Appraiser Trainee Exam

I PASSED!!!!!!!

Michelle Obama on The View

So what's the big deal about the cartoon?

Finally....

I have finally heard from the state appraisal board and the new exam is in place. I have been scheduled to take it Saturday, July 26. I will be glad to get it over with! When I received the call to schedule, they indicated they will not charge me the $75 fee and also indicated there were 29 people that they were contacting to reschedule to take the exam for free. So ladies and gentlemen, it wasn't just me!

Oh So Silly Me!

I thought online classes were going to be a piece of cake! Silly me, they are about as easy as it would be to make this multi-layered cake. I am too old to be in school! I am studying every night for these three classes, computers, business 101 and business management. Truth be told, I think perhaps the structure of a classroom would be easier, but this is the only realistic way I can obtain this degree. So enough blogging for now, and back to the books!

To Be or Not To Be A Trainee...

Ok. I have been too boiling mad for too long to update you on this fiasco. I missed passing my test for my trainee license by one question. I had challeged a question that did not have enough information for me to answer.

In the course of the investigation they determined that indeed that question was a question that was wrong on my final score, so therefore my request for them to take a look at the question was valid. The question was reviewed by the AQB and they deemed it was a valid question....for the appraiser license test. No necessarily the trainee test, but nevertheless, it could be answered and I missed it. (Huh? I was scratching my head on that one...)

So.....I need to retake the trainee test. But, not the one they have been giving me because it is too difficult and I cannot pass it with the required classes I have taken, to be able to pass it I need another 110 hours of appraisal schooling. (Remember, I just missed it by one...)

June 15 a new test will be implemented into the system and I will need to take that one. I should be able to pass it with the 90 hours of classes I have completed. Oh, and since they gave me the wrong test to begin with, they are looking into seeing if they can waive that $75 fee I have paid twice now. But they are doing this not only for me, but for everyone else who has failed the test also, 95% of the people who have taken it so far this year.

Am I wrong to have issues with this?

Brrrrrrrrrr

I ventured out on the jet ski today. All I got to say is Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr that water is cold!

Back to school....

Ok, so no, its not going to be as much fun for me as it was for Rodney Dangerfield, but, never-the-less, I am going back to school. In order to ultimately get my Appraiser's License, I have to have an Associates Degree. Its not something I can test out of, I have to get it.

I have been researching which schools will let me take most or all of the classes online, its the easiest way for me working full time and still raising three kiddos. Ball State is looking pretty good at this point, but I am still looking. Today I started checking into financial aid. I am not proud, I will take what I can get. Ball State is also looking into scholarships for me.

I feel so utterly stupid on how to move forward on this. But next fall when it all starts for my daughter, I will have it figured out. I am overwhelmed with all of the information and hardly know where to begin. But all I can do is keep going one step at a time.

I was hoping to have my trainee exam fiasco concluded before I started in on this....but they are saying they will have a decision for me hopefully by the end of the week. Its funny how you get something in your head of how you are going to do everything step by step and something just doesn't quite go as you planned and it can throw you completely off track if you let it. I am trying to handle my slight little sideline...with a smile on my face and a positive attitude and lots of prayers!

You have got to be kidding me

Appraiser Trainee License Exam

You are not going to believe this. In the course of the exam, in the second section, I alerted the proctor that there was a question that could not be answered in my opinion. There was not enough information. She in turn notified the state right then and there of the question I was having a problem with. When I completed the test she informed she notified the state and they will have to contact me.


THEN - I proceeded into the next room to get my results and guess what? I needed 100 to pass and I got 99!!!


So....I called the state when I got back home and asked them to review the question I had objected to and see if that would give me the additional one question....and that I needed an answer as soon as possible because I would need to reschedule the exam again.


The first thing I was told was not to reschedule the exam. Last month they voted not to use that exam anymore because it is testing us on things we do not know. It is designed to cover 200 hours of appraisal classes and a trainee has only taken 90 hours of appraisal classes. She said you are taking a test you can not pass. And I got within one question??? Grrrrr.......

By the end of the day.....they are going to see if the "committee" will grant me the one question and pass me; they are also going to contact the AQB and see if they will pass me; and they are going to notify me when the easier exam will be available for me to take if they can't go ahead and pass me on this one.

CLEAR AS MUD!!!!

The Big Day Finally

Wednesday, April 30.

I will drive to Fort Wayne to take the Indiana Appraiser Trainee Licensure Exam! Finally! It has taken literally weeks for the state to respond to my completion of the required education hours and exams and give me the "pass" to schedule this exam. I will spend any spare time I come across studying. Hopefully I will successfully pass it on my first attempt, but if not there is no shame in trying again.

As soon as I do pass this exam, then I get the highly coveted trainee license I have been seeking, thus allowing me to break free from the office and go along on home inspections. I am looking forward to getting back out and about.

