I am sorry for your losses. The pain is inevitable, and although it will always be with you, it will get somewhat better over time. There really is no good answer to your question "why?". The only acceptable answer for me is that the universe is indifferent. Death is a random thing, I believe. If people are objective, and really observe the world around them, this seems to be the only conclusion that makes sense. I don't believe it is part of some cosmic plan that is not understandable. It is what it is. And it is sad. Human emotions are frail and most of us are far more insecure about our existence than we like to admit. When we lose those we love or care about, it makes the insecurity even more profound. I know there are lots of well-meaning folks on this board who can comfort you and maybe tell you what you think you need to hear. I'm just giving you my honest assessment of things as a rational person. Please accept your pain and grief as normal and learn to nurture yourself and be your own "best friend". Take it one day at a time. Get lost in some activity or interest. Make some new friends. Give more love and attention to those who you still have left in your life. This will help you. It WON'T cure your grief. But, it will make life feel better. Remember, we all will slip back into the great mystery one day. Life is hard, but it's still it's own reward. We're all just lucky to be alive. Don't contemplate on whether you are happy too much, and then you will find that you can be so. RV

ncrealestateguy-If a buyer signs and agreement with an agent, it in no way restricts them from making a phone call. It may ruffle a few feathers, but that is it. You might operate under a particular code of ethics as an agent, but that code does not extend to the behavior of your clients. If your client wants to bypass you in any and all negotiations, that is their right. They will still need to pay you, but that is the extent of your relationship. I'm sure your recommendation works great most of the time, but these 2 agents work together at the same agency and one can't get a return call. That is just unacceptable. If the agent can get it resolved on their own, great. It doesn't appear as though that is working at this point though. As for timing/deals - a sellers agent that helps set the price on a property and then immediately buys the property at that price is behaving improperly. If the agent knows that the property is so underpriced that they immediately jump on the deal, then they didn't fulfill their duty to look after the financial interests of their client.

Only you can answer that question. Is it going to bug you for years if you don't fix it? Some people just like to know that things are perfect, regardless of whether the flaws are visible or not. My husband would have to fix the wall, I would be quite content to leave as is.

I can definitely say that I am in the average category for one part and in the slow category for the other part of the lawn. I'm in the middle of performing another one with three separate holes. After 30 minutes the top two holes at the highest point of the lawn have dropped three and 4 inches respectively and will definitely drain within two hours. The hole at the way bottom of the lawn where all the water runoff is has only dropped about a half of an inch. No grass grows at this downward slope portion. I did the shake the jar test last night and am waiting for the Clay to settle to determine the composition of the soil. The confusion stems from statements like these: "Properly draining soil drains at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour. If the soil drains at any other rate, modifications to the soil are needed." http://homeguides.sfgate.com/increase-soil-drainage-24306.html "If the water takes from three to 12 hours to drain, then the drainage is adequate for most landscape plants (about 1 inch per hour). If it takes more than 12 hours, then the drainage is poor." -http://essmextension.tamu.edu/treecarekit/index.php/before-the-storm/tree-identification-and-selection/identification-of-and-corrective-action-for-poorly-drained-soils-in-the-landscape/ In well-drained soil the water level will go down at a rate of about 1 inch an hour. A faster rate, such as in sandy soil, may signal potentially dry site conditions; http://agebb.missouri.edu/agforest/archives/v10n2/gh14.htm