Harry Leo Duran (1956-2021) was a board certified occupational medicine physician and a board certified addiction medicine specialist.
He did a 6 year residency in neurosurgery, but was fired from the University of New Mexico within weeks of completing the program and being recommended for the boards.
Dr. Duran was a narcissist and a psychopath. He was also an art collector. I, his wife, inherited several extremely expensive pieces. These pieces are in a storage unit until I can find buyers.
One of which is a Jo Jo Jilbert scrap metal portrait of Duran.
This piece was believed to be a portrait of the hip hop artist Gwen Stefani. Veliz told me in person that it is a portrait of a model in California who looks just like Stefani. Duran paid $3,500 for it.
Veliz sold it to Duran for $6,100 and he wishes he could afford to purchase it back from me as he believes it’s his best work.
Duran also purchased an unusual work by Luisa Leal.
This work hung in a. restaurant in the Ogden called Itsy Bitsy. Itsy Bitsy is now closed.
I sent an email and text to the Leal, but never heard back.
He also purchased SEVERAL pieces of Lego art and had a few commissioned from Chris Ihle. One piece alone cost $3,500. I have the receipt.
Harry died penniless. I blog about his insanity and about his death. To promote the Tell All Book I’ve written about him which is being revised more into a memoir, I created an author platform and YouTube channel.
I am moving to Crossville, Tennessee.I’m having an Armstrong Steel 1800 square foot barndominium built on 4.3 acres in the woodson the Cumberland Plateau. On one trip across the country with a friend of mine, we plan on taking all of my books and small items and the art to put into storage in Tennessee. With luck and a lot of prayers, I hope to sell the art to dealers and collectors on the way.
Pray for me. Duran stole over $500,000 of mostly MY savings and spent it on a lavish debauched lifestyle. The book will reveal all the evidence I found on his phones, in his emails, and in his Facebook Messenger messages. It will fry most of your minds. Thanks to Brian Thomas Mott, the art was salvaged. I now need to find buyers so I can pay for appliances in my new home. A home in a state where I will have no memories of the Notorious Doc!
Well, after three months of research, I think I found two adjacent lots in Crossville, Tennessee. I made an offer but the seller countered by eliminating the two-week contingency period for me to get an appraisal and verify all the information. I refused to sign.I created this page so I can share all my research with home builders, fencing contractors, companies that clear forested lots, contractors that build driveways, and a landscaper who can install a sprinkler system and sod and maybe a couple of dogwood trees.
The land has to be mostly level because I want to have a barndominium or ranch built.When I click on the Realtor.com FLOOD MAP feature, there cannot be any signs of flooding on the lot nor on the street nor behind nor on each side. (I found a great lot but it would be surrounded by water in a storm.).The lot or lots cannot be in area with a crime rate that would keep me awake at night. The lots I found are across from a mom and pop gas station. I just learned that the truck stop designation is because they own a trucking company and the trucks in the video are THEIRS. I called the Sheriff and the Dispatcher told me the sheriff said the area is perfectly safe and not to worry.The land is DRY, next to a Baptist church, and the area between Tennessee Route 24 and the house lot belongs to a 32 acre farm which wraps behind the two lots as well.
The lot also had to pass a soil test (aka soil percolation rate which indicates how quickly water moves through soil and helps evaluate the ability of the soil to absorb and treat effluent — wastewater).The seller sent a soil test and I called the company that did it to make sure it is still good. It is but I’d have to purchase a new septic application for about $400.
I wanted a survey. This seller sent my realtor one on file.
I looked at plans, watched YouTube videos, did virtual tours, and downloaded software to try to teach myself how to create floor plans and blueprints. Did you know you can buy software to do that?
Or this
I wanted a lot with water, electricity, natural gas, AND fiber or copper cable Internet on the road. I found the Chamber of Commerce site and started calling utility companies to figure which ones service the property. Turns out I will have to fill out a lot of paperwork with the Volunteer Energy Cooperative. The rental I owned in Ely, Nevada was serviced by a co-op so at least this wasn’t a shock. They do not operate like the companies city folk are familiar with.
I called Frontier and was told the property already has copper cable and that within the year fiber is being installed so I can have high speed Internet.The Catoosa Utility District will charge $1,250 for the tap to be installed at the road so a water line can be run to the house. How much it will cost to run electric, cable, and water lines to the house I could not find out. The Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Utility District is three to five months behind. They can run gas up to 300 feet. I figure the house will sit about 75 feet from the road.The electricity should be run underground because of all the trees. I don’t want power lines down during storms. I don’t know how much that will cost YET.
