Well, it's been 100 days in office, and depending on which poll you read, he has an approval rating of about 74%! It would have been higher but die-hard Republicans will always give him a "F" regardless of what he does, so that in itself will bring the average down. Although lately, even some of the Republican "talking heads" on CNN are begrudgedly giving him "some" marks. He came in to office with a lot on his plate: 2 major wars, the financial         markets in tatters, education and health care in need of a major                    over-haul, auto industry on the verge of collapse, and the                                 list goes on and on.        And some people aren't about to cut him any slack. Some "columnists" have even taken to attacking Michelle for petty stuff. What's next... 05/03/2009

Authorities are split down the middle on the Swine Flu. Lots are saying it's been over-reported and over-blown, and terms such as "pandemic" are being thrown around carelessly. The cases of flu are spreading across the globe;              not in overly surprising numbers, but like                        any other flu season, it is spreading. With the advent of air travel it is inevitable. Other than Mexico, no other country has experienced a fatality. The cases in Canada, States and other countries are relatively benign- typical flu-like symptoms. The usual stuff. 2 recent deaths in California MAY be associated with the virus. They aren't sure yet. But the press is having a field day with the story. As of Friday, Mexico has had 156 fatalities. While this is tragic and regrettable, I don... 05/03/2009

Both GM and Chrysler continue to look for bail-out money, and time is running out. Concessions are needed, and I don't think it's going to happen. The unions aren't about to give up $19 an hour in concessions.  Unions still have an mind-set of entitlement. Well, in my opinion, the party's over! I really think they should go into chapter 11 and completely restructure. Why should MY tax dollars be spent to bail out companies that I would never buy stocks in? They have a poor business model,  and have lost touch with reality. The reason can be boiled down to one word. POLITICS! Both Ontario and Michigan don't want those job losses. That last bit bit was written a few days ago, and developments have happened. The unions have caved in- sort of! (I can't believe the free benefits they have, o... 05/02/2009

ALMOST EVERYONE'S HAD ONE.                                                                                   The listing that stinks! And, I had a dandy!  A while back, I had a listing...             There was nothing wrong                                  with the house, in fact...                                             ...it was quite a nice house.                                                                                                           ...But it stank!      The owners were oblivious to the odors;          they lived in the house every day,                    and were used to it, so to them,                            there was nothing wrong. To them everything was normal! What it was, was a proliferation              of spices, very pungeant and strong           ... 05/02/2009

 Lately, I've read several posts on Active Rain               commenting on "not-so-great" realtors, and I thought                               a realtor "feel-good" story might be in order.                                                      This is Eduardo Fritis, a realtor from Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. He has decided to take a 2 year cruise with his wife and son and sail around Mexico, South America, French Polynesia and the South Pacific-giving away shoes, clothing and eyewear to those who would otherwise do without. He is in the process of selling his house and almost everything else he owns to help others                                 who need it. He already has a commitment from a Vancouver shoe store chain to donate 500 pairs of shoes and he is setting up a networ... 04/28/2009

Millions of people nearing retirement-WON'T! And toxic 401K's are to blame. Nothing new here, the news is full of it! With millions out of work, long line ups at job fairs are the norm; former middle managers are working at Mc-jobs, or making lattes at Starbucks. What kind of a "retirement" plan allows people to lose 20-50% of their portfolio? Many companies froze pension plans and opted for 401K's.      For the most part, most investors were pretty unsophisticated            and relied on "expert" consultants. Of course, Wall Street                    saw the opportunity and pounced! Trillions of dollars                             were at stake here and abuse was rampant. And the greedy bastards came out to play! The quality of a lot of funds in 401K's was dubious at best, and in a lo... 04/28/2009

We in British Columnia are in the midst of an election, and to further exacerbate the situation, the                   Province's "top cop", John Van Dongen, lost his driver's license for one too                                                                                                                                                                            many speeding offences.    So, for the rest of this election, he'll be hitch-hiking. This is not the first incidence of a cabinet minister              pulling this stunt. An earlier government                     had           Moe Sihota, another lead-food in the                                 same portfolio. (Lost his license). Of course, all the other parties are always  "aggrieved" at the offending minister and "demand" h... 04/27/2009

