divorce under a lot of his terms. We had to meet half way between our houses on visitation weekends. I had to pay her 25 dollars per child at this exchange, which comes to 50 bucks a month. Plus pay for anything and everything the kids required. That was doable because I was already doing it all along.
My daughter got sick, and although it grieved me greatly, I finally agreed to have her hospitalized.
My ex did not like that I put her in the hospital and went and took her out against doctors wishes.
And that is when the battle started!
I'll get back to the DCSE screw-over in the next go around.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
When a marriage must be dissolved certain priorities should be followed. The first concern should be for the welfare of minor children who cannot fend for themselves. The second concern is that all legal obligations should be satisfied, and that would include parental responsibilities involving their children. It seems simple, and in theory it isn't difficult to work out. In practice determining what is in the best interest of the children and interpretation of the applicable legal responsibilities lean in the direction of subjective judgement. Usually a court judge is the final arbitrator, but it's hard to believe any judge can be purely objective. Matters get complicated beyond the point of an equitable solution when the parties involved with the divorce increase in numbers. I know you have a few words to say about DCSE which suggests to me this simple divorce involved a small crowd of people from various backgrounds. That's the formula for disaster.
The millennial generation is the product of all those unsettled marriages and family lives of the past. It's always a bad idea to generalize, but many millennial are not taking to the idea of marriage. What becomes of the children and the financial assets of the partnership isn't important to this generation. It's hard to say where all that will lead but the idea has some merits. If you don't get married there would not be any complicated divorces. I'm not sure how child welfare is viewed by millennials, but they certainly don't have the same set of values us old timers grew up with. I think a lot of the traditional social and political institutions we know and love will be non-existent or grossly altered in the not too distant future. It would be interesting to be able to see how this all turns out.
The millennial generation is the product of all those unsettled marriages and family lives of the past. It's always a bad idea to generalize, but many millennial are not taking to the idea of marriage. What becomes of the children and the financial assets of the partnership isn't important to this generation. It's hard to say where all that will lead but the idea has some merits. If you don't get married there would not be any complicated divorces. I'm not sure how child welfare is viewed by millennials, but they certainly don't have the same set of values us old timers grew up with. I think a lot of the traditional social and political institutions we know and love will be non-existent or grossly altered in the not too distant future. It would be interesting to be able to see how this all turns out.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
The frau just called and said she has lunch ready, so I'll stop here for a minute, and come back to finish in a bit.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
With any luck we will still be on line when you get back. 
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
OK, here is what basically went down.
My ex-wife started hanging around with this guy who lives on making lawsuits against anyone and everyone, and/or causing as many problems for others as he could.
It was obvious he knew how the system worked, and decided to use it against me.
He had DCSE accuse me of not paying child support.
I wasn't worried since I had every cancelled check showing my ex-wife deposited the money into here account.
Naturally I didn't have receipts or cancelled checks for the cash I gave the kids each time they were with their mom to get things.
I gathered up all of my cancelled checks and took them over to DCSE to scan each one.
I had also made a Xerox copy of each one myself on the way there.
When they gave them back to me, there were four missing from the stack, which I knew they took and hid.
Probably, because those four were cashed at where she worked instead of deposited.
DCSE claimed all of my child support payments AS A GIFT, and said I had to pay them over again, in one bulk payment.
I refused and let them take me to court.
I brought not only my stack of checks, but also my Xerox copies to show they didn't return four of them.
The judge said, if DCSE classified them as A GIFT, then he had to abide by their decision.
I was ordered to pay, TO DCSE, $3,600 dollars in back child support, PLUS $125.00 court costs.
I had to borrow the money from the bank, putting up my two work trucks, as collateral.
Between the time I was notified to appear in court, and my court date, DCSE sent a subpoena to my employer to Garnish My Wages to cover that false debt. He didn't get this until a day before my scheduled court date.
When I got back from court and told him I they ordered me to pay the amounts mentioned above to DCSE. He figured it was a done deal, so did not garnish my wages.
About a month later I was ordered to appear in court again, over the same issue. They said my payment to DCSE was not made through the court and therefore invalid and I had to pay it again.
I hired an attorney over this one!
My employer was also summoned to appear in court, not by DCSE, but by the either the District Attorney or Attorney General, I forget which, for violation of a court order to Garnish my Wages. He too had to pay the $3,600.00 Garnishment, plus a $750.00 Fine, plus $125.00 court costs.
