I have noted since I have been in this business that statistics suggest that 60% of Californians rent. Noticed this Associated Press article this morning and I am posting it to my BLOG. I am of the personal opinion that the hay days of home ownership are fading away. It happened so quickly that we are all still sitting here scratching our heads.
My opinion only and worth about what you are paying for it.
Lee
Associated Press
August 6, 2009
The rate of homeownership is forecast to keep tumbling in the next decade to lows not seen since the 1980s, a trend that could redefine a key element of the American dream even after the housing market recovers.
The percentage of households that own homes hit a peak of almost 70% in 2004 and 2005. By the second quarter of this year, that slipped to 67.4%, according to the Census Bureau. Now, a University of Utah analysis projects it'll drop to about 63.5% by 2020 — the lowest since 1985.
"It will fall steadily by about half a point per year," says Arthur C. Nelson, director of the university's Metropolitan Research Center. "We'll have far more renters in the future."
Homeownership has long been viewed a key to building stable communities and middle-class families. Federal policy encouraged it with tax credits and government-backed mortgages. Now, demographic changes, strict mortgage rules, energy-saving policies and lessons learned in this housing crisis are driving more people to rent.
About 57% of the 30.3 million housing units added from 2005 to 2020 will be rentals, Nelson says. "So many of our federal and state and local policies are driven by the assumption that homeownership is inherently preferred over renting," he says. The housing collapse may have an impact.
"We're returning more to what was normal in the 1960s," says Dowell Myers, housing demographer at the University of Southern California. "People didn't buy homes then as an investment. They bought them to raise families."
Renting also may be more appealing because:
• Households are smaller. The youngest of 79 million Baby Boomers will turn 56 by 2020 and many will be empty nesters who favor small homes. The 20-something millennial generation is at a peak age for renting."What we used to think of as the typical American family — married couple with children — is really not typical anymore," says Mark Obrinsky, chief economist for the National Multi Housing Council in Washington, D.C.
•It's tougher to buy. The subprime mortgage crisis is tightening credit availability.
•Some arenew to the USA. Most recent immigrants rent.
•Somewant to save energy. From tax credits to mass transit, going green is reshaping growth.
Homeownership is not inherently good or bad, Obrinsky says. "Let's give people the best set of housing choices. They want to be a renter, let them be a renter. If they want to be an owner and they can afford to be, let them be an owner."
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Reflections on justice
I have had a strange week. In the midst of the week I received a call from a representative of a Home Owners Association here in Tallahassee. The essence of his rant was that I could potentially be named in a law suit. What ??? That sort of pronouncement gets my attention. The essence of his fervor was that a home owner who had bought a listing from a seller I represented was taking down trees. I, of course, wanted to know what that had to do with me.
His psychotic response was that the fellow had declared that I had not provided him with a copy of the covenants and restrictions surrounding this association. Thusly he had failed to seek the permission of the Homes Association. I informed him that I had provided that information to his agent and that it was the fiduciary responsibility of his agent to provide the C&R to him. I then terminated the discussion electing to make a donation to NAMI ( the National Association of Mental Illness ) rather than donating my time directly to him, a compelling representative of the cause.
I concluded my week by answering a summons to jury duty. It is not a good idea to ignore such. It is always a time consuming and mildly frustrating investiture of time. I was in a pool of approximately 200. My name was called to go to a particular court room and I was invited into a jury box. There were approximately 20-25 of us in the box. That number would be winnowed down to 6 to hear a particular case.
The judge presiding over this case was Circuit Court judge Kevin Davey. He used to live right across the corner of the golf course from me. I have always held a huge amount of admiration and respect for this man and his family. His daughter, Erica, played softball for me at the age of 9. She passed away about 13 years ago from osteomyeloma. I can still see in my mind's eye the look of determination on her steely little face as she played softball. She played with absolute pain in every movement. Yet she ran and squealed and laughed and had a wonderful time as 9 year olds are supposed to do. She looms in my mind as a great example of what it takes to be a champion. She never seemed to give up in the face of long, long odds. Her family took every step with her and they set a wonderful example of support. She is gone on to laugh and play with the angels in heaven. The family is left behind to deal with this onerous world that we continue on in. Where is the justice in that? Yet, this man continues to stand watch over the process of justice.
