Heather Chavez, Second Self Virtual Assistance (928) 412-4469

While looking for a home for rent last year, my friend came across a nice home in a nice neighborhood. The rent was priced well below market value. There was a realtor's sign in the yard and the realtor was with a very big real estate company. The people moving out said that they were leaving because the owners were taking their rent but not making the mortgage payment, causing the home to go into foreclosure. After doing some digging, my friend found out that the home had been purchased only a few months prior to that and had decreased in value by approximately $200,000. Since something smelled a little fishy, they questioned the validity of the rental by emailing the realtor. There was no phone number on the realtor's sign, just a name, and the online ad they saw only had an email address. After all, they had been told the horror stories of people renting out their homes, pocketing the money and leaving the renters on the streets out of luck when the bank came to seize the property. The realtor, of course, was offended. How dare you suggest that this whole thing wasn't on the up and up. The owner was current with the payments and he could prove it. The email ended with the words "But, then again who are you and it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS."

My friend politely emailed the realtor back and proceeded to inform him that, as a potential tenant, it was her responsibility to find out as much about a property as possible before renting it. So, if a question arose, she needed to have it answered. Due to the rude behavior exhibited in his earlier email, she copied his boss on her response. When he saw that she had copied his boss, his response was much nicer. He agreed that it was smart of her to check on a property before renting it. He assured her that everything was on the up and up and that a family of 5 was actually moving in that very next weekend to rent the house on a month-to-month basis and that they were aware that the home was being sold on a short sale so they could be asked to leave at any time.

What is your opinion? Was my friend wrong to be suspicious? Even if there was no problem, did the Realtor handle the issue correctly by telling her it was none of her business? What if my friend had decided to rent the place after all? His response certainly would have soured any possibility. Now, she won't even bother going to this real estate company when her family decides to buy a home and has let all of her friends and family know what happened and how she was treated. Has anyone heard of things like this happening before? Please let me know what you think of this situation. I would love to hear a realtor's point of view.

Football has its Super Bowl at the end of the season. NASCAR fans have it at the beginning of the season: Daytona 500! Matt Kenseth won the rain-shortened race, ending his dry spell (so to speak) of a winless last year. Congratulations, Matt! But the big question of the race (and the one that raised the loudest voices in our house) was this: Did Dale Earnhardt Jr wreck Brian Vickers in retaliation for his block or was it simply an accident? Now, I am not a BIG Jr. fan, although I have to root for him now that he is on my team (Hendrick Motor Sports). But, I do live with one and am good frends with several. From my experience with the rabid Earnhardt Jr fans, I can tell you that, had the roles been reversed and Vickers had bumped Jr while racing hard one lap down and causing a huge pile-up of cars, the Jr nation would have been OUTRAGED beyond belief. Brian Vickers' head would have been demanded in payment for the havoc caused to His Honor's vehicle and possible bodily harm. However, since it was the beloved Jr that caused the wreck, it was just an accident and really was Vickers' fault for blocking an aggressive move by Jr. What do you think?

I know I can't be the only NASCAR fan on Active Rain. It's just not possible. With Rainers in places like North Carolina, Indiana, Florida, etc., there's just no way I am the only one. On the biggest day of the year for any NASCAR fan (Daytona 500), I invite you all to join the new group I created: NASCAR Nation. I wanted it to be a fun place for NASCAR fans to meet and discuss anything and everything NASCAR. So, please meet me over there and let me know who you are rooting for and which races you may actually be attending this year. My neck is red and my head is high! Go Team Hendricks!

If you love Italian food like I do, you are going to want to visit Moreno Valley's little gem of a restaurant, the Chicago Pasta House. This is a family-owned restaurant that began in Chicago back in 1974 with old family recipes from Italy. Eventually, the owners moved to California and brought the taste of the old country with them. You feel right at home when you walk through the doors of the converted house that serves as the restaurant. Everything is fresh and delizioso! In fact, their Italian dressing is made everyday by Mama Rita herself. She actually comes in to make it every morning by hand and it is the best Italian dressing I have ever had. Both Mama and Papa come out to visit with guests, giving warm hugs and kisses to everyone and greeting you as part of the family. Several of their family members cook and serve as well. The Chicago Pasta House has won several awards and accolades for their stuffed pizza, which they perfected while operating in Chicago's South Side. I've been to Chicago and this stuffed deep dish pizza ranks right up there with Pizzeria Uno. The sauce is rich and the dough is cooked to perfection. Their garlic bread is to die for and the antipasto salad is fit for a family of four. If you're not into pizza, their tortellini, ravioli, lasagna, gnocci and calzones are absolutely wonderful. They also have several seafood dishes to choose from. My son loves their meatball sandwiches, too. Next time you're in Moreno Valley, make a stop at the Chicago Pasta House, located at 24667 Sunnymead Boulevard. You'll be glad you did!

Yesterday afternoon, I had to go to a doctor's appointment. Nothing major. Just a routine follow-up on a hysterectomy I had five weeks ago. (Long, long story. If you want all the gory details, read here.) As any woman will tell you, a visit to the gynecologist is not a fun time in normal circumstances. So, starting the trip off with a drive that took almost an hour rather than the 25 minutes it normally takes (in Southern California, we measure distance in minutes, not miles) and trying to avoid the vultures circling the parking lot for that space five steps closer to the entrance at the hospital, you just feel the blood pressure rise. Great! Now my doctor's going to be concerned about that as well! Yeesh!

After finding a parking space in the boonies and signing in five minutes late for an appointment I should have been comfortably early for, I proceeded to wait...and wait...and wait. My 3:20 appointment turned into a 4:25 appointment before the doctor could see me. And this was the ONE day I didn't bring a book to read. I received apologies for the wait from the nursing staff, who took my vitals and sent me back out to wait because there were no open rooms. Again, selfish me, my face was getting hot from the extra blood pumping through my body as I tried not to get mad. Luckily, I didn't give voice to the nasty comments floating in my brain. I told myself, "OK. They're busy. Lots of other women are having to wait right now." Besides, I absolutely adore my wonderful doctor. So, I waited.

Finally, I was ushered back to my own private room to wait a little bit longer. I finally received the gut check I needed to put my psyche back in its place when the doctor stepped in. She apologized for the wait as well and explained that she had not one, but two patients that day who had miscarriages. Both of these miscarriages happened to women who were pregnant for the first time. While it is common for first pregnancies to miscarry, it can be quite devastating and "you have to spend extra time with these patients at a time like that" (her words). See why I like her so much? In my head, my bratty little "it's all about me" kid shut up and the caring, loving person I try to be in real life stepped forward. I felt bad for the women that I didn't even know. An hour wait out of my day was no big deal. However, these women's (and their husbands'/boyfriends') lives changed dramatically that day.

The moral of this story? Keep your nasty comments to yourself, especially when you don't know the whole story. Let your bratty inner child rant and rave all they want to, kicking and screaming in a tantrum on the floor in your brain. You can never take back a sharp tongue!