Although my attorney was sympathetic with me, and we did go to court, he said DCSE classifying my child support as a Gift was something they could do, and there was nothing he or anybody else could do about it. Now for the fact I had a court order to pay DCSE the $3,600.00, that was via a court order to do so, so he didn't see how the court could claim it invalid. So we went to court over it. Nowhere on the paperwork given to me by the court clerk did it state I had to pay DCSE through the court. However, the law behind it was perfectly clear, all judgments are to be paid through the court. So we lost.
Once again I had to pay another $3,600.00 child support, plus court costs of $125.00, plus $1,200.00 to the attorney, who three months later cut his fee back and refunded half of what I paid him.
I sold off some of my machine shop equipment, and one of my work trucks to get the money to pay the bank for that truck, and have enough to pay, only this time I made sure and paid it through the court, and got a receipt too.
After I got the bank paid off for my remaining work truck. I sold the remainder of my machine shop equipment to the guy who bought the other machines from me, along with a few other heavy older machines for woodworking. I did this in order to pay my employer back the money he was out. He only took the $3,600.00 and said the fine he was levied and court costs, he would bear the brunt of, since it was his fault for not abiding with the court order.
After all of this, I went over to the courthouse every other Friday at lunch and made my payment directly to the court clerk and got a receipt. At first they didn't know what to do with it, because there was no order for them to collect bi-weekly or monthly payments to me. So they didn't want to take it. I was fortunate that first day I stopped in, because the judge was there, and took a few minutes to see me. I told him why I was there, and the reason. He didn't forget how bad I got burned either. He signed this form for me to fill out, before I filled it out, and told me to take it to the clerk again and they would then accept my payments.
Think this was the end of it yet?
Not on your life!
My ex-wife went to a different court in another county and claimed I was not making my child support payments.
She didn't know she had to go pick them up yet, hi hi.
In a way she was right, because she did not know she had to go to the courthouse in our county to retrieve the money.
Even so, I got a subpoena to appear in the court of her county. I went and brought a whole bankers box full of receipts from day one, plus the court documents, and all the receipts up to the Friday before my court date.
Because I plead not guilty, I had to return again two months later for a second court date.
This time it was in a private room at the courthouse with only three officials there, who listened to my whole story, but all they were interested in were receipts to show I paid child support through the court system as ordered. Except there was no court order to do so, only the form signed by the judge that said they would handle the payments as outlined by law.
What my ex was pissed about was the fact the court took 10% out of my payments, so she only got 90 bucks out of each 100 bucks and she had to drive to the court to get them.
This time, the judge there sided with me, and made her pay the court costs, hi hi.
In an attempt to try to get even, she had me charged with child endangerment, child abuse, and tried to get my down as a sexual predator too. The thing was, my daughter was not living with me at the time, and not for six to eight months prior. Nor was she abiding by the bi-weekly visitation anymore either. My son had his own car and would go see her as he should, but she never appeared at our meeting point with my daughter, because as she said, she ran away. I mentioned some of this earlier.
One time when she claimed my daughter ran away, she didn't, she was staying down the street with a friend and her mother knew exactly where she was, because my daughter would go down to her house to get clothes and stuff. So my ex knew where she was living. Then she ran away completely, and called me about helping her get into school. Which I already mentioned.
The really sad thing about all of this was, neither my ex, nor my daughter, ever saw any of the money from courts, other than the 90 bucks she picked up. DCSE kept all of it, claimed it went to collection costs.
The story doesn't end here either, hi hi.
My ex-wife started hanging around with this guy who lives on making lawsuits against anyone and everyone, and/or causing as many problems for others as he could.
It was obvious he knew how the system worked, and decided to use it against me.
He had DCSE accuse me of not paying child support.
I wasn't worried since I had every cancelled check showing my ex-wife deposited the money into here account.
Naturally I didn't have receipts or cancelled checks for the cash I gave the kids each time they were with their mom to get things.
I gathered up all of my cancelled checks and took them over to DCSE to scan each one.
I had also made a Xerox copy of each one myself on the way there.
When they gave them back to me, there were four missing from the stack, which I knew they took and hid.
Probably, because those four were cashed at where she worked instead of deposited.
DCSE claimed all of my child support payments AS A GIFT, and said I had to pay them over again, in one bulk payment.