Well, I digress. The court was Civil Court. There sitting in the defendant's chair was another real estate broker, a very successful one. In the plaintiff's chair was a builder, developer of numerous subdivisions in north Florida. The charge was that the broker had acted with malfeasance in his fiduciary responsibility with the handling of escrow funds. I will not know how the verdict comes out on this. The trial begins on Monday I was fortunate enough to be dismissed as a potential juror. I was happy for that fact.
These two brushes with the wheels of justice this week caused me to reflect. The system is in place in this free country of ours to deal with malfeasance. Those of us who feel taken advantage of can utilize this system of justice that has evolved within our nation. As we have watched the Senate hearings surrounding the Sotomeyor appointment to the Supreme court we should be focused on the extraordinary effort we take to maintain this system. We may seek redress via the court system regardless of our status or station in life. If you are a homeless person who gets run over by a gorilla pushing a shopping cart at Target and suffer bodily harm, trust me, there is an armada of barristers of the law standing in place to help you seek damages. This tort system of ours is what it is. The courts are jammed with silly, frivolous law suits. Many claims get settled before they ever get into court. But we would rather have too much law than not enough.
As a licensed practitioner I am held to standards of performance. I can mis-step along a huge gauntlet of law and regulation, ethics and competency. Many, many eyes watch what I do. If I fail to perform then I deserve to be challenged. Liability looms large. That is why I carry errors and ommissions insurance. To be without is like driving around without auto coverage.
I am currently reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbons. At the outset of the book the author points out that Rome evolved to dominate the world in the first century because of the system of law and government that they had in place. I am assuming that Rome fell largely because that system eroded away at some point in time. They ultimately became a conquered and fallen nation.
Remember: " One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." We should give all we have to preserve it.
His psychotic response was that the fellow had declared that I had not provided him with a copy of the covenants and restrictions surrounding this association. Thusly he had failed to seek the permission of the Homes Association. I informed him that I had provided that information to his agent and that it was the fiduciary responsibility of his agent to provide the C&R to him. I then terminated the discussion electing to make a donation to NAMI ( the National Association of Mental Illness ) rather than donating my time directly to him, a compelling representative of the cause.
I concluded my week by answering a summons to jury duty. It is not a good idea to ignore such. It is always a time consuming and mildly frustrating investiture of time. I was in a pool of approximately 200. My name was called to go to a particular court room and I was invited into a jury box. There were approximately 20-25 of us in the box. That number would be winnowed down to 6 to hear a particular case.
The judge presiding over this case was Circuit Court judge Kevin Davey. He used to live right across the corner of the golf course from me. I have always held a huge amount of admiration and respect for this man and his family. His daughter, Erica, played softball for me at the age of 9. She passed away about 13 years ago from osteomyeloma. I can still see in my mind's eye the look of determination on her steely little face as she played softball. She played with absolute pain in every movement. Yet she ran and squealed and laughed and had a wonderful time as 9 year olds are supposed to do. She looms in my mind as a great example of what it takes to be a champion. She never seemed to give up in the face of long, long odds. Her family took every step with her and they set a wonderful example of support. She is gone on to laugh and play with the angels in heaven. The family is left behind to deal with this onerous world that we continue on in. Where is the justice in that? Yet, this man continues to stand watch over the process of justice.
Well, I digress. The court was Civil Court. There sitting in the defendant's chair was another real estate broker, a very successful one. In the plaintiff's chair was a builder, developer of numerous subdivisions in north Florida. The charge was that the broker had acted with malfeasance in his fiduciary responsibility with the handling of escrow funds. I will not know how the verdict comes out on this. The trial begins on Monday I was fortunate enough to be dismissed as a potential juror. I was happy for that fact.
These two brushes with the wheels of justice this week caused me to reflect. The system is in place in this free country of ours to deal with malfeasance. Those of us who feel taken advantage of can utilize this system of justice that has evolved within our nation. As we have watched the Senate hearings surrounding the Sotomeyor appointment to the Supreme court we should be focused on the extraordinary effort we take to maintain this system. We may seek redress via the court system regardless of our status or station in life. If you are a homeless person who gets run over by a gorilla pushing a shopping cart at Target and suffer bodily harm, trust me, there is an armada of barristers of the law standing in place to help you seek damages. This tort system of ours is what it is. The courts are jammed with silly, frivolous law suits. Many claims get settled before they ever get into court. But we would rather have too much law than not enough.
As a licensed practitioner I am held to standards of performance. I can mis-step along a huge gauntlet of law and regulation, ethics and competency. Many, many eyes watch what I do. If I fail to perform then I deserve to be challenged. Liability looms large. That is why I carry errors and ommissions insurance. To be without is like driving around without auto coverage.
