CobWebz presents a little background on your distinguished host D'Amor, who's a;
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Roads Scholar and Jack of All Trades

        Still seeking he knew not what, he struggled through the Peter Principle world of commerce, working at jobs ranging from from car sales to banking and real estate. Finally as the decade of the 70's was ending, he explored real estate appraising, and found promise in that still young and evolving profession .

        Owning his own appraisal company provided some degree of freedom, and he quickly established a small but adequate clientele with several local Thrifts and Banks. Honoring his fiduciary responsibility to always be diligent, impartial and honest, he earned the respect of those in the financial community, while at the same time alienating many less than honorable entrepreneurs, professionals and bankers.

        In 1982 a little known disease called pancreatitis struck him down. After several operations and six months of hospitalization, he was told that because his poor health he would not be able to work any more. Estimating that he had maybe ten years of life remaining, medical professionals advised him to apply for Social Security Disability benefits, and offered to provide all of the paperwork to facilitate this. He did not consider such a future acceptable, and after a couple of months of recuperation, he went back to work.

         Every year he successfully completed at least one appraisal educational program, and the engineer, scientist and artist within led him to continuously refine and improve appraisal procedures and techniques. With the help of computers, he finally brought appraisal work out of the shadows of mere opinion, and into the light of  estimating value based upon a thorough analysis and professional application of factual data. This achievement gave him great joy, but generated fear and animosity among other appraisers steeped in mediocrity and subservient to whims and wishes of the good old boy network.

        With the advent of Appraisal Certification in the early 90's, he was among the first in the nation to earn the designation *Certified General Real Estate Appraiser*, and was thereby recognized as having the capability to produce appraisals of any type of real property.

        During this same time the banking lobby had been working diligently to influence congress to weaken if not eliminate those time proven safeguards in the banking regulations that were intended to protect the public from greedy and dishonest bankers and entrepreneurs. With the Banking Law passed by Congress in the late summer of 1994, they finally succeeded. The provisions of that law allowed essentially unqualified, undesignated and unscrupulous individuals to provide appraisals to Federally Insured Lenders. Thus rang the Death Knell for almost all prudent and ethical professional real estate appraisers.

        Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending upon the perspective of the moment, his health had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer carry on his work. In late 1994, he finally applied for the Social Security Disability that he had been eligible for since 1983. His application was promptly denied!

        He found himself without medical insurance or income, but his family helped and he was fortunate to be friends with two Attorneys who worked with him, against the bureaucrats. After over nine months and tons of paperwork and examinations, the bureaucracy finally gave up, and began to provide the benefits that had been guaranteed him, and for which he had paid FICA premiums all his life.

        Now he spends most of his waking hours sipping coffee at his computer. With much time to think, he has begun to explore the worlds beyond physical existence. He has shared his thoughts and what little knowledge he possesses with others in Chat Rooms on the Internet, and has constructed this website to further these interests.

        He will reach the age of fifty-four this December, and would like to leave you with this singular thought:
 

"Of all that we may come to possess in this world, when we leave
it we take with us only the love we've shared with others."

This page was created Nov. 17, 1997 Copyright © 1997 CobWebz

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