Category: Opinion

Everybody has one, this is my $.02

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A cold wind blows through the Homeshow

We’ve had a booth at the Homeshow in Anderson for several years now. This Fall show was very lightly attended, coming on the heels of the stock market problems. In the past, it’s been a decent way to meet people in a non-threatening environment. We give out schwag (free promotional items like Custom Water bottles). A memorable moment from today was when a woman took my offered schwag, and when I recited my usual spiel “Please remember us if you know anyone buying or selling a home,” she replied, “I’m an agent myself” turned and walked off. Took my schwag, and cut me off at the knees all at once. That was harsh. Ow. You gotta have thick skin in this business. I marvel at her, really. I could never be that cold.

Ultimately, trade shows are an excellent opportunity to bring your products and services to a wider audience. However, in order for your exhibition to be a success, you need to make sure that you are as prepared as possible. For example, if you want passers-by to be drawn to your table you need to make sure that your corner of the exhibition hall is as inviting as possible. This year, I invested in a bright and colourful poster that I designed and printed using an online template on a website similar to MyCreativeShop. It definitely worked to our advantage as it captured the attention of quite a few people!

We have already started making plans for our next trade show. We want to come up with a new trade show banner, as well as more professional promotional material that we can utilize at events like this. Anyway at this show, the new, much lower valuations hit several people very hard. They had leveraged all their equity or whatever, and were now seriously upside down on value. Gosh, nothing like making people REALLY SAD to make a good impression at a trade show. We need a new reason to speak with people.

Things could be so different now
It used to be so civilized
You will always wonder how
It could have been if you’d only lied

Its too late to change events
Its time to face the consequence
For delivering the proof
In the policy of truth

Depeche Mode –Policy of Truth Too true.
Homeshow in anderson

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Candidates answer questions.

Candidates in redding
I attended the Shasta Board of Realtors meeting today October 8 2008 for their candidate’s forum. The lineup from left to right is Russell Hunt, Missy McArthur, Norma Comnick, Melissa Hunt, Dick Dickerson, John Wood, Ken Murray, Terry Oxley, Jim McDilda, and Gary Cadd. Norma and Melissa are running for council in Anderson, and the rest are running for city council in Redding. Shown above with Ron Largent brandishing the Shasta Voices sheet of loaded questions. The questionaire’s author Mary Machado was in attendance too, as was somebody from the RS.

Gary Cadd talked about the council agenda, and his idea to make it more council driven, and more available to the public. Jim McDilda emphasized that priorities should be put on core services like police and firefighters. Terry Oxley wants to expand Redding’s attractions to bring more tourist dollars and growth. Incumbent Ken Murray talked about his record and things he opposed like Fix 5, and Eminent Domain. 65 year resident John Wood wants to have more Town Hall type meetings in addition to council meetings. Incumbent Dick Dickerson emphasized his experience in local and state government, and explained his priorities were core city services and planning for their future. Incumbent Melissa Hunt was appointed, and so this is her first election. Norma Comnick emphasized her 3 terms of experience, and having served as mayor. Russell Hunt shotgunned his usual blast of ideas and plans from an outsider populist perspective.

If you have been following along, these folks and their positions are well known. There were no surprises at the meeting. Having watched the “debate” last night with Obama and McCain for president, I guess I expected more from this bunch. Instead it reminded me of high school. Funny. Sometimes, it seems like high school never ended.
Candidates in Redding
Fortunately our cities are well run by highly paid (ahem) staff. That’s only a little tongue-in-cheek. I really do believe we have 2 well-run cities here.

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Housing bubble burst

Toxic mortgages had the predicted impact on Wall Street. 500 points yesterday. Yikes. The question is whether the fed or the government will continue to react shortsightedly trying to stop things from unraveling, or buck up and take their medicine. Sad to say, but the sooner we hit bottom, the sooner we can start climbing back up out of it. (of course, they may have said that in 1929 too) Meanwhile, there are a lot of people who mistook debt for wealth, and many of them live in houses they cannot afford. We hear about the many baby-boomers now retiring every day. Many must be wondering whether that’s a good idea right now. Whilst this might not seem practical for all of us, those who have worked hard enough and are financially stable enough could consider retiring early. This younger generation of people who have enough money to consider slowing their lives down have ensured they have enough in their bank accounts to allow them to start enjoying their lives more. When considering retiring at such a young age, it’s vital to make sure that you’re happy with the home you will be spending a lot more time in. For many of these younger people, they will be retiring whilst they still have their children at home with them. This means that they will probably need a family-friendly home in a safe neighborhood. For many people looking at retiring, they have been looking around Main Line Homes and other real estate communities. When retiring, it’s important to find a house in an area with a slower lifestyle that is still safe for children. Hopefully, these baby-boomers will enjoy their new retired lifestyle.

Redding looking north

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DMV sculpture

Sculpture in Redding
I remember when this sculture went up in front of the DMV. There was quite an outcry in the paper about misuse of public funds for art. The outcry has faded, but the art remains. Art can be funny like that.
Sculpture at DMV in ReddingSculpture at DMV in ReddingSculpture at DMV in Redding

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After the fire

After fire in Mc Connell Arboretum
They opened the trail back up this morning so I went to see the aftermath of the recent fire. It smelled like burnt weenies, and the ash was still blowing into your eyes in the still-strong (still dangerous) north winds. It looks like most of it burned fast, and not too hot. I expect we’ll see a lot of the oaks return to life. It will be interesting to see the recovery over time. Fire is a natural cycle of events here, which is easy to say when it’s not BURNING TOWARD YOUR HOUSE.