I am currently reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbons. At the outset of the book the author points out that Rome evolved to dominate the world in the first century because of the system of law and government that they had in place. I am assuming that Rome fell largely because that system eroded away at some point in time. They ultimately became a conquered and fallen nation.
Remember: " One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." We should give all we have to preserve it.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Florida Legislature Repairs Home Inspection
The very first deal I put together was disassembled by a home inspector. I won't go into who he was. My buyer had put in a deal on a home in Summerbrook. It was a lovely home and they ordered a home inspection via a practitioner referred by her Father who was a real estate broker in Georgia. Mrs. buyer went to be present at the home inspection. She was an attractive lady and this had a special appeal to this home inspector who I later learned considered himself a ladies man. He spoke to her off the cuff telling here that he would not buy this home because it was stucco. Nevermind that the Seller had a stucco inspection in place that declared the home free of defects. He did not place anything on his report relative to the stucco being deficient. He merely verbalized the damaging proclamation to my buyer. The damage was done and she insisted on terminating the offer. I had shown them about 20 homes and filled out all the paperwork.
Moreover, I had just recently become licensed as a salesperson. To review that process: 63 hours in a formal class, passing a 100 question end of class exam, Taking a very difficult DBPR license exam and then 45 hours of formal post-license class time and passing of another 100 question exam. Total cost of that endeavor, roughly $1000.00.
This home inspector had just killed my deal so I looked into what sort of licensure he had pursued to get into a position of deal destruction. Imagine my surprise to learn that his position required no licensure at all. NOTTA !!! Yet he and others of his ilk play very prominently into a real estate transaction and carry immense influence. The fact that my 2 year grand-daughter and her neighbor could become home inspectors the day after they decided to do so blew my mind. As I write this post home inspectors, in Florida, still require zero licensing requirements.
I had just recently been streeted through a buyout of our division by another company. Prior to that I had lobbied the Florida legislature off and on for 30 years. I had friends in the legislature and made mention of this inequity to some of them. Simultaneously a colleague in my same division had decided to become a home inspector in North Carolina. This is what it required to become such and had been so for many years: 100 hours of class room time; a one year apprentice-ship under a licensee, performing 100 home inspections; passing a fairly difficult state exam.
I was told by one of my acquaintances that a home inspection/mold remediation bill was soon to be on the books. Senate Bill 2234 was passed by the '06 legislature and becomes law 7/1/2010. It will require licensure of home inspectors and mold remediators. They will be required to sit through 120 hours of class time; carry certain minimums in liability insurance and 14 hours of continuing education prior to each licensing renewal. Unfortunateley, those home inspectors who have been in the business for so many years can be grand-fathered into licensure.
When I decided that I wanted to become a real estate broker this is what was required: One year of salesperson servitude under a licensed Broker; 72 hours of class room instruction; passing the class test; passing the DBPR hard, hard state exam; 60 hours of post-license class time and passing that exam. Add it all up and I had 240 hours of classroom instruction and the stress of 4 very difficult formal exams and one year of servitude.
This post is not about trashing home inpsectors. There are some very competent practitioners here in Florida. Some are certified by state and national certification associations. That is not, however, licensure. If I have to jump through the difficult hurdles required to become a real estate broker, then please require that those who can kill my deal, at a minimum, be licensed.
The Florida legislature bought that argument and a little less than a year from now the playing field will be leveled somewhat. Now all we need is for the market to rebound. That is a whole different subject to post on. I do that bi-weekly under The Tallahassee Market on my website at http://elvass.com/.
Moreover, I had just recently become licensed as a salesperson. To review that process: 63 hours in a formal class, passing a 100 question end of class exam, Taking a very difficult DBPR license exam and then 45 hours of formal post-license class time and passing of another 100 question exam. Total cost of that endeavor, roughly $1000.00.
This home inspector had just killed my deal so I looked into what sort of licensure he had pursued to get into a position of deal destruction. Imagine my surprise to learn that his position required no licensure at all. NOTTA !!! Yet he and others of his ilk play very prominently into a real estate transaction and carry immense influence. The fact that my 2 year grand-daughter and her neighbor could become home inspectors the day after they decided to do so blew my mind. As I write this post home inspectors, in Florida, still require zero licensing requirements.
