We all grieve our loss of Carmen. But, she is resting in the brighter world. I am getting old and ready to do some resting too, but there is much to be done — as they say in the movies.

But, will there ever be another Carmen? Nobody will ever be like her. But, perhaps there will be someone who will do her work. I get so far behind on emails and phone calls, renewals and more. It is hard to keep up.

I wanted to spend 2021 doing quality control, and I brushed up 1000’s of people’s notes sections and quizzed thousands as well. It took forever, but I did a good job refining my procedures and getting my listings straightened out. There are just so many of them.

I need to be at peace with myself and done with whatever projects I am working on to have time to incubate someone else to help me with my work.

I met several people who sounded promising who wanted to help me work. But, I never followed through. Most of them quit the notary industry after a year anyway. Do I want to work with a quitter? Carmen lasted 17 years and has the emotional scars to prove it. I want someone who will last.

But, the other day a nice lady from Florida called me. She said she wanted to work for me. She wasn’t at all like Carmen, but she was charismatic, great with people, had a customer service background, and was black. I was thinking — will she be the next Carmen? I started having that feeling. You know that feeling when you meet that person and you wonder — is she the one?

I had that feeling when I looked under the sofa and found true love. I said hello and she said “meao.” We became instant lifelong friends and I have the claw marks to prove it. Every time I look under that sofa, many years after Mrs. Meao’s demise, I wonder — will I find true love again under a sofa? Of all the unlikely places. But, I don’t think I will find a new and perfect assistant under a sofa. But, perhaps from a referral or unexpected phone call.

An old contact from 2005 or 2008 surfaced with me. She referred someone to me and that person mentioned her name. Nicole Mickel. She was in the settlement industry and then moved to Real Estate and sells houses in Florida to people moving down from New York. Quite a business. I forgot her exact name, I knew it had an N and an M in it. So, I asked for the contact information for Nicole’s number and called her. She was her charismatic old self. She gave me great hiring advice. She taught me how to hire based on personality type and how to decipher what a person’s personality type is. Mrs. Meao’s personality type was that she liked to snooze and claw people, but I don’t know how this applies to humans.

In any case I feel more emotionally ready to deal with this. When Carmen died, I knew she was sick and I knew she was slowing down. I thought she still had a few more years. Her death was not only traumatic, but just left me there high and dry and emotionally unready.

I think when people die, they should give their friends, family and contacts two years notice. I am slow dealing with stuff.

In any case, to sum it up, I am getting more ready to find a replacement. I will be strategic and try to find a great personality who is disciplined about this type of work and good with people. No promises. whomever it is will not have the technical saavy of Carmen, but might be very helpful and have a great personality. Keep your paws crossed… or fingers.

It all started when I had to go to five stores to find Starbucks Double Shot. I love double shots so much I created a notary quiz question where the notary has to administer an Oath to me for a statement that says, “I love Starbucks Double Shots.” Well, they are not being manufactured anymore and they are out of stock. Thank God I have the remains of a dozen that I keep in my trunk for trips. What is happening to this planet.

Then I couldn’t find water at the supermarket. But, I went to another supermarket and they had Arrowhead, but not their store brand. Is this a trucking problem.

Then, I started seeing articles stating that the supply chain has been undermined for five months — and I am only realizing in October 2021.

So, how will this affect the notary biz? Good question. First of all, if you are a Notary (or anyone else), you should consider stocking up on things you like and things you need because they might not be available at some point because your trucker died, quit, or has Covid. Additionally, local California laws make it impossible to hire a trucker who has their own truck because they must be categorized as an employee even if they meet the definition of a subcontractor. I believe CA created that law solely to throw a wrench in people’s business models and put people out of work.

Supply chain issues lead to a decrease in construction because materials are so hard to come by. That means less purchases, sales, and construction paperwork. We still might have refinances, and that might go up as property values might climb if people are not able to build easily. Additionally, there is a labor shortage as people don’t want to work as much or due to labor law issues, cannot qualify to work under the terms they like or need such as being an independent contractor. AB5 is such a bummer.

I think that in the long run, people will die from the vaccine and from natural disasters. My psychic channeled the angels at my request to ask about two dozen questions — mostly personal. But, one was about earthquakes. The angel said that earthquakes would be the tip of the iceberg. We will have volcanoes all throughout the world — that means Oregon and Washington State will be in big trouble, and perhaps Wyoming.

It seems clear that the Messiah is coming, and the prophecy is that 2/3rds of the world’s population will die in the years before he becomes a public figure. A much smaller portion of the American population will die compared to the world population, but there will still be death. And death means more available housing which means that ALTHOUGH housing might go up for the next two years, it will have to come down a little starting around 2023 or 2024 when it hits it’s apex, and then sharply around 2024-2027. This is just my guestimate, but it is based on future events revealed to me.

So, I don’t know where it makes sense to put your assets: stocks, gold, real estate, land, or cash. Maybe a mixture of all of these. Basically, when the market hits its apex, there will not be much in terms of Refinances after that. And God knows what will happen to global financial markets. We might face another meltdown, but of unprecedented proportions. Time to build a bunker and stock up on canned goods!

I filtered out a list of 100 notaries who did really well on our email quiz. I offered them a free upgrade if they did well on a more complicated ten question quiz. Only four have answered back and so far nobody has done well on it.

I want to offer opportunities to others. I don’t even charge for a lot of these opportunities. But, if you guys would study more, you might do well on my quizzes and get ahead in life. I would feel happier too.

Notary Public 101 on our blog offers a great opportunity to study from materials that will help you pass our email quizzes. It is not rocket science and it will help you become a more polished notary.

Maybe one day the situation will change and motivation will reign supreme. On a brighter note, we sell more certification courses now than a year ago.