Happy New Year! From Really Redding. Our site is re-launched

Last year was, uh, interesting. Time for a new one. Today we wish you a Happy New Year.

Today we are re-launching our main real estate website, RedHotHomes.com It was sort-of cutting edge back in the day (like last year), but was starting to look a bit stale.
Some of it needs more work, but what doesn’t? Click on the image to take a peek. And thanks to all our viewers last year. May the next year and decade see all your real estate dreams realized.
RedHotHomes.com real estate site in Redding

The Voter published for December

Erin and I worked on this month’s publication of the The Voter, which is the online newsletter for the Redding League of Women Voters. Stop by and take a look HERE. Also, Erin invites you to join their group over at Facebook HERE. Be an informed voter, participate in the process.LWVC

November Voter publishes podcasts

Erin and I worked on the November issue of The Voter last night. We added an innovation to the online article about the State Senate 4th District candidates. We included the Podcasts of the 2 Republican candidate talks recorded at the Shasta Association of REALTORS. So you can see them and listen to them too. Hopefully we can do this with the Democratic candidates as well. Click on the image to view.
November Issue of The Voter from the League of Women Voters
The 4th District has been repesented by Sam Aanestad, who has termed out. The 2010 candidates so far are listed below.
Republican:
Doug LaMalfa
Rick Keene
Democrat:
Paul Singh
James Reed
Lathe Gill

Redding League of Women Voters growing online

Erin and I have been working on helping to get the Redding League of Women Voters more online. They have long had a website and a print newsletter, but it’s a real adjustment to go more online. It will be worth the effort. The League has always played an important role in offering non-biased information of public interest, and surely in this wired world, the need is stronger than ever. Your right to accurate and factual information before a vote is a right worth fighting for. They are just getting started. You can join the group on Facebook.
Join the Redding LWV Facebook group

You may also read and/or subscribe the online newsletter at The Voter (http://www.LWVRedding.info). Better yet, you can contribute to the information and discussion at either place. Get on board!

Read the Redding LWV Voter newsletter

What is happiness, and how to get it.

The Shasta Association of REALTORS hosted speaker and author Edwin Edebiri on Wednesday. He talks about happiness.
Edwin Edebiri
He grew up in Nigeria and now lives in Corning. He is a professional speaker and self-titled Inspirator. He shared his research and thoughts on happiness with our REALTOR membership. A group hit hard by the downturn in the market. His words and ideas were indeed inspiring. What is happiness? How can you achieve it?
Edwin Edebiri
His talk was recorded for a Podcast. It runs about 50 minutes. I guarantee you’ll find it well worth your time. Edwin is an engaging and thoughtful speaker, with a dramatic style of presentation. He offers 10 ways to put his ideas into practice here as MP3 file you can click on to play, or left-click to save for your iPod.
Edwin Edebiri on happiness
Here is a link to the list of 10 things:
EdwinEdebiri PDF file of 10 things
My sincere thanks to Edwin Edebiri and the Shasta Association of REALTORS for this post.

Local AT&T network is apparently overwhelmed. Warning.

At our staff meeting today, it came up how many people are suffering with bad AT&T service. Even text messages take much longer than they should. This is causing a lot of frustration among real estate agents who need to be timely. It was a loud chorus of unhappiness. I was thinking I was alone in having problems. No way. It got loud fast. All the AT&T users.

C&C Properties Office meting in Redding

According to this NYT article, our local area is not alone. Apparently the Unlimited Data Plan is limited by actual ability to handle data. “Crushed, ” it says.

I came over from Sprint because the iPhone had some nice features. At first it was OK. But locally AT&T is now having severe problems. Sprint was MUCH BETTER even if their phones weren’t glamorous, and Verizon people at our meeting today report nothing but good results too. Be warned.

More evidence of our new local Harvest Economics

I never really thought of Redding as an agricultural community, but evidence of our new economic basis is popping up all over. I was surprised by this interesting little all-terrain dump truck on display inside a Redding Raley’s supermarket yesterday.
Redding agricultural equipment
The sign says Harvest Special. What in the world would you harvest with an ATV dumptruck?
Redding agricultural equipment
Oh.
Yeah, that makes sense. This vehicle looks darn handy for packing in and out of those backcountry grows. Redding Yamaha knows their market. A marketplace fueled by agriculture, apparently.

Redding agriculture

Sundial bridge time is correct once a year

Yesterday a group of folks gathered at the north end of Redding’s Sundial Bridge to observe the Solstice, and perhaps to verify that their cell phones report the same time as the planet. Noon. Yep.
Solstice

Solstice3
There was a band, and some booths. At one of the booths you could look at the sun, but there were no sunspots or flares, so it pretty much looked like just a bright disk.
Solstice4
Solstice2
Redding lays claim to the tallest known sundial on the planet at 217 ft. We humans have a history of building large and relatively permanent structures to observe the planetary movements.
Stonehenge

Hopeful message spotted on Redding sign

Methodist

Happy Father’s Day to me, and to you and/or your father. I spotted this sign a few days ago and it made me smile. This is the Methodist Church on the corner of East and South Street in Redding. The church is a handsome and utilitarian building in a classic Redding style, and the thoughtful sign is appropriate today. I went looking for them on the web, and they are a very interesting church. Check it out HERE.
Methodist2