I refused and let them take me to court.
I brought not only my stack of checks, but also my Xerox copies to show they didn't return four of them.
The judge said, if DCSE classified them as A GIFT, then he had to abide by their decision.
I was ordered to pay, TO DCSE, $3,600 dollars in back child support, PLUS $125.00 court costs.
I had to borrow the money from the bank, putting up my two work trucks, as collateral.
Between the time I was notified to appear in court, and my court date, DCSE sent a subpoena to my employer to Garnish My Wages to cover that false debt. He didn't get this until a day before my scheduled court date.
When I got back from court and told him I they ordered me to pay the amounts mentioned above to DCSE. He figured it was a done deal, so did not garnish my wages.
About a month later I was ordered to appear in court again, over the same issue. They said my payment to DCSE was not made through the court and therefore invalid and I had to pay it again.
I hired an attorney over this one!
My employer was also summoned to appear in court, not by DCSE, but by the either the District Attorney or Attorney General, I forget which, for violation of a court order to Garnish my Wages. He too had to pay the $3,600.00 Garnishment, plus a $750.00 Fine, plus $125.00 court costs.
Although my attorney was sympathetic with me, and we did go to court, he said DCSE classifying my child support as a Gift was something they could do, and there was nothing he or anybody else could do about it. Now for the fact I had a court order to pay DCSE the $3,600.00, that was via a court order to do so, so he didn't see how the court could claim it invalid. So we went to court over it. Nowhere on the paperwork given to me by the court clerk did it state I had to pay DCSE through the court. However, the law behind it was perfectly clear, all judgments are to be paid through the court. So we lost.
Once again I had to pay another $3,600.00 child support, plus court costs of $125.00, plus $1,200.00 to the attorney, who three months later cut his fee back and refunded half of what I paid him.
I sold off some of my machine shop equipment, and one of my work trucks to get the money to pay the bank for that truck, and have enough to pay, only this time I made sure and paid it through the court, and got a receipt too.
After I got the bank paid off for my remaining work truck. I sold the remainder of my machine shop equipment to the guy who bought the other machines from me, along with a few other heavy older machines for woodworking. I did this in order to pay my employer back the money he was out. He only took the $3,600.00 and said the fine he was levied and court costs, he would bear the brunt of, since it was his fault for not abiding with the court order.
After all of this, I went over to the courthouse every other Friday at lunch and made my payment directly to the court clerk and got a receipt. At first they didn't know what to do with it, because there was no order for them to collect bi-weekly or monthly payments to me. So they didn't want to take it. I was fortunate that first day I stopped in, because the judge was there, and took a few minutes to see me. I told him why I was there, and the reason. He didn't forget how bad I got burned either. He signed this form for me to fill out, before I filled it out, and told me to take it to the clerk again and they would then accept my payments.
Think this was the end of it yet?
Not on your life!
My ex-wife went to a different court in another county and claimed I was not making my child support payments.
She didn't know she had to go pick them up yet, hi hi.
In a way she was right, because she did not know she had to go to the courthouse in our county to retrieve the money.
Even so, I got a subpoena to appear in the court of her county. I went and brought a whole bankers box full of receipts from day one, plus the court documents, and all the receipts up to the Friday before my court date.
Because I plead not guilty, I had to return again two months later for a second court date.
This time it was in a private room at the courthouse with only three officials there, who listened to my whole story, but all they were interested in were receipts to show I paid child support through the court system as ordered. Except there was no court order to do so, only the form signed by the judge that said they would handle the payments as outlined by law.
What my ex was pissed about was the fact the court took 10% out of my payments, so she only got 90 bucks out of each 100 bucks and she had to drive to the court to get them.
This time, the judge there sided with me, and made her pay the court costs, hi hi.
In an attempt to try to get even, she had me charged with child endangerment, child abuse, and tried to get my down as a sexual predator too. The thing was, my daughter was not living with me at the time, and not for six to eight months prior. Nor was she abiding by the bi-weekly visitation anymore either. My son had his own car and would go see her as he should, but she never appeared at our meeting point with my daughter, because as she said, she ran away. I mentioned some of this earlier.
One time when she claimed my daughter ran away, she didn't, she was staying down the street with a friend and her mother knew exactly where she was, because my daughter would go down to her house to get clothes and stuff. So my ex knew where she was living. Then she ran away completely, and called me about helping her get into school. Which I already mentioned.