I had just recently been streeted through a buyout of our division by another company. Prior to that I had lobbied the Florida legislature off and on for 30 years. I had friends in the legislature and made mention of this inequity to some of them. Simultaneously a colleague in my same division had decided to become a home inspector in North Carolina. This is what it required to become such and had been so for many years: 100 hours of class room time; a one year apprentice-ship under a licensee, performing 100 home inspections; passing a fairly difficult state exam.
I was told by one of my acquaintances that a home inspection/mold remediation bill was soon to be on the books. Senate Bill 2234 was passed by the '06 legislature and becomes law 7/1/2010. It will require licensure of home inspectors and mold remediators. They will be required to sit through 120 hours of class time; carry certain minimums in liability insurance and 14 hours of continuing education prior to each licensing renewal. Unfortunateley, those home inspectors who have been in the business for so many years can be grand-fathered into licensure.
When I decided that I wanted to become a real estate broker this is what was required: One year of salesperson servitude under a licensed Broker; 72 hours of class room instruction; passing the class test; passing the DBPR hard, hard state exam; 60 hours of post-license class time and passing that exam. Add it all up and I had 240 hours of classroom instruction and the stress of 4 very difficult formal exams and one year of servitude.
This post is not about trashing home inpsectors. There are some very competent practitioners here in Florida. Some are certified by state and national certification associations. That is not, however, licensure. If I have to jump through the difficult hurdles required to become a real estate broker, then please require that those who can kill my deal, at a minimum, be licensed.
The Florida legislature bought that argument and a little less than a year from now the playing field will be leveled somewhat. Now all we need is for the market to rebound. That is a whole different subject to post on. I do that bi-weekly under The Tallahassee Market on my website at http://elvass.com/.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Remembering Craig Hasty
This post is about a fellow named Craig Hasty. He and his Father, Del, and his little miniature dachsund, Sammy, lived just down the street from me for many years. I remember the first time I met Craig. He was coming down the sidewalk wearing marine style camouflage complete with boots. I was walking my bassett hound, Cleo. Craig and Cleo immediately fell in love with one another. Craig would always fall all over her, rubbing her ears and proclaiming, " Cleo, just a big, fat, loveable dog." I always referred to Cleo as the Cleopottamus. Craig loved that nickname for Cleo and often referred to her as the Cleopottamus. He was always bringing her bones from steak or rib cookouts and just dropping in to see her.
He became a family friend. After he took up running, he would run ( not jog ) past our house in the early hours of the morning. Sometimes we would hear his boot steps down our sidewalk as he picked up our paper and delivered it to our front door. We were one of several neighbors he performed this special service for. An acquaintance called me one morning to warn me that he saw a strange character in camouflage running around in our front yard early, early in the morning. The purpose of the call was accompanied with " I know you have two pretty daughters and I just thought you should know." I told him that was our neighbor, Craig, and he was a friend to my whole family, including my pretty daughters.
Craig was a little bit different. I never learned the cause of his mental development being slowed. He was stuck somewhere in adolescence though he was a man in his late 30's perhaps 40's. Del was a retired military officer and Craig lived with him. I believe his Mother had passed away some years earlier. Craig could drive and would often see me working in the yard and pull into our driveway just to visit. He always wore his camouflage fatigues and often a little black beret. I do not ever remember him being in a bad mood or saying an unkind thing about anyone, ever. He always addressed me as Mr. Vass although I told him often to call me Lee.
He was simply a sweet person. My wife often shared her baked goodies with Craig and his Father. They had a next door neighbor whom Craig declared a Saint. She often sent them meals and looked after them in many ways.
The news came that Del had cancer. Our immediate thought was what on earth would happen to Craig. Craig cared for his Dad as best he could and the cancer seemed to take a slow circuitous approach. Craig became even more esconced in running and joined Gulf Winds Track club. He poured his heart and soul into that association and ran several events including marathons. He was always proud of his ability to finish events. I was always amazed at his ability to run long distances in impressive times in fatigues and boots. That club became a family to Craig. He spoke to me of specific members and I could tell that he had made many good, solid friends there.
The day came that Del succumbed to the cancer. It was exactly 3 weeks later that Craig went to join him. He died in Taylor County, I believe. He went out for a run on one of the hottest days of the year. He ran and ran and ran without stopping, without hydrating and just keeled over and died. Those of us who knew him realized that he was smart enough to know that he could end his life in such an exercise.