I went on Angies List and found two general contractors. Now to get exact costs to build.
These are photos of a house built recently for a man in a wheelchair. I do not like stainless steel. I don’t want a microwave over the stove. Instead I want a microwave/air fryer that can sit on a counter. I also don’t want dual sinks in the bathroom. For the life of me I cannot understand how anyone would want to share a bathroom EVER.
This house has a really nice layout and it follows feng shui principles. I can’t find anything that violates the basic tenets. Nice foyer. Sink is near the stove and not opposite it – a flaw most American homes have. PERFECT for me to age in gracefully. IF I don’t need nursing home, I could live in a house like this with just help as I age.I don’t like one of the ceiling fans, but that is so minor I can upgrade to one I do like.
Cost to clear the shaded area for the septic field.
Cost to clear the land for a driveway and an acre of the land for the house, the “workshop”, and a yard for the dogs.
Cost to erect a No Climb farm fence around the perimeter both lots.I had this installed in Texas.
Cost to erect a No Climb farm fence around the “lawn” for the dogs with gates in the front and back.
Cost to clear walking trails through the rest of the property.
Cost to clear underbrush and to spray to prevent ticks and fleas.
Cost to install a sprinkler system for a small lawn in front of the house and a large lawn in the back for the dogs.Does the land need top soil for sod?? I don’t know YET.I’m guessing $4,000 for the sprinkler system and $3,000??? for sod.
Cost for a small patio in the back and a walk from the driveway to the front door. Could be gravel. I don’t plan on having guests but I want to use the front door to walk to the road, cross, and buy pulled pork sandwiches at the gas station!
Cost for a mailbox and a 911 postal address. I already have security cameras but I need security flood lights.
Cost to install a heated salt water above ground FitMax IPOOL 3 built with a deck around it so I can walk up a staircase rather than a ladder. I want the pool inside an insulated and heated/air conditioned “Workshop/Garage” with a window so I can look out while I try to exercise.Click on the photo to watch how to install one of these therapy pools.
Cost of a gas furnace assuming the federal government doesn’t outlaw them.
Cost of an air conditioner assuming the feds don’t ban those either.Don’t laugh. I just heard some in Congress are ranting about AC also!This looks like it’s both an AC and a furnace. Gotta ask.
Cost of a gas operated tankless water heater – the electric powered ones suck.
Cost of a new refrigerator. I plan on bringing my washer which I just bought in early 2000 and my dryer which I had repaired – it was a top of the line dryer and I saw replacement costs and almost fainted.
Cost of a microwave/air fryer that I can have on the counter.
Tomorrow (Friday, March 31, 2023) I will share this with the general contractors and get back on the phone and track down who installs septic systems. I also got leads from Facebook’s Crossville Chitter Chatter for locals who clear lots. There might be a way to save money. My realtor got a quote of $18,000 from someone he knows who viewed the video. The quote includes building a two car width 100 foot long driveway.
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To create the slideshow I used my trackpad to copy just the photo to my desktop, then I created a slideshow using Apple Photos and exported it to Rumble. I could have uploaded it to YouTube, but YouTube takes FOREVER and this is not a video I can nor would want to monetize.
On February 27, 2023 a vacant lot was listed for sale inCrossville, Tennessee. I did not find the listing until March 10th. I had a really bad bout of bronchitis and a sinus headache, so when I found the listing I jumped at it. I called the listing agent and asked all the standard questions.The listing agent’s husband drove over to the lot and made a YouTube video of the lot.It was perfect!
4.94 acres – 2 acres cleared, the rest were forest but not thick
Rectangular – not some weird narrow stretch, nor a weird shape resembling a strangled hernia, nor a decent shape marred by a one car width entrance to the lot from a cul de sac, and no shared driveway
LEVEL- not a steep slope either rising up from a street nor with a sharp drop off from a road
NOT a rolling landscape which would require a three story building built precariously sitting on a cliff
SAFE neighborhood – no drive by shootings, nor murders, nor auto thefts, break ins, nor reports of vandalism, etc
NOT in a flood zone. FEMA map showed no chance of flooding
NO creek nor pond nor lake nearby that might harbor standing water on the property during a storm
UNRESTRICTED LOT – ZONED Residential and Commercial and Agricultural. I could have built anything I wanted ANYTHING!