The really sad thing about all of this was, neither my ex, nor my daughter, ever saw any of the money from courts, other than the 90 bucks she picked up. DCSE kept all of it, claimed it went to collection costs.
The story doesn't end here either, hi hi.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
Your narrative is an exquisite depiction of human nature at its worst. What really bothers me about it all is that you are not the first person I've met who told me similar stories. All my life I tried to have a positive outlook and give all the people I've met the benefit of a doubt until they prove undeserving of such. My motives were rooted in the belief that there is intrinsic goodness in all human beings. I've experienced enough random acts of kindness to confirm my beliefs. I certainly was not, nor am not now, naive. For all the goodness I have encountered there is about an equal amount of evil. Your story congers up visions of evil alongside the goodness I believe in. I'm not one to accept mythologies easily, but my life experiences have shown me that there seems to be an ongoing battle between good and evil. Up until about a dozen years ago I was convinced the good forces were in control. Today, not only as a result of tumultuous current events but also as a result of personal engagement with evil minded people, I am convinced that not only is the evil side in control, but they have in fact won the war; not the battle, the war.
It can't be easy for you to go over this horrible chapter of your life. I'd understand perfectly if you did not want to continue the narrative. I also realize the therapeutic value of writing about things that cause discontent. Been there. Done that. I can only sympathize with you, and offer an understanding ear (or eyes in this case). My understanding of human nature will be enlarged by any insights you offer here. I know of the Dark Side. And, I know they don't have cookies.
It can't be easy for you to go over this horrible chapter of your life. I'd understand perfectly if you did not want to continue the narrative. I also realize the therapeutic value of writing about things that cause discontent. Been there. Done that. I can only sympathize with you, and offer an understanding ear (or eyes in this case). My understanding of human nature will be enlarged by any insights you offer here. I know of the Dark Side. And, I know they don't have cookies.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
It seems, almost throughout my entire life, just as I was beginning to get ahead, something came along to knock me back down lower than where I started.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I'm sure it seems that way to you, but I've noted in several of your narratives where your instincts to make the right choices are superlative. There are always things we could have done better. Unfortunately we can only recognize that after the fact. Life is complicated. About all we can do is make the best decisions we can as situations are presented to us. There really isn't much more you can do than your best.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
Most of the things that knocked me down were things out of my control.
And left me with no way to change gears at the time.
And left me with no way to change gears at the time.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
Quite a few things which are beyond our control happen in a lifetime. That's part of the random universe. However, we can control the decisions we make which place us in certain circumstances. Our response to those circumstances is definitely under our control. I hesitate to call any of that good or bad because doing so implies a moral judgment. Morality is subjective while the inevitable outcome of our choices is cause and effect at its best.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
True, you can choose to be a woe is me person, or bite the bullet and move onto something else, which is what I usually did.
But sometimes when you are down so far, you don't have the funds to eat, much less invest in another idea.
Or get the materials for an existing project to fill an order which would help get you going again.
But I did and made enough that our crooked little house is paid for in full. But even there, sales are in a slump, and my health is down on the bottom rung now. I'm on O2 most of the day now since only a couple of weeks ago. Not good Yogi!
But sometimes when you are down so far, you don't have the funds to eat, much less invest in another idea.
Or get the materials for an existing project to fill an order which would help get you going again.
But I did and made enough that our crooked little house is paid for in full. But even there, sales are in a slump, and my health is down on the bottom rung now. I'm on O2 most of the day now since only a couple of weeks ago. Not good Yogi!
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I've heard it said that when you are up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to keep in mind that your primary mission is to clear the swamp. To paraphrase that, "Reality Bites."
I can't think of anything worse than being cognizant enough to realize how close we are to the end of the road. That very thought plagues my mind way too often these days. It's a logical conclusion surrounded by depressing feelings and emotions. That combination does not compute well. I admire your ability to accept circumstances and move on. It takes a lot of inner strength to do that. I sometimes marvel at the fact you still show up here, not to mention you are capable of spreading your wisdom clearly and cogently. You and Thomas Paine know what is meant by "these are the times that try men's soul." It's got to be at least a little comforting to know you have a soul.
