Growing up, my father drove people crazy by slowly reading every part of long contracts while they had to sit and wait. I agree with him that reading contracts is essential. But, exasperating others is not nice. I think it is my karma being the son of a copious reader (that is his hobby by the way) to have signers who are just as bad (or diligent and good) as dad.

During my career, roughly half of my borrowers read too much. My average signing took a little more than an hour. I dealt with it. I was not too concerned unless they were delaying me from getting to another job. But, now that I am older, and value my time more, I realize this is no good. Three hour signings cannot happen.

You need a strategy for how you are going to deal with this. Here are some ideas. Put in the comments if you have other ideas.

1. During the confirmation call, let them know you are offering them “x” amount of minutes for the signing. I would offer more time to those paying you well to make sure you get rehired. For cheap signings, perhaps offer 45 minutes. Keep in mind that if they go over, you need to offer some leeway to avoid social friction (and getting fired). For signings that pay big bucks, you might allow up to two hours just to be nice. But, still emphasize that there is a limit. My personal experience was that the more I was paid, the faster the signing was. My worst client was a Lender whose borrowers always had to call him and ask painstakingly long questions on my time. The average phone call was 45 minutes which I had to sit through.

2. If you don’t give them a summary of your time offering before the signing, you can spring it on them at the signing. You explain that this is a signing appointment and not a reading appointment. You can explain that they have borrowers copies to read for the next 72 hours if this is a refinance for a primary residence, and that they can cancel after the fact. Explain that you have other appointments and have to leave in “x” amount of minutes whether the loan is signed or not out of courtesy for your subsequent appointments.

Having time limits might get you fired, not paid, or in trouble. But, if you want to make money as a signing agent, you need to book lots of appointments and nail them one by one. Or, you need to have two high paying jobs per day. 2 x $200 = $400 and $400 per day is a living — not a great living, but a living. If you make $80 per signing, you need to do at least five per day to get paid well and that means hustling and moving fast, especially at night when they might be back to back.

In the worst scenario, you might have to take the main copies signed or unsigned, put them in the Fedex and send them back. You can explain to the company that you ran out of time and that next time the Lender should explain the documents better to the signer AHEAD OF TIME otherwise they end up taking your time when you don’t have time. It is not a matter of what your time is worth — if you have another client waiting, it is an abuse of that other client’s time if you are late for any reason.

Please comment if you have better ideas, because this blog article is about playing rough which is not considered nice, but is the only way to get good income per hour spent. Otherwise you might get taken for a ride regularly.

I live with a hoarder. I can’t get it through her head that she doesn’t need all of that stuff. It seems to be a mental illness. She cleans up a little once per year, but we need more than a little. I withhold part of the rent I would otherwise pay her since my passage way through the living room to the front door is compromised. I like where I live, but the hoarding is insane.

But, doing signings with hoarders is dangerous. Here are the dangers.

1. You might have to clear off a space on the table and remove stuff from chairs or from near chairs.

2. There might be infestations due to the inability to clean due to stuff being everywhere.

3. There might be bacterial problems, mold, or other diseases that are airborne due to the problem.

4. Something could fall on your or fall and block your escape route.

Please let me know your stories with hoarders in the comments. The rest of us would love to know!

Since my Notaries over 50 blog article was so popular, I am writing another one that is similar.

Viruses
Notaries over 60 need to be careful about the Coronavirus which partakes in ageism. It kills mainly elderly people and people from cultures that eat noodles like Italians and Chinese (not sure why). Personally, I think this disease is prejudiced against people who live in cold weather and I think the disease is racist! Washing your hands regularly and using disinfecting wipes on all surfaces at signings, in your home and car make sense. The regular flue also kills many elderly people, so being extra cautious about your immunity and health makes sense.

Bad Weather
Avoiding signings during inclement weather makes sense too. At your age do you want to be caught in a freezing rain storm? Think about it.

Stairs
Going up long flights of stairs might be hazardous to your health depending on how good your health is.

Exercise
Getting plenty of non-impact exercise is critical. If you want to live to be old and healthy, lots of swimming and walking should be a daily habit. Jogging and exercise that puts strain on your joints might come back to haunt you in your old age.