Not in a tornado belt nor hurricane path
Electricity and water hookups available at the street
Located 11 minute drive from the Lake Tansi Resort Restaurant and Bar!
Located 10 minute drive from the Cumberland County Public Library!
The seller had already turned down an offer so I made an offer of cash – full price BUT I wanted PROOF that the property could be connected to
HIGH SPEED FIBER INTERNET with a LANDLINE!
AND AND AND That the soil test – aka septic field soil test would reveal that a 3 bedroom 2 bath house could be built on the land!
The realtor’s husband had worked for Spectrum and he saw a telephone poll up the road with a spectrum sign. BUT, after the sales contract was signed by myself and the seller, I called EVERY SINGLE Internet and landline provider in the county and NOT ONE, save Earthlink satellite, would provide service and NONE would provide a landline – NOT ONE!
I called the County Planner, the local water company – yes I could get water for another $1,050 in construction costs, but no one knew about Internet.
I finally got a woman in the Spectrum Construction Department and she explained it.
The line ended more than 3,500 feet up the road. Yes the neighbor could get Spectrum and yes the realtor spoke with the neighbor across the street who had Frontier, BUT EVEN if I had money to set on fire to heat my house, to run the line to the property, she said it was
OUT OF FOOTPRINT – the signal was NOT going to reach the lot UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES and Frontier told me the same! Frontier had run a line from the end of the cul de sac and it ended 3,500 or more from the lot!
30 hours after signing a sales contract, I signed a cancelation notice.
Last night I had new Facebook friends who live in Crossville write to me and say:
I BET THERE’S NO TRASH SERVICE EITHER!
OMG I forgot about GARBAGE – In San Benito, Texas we had a DUMPSTER at the end of the long driveway. Here I have a large container on wheels. But I have always had trash pick up!
HAD I bought the lot and suffered with spotty satellite Internet, I would have been stuck with finding a way to store my garbage and then DRIVING it to a dump every few days! I have 3 cats and 3 dogs. NO WAY would I be able to stomach doing that!
And then a few hours after I canceled the news about bank failures dominated the headlines. I need to sit tight and get my house ready to sell. I will NOT try to buy anything until my house is under contract and the buyer has completed the process and we are just waiting for the title company to close.I hate doing it that way. I’ll need a contingency that I can find another home hoping the buyer will accept the terms of the contract.
Auggie and his sister Belbel and their best friend and mentor, Little Man, the aging orange tabby, Tiggy, the ever rambunctious and mischievous slate grey Vladimir Greystone,who loves to go for walkies when I can get him to hold still to hook a leash onto his cat harness, and the ever complaining and ravenous giant tabby, Higgston and I are in need of a new home.
We want a home where, when I open the garage door to try to get to the store, I don’t see this!
I will miss walking in the remote isolated cul de sac where we experienced the Great American Bunny Hop Hop Escape!
And I will miss the spectacular Ruby Dome glacier mountain.
Spring Creek often has sunrises and sunsets to rival Sedona or anywhere else on the earth, BUT there’s nothing for me to do here. I can’t hunt, nor fish, nor hike, and I want to be near water – lots of water!
At first, I did NOT want to EVER live in another HOA (Home Owners Association). I don’t use the facilities here except they do plow the roads. HOWEVER, I may have found paradise after all.
I found this video and fell in love – not with the driver, I have no idea what he might be like except he’s funny.
I found a perfect house on a half acre which is a bit too small but the trade off is I can take the dogs on the hiking trails on leashes once I get back into shape that is.
HOWEVER, I need to get my house on the market first and that’s going to be STRESSFUL – VERY VERY PTSD Flashback inducing, nightmare replaying next few weeks – with luck weeks and not months.Unless I can find a vacant lot and find a builder, I need to stay here until the house is under contract.
I know I won’t have enough time to learn how to fly a drone much less a FPV INDOOR one, but how cool would it be to do a video like this of my house ONCE assuming I could move out and show it empty!
Sigh, so I found a place I want to live and my friend, Brent, is going to get rid of all the carpet and lay vinyl tile, and with luck and using every manifestation tool and method, I hope to spend next winter in a one-story ranch on a large lot with colorful trees, and lakes within walking distance. Restaurants to explore within a two hour drive, and caves, and museums, and folk festivals and FUDGE SHOPS!
