Archive for December, 2007
Where Are We Headed In The Housing Markets For 2008
December 31st, 2007 categories: Investing in San Diego Real Estate, Market and Forecast Updates For San Diego, San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate News
It is now time to refocus my energies here to provide you with some insight and perspective as we begin anew to redefine the characteristics of the current housing market and where we are likely headed in 2008.
Looking back, 2007 has been a most unusual year. The housing market has seen a lot of correction and some real disappointments coupled with some mostly obscured indicators that the market is actually improving.
As we begin this year that will have the media being dominated by election year prognostication, there will also be many words printed about the housing market and the direction the media intends to emphasize as the year progresses. There will no doubt be further effort to undermine any efforts of recognizing this market as a glass half full. But the best investors world wide have always recognized the golden opportunities that lie at the heart of the medias effort to portray any weakness in the markets as death knells. The best usually pick up the gauntlet and run with it to find even more new riches at the expense of the weakened and weary current holders of the assets.
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A new kind of Powerplant Proposed
December 17th, 2007 categories: Local San Diego News You Can Use, San Diego Real Estate
Powered by Natural Gas instead of the current Steam Turbines, a newly proposed power plant to augment the power supply sources for San Diego will require 30% less fuel to generate the same amount of power as currently generated by The Encina Power Plant.
The new power plant that is being proposed by NRG Energy West will sit adjacent to the current Encina Power Plant with a larger 20 acres footprint running along Route 5 but will have a smaller height profile. Currently the smoke stacks used by Encina are 12 stories. The new smoke stacks will be 100 feet tall but the first 30 feet will be under the ground giving the overall hight above land at 70 feet.
This new plant if approved will not replace the Encina Power plant with proposed purchase also underway by NRG Energy but will run intermittently to supply additional power when needed. In a span of the next 5 to 6 years, this new power plant can ultimately replace the old plant.
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The Wit and Wisdom of Andy Rooney
December 7th, 2007 categories: San Diego Real Estate
I am a regular for tuning in to watch Andy Rooney on Sunday evenings. Most of the other stuff there really doesnt interest me that much but Andy Rooney does.
I could only wish I could think the way his brilliant mind works. I love his style and without too much effort, I can hear his voice in my mind just any time I want to smile with his zany brand of wit.
One of his monologues was on Telemarketing and Junk Mail and it was just amazing to me. His common sense and logic is just so on the mark but he thinks in ways that most of us dont, regrettably. He can take just about any annoyance and without violence, hatred or too much anxiety, he comes up with the common sense solution that works better than all the complex stuff that our society dishes up.
In the Telemarketing arena, instead of laws and useless and complex legal solutions, he said in 3 simple words a wonderful cure for the annoyance we often suffer when telemarketers call right at dinner time.
His 3 words€¦ Hold On please€¦€¦€¦
Saying this, while putting down your phone and walking off (instead of hanging-up immediately) would make each Telemarketing call so much more time-consuming that boiler room sales would grind to a halt.
Andy continued with other examples of easy solutions for telemarketers. Do you ever get those annoying phone calls with no one on the other end? This is a Telemarketing technique where a machine makes phone calls and records the time of day when a person answers the phone. That way they would arrange a call for about that time better insuring someone would he home to answer the call. What you can do after answering, if you notice there is no one there, is to immediately start hitting your # button on the phone, 6 or 7 times, as quickly as possible. This confuses the machine that dialed the call and it kicks your number out of their system Gosh, what a shame not to have your name in their system any longer !!!
Andy also has a great solution for Junk mail. Now I have personally done this a few times but I keep forgetting to do it consistently. Andy suggests the following:
When you get “ads” enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these “ads” with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away.When you get those “pre-approved” letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to 2nd mortgages and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope.
Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 41 cents postage “IF” and when they receive them back.
It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was 39 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes. This will also help out the postal service by replacing some of the lost mail they dont deliver because of the increasing e-mails that are cutting into their profitability. If we all did it, maybe they wouldnt have to keep increasing the cost of postage. Its worth a try. If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn’t on anything you send them.You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to just to keep them guessing! It still costs them 41 cents.
Cant you just hear Andy in his wonderful raspy voice say all these things? His wit and charm keep me loyal to tuning in but I would love to hear a full 60 minutes of his insights and wit. I hope all of you on ActiveRain enjoy this as much as I enjoyed bringing you some of Andys wit and wisdom. I just love the way the man thinks and if only I could say it just the way he does. There is only one that can and its its himself, the real Andy Rooney. Thankfully he is still around to share it all.
If you still want more or just to hear his wonderful voice, listen to Andy go on about Whats Not in the some of the food we eat.
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Wonderful New Restaurant and Internet Hot Spot Opens in Mission Valley
December 4th, 2007 categories: Local San Diego News You Can Use, San Diego Real Estate
Last weekend I ate at a great new casual restaurant in Orange County and the food was terrific. I was to discover that this same restaurant has newly opened in San Diegos Mission Valley area about a month ago. So this afternoon prior to seeing a real estate client, I stopped in for lunch. The place was hopping with lap tops everywhere and the food was great. I tried the triple salad consisting of your choice of 3 different salads. I had the Chicken salad, Egg salad and the Tomato and cucumber salad served with a hot roll and mixed greens in a vinegarette dressing. Not only was it great tasting but the price was really great too!. The name of this fun new place is The Corner Bakery Cafe. It is not called The Corner Bakery for no reason. Their vast choice of available baked goods looks like it will be draw all by itself.
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Coming Home For Christmas
December 1st, 2007 categories: San Diego Real Estate
Wishing you all A Most Joyous Christmas and Holiday Season. May your lives be touched with the magic of this most wonderful time of Year.
For those men and women who have sacrificed so much and who will be serving around the world that won’t be coming home, we send our Love and our Prayers that their hearts will be filled with our thoughts of them and our prayers for them to Be Coming Home for Christmas soon. We are truly grateful for their scarifice and we must never forget the lonliness and fear they must feel and the ache in their hearts knowing that this year they won’t make it Home for Christmas.
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