Diet
A good diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and supplements makes sense as well. My article about Notaries over 50 goes in detail about which foods are miracles for good health.

Sleep
It is necessary to get enough sleep so you are not cranky or susceptible to disease. However, elderly people sometimes sleep less than others. What a paradox. Get enough sleep just to remain healthy and have a good immunity system.

Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a way to balance your energy channels in your body. It also helps to strengthen immunity and deal with aches and pains.

Keeping a sharp mind
Mental atrophe is a problem for people getting older. It is important to review Notary educational materials, your state handbook, and do mental exercises to keep sharp. Grape juice and grape seed extra help to keep the cobwebs out of your cerebral neurons. A good mind has a physical aspect as well as an intellectual. Keep this in mind so that you don’t get mentally fuzzy.

Lutein
Good eyes are important. Americans don’t eat enough orange foods, but those are good for the eyes along with good circulation. The eyes need blood too, so if the blood doesn’t slow, they will suffer. Carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and yams are some excellent sources of orange foods. These are also good for the spleen. Spinach also has lots of vitamin A for your eyes and it can be put in juice mixes, but is not good as a solo in a juice. I try to each orange foods at least once per day or at least a few times a week for my spleen and eyes.

Don’t retire – just slow down
People who retire just die according to research. So, if you don’t want to die, don’t retire. Just do less. People in one of the Greek islands where people live to be 100 frequently all have community responsibilities, hike by necessity, have a mainly plant based diet, and live near the ocean so they get that ocean vibe which helps people relax.

Get health energies
The forest, ocean and desert all have healthy energies. These can help you feel better and perhaps live longer. I visit these places regularly. Trees and flowers or gardens can also have healing energy as the plants have metaphysical properties. Stay healthy by getting external sources of good qi so you can make it to 70.

Socialize
This might be hard if you live in Los Angeles. But, if you live in a normal state where people have human values (like Texas or Montana) you might find others who like to socialize. For those who live in California, it might make sense to find people out of state to socialize with – just trying to be realistic.

Let me know if you guys can think of other tips for the 60+ crowd.

This Coronavirus is making people crazy. The supermarket shelves are almost all bare. It is like an apocalypse. There are only a few dozen infections in my county of 10,000,000 people, but the reaction is an overreaction.

I think that pulling the reigns on this disease make more sense than a complete panic driven overreaction. If there are a few infections, then social distancing. If there are more then shutting down larger events. If there are even more, then perhaps what I am terming “social thinning.”

Social Thinning
What does this mean? Many schools are shutting down when there are hardly any cases in their area. This will cause horrible harm to parents, students, and the local economy, but will not prevent more than a handful of cases if there are relatively few infections. What I think is a better idea is to have alternate educational systems for those with flexibility.

The idea is that parents cannot always accommodate their kids at home during the day and also might not have food. Additionally, it will be bad for students to miss education. These are three compelling reasons to keep schools open.

Recommendations

1. Have a percentage of students stay home whose families elect for them to stay home. There could be teachers assigned with special program for these home based students with hourly phone interaction, assignments, and internet based help as well.

2. Have a percentage of students study outside or in the gym to free up space inside for social distancing. Learning outside allows students to get fresh air rather than germ filled recycled air. It also allows for people to be put six feet apart and not run out of space.

3. Smaller class sizes would allow for people to spread out.

4. Disinfecting surfaces and washing hands regularly.

5. Taking temperatures regularly.

6. Quarantine room classes for students with symptoms who cannot go home for whatever reason.

7. During recess, students should keep a distance from each other.

Item one, two and three are examples of social thinning. You still go to class, but the number of students will have been thinned out and people will be a bit farther away from each other, hence slowing the rate of infection.

Social thinning — it’s nothing to sneeze (or cough) at!

There is International Women’s day and now there is International Notary Women’s Day at least in this article. My first complaint is – why is there no men’s day? How come women get all the recognition and men are just left out? Are we less than human? But, I digress. So, what is International Notary Women’s Day about? It is a day where we commemorate women in the Notary world.

The vast majority of Notaries are women. Close to 90%. As Mobile Notaries the quantity is closer to 60%. There are disproportionately high rates of blacks being Notaries as well, in particular, you guessed it, black women. Many women who are in the Notary world were Realtors before that — another field dominated by older women. Most mobile notaries are above 40 as well.