I often think of him and people like him. It is common to wonder why the Great God who controls the universe and is said to know when a sparrow falls, places people like Craig Hasty in our midst. I believe that such people are precious to Him and He envelopes them in a special veil of protection. They are not capable of petty gossip, larcenous tendencies nor egregious behavior. They are placed in our midst for us to reflect upon and ask ourselves is the rat race we run really all that important? Craig's world was pretty small and simple. We would all be a lot better off involving ourselves in small and simple.
These times we live in are taking us back to that juncture. The world has consumed itself into a world wide depression. We will survive it only if we simplify our appetites and look to the Craig Hastys in our midst. I miss my visits with Craig. I know he is in a better place with his Mother and Father together. I also believe that he still has some time to rub on Cleo who left us about 5 years ago. His little Sammy is somewhere close by as well. I am just positive that he is happy and fulfilled. I hope to see him again one day. Hope I am worthy.
He became a family friend. After he took up running, he would run ( not jog ) past our house in the early hours of the morning. Sometimes we would hear his boot steps down our sidewalk as he picked up our paper and delivered it to our front door. We were one of several neighbors he performed this special service for. An acquaintance called me one morning to warn me that he saw a strange character in camouflage running around in our front yard early, early in the morning. The purpose of the call was accompanied with " I know you have two pretty daughters and I just thought you should know." I told him that was our neighbor, Craig, and he was a friend to my whole family, including my pretty daughters.
Craig was a little bit different. I never learned the cause of his mental development being slowed. He was stuck somewhere in adolescence though he was a man in his late 30's perhaps 40's. Del was a retired military officer and Craig lived with him. I believe his Mother had passed away some years earlier. Craig could drive and would often see me working in the yard and pull into our driveway just to visit. He always wore his camouflage fatigues and often a little black beret. I do not ever remember him being in a bad mood or saying an unkind thing about anyone, ever. He always addressed me as Mr. Vass although I told him often to call me Lee.
He was simply a sweet person. My wife often shared her baked goodies with Craig and his Father. They had a next door neighbor whom Craig declared a Saint. She often sent them meals and looked after them in many ways.
The news came that Del had cancer. Our immediate thought was what on earth would happen to Craig. Craig cared for his Dad as best he could and the cancer seemed to take a slow circuitous approach. Craig became even more esconced in running and joined Gulf Winds Track club. He poured his heart and soul into that association and ran several events including marathons. He was always proud of his ability to finish events. I was always amazed at his ability to run long distances in impressive times in fatigues and boots. That club became a family to Craig. He spoke to me of specific members and I could tell that he had made many good, solid friends there.
The day came that Del succumbed to the cancer. It was exactly 3 weeks later that Craig went to join him. He died in Taylor County, I believe. He went out for a run on one of the hottest days of the year. He ran and ran and ran without stopping, without hydrating and just keeled over and died. Those of us who knew him realized that he was smart enough to know that he could end his life in such an exercise.
I often think of him and people like him. It is common to wonder why the Great God who controls the universe and is said to know when a sparrow falls, places people like Craig Hasty in our midst. I believe that such people are precious to Him and He envelopes them in a special veil of protection. They are not capable of petty gossip, larcenous tendencies nor egregious behavior. They are placed in our midst for us to reflect upon and ask ourselves is the rat race we run really all that important? Craig's world was pretty small and simple. We would all be a lot better off involving ourselves in small and simple.
These times we live in are taking us back to that juncture. The world has consumed itself into a world wide depression. We will survive it only if we simplify our appetites and look to the Craig Hastys in our midst. I miss my visits with Craig. I know he is in a better place with his Mother and Father together. I also believe that he still has some time to rub on Cleo who left us about 5 years ago. His little Sammy is somewhere close by as well. I am just positive that he is happy and fulfilled. I hope to see him again one day. Hope I am worthy.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Predatory Purchasing II
I am re-posting this earlier BLOG. It bears re-visiting.
In the mid-seventies I was in Long Island, New York on business. It was a week long stay. While I was there an Eastern airlines jet went down. The death toll was nearly 100. I clearly recall that the news reports covered the fact that before authorities could secure the crash site, other human beings were approaching the scene and stealing jewelry, wallets, purses and other personal items off the corpses. That has always loomed very large in my mind as to just how low humankind can sink.
It hardly parallels in an analogy but I have been thinking about that experience here lately as I represent people as Sellers and Buyers in our current real estate market. The mindset in a large number of people is that many sellers are under extreme duress in selling thier homes. This market represents an opportunity to try and obtain an extraodinary purchase. In other words many buyers turn into predators trying to benefit at the crash site of the current real estate downturn.