My house in Spring Creek, Nevada has breathtaking views of the Ruby Mountains. From the back deck or up in the loft I can see the full 180 degrees of the Ruby Dome and the Ruby Mountain range on either side of the glacier. From the front, I can see 180 degrees of the Elko mountain range and from my bedroom window I see the hills to the south. When the neighbors from the pit of hell, who lived directly across the street, moved in November 2020, and David moved in, the cul de sac suddenly became a peaceful and glorious road to walk and just relish.
In July 2021, Brian and his dog, Little Man, were attacked by pit bulls and I had them move in since I had the house to myself and the Notorious Doc hated my house and wanted to stay in Vegas.With Harry dead, I thought I’d stay. I hate the idea of moving. Then in December 2022, Brian moved in with a “friend” in Elko and the house was suddenly empty. Little Man had bonded with Auggie and Belbel so he’s here with the cats. Having never had children and no family except for my elderly cousin back East, I suddenly experienced empty nest syndrome. The endless storms drove a knife through my soul. I couldn’t get out of my driveway.
And then it really hit me.
There’s nothing to do here unless you can hike, which I can’t. Fish, which I wouldn’t mind, except I can’t stand and fishing requires some standing, hunt which I’ve never done, gamble which I can’t afford, drink which I’ve never done, and party which for someone like me is equivalent to spending 1,000 years in a torture pit in Hell.
Prior to moving to Spring Creek, I used to get in my car and drive and find a Korean or Thai or Greek or Vietnamese or Indian Tandoor or Chinese dim sum restaurant and chow down. I’d go looking for a museum or archaeological site or old lighthouse to explore. I’d search maps for lakes and drive for a couple of hours just to walk around and chat with the waterfowl.Flower gardens and arboretums were a must!
Elko County has none of those things. One museum, yes, and there’s some ghost towns but nothing to write home about. And home is what I suddenly realized I did not have.
So, I started searching all of Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, northern New Mexico, and finally Tennessee for a place to live where I would feel ALIVE again. Some place with four seasons, breathtaking fall foliage, flower gardens, lakes, creek, historical museums and old stately homes from the 1700s and 1800s. And RESTAURANTS. With less snow, and a lower cost of living.And bearable summers. I can’t tolerate the heat.
Criteria:
LOW Crime – This is almost impossible in 2023. The United States has very few safe communities. Property crime is bad everywhere and violent crime plagues even rural small towns. I would no sooner find a house, then pull up the crime map to find it was in an area with a lot of murders, drive by shootings, break ins, car thefts, muggings, and drug use.One lady told me that I’d have to find a place to live and ADAPT and GET USED to crime. I did not respond, but what I said in my head rhymes with Duck U.I am NOT going to GET USED to hearing sirens and finding out my neighbor just got shot and the guy down the road had his car stolen.THAT is why I refused to move to Las Vegas in 2016.
NO TORNADOES – I found that Tennessee had the lowest property taxes and the best fall foliage and a lot of lakes and historical sites and RESTAURANTS, BUT parts are in the tornado belt. A LOT.
NO HURRICANES – When I was in first grade, Westfield got a direct hit from Hurricane Esther. I remember trees being ripped up and roofs being blown off. Our tree got ripped right out of the ground and the root ball was pulled out. In San Benito, Texas, we no sooner had moved in than Hurricane Emily struck. We could not afford Windstorm insurance and I was terrified we’d lose the roof. The sound of a hurricane is terrifying. The area flooded, but the roof held. Then in 2008, Hurricane Dolly struck and we lost a roof tile. The flooding was horrific – our house stayed dry but the culverts flooded and we lost water and electricity. Texas State Technical College in Harlingen where I worked took a direct hit – some day I’ll tell that story, I predicted it would and everyone blew me off. Over $450,000 worth of damage, Oh, well.
NOT IN A FLOOD PLAIN – You’d think developers would NOT build near a creek or river or on a wetlands or swamp BUT they couldn’t care less. Realtor.com now lets you click on the map for a property and click on FLOOD or FIRE. I currently live in an area that gets wildfires. They’re frightening and the smoke chokes the area for weeks. My house is in a good area, others are not. And there’s no risk where I am of flooding BUT the properties I found that looked FANTASTIC invariably got BLUED out when I clicked on FLOOD.
For example:
This lot is in my price range and it’s 0.72 acres (2913.737 square meters). I’d prefer an acre but this would be okay. And some of you might say “WELL, only the back yard will flood”. That’s assuming you trust a FEMA map. I do not. And if you’ve ever had to live for a month with receding waters and ponding and mosquitos, then you can tell me to grin and bear it.
