Bad MLS Photo of the Day #366

April 30th, 2008 Bad MLS Photo of the Day atholkay 2 Comments »

Once we bend enough telephone poles like this we’re gonna build a boat.

From an anonymous donor.

Your bad photos are good here, please send me the horrible shots you find.

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WHY R RMRKS WRTTN W/O VWLS?

April 30th, 2008 Humor atholkay No Comments »

Here’s a little beauty sent to me from Robert and Sandy Cook in Burbank CA.

Description
Lov. Refurb. 3+2 18′x23′ gh w/ 3/4 ba. Beaut. Updated kit, h/w floors, new dual pane windows, copper plumb. Sep lndry room, patio, carport. Gh permited as rum pus rm w/lge dn owner may carry 2nd fa heat/air negotible. Lb fd + lb for gh side door of gar…

Okay… at this point I’m following it about 80% successfully but I’m starting to feel like I just accidently joined the Japanese class when I signed up for Spanish. However the final line just cracked me up.

…Buyer to check permits.

LMAO. Perhaps even a slight moment of ROFLMAO.

“We have no permits. Buy this place and you’re so screwed.” 

Bad News. Good News.

April 29th, 2008 Geekage and Blogging atholkay 1 Comment »

Apparently if Google updates Page Rank with your website offline for the whole thing, you get a big fat zero.

Last week despite being semi-functional and not even posting once I had one of the best weeks ever for readership.

Bad MLS Photo of the Day #365

April 29th, 2008 Bad MLS Photo of the Day atholkay 1 Comment »

Would be a great background for a Paxil Ad.

From Gabi Collins.

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Great Spirit of NORG-veey

April 28th, 2008 Good Vibes, Humor atholkay 1 Comment »

Okay really, seriously now, I hope to have returned. The blog appears 99% repaired by the Tomato crew and basically functional as before.

The other reason for my longer absence is that I’ve been off vacationing in Florida at the expensive mouse house for the last week. I would have said something earlier, but with the blog mostly down and the Department of Homeland Security still having us at Condition Peach, I felt uneasy about posting online that my house was going to be empty apart from a pair of attention starved cats.

Oh… Condition Peach… that’s actually Condition Orange, but the signs are starting to fade in the sun a bit. It still feels weird to listen to the endless blaring of the threat level in the airports and dumping all the carry on luggage through the scanners. That’s a lot of people working that security thing and they mostly look bored beyond belief. Jen got some special attention as security guy with a wand waved it over her her and had her down to bra and panties in a back room in under a minute. All I could think as it was happening is… damn I have to get one of those wands.

Oh relax, that didn’t happen, just working in a joke that I cribbed from the paper this morning.

Anyway… don’t worry the cats got fed and apparently serious love from our sweetie cat sitter. The mail was wedged into the mailbox like I was trying on one of the three pairs of fantasy jeans I have hanging in my closet, but alive cats and absence of pee smell generally nets you a front of the class seat for a repeat performance.

(edit: apparently Jen got the post office to hold the mail until the day we got back. I just carry the bags.)

In an completely unscientific study I can forcefully announce that the American dollar must be seriously tanking as Disney World seemed swamped with European tourists enjoying the exchange rate between the Euro and the Dollar. We’ll be tieing it 1:1 with the Rupee next week I heard. I kept thinking I was seeing the same guy everywhere for a while but nope… just dozens of Chelsea supporters on holiday apparently.

The World Showcase in EPCOT is like the best idea ever, but painfully short of where it could be. Seriously, if you can’t buy a David Beckham shirt in “England” and down a British Rail meat pie as penance for whatever sins you’ve committed, why even bother?

France would be better if Disney made working there part of its progressive discipline policy. I.e. Verbal Warning -> Written Warning -> Working Counter in France -> Termination. You get to see the Effiel Tower and get some haughty service. Just like being in France!

Also someone from the Norwegian government needs to step in and raise a royal stink about the Norway bit in EPCOT. Great spirit of NORG-veey that place makes Norway look like Germany minus the fun. If you’ve ever been trapped in the holding cell after the Maelstrom ride you’ll know what I mean by NORG-veey.