So, what do women do differently in the Notary world? Word on the street is that women are better at multitasking. I think that is a genetic fact because I can only do one thing at a time. Being a notary involves a lot of juggling and faxing, scanning, making appointments, rescheduling, etc. I think that women have a knack for this type of thing.

Additionally, being a notary requires another skill women have — shopping. You need to buy ink, forms, gas, snacks, and more to be a mobile notary. On a side note, every time I go to Whole Foods I see professional shoppers buying food for other families and most of these people are women which proves that women were born to shop.

In the real world, women, particularly young women have more patience than guys to for higher education. But, in the Notary world, few people are mastering our materials these days. We need more women passing our test!

I am also tempted to see — we need more women mobile notaries to correct the imbalance, but the imbalance is that we have disproportionately more women than men as Notaries — so perhaps I should say that we need more men. Or perhaps we should just let nature take its course.

Behind every successful man, there is a Woman Notary. Just kidding.

Another fact is that there is no glass ceiling in the notary world. It is a gig economy and you get paid for what you do. The more experienced people tend to get paid a lot more as well. Elite certified members get paid a lot more too, but try getting anyone to crack a book. This is why I think China will wipe America out one day – they have no problem cracking books, or hacking US government high security websites.

For women in the notary clergy there is the stained glass ceiling — just kidding.

Women Notaries are a little more squeamish going out at night to strange neighborhoods. I have not heard of any woman getting in trouble, but the fear is real.

So, that concludes my half realistic and half satirical view of women Notaries. Let me know if there are other points I could include.

I published another article called Notaries over 50. But, Notaries in their 40’s have issues too. Let’s look at those issues. Most Notaries are older people. That is why we do better on Facebook than Instagram, but that is a different issue. Notaries tend to be women, and tend to be in Real Estate or Lending. Roughly 90% of our Notaries are over 40. Here are some issues you might have in your 40’s if you are a Notary.

1. You burned out in your career and now you want a free-er lifestyle.

2. You are fine but your industry got burned out due to changes in interest rates or other uncontrollable events and decided to become a Notary.

3. Your kids graduated from High School, now you have some extra time and foolishly decided to become a Notary.

4. You got pregnant, and how you need a way to support your (illegitimate) children. oops. That is for Notaries in their 20’s — wrong article

5. Your friends either moved away, ignore you because they are devoted to their careers, or got married and focus on the family and never call you any more. Meanwhile your family is busy dying one by one and you feel more socially isolated than any other time in your life. God, being 40 something sucks!

6. You get a gallstone and seek help from a Chinese herbalist named Qiao. You can spell her name but not pronounce it unless you took high school Chinese and learned Pin Yin romanization.

7. You start getting dizzy for no reason and decide to drink more water.

8. You put more money in retirement than you spend having fun because having fun is no fun anymore now that all your friends have abandoned you.

9. You spend more time reading 123notary’s blog in hopes of enlightenment, entertainment and becoming a master of your craft.

10. You wish signing companies would pay you on time so you send threatening letters which works, but leaves you feeling empty inside thinking — why is life like this? Why can’t they just be decent human beings and pay me?

I hope you enjoyed my list of realistic things that happen as a Notary once you turn forty. Let me know if you have other things you would like to share. Perhaps I could use the comments to write another article.

I am trying to share some thoughts on Twitter about Covid-19, but I am met with hostile and childish responses. Even the politicians are thinking unrealistically about this. My responses are misunderstood and attacked. How do you reason with people who aren’t logical? It seems futile, but the future of the American economy or life in this nation depends on it.

Here are my predictions.

(a) Covid-19 will infect 100,000,000 Ameriicans more or less
(b)10,000,000 will likely be “registered” officially as infected as most cases go undetected.
(c) 15% of detected or “registered” cases end up with some hospital time, but the duration is not well documented.
(d) Roughly half of hospitalized patients for covid-19 end up dead within perhaps a week to several weeks — in China many cases have dragged on for months.
(e) 6 million people will die in the usa from this disease this time and 15 million will need to be hospitalized over the course of six months.
(f) It is likely that up to 4 million people will need to be hospitalized at the same time. The military and FEMA are able to create this type of capacity, especially if they use ships and trains which are good because you can move sick people to places where there are more doctors and staff.
(g) Lock downs do not end the disease, and it doesn’t matter if you lock down early or late. The fact remains that lock downs cost the USA about 1 Trillion per month at least and that the minute you stop locking down, the disease will catch up to where it was in a month or two depending on how long you locked down.

