StarFleet Carl: Blog

I can already tell one comment is going to be, gee, cry me a river. I'm just literally going to be too busy tomorrow morning to make sure it's posted - I have a CE class fairly early in the morning, so I'm out of here quicker than normal. Then I have to do paperwork on a home inspection, call two different zoning boards, and get ready for Friday, when I'm showing some houses and educating some first time buyers. I'm hoping to get a listing, too. Then Saturday morning we're having a meeting at the office about an event our office is sponsoring, and Sunday I'm supposed to go see "The Lion King" Broadway production whether I want to or not.

I don't think anyone could possibly accuse me of being politically correct, but I could sure use some mean tweets and under $2.00 gas about now. Eggs are over $3.00 a dozen, a can of Progresso soup was $2.98, and even cheese was $8 for a two pound block. Mind you, this is at the CHEAP place in town. I'm glad it's just my wife and I, because I don't know how someone is going to afford to feed a family. My wife and I were talking about that at dinner tonight, and she was talking about how they can't get lettuce at her work, to give the residents a salad, so she didn't know what would happen when the price of chicken and beef got too high.

I suggested Vegans, and she said, well, we might have to go to that lifestyle. I said, no. Vegans to REPLACE chicken and beef on the menu. Long Pork, it's the OTHER other white meat. She sort of thought that was funny, but since she also knows there really IS a food product out there called Soylent - and they have it in Green - and the movie was set in 2022...

Anyway, have a good weekend and just remember one thing. You stick to that, and the rest doesn't mean shit. (Also, bedtime - I can hear taps coming from Tinker.)

For those of you who didn't see her book, the title is "Stop the Insanity." The pretty much describes the national real estate market. I spent all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday showing houses, writing offers and getting them turned down, until finally at 11:30 Sunday night we got one accepted.

To give you some idea, in a normal market, there are usually about three months supply of houses available at any one time. That means if there suddenly were no new houses, we could still meet demand for three months. The current market is 0.4 months - less than two week. I know in parts of the country, houses are going for $100,000 or more above listing price. Here, our offer that was accepted was $15,000 above - and we had two that were turned down at that price.

There's going to be a bust at some point. Those of us who are long time salesmen expect it - the only question is when. THEN it's going to be fun, because all those people who are in real estate because they thought it was easy will be getting OUT of real estate - which would be a good thing from my perspective. This is my career!

Glad I got Book Four finished - this month has been crazy. Oh - and Chapter One of Book Five IS almost done. Even with the crappy weather, and the tornado destroying a marijuana farm near here last night. (Seriously - KOCO had the video from their chopper - a direct hit on the weed farm in Maud. And yes, that's a real town SE of OKC.)

Oh, and if Susan puts Right Guard on before exercising, does that mean she's keeping her Powter dry? Or if she puts it in the wrong spot, her pooter? (Where's the rimshot sound effect?)

Well, damn! Thank you to everyone who voted for me. Winning in all four categories is... shocking. Being nominated is an honor, of course, because that helps make me feel like I'm actually writing something that someone else feels is worth reading.

I will admit I sort of figured I'd get Science Fiction again. I honestly figured Greg or Devon would grab Epic, and I didn't even realize until last weekend I was even nominated in Fantasy, which I figured would go to PT, Ivy, or Annabelle, so winning in both of those shocked me. Not as much as the last one, though - Author of the Year.

Thank you all for reading my stories and letting me know that you appreciate them this way.

I think I finished Book Four just in the nick of time - Spring has finally busted loose here. No, not with tornadoes (well, no more than usual - we've already had rotating clouds follow I-240, and it's still April, so... look out, Moore or El Reno in May!) but with real estate.

It's still a seller's market, and interest rates aren't getting any better (Thank you, Brandon, with a small touch of Vlad added for seasoning) but people are seeing their rent go up so much they may as well spend the money, even at a higher interest rate, to own a house. The minor detail that the supply is still short - and going to remain that way for a long time - isn't helping.

We actually foresee a lot of people who are part-time realtors or don't get how to market end up getting OUT of the business in the next couple of years, because if you're not used to living strictly on commissions - you'll end up behind and in a bad way. I saw it too many times in the car business - salesman would have a good couple of months and spend their entire checks, then when you have a lousy stretch, not have enough money to live on. It's called responsible budgeting - which is why home economics, specifically the economics of running a home - should be taught to every kid in school, not that men can get pregnant.

You came into our lives in February of 2010, at three months old. Literally a bundle of skin wrapped around a puppy, since you were a Shar-Pei. You grew into your skin, were rambunctious, fun, loved to run and walk with us, and were ever our self-appointed guardian. You took the move from Indiana to Oklahoma like a champ, spending the 23 hours in the Penske truck without complaint. You rode back to Indiana for my class reunion 4 years ago, and always loved going 'bye-bye' in the car. We knew we've been on borrowed time with you, simply due to your breed normally only living 10-12 years. That doesn't make today any easier, but you were finally not drinking or eating even people food when I'd try to hand fed you. I'm very glad the veterinarian had chocolate there for your last snack from my hands, so you could finally taste what we could never give you. We gave you our love and a place in our hearts forever, and you gave us unconditional love back. When it's finally my time, if there is a heaven and it doesn't have you already in it, then I don't want to go there.

His name was literally pronounced Dee Oh Gee... and of all the four legged family members I've ever had, he was the best.