Good morning and thank you for joining me in yet another #WeekendCoffeeShare. Come on in and enjoy a nice warm cup of coffee.
Winter is still around and so is COVID. One thing that’s been missing though is snow. Utah has long proclaimed it has the Greatest Snow on Earth but the white stuff seem to have been MIA along with a lot of stuff since the pandemic began. I was in Park City a few weeks ago and saw snow machines blowing snow at the ski resort. I have a feeling if snow ever decides to make a comeback, it’s going to come back hard.
If we were having coffee, I would tell you I finally got my medication this week. I can finally get out of the house again – mask up and hand sanitizer, of course. I saw both of my doctors on Thursday and gave them a piece of my mind. “How could you mess up my medication like that?” I said.
My doctors seemed genuinely puzzled. “I don’t recall upping your dosage,” one of them said. Should I be recording my doctor visits? Because one of us is senile and that person isn’t me. In the end, my prescription was fixed but unfortunately I got a text from the pharmacy saying they’re out of stock.
Darn it!
Oh well, at least I have a 15-day supply to keep my anxiety at bay.
While at the doctors, I had my blood drawn. My platelets came back normal this time but my white-blood-count is low again. Why does this happen? My body just doesn’t like to be in balance. Last year, it was low platelets, normal white-blood-count. Grr…
If we were having coffee, I would tell you I’m excited for next week. I bought a new lens for my camera to replace the 18-55 mm kit lens. The lens isn’t broken or anything. I just find the image quality – what’s the word – SUCKS. So far, all my best pictures come from my prime lens – 50 mm f/1.8. The 18-55 mm lens just isn’t sharp enough and there are blurring in random places even though I am on auto-focus.
So I decided to splurge on a Sigma 17-70 mm f/2.8 -4 lens with macro capabilities. According to internet reviews, it’s worth it. I’ll be the judge of that.
I wonder what Mom will think when she finds out. Why do I have a feeling she’s not going to react well?
If we were having coffee, I would tell you my mom think she’s the hero or savior at the moment. She sold one of her houses earlier this month and it closed this week. On Wednesday night, she approached me with an offer. “I will lend you the money to pay off your house and then you’ll pay me and your aunt back on a monthly basis with interest.”
Not this again. I’ve rejected her offer a few times before. There’s no way I am going to have my mom and aunt be my lender. I already owe Mom over $30K for my student loans and car. I would rather owe the bank than her, at least the bank doesn’t remind me every second of every day the amount of money I owe.
But Mom is persistent. I sometimes feel like I’m living with a salesperson. She wouldn’t leave me alone until I’ve taken her offer. She spent Wednesday night convincing me to take her offer when all I wanted to do was sleep. I had been up since 5:30 am that morning and after working 10-hours, I was exhausted. “Just take a look at how much interest I would be saving you.” Mom said, making me do simple-yet-complex-to-my-tired-brain math calculations to compare the interests.
Will she ever leave me alone or will she not leave until I say yes to her offer?
After downloading an amortization table template in excel, I did some calculations and finally ready to negotiate. “I reject,” I said, citing the monthly premium is more than what I’m paying now.
She countered by lowering the interest rate to the equivalent of 1% less than my current rate and extending the loan to 20 years. She followed me to my room and watched me crunch the numbers into the spreadsheet. Immediately, the monthly payment lowered to a desirable amount.
Leaving me no reason to reject the offer, I reluctantly accepted, though I’m now mulling the whole thing over in my mind of whether I’ve made a stupid move as I now need to pay home insurance and property taxes as opposed to the paying those from the escrow portion of the mortgage. Then again, with the reduction in monthly payment, it’ll leave me with some free cash to put into savings or loan principal.
Did I make the right move? I guess only time will tell.
If we were having coffee, I would thank you for stopping by and hope to chat again next week.
This is Another Story 
👍🏻
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Hello, Yinglan! I’m happy about your new camera, but I’m sorry about your anxiety. I do hope the medication comes in quickly and helps. I have struggled with anxiety the last few years as well. We can get through this!
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Hi Pamela, the medication should help a little bit, at least in a psychological sense. It will at least give me assurance that my immune system has an extra layer of protection. I think I need to just work on deep breathing to stave off the anxiety, even if it’s only temporary. Thank you for dropping by.
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Have good week, Yinglan. Take care!
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Thank you. Hope you have a great week too.
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Have a good week and I hope the new meds kick in.
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Thanks. Thank you for dropping by and hope you have a great week too.:)
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Hello Yinglan. I’m sorry to say this, but I disagree with you accepting your mother’s offer on any terms. There are some types of transactions that should never be between family or even friends and I believe mortgages are in that group. I would advise you to find a way out of all these commitments because, in your case, this lender cannot be trusted to deal fairly and what is your recourse if things go sideways? You are a clever gal. I’ll bet you could find a way out.
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Hi Gary, I thought and thought about this and as I pointed out, I did reject a few times already but gah darn it, that woman is persistent. When she wants something, she’ll get it one way or another and right now, what she wants is to pull me into a pool full of muddy water (*figuratively speaking) and I don’t know how long I can keep playing her game. Now that I’ve accept the offer and feel so stupid for agreeing to it so quickly, I guess my only move now is to pay this thing off as quickly as I can manage. *sigh*
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I’m not there and not you so by definition your wisdom in this wins over mine. but I agree, parents have us in a bind and it’s extra hard to say no where with anyone else, it would be easier. I hope I’ve not added to your burden as I was only trying to be an outsider’s opinion.
Another idea: most loans have some sort of built in cooling off period — like 3 days here in Calif.. If no action has yet been taken, perhaps you could still say no and have the force of lending law on your side. Just a thought.
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Oh Gary, I always value other’s opinion. To receive second opinion is a blessing, in my opinion, and I am always grateful.
I did not know that about loans. I’ll have to do some research.
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I hope the meds help and you have a lot of fun with your new camera lens. Thanks for linking up with #WeekendCoffeeShare.
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Yes, I’ve been feeling a little bit better after I began taking them again. I actually got my new lens today which was unexpected and I’ve already playing with it. So much better than the old lens. Thank you for dropping by. 🙂
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Finances and family is a tricky situation. I understand your hesitation, and at the same time I understand why you took the offer. I think I would have done the same as you, if I were in your shoes. And you own your own house, that is a fabulous thing!
How exciting with a new lens! That one is an investment in yourself 🙂 Thank you for the coffee!
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I guess there’s always some upsides to things and that was exactly what I was thinking when I accepted the offer.
I got my lens yesterday and have already been playing with it. I can’t wait to take it on a test drive. 🙂 Thank you for dropping by and have a great week.
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How exciting with your new lens!!! Can’t wait to see the result 🙂
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I guess if there is a year to not have the famous Utah powder, this is the year since not many people are traveling….
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That’s very true but then the residents will have to suffer because their water bill is going to be through the roof in the summer.
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Great read Yinglan,
Thank you for sharing and I hope you are having a great week!
Will
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Thank you, I hope you are having a great week as well.
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Evening, at the end of the day, it’s your decision about the loan. Even if you have said yes, there’s time to cha he your mind, always. I’m glad you have the Dr a piece of your mind, that concerning, surely they should be able to give you a confident answer of what happened. I hope you can get your meds soon, and that the rest of your week goes well. X
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I’m glad too and glad that things got resolved. Right now, I have enough to last 2 weeks. Hopefully I can get it refilled soon. Thank you for dropping by and hope your week is going well too.
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Hello, apologies for the late reply. I hope all is well and you’re set up for a great February x
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No worries, all is well. I hope you have a great week ahead.
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