ILLOGICAL THINKING
People scolded me on Twitter for suggesting that the economy was more important than the lives of humans. I merely said that sacrificing the economy permanently to temporarily delay people’s death did not seem like a good strategy. In the minds of childish people, their philosophy is often:

CHILDISH PHILOSPHY
Death is bad; Lock downs fight virus & prevent death; Therefore lock downs = good. Additionally, we should SCOLD those
who in our opinion value money more than life.

MY PHILOSOPHY
Death is bad; Having a broken economy could cause complete anarchy making the USA unlivable and unsafe to walk down the street without the fear of being beaten, robbed or raped. A broken economy leads to death.

COVID-19 also causes death. Delaying deaths from Covid-19 does NOT prevent death, but only delays death unless a vaccine comes fast. Lock downs don’t prevent death. They only delay disease caused death. But, extended lock downs could cause the death of the US economy which could cause problems that nobody can even imagine. If you don’t believe me, take a closer look at what is going on in Venezuela or bankrupt African nations where anarchy reigns, villages get massacred, and five year olds are given guns and forced to join militia death squads. That could be the future of America if we break our system. Freedom and constitutional rights can also be ended, and in my opinion already have been due to the shut down. The equation is a lot more complicated than the dummies who rudely criticize my points of view on social media.

REALITY OF VIRUSES
Viruses do not just go away on their own. If a critical mass of people gains immunity, or weather changes make transmission difficult, then the virus might just go away. Lock downs in china resulted in a dramatic reduction in active cases. However, now that China is opening up, people from other countries who are visiting them are reinfecting their communities which completely undermines the effort and self-inflicted economic damage the Chinese did. They could be reinfected to the level they were two months ago in just — two months. So, in order to combat this disease using lockdowns, you would have to lock down forever.

The other reality is that in my opinion 6 million will die in the USA. If we flatten the curve using shut downs, then those people instead of dying in six months, will die over a period of time. In theory, if we flatten the curve too much, we might have 10,000 people dying per month over a period of 600 months which would be 50 years. Some idiot on Twitter says that there is no evidence that the disease will last 12 years (I used 12 years in a mathematical hypothetical situation online) and I agree that there is no evidence how long the disease will last. But, with artificial means to limit the disease it could last for years — probably not 50 years. We could flatten the curve and have 100,000 people die per month and then the deaths will take place over 5 years to reach a death toll of 6,000,000 according to mathematics — once again a hypothetical analysis not based on reality.

The bottom line is that many people will die, and using shut downs, we can control how fast they die. At the rate society is willing to let people die –perhaps at a few dozen per month, we will be locked down forever, the disease will never be eliminated since we will have been prevented from gaining immunity, and our economy will grind to an irreparable hault.

Dummies and childish thinkers don’t think the American economy will grind to a halt and think that the economic problems are just temporary. Right now they are temporary, but could become permanent. The Great Depression took 16 years to fix, and if it weren’t for WW2, it would not ever have been fixed. I am speaking in terms of reality and historical precident here.

Shut downs do not prevent death — they just delay death and do long term damage to the economy and people’s life. We may not have a nation if this continues. Nations depend on taxes, money, and credit and if you ruin your credit you can’t perform functions as a nation. America cannot function without a payroll for the military, social services, infrastructure, school, medicare, etc. If you break the system to delay a disease the entire nation could dissolve and cease to be a nation. We would be left with 50 bankrupt states and a nation of paupers which is exactly what my guru prophecized twenty years ago. I am afraid that his prediction will be coming true faster than I thought.

Life just has a way of getting busier and busier and I have been meaning
to drop you a line to let you know how much I personally appreciate all
the articles you take the time to send. I schedule half an hour every
evening to click on links and read. I recently mentored a new Notary
and I shared some of the information with her, hopefully she will sign
up with you. I have been doing signings for years but there is always
so much helpful information and REMINDERS that you share with us. I
thank you so much!!!!