I can't think of anything worse than being cognizant enough to realize how close we are to the end of the road. That very thought plagues my mind way too often these days. It's a logical conclusion surrounded by depressing feelings and emotions. That combination does not compute well. I admire your ability to accept circumstances and move on. It takes a lot of inner strength to do that. I sometimes marvel at the fact you still show up here, not to mention you are capable of spreading your wisdom clearly and cogently. You and Thomas Paine know what is meant by "these are the times that try men's soul." It's got to be at least a little comforting to know you have a soul.
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
I have a bunch of things I wanted to start selling at least five or six years ago, and still have not had enough energy or space to get them out to do that. And each day gets a little harder for me. So I know I'm nearing the end of the road.
The sad thing is, most of the things I have that could bring good money, will probably be thrown out, simply because folks don't know what some things are worth.
Heck, I bought some things at a yard sale for like 3 bucks each. Sold them later for around 20 bucks each, but had one item that I managed to sell for 1,600 bucks. Unfortunately, you don't hit those kinds of things very often.
Had an aunt who bought a painting for like 20 bucks, simply because she liked it for behind her living room couch.
About ten years after that she bought a pair of new end tables and the guy who delivered them to her living room, spied the picture and told his boss about it. The boss then asked if he could come over to her house, said he wanted to check something about the end tables she just bought, to make sure they were alright. He studied the picture for about ten minutes and offered her 25,000 bucks for it. She said no. Then she called an appraiser in to look at it, she was told it was worth over 45,000 dollars to the right buyer. The furniture guy called back and made her a new offer of 35,000 bucks, she decided to take it, and I don't blame her one bit.
I've always hated the fact I took my antiques and things down to my downtown office and lost all of them.
Learned a lesson there!
The sad thing is, most of the things I have that could bring good money, will probably be thrown out, simply because folks don't know what some things are worth.
Heck, I bought some things at a yard sale for like 3 bucks each. Sold them later for around 20 bucks each, but had one item that I managed to sell for 1,600 bucks. Unfortunately, you don't hit those kinds of things very often.
Had an aunt who bought a painting for like 20 bucks, simply because she liked it for behind her living room couch.
About ten years after that she bought a pair of new end tables and the guy who delivered them to her living room, spied the picture and told his boss about it. The boss then asked if he could come over to her house, said he wanted to check something about the end tables she just bought, to make sure they were alright. He studied the picture for about ten minutes and offered her 25,000 bucks for it. She said no. Then she called an appraiser in to look at it, she was told it was worth over 45,000 dollars to the right buyer. The furniture guy called back and made her a new offer of 35,000 bucks, she decided to take it, and I don't blame her one bit.
I've always hated the fact I took my antiques and things down to my downtown office and lost all of them.
Learned a lesson there!
Re: How To Clear Snow in Kentucky
My #2 daughter's husband had parents somewhat like yourself. They never threw anything away. Their basement was full of pristine toys, clothes, and furniture they bought and were given when they were kids. Alas, my daughter's husband simply tossed a lot of that stuff into a gondola when the parents passed on. I know he must have trashed tens of thousands of dollars worth of antiques simply because he didn't appreciate their value nor know how to dispose of them profitably. The good news is that his parents enjoyed all those things while they were alive.
Which brings me to a related event in my life. My last surviving uncle and I were in communication with each other for several years before he passed on. He and his wife never had any children. He worked for International Harvester and retired at age 55 thanks to the Teamsters Union he worked with. It didn't take long after that and he relocated to Florida and was more or less lost to the family that was left behind up north. I'm not sure why, but he called me one fine day just to check on things. We kept it up and I even wrote letters for several years. This uncle was very proud of his time in the service and asked me if I could research a particular monument in Washington DC to determine if his name is on it. I don't recall all the details right now, but I found proof that his name was indeed on the monument and sent him what I discovered. He could have done it himself if he had a computer and an Internet connection, but he didn't have either.
From time to time he would lament to me about the fact that he has no children to pass down any heirlooms or inheritance items. He also was very concerned about his wife, my aunt, should he predecease her. And, he felt he would because he had an artificial heart valve that was about five years past its due date for replacement. At that time he was too old for the surgery required to install a new valve. Aunty was plagued by depression and a few other illnesses so that all this played heavily on his mind. Well, the long and the short of it is that he arranged for her to be taken in by an assisted living community associated with the church. All his assets, of course, went to the community and thus eliminated any questions about inheritance. I communicated with my aunt for a year or two before she stopped answering my letters. Never did find out what happened, but it was all pretty obvious.