Every Sunday, regular as clockwork, I watch this guy on CNN. I find him informative and he usaually has great guests. He's not your typical CNN "talking head". This week, he had as his guest Malcolm Gladwell, author, lecturer and staffer on The New Yorker.  He's actually quite interesting. One of the topics he touched on was  air line crashes and why they happen, and specifically, why Korean Air Lines USED to be so bad! Turns out, most air line crashes happen because of lack of communication between the pilot and co-pilot. In societies where "hierarchy" is paramount, subordinates do not question superiors. They studied planes crashes and frequency of crashes and what they found was that cultures with the highest hierarchy had the most crashes, and Korea was at the top of the list. At o... 04/26/2009

This is the edited version; some people complained, so I had to get politically correct and fix my blog. Hope this fixes it, and those who aghast, shocked and "ruffled" are less so now. According to the International Journal of Epidemiology, maintaining a healthy body weight is good for the environment. Food production is a major contributer to global warming.          A lean population, (such as Japan), eats 25% less food                and produces fewer greenhouse gases than a                       population where over 40% of people are fat "not so slim"...                                       ...and that's the statistic right now in North America. Trimming down would also show a marked decline in transportation emissions. It takes less energy to transport lean people. Researchers ... 04/26/2009

The first marathon was in 490 B.C. when a Greek messanger ran 24 miles with news of a great victory. Then, he promptly fell over dead!  Coincidentally,this is how most people feel after running in one of these things. The modern marathon distance of 26.2 miles (or 42.2 kilometers), was established in 1908 so the race would finish on the grounds of Windsor Castle and the Royal Family could view the finish of the race. In 1970, in order to control the crowds, minimum standards were established for various age groups. Timing chips are attached to runners' shoes, and they pass over electronic pads at various points in the race. This prevents cheating, as was the case with Rosie Ruiz in the 1980 Boston marathon. Everyone gets a "gun-time", so thousands of runners don't all leave at once. So... 04/25/2009

In these times of a slow-moving housing market, people are trying anything. Tradition has it that a statue of St. Joeseph buried upside down in your back yard will ensure your house will sell. Stores that sell this stuff are moving Joeseph "realtors" by the case-lot. FSBO's are buying the "kits", and even some realtors. I'm not making this up! Of course, the charlatans are in the act now, selling St. Joeseph Home Seller kits. For about $12, you get a statuette, a prayer card and instructions. (Instructions? On how to bury a statue?)  What a crock! I bought a half dozen for some of my slower listings. 04/25/2009

For all you experts out there with tons more experience than I have, I need some help pricing a rather unusual property.                                                         Kitchen and den-One view. Kitchen and den from other direction.                                                                                                                    Bedroom  Front entry.  Bathroom-picture #1  Bathroom-picture #2  Moving day! Little house on the prairie is a 1 bedroom, loft-style apartment, built inside... ...a grain silo! Whadda' ya' think? 04/25/2009

                             As a kid I was involved in sports,                                                                      but I wasn't a jock.                                                                                          I was jock-ish!                                                      I was reasonably popular, but on the fringe of the                                               group I wanted to be in.                                                                     So, I was popular-ish!                               My formative years can be                                                    pretty much summed up as "ISH".             And we had this one big bully.                   At the time I couldn't figure out why he particulary                    ... 04/21/2009

             This is a V.L.T. (Video Lottery Terminal). They are everywhere, and they are insidious. They are easy to play, require little skill, and they are very addictive. The machine doesn't register wins or losses as money, but rather, as credits and it psycologically separates the player from spending actual "money". I've read of hundreds of cases where people have lost everything. Homes, jobs and marriages. The Alberta Gaming Commission, for example, spends millions on little "jingo-isms" such as this, and very little on addiction prevention. Why should they? Government profits       from these things in Canada alone is              reported to be $1.6 billion annually!                   Licensees report that VLT's make up                          26% of their total income. It is... 04/20/2009