There is little compassion displayed in many of the offers that I have had to handle within the last few months. The prime victim is the person who has not been able to make a payment for awhile on thier homes. They are heading into foreclosure or short sale. The Buyer armed with a sufficient line of credit or cash moves in for the kill. Never mind that the seller is down on thier luck, financially.
The predatory purchaser wants to obtain that property at an extreme discount, hang the circumstances of the poor property owner.Now, I know that we live in a free market economy. I am all in favor of getting a good deal on just about anything I go to purchase. However, I feel that common decency should drive us in the direction of offering a fair price for property. Low ball offers have always been a part of our business however the current market we are in seems to bring out the predator in some of the more unscrupulous. You see their signs on every street corner, " Will pay cash for houses, quickly."
Visit me on the web at http://elvass.com
In the mid-seventies I was in Long Island, New York on business. It was a week long stay. While I was there an Eastern airlines jet went down. The death toll was nearly 100. I clearly recall that the news reports covered the fact that before authorities could secure the crash site, other human beings were approaching the scene and stealing jewelry, wallets, purses and other personal items off the corpses. That has always loomed very large in my mind as to just how low humankind can sink.
It hardly parallels in an analogy but I have been thinking about that experience here lately as I represent people as Sellers and Buyers in our current real estate market. The mindset in a large number of people is that many sellers are under extreme duress in selling thier homes. This market represents an opportunity to try and obtain an extraodinary purchase. In other words many buyers turn into predators trying to benefit at the crash site of the current real estate downturn.
There is little compassion displayed in many of the offers that I have had to handle within the last few months. The prime victim is the person who has not been able to make a payment for awhile on thier homes. They are heading into foreclosure or short sale. The Buyer armed with a sufficient line of credit or cash moves in for the kill. Never mind that the seller is down on thier luck, financially.
The predatory purchaser wants to obtain that property at an extreme discount, hang the circumstances of the poor property owner.Now, I know that we live in a free market economy. I am all in favor of getting a good deal on just about anything I go to purchase. However, I feel that common decency should drive us in the direction of offering a fair price for property. Low ball offers have always been a part of our business however the current market we are in seems to bring out the predator in some of the more unscrupulous. You see their signs on every street corner, " Will pay cash for houses, quickly."
Visit me on the web at http://elvass.com
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Volunteer Doltism
I read a great editorial this week in the Democrat by Bob Gabordi. He was opining concerning people who sit next to you at sporting events and scream out criticism and obscenities at players, coaches, officials, cheerleaders, grounds crew, weathermen, the person who sang the National anthem, etc. You know the ones I mean. They look like the polar opposite of an athlete. They are generally morbidly obese and shun personal hygiene. They always seem to find a seat near me at such events.
Mr. Gabordi was saying that such people should have to seek licensure for such a privilege. They should be made to pass an examination that qualifies them to speak out on the nuances of how to pitch to a batter with one base open in a tie game during the third phase of an equatorial equinox. Once they have established thier expertise then we can hang on their every gutterally engineered comment. Until they pass such a test then they must, by law, keep their opinions to themselves.
I responded to him with the following perspective. I believe that such people who peform thusly do society an advanced service. Lump them in with the people who wear offensive tee shirts, place distasteful bumber stickers on their cars, tattoo themselves with antisocietal rhetoric, and pierce themselves in strange places.
If we were to legislate that people with IQ's below 70 must wear some sort of indication of that fact, in a public display, on thier person at all times, the ACLU would have a field day. Yet these people voluntarily display such in their behaviour and their choice of outward appearance. I think we are a very fortunate society that being the case.
An example. Once upon a time my good golf buddy and I were getting ready to tee off at Seminole golf course for a relaxing 4 hour visit mixed with violent thrashing of golf clubs. As is the case, often, the starter sent another twosome to join us. One of these golfers looked like a character from the movie Scarface . Clenched in his goon-like face was a cigar of enormous proportion. On his tee shirt was a declarative addressed to Seminole fans that was offensively distasteful. It had to do with an unnatural act involving those of Seminole allegiance. How fortunate were we that we could read this fellow's shirt and make a snap decision that we were NOT going to spend our next 4 hours with him. I told the starter so. I went on to suggest that it was a poor reflection on the golf course management that such a person, wearing such a tee shirt would even be allowed on the course. The starter nervously arranged another pairing and my friend and I enjoyed a lovely round of golf. Had this fellow not advertised his shallowness of character we would have been stuck in a distateful circumstance.
