"Root Canals & Rabies Shots?"

As a professional Real Estate Broker, I often find myself getting on the band wagon with others...

We all complain that the media just can't seem to report anything that even hints at being positive. To be fair, there hasn't been a whole lot of fun stuff to talk about lately ( although I was ecstatic today to see my favorite gas station had slashed the price of regular, from $4.19 to $4.17... Yesss! )

So I'm reading the Wall Street Journal this morning, and this jaunty little segue catches my eye: "As Welcome as a Root Canal or Rabies Shot, here come more Housing Data..." ..."The numbers are expected to offer fresh reminders that neither the financial sector nor the broader economy can leave the Intensive Care Unit just yet." The gist of the article is that we have a huge over-supply of "Vacant and/or For Sale" homes. "The Law of Supply and Demand suggests this doesn't bode well for the future direction of home prices." Awhhh, Come On Now! "To get this vacancy rate back to near normal, over a million homes will have to find new owners." But, here comes the Grinch... Mortgage interest rates are starting to creep up!

I feel like I put on my SPF 15 ( not the Papa Bear "4" or the Baby Bear "50" ) back in 2005... went to the beach... and went in the water to cool off. Problem is I got caught in a Rip Current and have been swimming parallel to the shore for three years! Shouldn't this be letting loose? Oh, well, it can't get worse, right? But what's that in the water ahead? Is that a fin?

"The Future of Cars"

In the 50s'... I can remember the "Gas Wars" in my little hometown in Upstate New York.

There would be three gas stations in a row, let's say an Esso, a Sinclair, and an Atlantic ("Atlantic keeps your car on the go - for business or pleasure - in any kind of weather - Atlantic keeps your car on the go..."). But I digress. The first would advertise "26 cents a gallon"... the second would be "25 cents" and the next "24 cents." For this, they all ran out to the car - washed your windows, checked your oil and tires and coolant - and pumped your gas. I wonder if they do that today in China? They would see-saw and my father loved it. I don't know what kind of mileage our 1952 Hudson Wasp got, but it was a tank.

Much later, my high school years of 1959-1963, would let us cruise a Friday night date for $2 bucks in the tank. That was my hourly wage at Mr. Wallace's drug store. It's funny, because if a kid makes $8 bucks an hour today, that still is enough for gas on Friday night. The new Chevy Impala then was about $2,500, today it's $25,000.

Our problem, as Americans, is that we are voracious consumers. After WWII, Europe went for small cars, small apartments, and scooters. We morphed into 59' Caddy's, Hummers, McMansions, and Harleys. Not to mention Big Macs, Mega Big Gulps, Biggie Fries, and "All you can eat buffets." Well, we're paying the piper today.

There was a great story on cable last night about the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show. The cars were absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful to look at - cheap to buy - and seriously economical to operate. But guess what? Nearly none of them are produced for the US market? Why? BECAUSE WE NEED HUMMERS, DARN IT! WE MUST HAVE 4X4 DRIVE. WE MUST BE READY FOR.... WHATEVER!!!

Who Say's "You Can't Go Home?"

Sometimes things happen in Nature, that simply boggle the mind...

My son-in-law sent me this video clip and I've watched it a few too many times. I wondered if it had been "edited" and was pleased to see that it passed muster on http://www.snopes.com/.

It's the story of "Christian the Lion" and I hope you enjoy it... Click the link, below:

YouTube - Christian the Lion - the full story (in HQ)

Rotator Cuff Surgery

My big brother has said this for years - and It's finally sinking in: "Getting old is not for wimps." I use this as my lead in, because I'm now two and a half weeks into my "Rotator Cuff Surgery Experience" and his words are echoing in the caverns of my mind. This will be short, as typing still hurts and I have to do so with my good right arm in a sling. Aahhh!

Although not mine, my right shoulder looks like the middle photo above. They were trying to stick to the arthroscopic procedure, like the above left picture depicts, yet they found "other stuff," which created a need for the incision. "Other stuff?"

I start my PT (physical therapy) sessions today and I'm told I should bring a bullet to bite on. I have a friend and fellow RE/MAX broker out in Breckenridge, CO. Kelli's Dad is my age and also a former career military fellow. She told me he went through this last year and that he told her the pain of the PT sessions was "what he imagined child birth to be like." That's not good, is it? (Pssstttt: if you need a really good real estate agent in Colorado ski country, contact Kelli: www.kellisells.com )

Oh, and that photo in the upper right? That's me on the way home from the hospital after surgery. My doctor got so mad! He said to chill and let the therapy do its magic... We'll see.