NOT ON A SLOPE:
A slope does not have the “footprint” for a ranch and two car garage and a SLOPE is LOUSY Feng shui! Alex Stark details every tiny detail for choosing a building site.This is just a small extract from a very long long article.
Moni Castaneda Feng Shui for Us – Nine Steps to Feng Shui®warns about houses with a kitchen design where the SINK is opposite the STOVE. The house where the late Harry Leo Duran preferred to live and use as an office rather than my house had such a kitchen. It causes fights and we fought a lot in that kitchen.
This is a kitchen I found in a house I cannot afford. But the design layout is one I want. And it’s just gorgeous to look at.
The sink is under a window and the stove is to the side. I personally do NOT like stainless steel, but in this kitchen I must admit it’s rather striking. The center workspace isn’t so large that you can navigate – mine is huge. The clean white cabinets and steel hardware make a nice touch. But wait until you see the next photos. Of course, it’s one of those $800,000 properties.
So, at least I found a kitchen design to covet minus the stainless steel and granite. Granite, I found is a pain to clean.
Maryville, Tennessee meets ALL my criteria EXCEPT I cannot find an affordable existing home, nor new construction, and so far, I cannot find a lot that isn’t on a slope and doesn’t flood!
It’s rated as SAFE. There are no recorded tornadoes, low property taxes compared to most places – Crossville is lower – within driving distance of Knoxville and Gatlinburg and the ATLANTIC OCEAN! Drawback – it gets muggy.
NOT that I would live in the center of town but using the Blount County Public Library as and anchor:
508 North Cusick Street, Maryville, TN 37804
TO:17 miles (24 minutes)
Pero’s of Rocky Hill, 7706 S Northshore Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919
I have NOT had veal parmigiana in 23 years. My parents, grandparents, my Aunt Dot, and I ate it at least twice a month back when I was growing up. It was my dad’d favorite dish next to Chicken Chow Mein.
Spanakopita! Pero’s has my favorite puff pastry stuffed with feta!
It was in the early 70s when I had a gyro for the first time. I was instantly addicted. I never EVER tried drugs – not even marijuana. I can’t tolerate prescription drugs – get all the side effects. BUT FOOD for me either triggers a craving for a lifetime or not. GYROS are a craving and I haven’t been able to get the real thing since I left El Paso. Every Wednesday before I taught a night class, I stopped in a Greek restaurant in what was basically a slum, and gorged myself. Same in Atlantic City. There was a narrow, dark, seedy bar on the boardwalk about as far from the casinos as the boardwalk went and they had the BEST Greek food you could hope to find. I do NOT know to this day, how I didn’t end up getting mugged. The clientele were scary looking men and the owner would see me come in and he’d have a hot plate in front of me almost before I could sit down. I never saw a single tourist in there. I never saw a single middle class person in there and rarely another woman. BEST food though if you don”t mind eating with people who look like they wanted to cut your throat!
TO:1.6 miles (6 minutes)
Lemon Grass, 912 W Lamar Alexander Pkwy, Maryville, TN 3780
TO:19.8 miles (26 minutes)
Q Korean Steakhouse, 8851 Town and Country Cir, Knoxville, TN 37923
The list goes on. And downtown Gatinburg is only38.8 miles (65 minutes) to the Fudge Shoppe of the Smokies! Years ago when I lived in Smithville, New Jersey the Notorious Doc was asked how he didn’t worry about his wife living 50 miles south – wasn’t he worried I’d cheat on him? HELL NO! He told everyone that if he wanted to know where I was, he could call up the YE OLD FUDGE SHOP in the Smithville Historical Village or get a phone book and search for fudge shops on the boardwalk and he’d find me. Adultery was not something he feared. He was more worried I’d over dose on chocolate.
I talked to a realtor yesterday who is going to search for a lot. She works with a building contractor who has ALREADY built a barndominium. I had a consultation with American Bardnominiums and I got a quote from Hansen for a house like this one.
I have a quote from Hansen for a house and a workshop where I could have a FitMax IPOOL, craft room, and exercise room.
I just have to manifest a home where I can live with three dogs and three cats and relish every waking minute!Considering the Notorious Doc did not live to murder me. I think I can pull this off!
Librarian's Guide to the Multiverse! 