It is my opinon that we are fortunate to live in a society that allows free expression of character. We can therefore shun the perpetrator and live our lives on a higher plane. We can thusly protect ourselves and our children by placing a respectable distance between ourselves and people of such an ilk.
Please visit me on the web at http://elvass.com/.
Mr. Gabordi was saying that such people should have to seek licensure for such a privilege. They should be made to pass an examination that qualifies them to speak out on the nuances of how to pitch to a batter with one base open in a tie game during the third phase of an equatorial equinox. Once they have established thier expertise then we can hang on their every gutterally engineered comment. Until they pass such a test then they must, by law, keep their opinions to themselves.
I responded to him with the following perspective. I believe that such people who peform thusly do society an advanced service. Lump them in with the people who wear offensive tee shirts, place distasteful bumber stickers on their cars, tattoo themselves with antisocietal rhetoric, and pierce themselves in strange places.
If we were to legislate that people with IQ's below 70 must wear some sort of indication of that fact, in a public display, on thier person at all times, the ACLU would have a field day. Yet these people voluntarily display such in their behaviour and their choice of outward appearance. I think we are a very fortunate society that being the case.
An example. Once upon a time my good golf buddy and I were getting ready to tee off at Seminole golf course for a relaxing 4 hour visit mixed with violent thrashing of golf clubs. As is the case, often, the starter sent another twosome to join us. One of these golfers looked like a character from the movie Scarface . Clenched in his goon-like face was a cigar of enormous proportion. On his tee shirt was a declarative addressed to Seminole fans that was offensively distasteful. It had to do with an unnatural act involving those of Seminole allegiance. How fortunate were we that we could read this fellow's shirt and make a snap decision that we were NOT going to spend our next 4 hours with him. I told the starter so. I went on to suggest that it was a poor reflection on the golf course management that such a person, wearing such a tee shirt would even be allowed on the course. The starter nervously arranged another pairing and my friend and I enjoyed a lovely round of golf. Had this fellow not advertised his shallowness of character we would have been stuck in a distateful circumstance.
It is my opinon that we are fortunate to live in a society that allows free expression of character. We can therefore shun the perpetrator and live our lives on a higher plane. We can thusly protect ourselves and our children by placing a respectable distance between ourselves and people of such an ilk.
Please visit me on the web at http://elvass.com/.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Grandpa is over the hill and Grandma doesn't care
I am a product of the 60's. I experienced the sexual revolution live and in person. What people used to snicker and whisper about prior to then, sitcoms, private conversations began to obsess about right out in the open. Still people would get married and have their families in due time and get on with living the American dream.
I have recently experienced two weddings where the bride and bridegroom were preceded down the aisle by thier little 2-3 year old offspring. I feel like something left over from the Mesozoic period. I had a maternal great aunt who disappeared back in the 1890's and no one ever heard from again. The scuttlebutt was that she got herself in trouble. Nowadays there is absolutely zero stigma attached to such a circumstance. People living together before the nuptials is common practice. Pregnancy prior to marriage is commonplace and accepted.
I remember cars back in the 60's had huge tailfins on them. The psychologists got a lot of mileage by saying that they were in fact phallic symbols reflecting the new found freedom of sexual expression. I always scratched my head and wondered how in the world society could all of a sudden be that obsessed with sex.
Now, here I am in this new millenium. There is no longer a need for phallic symbols. I think I counted 492 E.D. commercials in one baseball game I watched in the last week. The world is now obsessed with the subject of erection. There is no phallic subtlety to this obsession. The manufacturers of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra spend 100's of millions of dollars advertising for their products. I used to live in the world of pharmaceuticals. I know that they would not be making those expenditures if the world did not thunder to their door and buy the product. I have to admit that I was more comfortable when people whispered about such subjects. Call me an old fogey.
When I was a young man people would say that grandpa was over the hill. It meant that he could no longer cut the mustard. Whatever the case, be it hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesteremia, low testosterone, just wasn't interested anymore, etc. This was an accepted fact of life and you know what? Life went on. You know what else? Grandma nor grandpa went blind nor did she care a whole lot that grandpa preferred playing 18 holes of golf instead of a game of slap and tickle.
