Romney will win because the nation is tired.

Over the past four years, it's been hard to accurately gauge how people are doing. We all feel sensitive about our precarious financial situations. We feel vulnerable. We wonder if we made the right choices in life. And even when you know people quite well, later you find out what they tell you about how they are doing were flat out lies. You can't blame them. However, the real stories are starting to come easier. And more honest.

So - yesterday I was talking to a guy I've known forever. When I was gutting my rental, he was putting up a whole new building downtown. I've been wanting to talk to him about it forever. And I figured his situation closly resembled mine. We were in the market at exactly the same time. Yesterday I struck.

Me - Do you regret this building?

Him - I try not to, but I do.

All of a sudden I found myself in a pep talk. Nothing stays the same, I reply. And I told him about how much I moved around as a kid, and how I remember houses in Santa Clara costing 30 grand. I mean, I was super young. But owning a house to me always meant different things than what it meant to most people. It's the place that keeps your memories. I mean, half the time they suck, but you still remember what house you lived in when it sucked. Always.

The conversation meandered around until I told him I tried to refinance recently. This is where I became flat out shocked. No matter how bad you have it - someone always has things worse. Always.

This guy - is still paying over 8% interest. Seriously. My crapshack is at 6.5 and I thought that was rough considering how low rates are. This guy though, took out a construction loan in roughly 2008. He told me the bank will never refinance me.

One of the last things he told me before I left was - he's just really tired. He has three kids in college, and he can't even confidently replace the roof on house because it's such a big expense. This guy is not deadbeat.

It was funny, because Mr S. and I have been having the exact same conversation lately. We are just tired. Not sick and tired. Exhausted.

This is the reason Romney will win.