I may have been destined to become a concert pianist. After all, I began my piano lessons at age 7, like my two older sisters. Piano playing was a prerequisite for the Catholic school we attended. A nun, Sister Stella had a sister who was also a nun at St. Anthony of Padua in lower Manhattan; her name was Sister Catherine Marie. Sister Stella, who was in her 80’s, small and ornery, had the difficult task of teaching us. My love of music was put on the back burner after I realized the pain and agony involved in learning. A wooden ruler would grace your knuckles for every sour note, not like the piano was ever properly tuned. The fear of striking the wrong key would resonate through my body. I would begin to sweat, and I already stuttered, which didn’t help. By the time I was eight, my knuckles were raised with callouses. I was the envy of the martial arts world.

My earliest memory of nuns was when I was in the first grade, standing in line after lunch, waiting to go back inside the classroom. The kid behind me didn’t appreciate his lunch, or maybe he was scheduled for a piano lesson and threw up on my pants. He vomited all over the back of me. The nuns felt this was not part of their job description to clean me and began to yell at me. What did I do? They called for my older sister, who was in the 8th grade, to come down and clean me up. I was crying, stuttering, and everyone was yelling at me. That day I learned every curse word in the book; my sister was muttering them under her breath.

As I have mentioned, I stuttered, and I was a big kid, so I sat in the back of the classroom. Because I stuttered, I was made fun of, and the nuns who were teaching me thought I was either an idiot or I couldn’t see well. But they didn’t move me to the front of the class. Instead, they told my parents I needed glasses. Duh? Glasses to cure stuttering! I started wearing reading glasses when I was 55; to this very day, my distance vision is great. Funny, back then, whatever a nun would suggest, my parents, and all parents, would blindly follow.

I wasn’t particularly bright. Since I stuttered, I never raised my hand to give the answer. One day I knew the answer; I raised my hand. I am beaming with information this time, “Sister, Sister, Sister.” She ignored me and said, “John, what’s the answer.” As John searched his heart and soul for the answer, my insides were bursting, and I yelled out the answer. No one knew I even had a voice; I did, and I wanted to answer. When I bellowed out the answer, the nun turned to me and said, “Is your name John?” I was sent to Mother Superior’s office. Mother Bettina was not a force to be reckoned with. She was 90 if she was a day. You knew you were in deep trouble when she rolled her sleeves up. I always wondered what was up their sleeves? She kept a metal ruler handy, not wood, metal, probably because the wooden rulers cracked after so much use. If you failed a test by 10 points, that meant ten cracks on your open palms to make up the difference in your grade. If you still failed, they didn’t give you back the points, just the pain. My knuckles were sore, and my palms were beet red; I could hardly hold a pencil. That yelling out in class got me ten cracks, and I knew the answer! What a way to teach.

My sister Joanne was left-handed. The nuns constantly tried to correct this; they thought being left-handed was a problem. Ironically, my sister became a Sister herself. I never thought nuns were human; I thought they had wheels for their feet like robots. Then one day, their habits were adjusted for more comfort. Imagine my surprise!! Oh, my, they have hair and feet! I then realized they were human.

Want to congratulate Stephen LaFlamme on his new addition to his family, Pepper. Beautiful pup and well deserved. No doubt Pepper will have a lifelong safe and great home. Here’s a note from Steve LaFlamme:

I just got Pepper, standard size merl colored labradoodle. I couldn’t pass on this one.

By June 2023, over 60,000 Mortgage Loan Originators have left the mortgage industry due to inflation, surging mortgage rates, skyrocketing homes prices, regulations, and low housing inventory. Another 50,000 loan officers are not expected to renew their loan origination licenses. Being a loan officer is not the most glamorous career today. Thousands of mortgage companies have or are thinking of leaving the Mortgage Industry. Rates are at historic high, the secondary market is unstable, lenders are scared to lend, economists are forecasting a housing market crash, inflation is soaring daily, and the Federal Reserve Board is absolutely clueless. So is now the time to be in the mortgage industry?

https://youtu.be/hocJn_xcm5s?si=VGOzvS-9DWY37q-J

I had the great honor and opportunity to work with CEO MIKE KORTAS, CEO and founder of NEXA Mortgage for slightly over two years now. I can attest 💯plus more that CEO KORTAS honors 110% of his word, never had lied to me, and has always led by example. AXEN MORTGAGE is the next invention best to sliced bread. You don’t get screwed at NEXA MORTGAGE under the helm of CEO Mike. Now you can take that to the back folks.

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I’m going to change the mortgage game today. Be on the Why NEXA call to see the biggest opportunity in mortgages today at 11am AZ time. Big moves... | By Mike KortasFacebook

I’m going to change the mortgage game today. Be on the Why NEXA call to see the biggest opportunity in mortgages today at 11am AZ time. Big moves...

What are the solutions for borrowers who have a high debt-to-income ratios? Credit scores are over 700 FICO, stable job and income, and on time payment history. Have extra income but cannot be used for mortgage loan qualification purposes because there is no two year seasoning.

Here’s a video music of John Denver Country Roads Take Me Home

https://youtu.be/HQicl2mOPpI?si=vE1HQszCmuiEGfDK

What are the difference between mortgage brokers vs mortgage bankers?

Jeffrey Epstein has made international news as the pedophile of the stars. Famous people like Former President Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Prince Andrew, Oprah Winfrey, AL Gore, Kathy Griffin, Charlie Sheen, Dustin Hoffman, Henry Kizinger, Dan Sneider, George Mitchell, Naomi Campbell, Phil Campbell, Steven Colbert, Sean Carter, Alec Baldwin, Dustin Hoffman, Phil Collins, Sreven Spielberg, Kevin Spacey, Joan Rivers, Charlie Rose, Seth Green, Tom Hanks, Ralph Fenese, Janice Dixon, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Richard Brandson, and several hundred politicians, actors, and CEOs of large corporations. So who is this king of pedophiles and pedophiles who befriended this child molester and monster. Here is a 60 minute special on who Jeffrey Epstein is

https://youtu.be/VQOOxOl9l80?si=e1l_X8US2RDjL6QV