One year ago today: February 17, 2015, pants on fire.
Five years ago today: February 17, 2011, was I pissed!
Nine years ago today: February 17, 2007, you can tune these?
Random years ago today: February 17, 2001, we almost had it.
MORNING
A lull in the market. Since Sunday, I’ve located merely three properties, and low-balled them. One was a HUD (low income housing) that was in a nearly zero-crime district, a rarity indeed. I’m careful not to work any small town too much, why chance somebody spotting a pattern. Somebody is out there buying dozens of properties in the $35,000 range, and I mean buying these places wholesale. You can see them on Realtor.com (no link here). They make an offer on practically every property, which could be a discouragement tactic.
Yes, I’m aware that “pending” is supposed to mean there is a signed agreement and some sort of deposit on the deal. But somebody has an inside on the Realtor system. This morning the flags appeared, then by early afternoon all the properties in bad neighborhoods and only those properties had the flags removed. While it is entirely possible for this to actually happen, it stinks to high heaven.
My real estate lady, like myself, loves to beat the system just for the fun of it. I agree, because the system is unfair, favoring the favored and grinding down the less fortunate. Trust me, if I had been born rich, I’d be an ardent supporter of the way things are. Because otherwise I might have to work or think, which is much more difficult for most people than just being unfair to start with.
Here’s today’s green info and trivia combined. The softest paper products are made from “virgin fiber”, which is obtained by cutting down mature, old-growth forest. That practice is the worst of the worst in ecological terms. Some of that forest takes a thousand years to regrow. No substitute is available. When recycled, the fibers lose part of the softness, so the mills always want freshly felled raw cellulose. And by now, most of us know about the chlorine used to make paper white. It’s not at all good for things like life.
Longest arch in Utah.
NOON
Argh, I didn’t think fast enough to get you a screen shot, but I activated Internet Explorer on my system to get a real estate site that won’t work with other browsers. And promptly got infected with 41 viruses. I draw no distinction between malware, spyware, and viruses. Such differences are for the paltry mindsets of the semi-educated. If it is placed on your computer without your knowledge and consent, it is a virus. Got that, Kyle and Trevor?
We found a place that might be within [my price] range. Plus I have now secured a non-standard line of credit that keeps any borrowing I might do off the radar. I feel this is as important as gold these days, maybe more. Private credit, what an interesting concept. If you remember, what put me onto my current real estate hunt was a house that actually did trade hands for $100. You’ll see lots of these deals where the transaction was between non-arm’s length parties, but that does not count. It was an estate sale, and I’ve been hot on the trail of these for some years. I don’t care if the last owner died, if the place is haunted, I’ll charge the ghost some rent.
This one, a two bedroom, is borderline, as it is surrounded on three sides by low-crime districts. But even living within a mile of a project is still an iffy proposition, since Florida neighborhoods all eventually go downhill, never the other way. Even when they spruce up an old district, they have to barricade the place at night. But the alternative thinking goes there are burglaries around here and somebody did steal my electric bicycle a few years ago.
EVENING
I’d like to say hello to Malaysia, my second highest all time audience after the good old USA. The closest I’ve been is Thailand, though I did take a bus trip south at some point, I don’t think I went all the way to Malaysia. But this is historical, for many months now not even one view from Malaysia. I hope everything is okay over there. You are still ahead of France and Germany.
Remember my $1,000 new electric bike? I decided against sinking the $350 into it that would have been required to make it work. Normally, 20% is max, but if the club puts their own money into it, I get first pick. This bike was a donation that had the battery and controller stolen while it was locked up outside. Thieves are targeting the specific expensive parts. If I buy it, it has to be completely up to standard, as we know from experience, that particular club department is known for slapping things together.
Last, you may recall my comment how Geico stole the idea of their motorcycle insurance advertisement from me. I recall the day because I had driven from some town in northern Louisiana toward New Boston, Texas. I passed through may a small town and at one, I saw the Geico crew filming a commercial based on a Halloween theme. They pointed the video camera at me and I jokingly said, “If you use that shot, you owe me royalites.”
Well, this is not the shot of me with the batbike, but you don’t have to be Albert Frankenstein to see where they got the idea. This is the exact same angle as the shot they took, even the way the sidecar canvas was wrapped that day is identical. The scenery is almost an exact copy, except there were no hills in the background in the area. As far as I’m concerned, if this picture was taken toward the northeast, they are totally guilty of stealing my thunder.
And I might point out that teardrop trailer is far too heavy to be towed by a motorcycle. It is one of the first models I rejected for being overweight. If this guy ever has to hit his brakes, the camper will either jackknife or push him ahead until it stops by itself. What you see here is a dangerous configuration. On the other hand, my camper weighs less than a fat girlfriend.
ADDENDUM
I would like to devote a few moments to the Unsung A-Holes of the World. Those people who’s marked and usually intentional stupidity has made life just that little bit more unnecessarily harsh than need be. Any mentioned before in this blog can do double-duty again.
A) top of any such list is the dipstick who “invented” the insert tab here slot on paper boxes. Have you ever actually got that to work, like twice in a row?
B) the moron who prints the cooking directions on the outside wrapper of the noodle box, so you can fish it out of the garbage can to see if that was three minutes or four minutes.
C) we can’t forget the lamebrain with the potato chip bag that will not tear across the top.
D) all hail the stupidity of the man who made your anti-virus scans stop when your screen saver kicks in on Windows 8 and above.
E) and don’t forget the dirty runt (I said runt) who turned off the gridlines on MicroSoft Excel.
F) one jerkoff we all like is the brain-dead prick who says a serving of rice or popcorn is “1/4 cup”.
G) how about the queer who invented the new models of pencil sharpeners that are slightly off center and won’t expose the entire lead.
H) the dope who designed the supermarket tear-off bags in the vegetable section that will simply not open unless you set down your basket and use both hands.
I) of course, we must mention the real estate plugbrains who list “homes” without the property for sale in the real estate section.
J) and don’t forget the klutzes who design web pages that don’t list the prices but if you leave your name and number, they’ll do a background net worth check on you before they call you back, so they’ll have a better idea of how to fix the price for you.
K) telemarketers. “Nuff said. Trump, you know what you gotta do.
L) we all love the doofus who made all the color schemes in Android incompatible with older browsers, so you can’t see the streets on mapquest.
M) listen to me, Millennial A-holes, it is not a 30-day free trial, it is a 30-day trial. When you discontinue service or ask for money at the end, then it is not free. Grab a brain. Better yet, get a real job. Oh, wait, there aren’t any real jobs left because your liberal attitudes let all the illegal immigrants take them away from you. And it is always somebody else’s fault. You must be politically correct and starve to death. Here, translate this:
BWAAAA-ja-ja-ja-ja-ja-ja!
Last Laugh
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