The next couple of years are going to be tough, need to acquire another 120 hours of appraisal classes and I also have to obtain an associates degree in business management or something of similar relevance. Not to mention the mass amounts of appraisals that I have to complete 75% of in order to obtain my certified residential appraiser status.

The requirements to become an appraiser have gotten much more difficult, but I think we can all agree that there is definitely a reason why. I look forward to each and every challenge as I face it and the sense of accomplishment I am feeling upon completion of each step is a great feeling. I am hoping this sends a positive message to my kids also,

SUSPENDED

I came home for lunch yesterday and got my mail. I had a letter from the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The nice little letter told me I would be eligible to get my driver's license reinstated in May for the incredibly low fee of $150! (if you read my previous post it won't surprise you to learn I have been battling with some high blood pressure issues lately)

I called the BMV in Indianapolis to find out what this was all about and they informed me that they suspended my license for lack of proof of insurance for a wreck I had in November. I informed them I didn't have a wreck in November I had one in December. Upon further investigation and retrieval of my accident report dated December 18, it turns out someone "keyed" it into the sytem for November 18, thus making my date of insurance inaccurate. I am sure you can guess how many phone calls and faxes and aspirins later it was before I had cleared my license....

Now this is where it gets even better. They suspended me at the end of December with no notification. I renewed my license plate in March with my driver's license for identification. Not a word about it being suspended. I took my daughter in to take her written exam twice and driving exam twice - each time I had to present my driver's license and registration, as the responsible custodial parent I had to have a "valid" license in order for her to get hers. Again, no mention of a suspension. Then two weeks ago I took my son in to get his learner's permit, once again presenting my license and registration as the responsible adult for him. Again, no mention of a suspension!!!

WTF!!!! If i had been pulled over for any type of traffic violation or incurred any incident, I could have gone straight to jail.

sOCceR mOM

I am really not sure if I even qualify as a soccer mom, but yet I think maybe I do. I am not "38", I am not "eye candy" nor a "trophy wife" and I don't drive a big SUV. However I am "29" for several years running now, presentable in public, a single mom with three kids, I drive an SUV wannabe, and I work full time and take classes online in my spare time in an effort to improve the overall quality of my life and the life of my kids. My cell phone is an extension of me and I am rarely without it. Yes, I think perhaps I do qualify as a soccer mom.

OH, and my youngest son plays soccer and I carry my portable chair and umbrella in the back of my vehicle at all times thus making me available to sit thru the pouring down rain and watch my son play soccer.

I was recently discussing the local dating scene with a good friend of mine. (Lately, my own personal dating life has been non-existent). He told me that "soccer moms" scare the heck out of him thus leaving him to choose from much younger women or much older women. Apparently these options aren't quite what he had in mind. He said he thinks the "soccer mom" is borderline crazy, trying to be everywhere and be everyone to everybody. He is right.

For example, last Saturday I had to figure out how to get my son to driver's ed at 8 am (20 miles from home); get back home, get thru the shower, get breakfast for my other two kids, get my youngest back into town for his soccer practice at 10 am; leave him there, get back home and get my 16 yr old to work at 11 - not too far from home but not within walking distance, back into town to pick up oldest son at driver's ed at 11 and then back to the soccer field to watch my youngest play in the pouring down rain. Only to see my ex leisurely stroll up midway thru the game without a care in the world, pat my son on the back and leisurely stroll away with much less than a care in the world. Only for us to hit the road running full speed ahead, soaked to the skin directly after the soccer game....

Tonight's schedule looks quite daunting as well. I will spend the day in the office on my own for most of us while my mom and my sister attend continuing education classes. Somehow I need to slip away before 4 and take my daughter to work, get back to work and be home shortly after 4:30 when my youngest gets off the bus so that he won't be coming home to an empty house. I will ask him to get off the bus at my office, but he always forgets, so then I will make the mad dash home. We will gather our things and head to town for his soccer practice and game. (Any rain in the forecast?) As soon as I get him settled in I will run over to the highschool to meet my oldest son and his driver's ed teacher for my "ride along" progress report during which his instructor will give me the lowdown skinny on how my son is doing and what he needs to work on and all that jazz. Then where? Back to soccer of course! Then home to make dinner and do homework. I refuse to take these kids out to fast food....I am making a financial point to them in these days of high gas prices and high food costs and living on a budget. We plan our meals for the week on Sundays and shop accordingly and are not doing the fast food thing every night. So dinner and homework should be completed in time to shoo the youngest off to bed and leave my oldest son in charge while I slip away and pick my daughter up from work.

Life isn't easy over here in bumkinville, but I wouldn't trade these days for anything....well maybe a day at the spa would be nice!

An Engineer's Guide to Cats

Sadly funny and true