LA Times

I read the Los Angeles Times pretty regularly. I'm thinking of subscribing because I want the newspaper to do better and cover more issues.

Yesterday I read this story about a girl who divorced her husband. Her husband was almost 40 and she was 10. Apparently he abused her and kept having sex with her and she just wasn't ready for that. No one in her family would help her when she complained of abuse. Someone suggested she get a divorce, so even though she had no money and no resources she went to court. A lawyer heard about her and decided to do the case for free, and as people around the world heard the story they donated money to cover the costs of the case. When asked about her plans post divorce, she is looking forward to living with her family (siblings and parents) and starting 3rd grade. She also likes chocolates, and cats and dogs. Bittersweet story. On the one hand with almost nothing she was able to win her case. On the other hand, why did her dad marry her off at 10? I know he had 15 other kids, but it still seems pretty wrong that the husband and dad thought it was ok to have her marry at that age.

Today I was reading the home section of the paper and they had an article about no- dig layering. I guess this is a method to create soil above ground so you don't have to dig into the soil to plant your seeds. It's easier on your bag and it requires less water. I've been working on my compost pit but now I'm thinking of also having a garden. But first I have to get rid of all the stuff left from the garage sale.

I think I've figured out my real estate strategy. I'm only looking for bank owned four unit properties. Right now I'm working on trying to get my first one. We'll see if I qualify. The good thing about these kind of properties is that banks are willing to be very flexible about pricing because they want the property off their hands. While there is no owner the bank has to fix repairs and they don't earn any rental or mortgage money. Since it's a lose- lose situation for them they will sometimes agree to ridiculous prices if they think a person will take care of the property. With that in mind I've been doing a lot of research on properties that might qualify.