Seriously now, just deep six either Norway or Canada and get Australia in there. Everyone likes Australia despite 90% of the land mass being like the surface of Mars. Mexico is great though, being an excuse for having a maragrita stand for the win.

Yeah I said add Australia, not New Zealand. EPCOT needs that blindingly obvious landmark building and the Sydney Opera House would work great as a scaled down model. Also I have a hunch that there would be some inane sheep based ride that would make no sense at all. You’d be riding around in sheep cars looking at the history of sheep for two minutes and the ride would dump you into a shop filled with sheep shirts and mugs and stickers etc. So I defer to Australia just this once. Plus Paul Hogan could star in the Aussie attraction assuming he’s still alive.

Best Disney memory… listening to a teenage girl on a cell phone trying to find her friends with some in front of China and some in front of Japan in the World Showcase.

“but I’m right here!”

“I’m waving my arms… how can you not see me?!”

“I’m standing right in front of China and I can’t see you”

“Well I’m in China and I can’t see you either”

“…”

I had to help her out and explained this was in fact the Japanese pavilion.

“Some creepy guy just said I’m in Japan… I’m so lost”  (don’t ask me how you get lost on a path that is basically a big circle)

“Well I don’t know, it’s not like you can tell these countries apart”

So I pointed out that the scaled down Forbidden Place thingy in China had a golden roof visible from the entire lake.

…she looked at me like I was from NORG-veey.

Bad MLS Photo of the Day #364

April 28th, 2008 Bad MLS Photo of the Day atholkay 3 Comments »

Because you know how guys dig fancy swirly lettering…

From Steve Buccola.

Your bad photos are good here, please send me the horrible shots you find.

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Almost Back

April 20th, 2008 Geekage and Blogging 7 Comments »

Just a quick note of thanks to all those who have emailed me over the last week asking where I had disappeared to. Myself along with a number of other real estate blogs have been essentially hacked to pieces and we’re in the process of putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.

And when I say “we’re” I really mean Jim Cronin and Co at Tomato Blogs are doing the work and I’m not doing much of anything. The site looks mostly back, but I can still lots of little problem areas to be fixed yet. Not sure if it’s even possible to get it back 100%.

So still here, just an enforced vacation of sorts.

Bad MLS Photo of the Day #363

April 13th, 2008 Bad MLS Photo of the Day No Comments »

DANGER WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!

From Mike Hale.

Your bad photos are good here, please send me the horrible shots you find.

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Bad MLS Photo of the Day #362

April 12th, 2008 Bad MLS Photo of the Day 1 Comment »

For the love of use the UNDO BUTTON.

From Malcolm Waring.

Your bad photos are good here, please send me the horrible shots you find.

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Thanks for visiting.

Friday Feed Bag

April 11th, 2008 The Feed Bag 1 Comment »

A few things caught my eye this week.

Online photo editing software Photoshop Express. Give it a whirl. Not all the bells and whistles of Photoshop, but quite a few of the basics. Free and from Adobe so its official as it gets.

Is blogging prospecting? Were Point and Counterpoint with Jonathan Dalton and Chris Johnson.

Linda Davis is always great at pointing out the blindingly obvious that somehow eludes me. Ye gods the price of oil. Thats gonna be a factor at closing.

Russell Shaw with What Do I Do Now is going to be one of the best posts of the year.

Any month I get less than 110k in net commissions (my share) we are paying for the privilege of being in business. In the 4th quarter (and therefore my first quarter earnings are down, as well) we were grossing around 30 - 35k a month in commission income. We were paying 75 - 80k a month to get to sell real estate.

Oh its fun, but not so much fun that anyone would want to keep doing it for long if that part wasnt going to change.

Well worth a read, and its less doom and gloom than you would think from my teaser quote. Also its nice to think Im doing better than Russell did last quarter.

Japanese design for light in small houses. Hat tip Mariana Wagner. (About 5 mins, but good.)

The famous Japanese Spa Prank. Its a little blurry, but trust me on this one, just stick with it. It gets funnier and funnier as it goes on. (5 mins) Tell me this is not the spookiest thing youve ever seen. Wonder how many of these guys died of cancer. (1 min) and youve been fed.