Exactly one day after Navy Seals took out the Somalian pirates                          and rescued the captain,  Richard Philips, they're at it again, capturing yet four more ships. Here's a solution I think may work. What if ships sailing these waters did so in convoys of say, ten or twenty ships at a time, escorted by a gunship with armed helicopter. That shouldn't be too hard to coordinate. The owners, I'm sure, would gladly bear this cost. Certainly cheaper than paying out millions in ransoms and endangering crews. Cost is passed on to consumers, which is minimal considering the cargoes. It certainly doesn't look like the pirates are about to stop anytime soon, so something has to be done to thwart them. To my way of thinking, it wouldn't be hard to coordinate having ships leaving ... 04/20/2009

                                  A feud that started in 1978 and lasted for 30 years, is finally over. It all started when the Desjardins built a garage and carpot, which their neighbors, the Blicks, were convinced was encroaching on their property. That started it, and over the years,                                             the Blicks started a campaign of terror. Mr. Blick would dig trenches under the fence and garage and place his garden hose under the slab, effectively undermining the garage foundations. Soon, the garage was listing precariously. The Desjardins have also had their car scratched, tires slashed and used containers of oil place by their well to contaminate their water supply. For years, the Desjardins, both in their 70's, were afraid to go away on holidays,  for f... 04/20/2009

This is the new Airbus 380-600, the largest passenger plane ever built at $200 million a copy. A seven member crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies arrived in Toulouse France to put the plane through  pre-delivery testing. The crew taxied out to the run-up area and took all four engines to full take-off power. The takeoff warning horn was blaring away because all engines were at full power. (The planes computers "thought" they were trying to take off). One of the crew disarmed the alarm. (This "fools" the aircraft into thinking it is airborne). Next, the computers automatically released the brakes. (This is a safety feature built in so pilots can't land with brakes on). With the plane rocketing forward at full speed, not one of these geniuses had the presence of mind to pull the thro... 04/20/2009

   Lately, I've done several pieces on unusual vehicles; this one crossed my desk the other day; I thought it was kind of neat. So, I thought I'd share it with you. Oh, the ingenuity of some people with too much time on their hands.     Now, this certainly isn't as big as those monstrous R.V.'s It's a garbage truck! (Albeit, altered a teeny-tad). Seems to have all the amenities and then some! (I'd put art and book shelves on the wall s though). I like my books! Everything in its place, and a place for everything! Well planned storage, nothing gets broken. Construction is excellent and heavy-duty. Nice playground area.   Wonder how this stacks up against a standard R.V.? This is neat for a retired couple. (Or single). I guess you really don't need 5,000 square feet with a view, you drive... 04/19/2009

Recently, I was visiting a colleague of mine who   had finally cracked up trying to keep up with R.E.O.'s, Short Sales, FSBO's (and all the other acrynoms), and as I was talking to his doctor, I asked him...... "How do you determine whether a patient should or should not be admitted?" The doctor said, "We have a simple test. We fill a bathtub with water and give the patient a teaspoon, a cup and a bucket. And we ask the patient to empty the bathtub. Aha! I got it. A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the cup! No, said the director, A normal person would pull the plug. Would you like an inside bed or one by the window? 04/19/2009

Iran is one of the oldest continuous civilizations on the planet. And for the most part it was pretty stable.  In modern times, it was a democracy. The big problems started when Mohammad Mossadegh decided to nationalize the oil production which the British and Americans had great interests in. BP, (British Petroleum), wasn't having any of that! British Intelligence (MI6) and American Intelligence (CIA), caused a coup effectively getting this guy deposed.  That left the door open for this guy, Mohammad Shah Reza Pahlavi. (So now they are in a monarchy). After a while, this one wasn't very popular. His secret police, the Savak, killed or terrorized hundreds of thousands of Iran's citizens. So, he was deposed and went into exile.     Which allowed an opening for this guy.          The Aya... 04/18/2009