The discovery of sildenafil ( generic for Viagra) was what is called a serendipitous discovery. It was being studied as an antihypertensive. Some of the human trials produced a lot of men with unmistakeable smiles on their faces. Wallah ! An application to the FDA gave us the first product for ED. Cost? $10 per tablet. It was known as Vitamin V, the little blue pill and a break through. Bob Dole made his smirky little commericals and it made Pfizer pharmaceuticals more rich and powerful. State medicaids, who at the time, were getting stingy about giving people the newer BP meds, antiarrythmia drugs, asthma drugs added this drug to their formularies. They allowed the medicaid recpients as many as 10-12 tablets per month at taxpayer expense of various states.
My point? Simply this: We live in a surreal world. Many people are mindless automatons. We are susceptible to what we see on CNN, FOX, CNBC and so on. This recession/depression we are in is real, primarily because we think it is so. We read about it in the WSJ, USA Today. We saw a report on CBS. So we react accordingly.
I am telling you right now. For those of you paying rent, I don't care what the economist says on the Oprah show, it has never been a better time to purchase a home. Don't believe it when they tell you there is no money for mortgages. There is plenty of money at UNDER 6%. The inventory of homes is HUGE. You can take your pick. There is $8,000 in a bonafide tax credit available to you. The Florida legislature just set aside $30 million to allow you to get an advance on that tax credit to use for your down payment. Call me up and let's get going. Nothing makes life more fulfilling than owning your own home. It is still the American Dream. I can help you get it fulfilled.
Please visit me on the web at http://www.elvass.com/
I have recently experienced two weddings where the bride and bridegroom were preceded down the aisle by thier little 2-3 year old offspring. I feel like something left over from the Mesozoic period. I had a maternal great aunt who disappeared back in the 1890's and no one ever heard from again. The scuttlebutt was that she got herself in trouble. Nowadays there is absolutely zero stigma attached to such a circumstance. People living together before the nuptials is common practice. Pregnancy prior to marriage is commonplace and accepted.
I remember cars back in the 60's had huge tailfins on them. The psychologists got a lot of mileage by saying that they were in fact phallic symbols reflecting the new found freedom of sexual expression. I always scratched my head and wondered how in the world society could all of a sudden be that obsessed with sex.
Now, here I am in this new millenium. There is no longer a need for phallic symbols. I think I counted 492 E.D. commercials in one baseball game I watched in the last week. The world is now obsessed with the subject of erection. There is no phallic subtlety to this obsession. The manufacturers of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra spend 100's of millions of dollars advertising for their products. I used to live in the world of pharmaceuticals. I know that they would not be making those expenditures if the world did not thunder to their door and buy the product. I have to admit that I was more comfortable when people whispered about such subjects. Call me an old fogey.
When I was a young man people would say that grandpa was over the hill. It meant that he could no longer cut the mustard. Whatever the case, be it hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesteremia, low testosterone, just wasn't interested anymore, etc. This was an accepted fact of life and you know what? Life went on. You know what else? Grandma nor grandpa went blind nor did she care a whole lot that grandpa preferred playing 18 holes of golf instead of a game of slap and tickle.
The discovery of sildenafil ( generic for Viagra) was what is called a serendipitous discovery. It was being studied as an antihypertensive. Some of the human trials produced a lot of men with unmistakeable smiles on their faces. Wallah ! An application to the FDA gave us the first product for ED. Cost? $10 per tablet. It was known as Vitamin V, the little blue pill and a break through. Bob Dole made his smirky little commericals and it made Pfizer pharmaceuticals more rich and powerful. State medicaids, who at the time, were getting stingy about giving people the newer BP meds, antiarrythmia drugs, asthma drugs added this drug to their formularies. They allowed the medicaid recpients as many as 10-12 tablets per month at taxpayer expense of various states.
My point? Simply this: We live in a surreal world. Many people are mindless automatons. We are susceptible to what we see on CNN, FOX, CNBC and so on. This recession/depression we are in is real, primarily because we think it is so. We read about it in the WSJ, USA Today. We saw a report on CBS. So we react accordingly.
I am telling you right now. For those of you paying rent, I don't care what the economist says on the Oprah show, it has never been a better time to purchase a home. Don't believe it when they tell you there is no money for mortgages. There is plenty of money at UNDER 6%. The inventory of homes is HUGE. You can take your pick. There is $8,000 in a bonafide tax credit available to you. The Florida legislature just set aside $30 million to allow you to get an advance on that tax credit to use for your down payment. Call me up and let's get going. Nothing makes life more fulfilling than owning your own home. It is still the American Dream. I can help you get it fulfilled.
Please visit me on the web at http://www.elvass.com/
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