I posted more photos at Flickr HERE
Turtles at Turtle Bay
The local turtles seemed not to mind at all.

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Fleas

Apparently, I spent much of my adult life sheltered from what must be a daily reality for some. I showed an inexpensive bank-owned house yesterday evening to a curious buyer. Among other issues, it was infested with fleas, a quick Google search for “pest control experts iowa” was so useful for this though. But up until the most recent housing cycle, I had never seen fleas swarm one’s ankles when walking into a home with wall to wall carpet. I am unfortunately familiar with that now. It is still disturbing to think that humans live this way, and maybe even unimaginable for most people until you see it with your own eyes. Imagine Redding summer heat and no electricity for so much as a vacuum cleaner.

Yesterday started me thinking about the health implications, so I browsed over to the CDC website.
flea cycle
Ever heard of Typhus? (2 kinds) Tapeworms? Flea-borne Rickettsiae? I was wondering about plague (Yersinia pestis, known in history as black death) but that’s not prominently mentioned. From the site, “flea-borne diseases could reemerge in epidemic form because of changes in vector-host ecology due to environmental and human behavior modification” and “economic factors, as well as changes in human behavior, have resulted in the emergence of new and the reemergence of existing but forgotten infectious diseases during the past 20 years.” Hmm. Anyway, here’s the website if you’re interested:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol3no3/azad.htm -and thanks to the CDC for the image seen above.
It’s quite a sight to behold, fleas leaping from carpet to your feet and legs with such swarming gusto. As I witness how annoying fleas can be for humans, imagine the discomfort these little pests can have on animals? This is why understanding the difference between frontline plus and frontline gold products, for example, could help with the discomfort that the fleas may bring to your pet. It may also be a preventative measure, which could be beneficial. Pets can be a big factor in bringing fleas into the home as the pests attach themselves to the pet’s fur. If you want to avoid bringing them into the home, you may want to consider an outdoor dog kennel, even if it is just while you treat the carpets.

Not all bank-owned properties have fleas. Its not that bad in the winter, but on a hot day, they have remarkable mobility. It doesn’t even startle me anymore. Maybe it should.
The one that still haunts me is the house in south Redding/north Anderson last year, where it was apparent that the evicted had been doing child day-care. I saw the home pre-eviction when there were kids there, and then a few days after they had left. Along with fleas were the largest rats I’d ever seen. That one was brutal. My sheltered life left behind.

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Governator comes to town

Arnold Schwarznegger blew into town last week to let us all know that there are budget cuts coming to Cally-fornia. There emerged a rather amusing story of one of our city fathers at the meeting asking Arnold a question out of left field as to why he doesn’t support our right to own 50 caliber weaponry. Welcome to Redding Arnold! Anyway, the gist of the speech centered on a probable 10% cut to everything that the state funds. Sounds fair enough. Across the board. Everybody takes a hit.

Except.

Later that evening, after Arnold blew out again, we attended the Soup Supper of the local League of Women Voters. The speaker was Muffy Berryhill of the Shasta First 5 organization. This group is funded by the apparently never-declining cigarette tax. While they don’t fund pre-natal and early childhood programs directly, their purpose is to help organize and offer resources to those organizations in town that serve the very young. There is much more at their website: http://www.first5shasta.org/ She had some statistical data that was disturbing.
Child in Shasta County
There are 10,441 children in Shasta County (2006 data)
4,340 (40%) live in single parent homes versus 24% statewide.
33% live in poverty, as defined as annual income of $20K or less for a family of 4.

My personal view is that, after national defense, ordinary government serves no higher purpose than overseeing the care of the helpless. The mentally ill, indigent elderly, and very young children. Our state taxes-and-spends loads of money. We can cut budgets across the board. It sounds fair enough, but I wonder. When we cut the programs that serve children, and specifically brain development, won’t we pay dearly for that later, when they grow to become (hopefully) productive citizens? Is that a budget expense, or really an investment?

Right now, Muffy says that children in our county born testing positive for Meth is down to about 5 or 6 a month. I don’t find that hard to believe. Plus other drugs and alcohol, probably. So lets say 50-60 children a year. How is that okay under ANY circumstances in our civilization? We pay now or we pay later.

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And then there were 3……..

Two Redding area Title and Escrow companies have shut their doors. Alliance Title closed shop statewide, and Chicago Title closed their Redding doors as well. Their respective escrows are being handled by one or another of the 3 remaining companies: Fidelity, First American, or Placer. Alliance Title in Redding Having 5 competing companies in our market was probably too many anyway, but less choice is never better for the consumer. All those admin and clerical worker folks are out of work now, including the woman I wrote about in my previous post, who fought back tears while helping me as her assistant had been laid off. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. I hope they can all be absorbed back into the local job market, but it must be very difficult for lots of good people. The Redding real estate market can be very cyclical, but I can’t remember losing title companies in the last downturn. Chicago Title in Redding