A couple months ago one of the few cousins I still communicate with asked if I was interested in taking some of this uncle's possessions off her hands. I had no idea she had anything, although her mom was uncle's sister. But, her mom passed on well before the uncle. For some reason or another, the uncle sent my cousin all his memorabilia from his army days and school days. She had no idea why he sent this stuff to her and didn't know what to do with it. I agreed to take all of it and she shipped it to me in a container about the size of two bread boxes.
I have yet to go through all of it, but I was stunned by what I did look through immediately. I knew this uncle went to the same high school I did, as did one other uncle, and in the box was his diploma and a few medals he earned while in school. He also attended the same parochial school I did and a photograph of the 1938 graduating class was included. That was only 20 years before I graduated from the very same school. By far the greater portion of the items had to do with his time served in WWII. He earned some kind of broadcasting certificate and apparently ran a radio show for the troops. More amazing than that was that he wrote several poems which he aired. Incredible as it seems, he recorded some of those broadcasts on cassette tapes which are included in the box. I no longer have a cassette player, but even if I did I would hesitate to play the tapes for fear they would disintegrate inside the player. The are well over 50 years old.
I thought of you while I was going through uncle's belongings. It was very thrilling to learn things I never knew about this uncle, and now I have possession of things he treasured and wanted to preserve, dozens of military medals for example. You must have experienced similar feelings doing genealogy discovery work. It's all very amazing and overwhelming at the same time.
Which brings me to a related event in my life. My last surviving uncle and I were in communication with each other for several years before he passed on. He and his wife never had any children. He worked for International Harvester and retired at age 55 thanks to the Teamsters Union he worked with. It didn't take long after that and he relocated to Florida and was more or less lost to the family that was left behind up north. I'm not sure why, but he called me one fine day just to check on things. We kept it up and I even wrote letters for several years. This uncle was very proud of his time in the service and asked me if I could research a particular monument in Washington DC to determine if his name is on it. I don't recall all the details right now, but I found proof that his name was indeed on the monument and sent him what I discovered. He could have done it himself if he had a computer and an Internet connection, but he didn't have either.
From time to time he would lament to me about the fact that he has no children to pass down any heirlooms or inheritance items. He also was very concerned about his wife, my aunt, should he predecease her. And, he felt he would because he had an artificial heart valve that was about five years past its due date for replacement. At that time he was too old for the surgery required to install a new valve. Aunty was plagued by depression and a few other illnesses so that all this played heavily on his mind. Well, the long and the short of it is that he arranged for her to be taken in by an assisted living community associated with the church. All his assets, of course, went to the community and thus eliminated any questions about inheritance. I communicated with my aunt for a year or two before she stopped answering my letters. Never did find out what happened, but it was all pretty obvious.
A couple months ago one of the few cousins I still communicate with asked if I was interested in taking some of this uncle's possessions off her hands. I had no idea she had anything, although her mom was uncle's sister. But, her mom passed on well before the uncle. For some reason or another, the uncle sent my cousin all his memorabilia from his army days and school days. She had no idea why he sent this stuff to her and didn't know what to do with it. I agreed to take all of it and she shipped it to me in a container about the size of two bread boxes.
I have yet to go through all of it, but I was stunned by what I did look through immediately. I knew this uncle went to the same high school I did, as did one other uncle, and in the box was his diploma and a few medals he earned while in school. He also attended the same parochial school I did and a photograph of the 1938 graduating class was included. That was only 20 years before I graduated from the very same school. By far the greater portion of the items had to do with his time served in WWII. He earned some kind of broadcasting certificate and apparently ran a radio show for the troops. More amazing than that was that he wrote several poems which he aired. Incredible as it seems, he recorded some of those broadcasts on cassette tapes which are included in the box. I no longer have a cassette player, but even if I did I would hesitate to play the tapes for fear they would disintegrate inside the player. The are well over 50 years old.
I thought of you while I was going through uncle's belongings. It was very thrilling to learn things I never knew about this uncle, and now I have possession of things he treasured and wanted to preserve, dozens of military medals for example. You must have experienced similar feelings doing genealogy discovery work. It's all very amazing and overwhelming at the same time.
Last edited by yogi on 26 Mar 2021, 17:15, edited 1 time in total.