Sources say more than 130,000 people have become Realtors since the beginning of the pandemic. However, during this period,the median national sale price for a home hit a record $341,600 in April — the highest since the National Association of Realtors began tracking the numbers in 1999. Moreover, single-family home prices soared by 20% from last year — the biggest jump since the group began tracking prices in the early 1970s.
Low interest rates appear to be responsible for the soaring sales prices and also the lack of inventory. However, commercial property vacancies continue to be of concern to owners of same. As I specialize in the leasing and sales of commercial property, I do not relish this dichotomy of values.
However, the local Coldwell Banker office just put into escrow a prominent commercial property on Main Street, so things may be looking up.
…
An advertisement in Time proclaimed that the “Stauer Magnificat II” watch is now for sale for $99. This versatile wristwatch was previously listed at $399. But that’s not what caught my eye, it was a photo of this timepiece that indicates it does not only keep the time by hour, minutes and seconds plus the day of the month but the day of the week as well. This watch would provide valuable information for me, because I am often asking the Missus what day it is, and she gets testy thinking I am losing my marbles requiring her possibly to look for a replacement one of these days. Replacement of a watch, not husband, of course. Heh, heh. No chance of that.
…
A Scotsman had just lost his wife and went to the local newspaper to put a notice in the obituary column. “How would you like it to read,” asked the clerk.
“Maria’s dead.” replied the Scotsman.
“But you can put in more words for the same price,” replied the clerk.
“Well,” said the Scotsman, how about “…and a second hand Ford for sale.”
…
I have mentioned before about the “screensaver” concept in computer operation. Apparently, if you have taken photos and stored them in a photo saving file, they can sit there for days, months or years. However, upon certain commands photos will begin to emerge onto your previously blank computer screen, and when they are sharp and composed well, they can be delightful to view again, and often a surprise.
Computer filberts know this, but for the computer illiterate, it can be a delight to see a photo flash on the screen for, say, 10 to 15 seconds or more. If the photo is of an old friend, he or she has been resurrected before your very eyes. If it is a building such as the old Cone & Kimball building before the fire, or afterwards in all its sobering reminder. Here now comes a photo of Judge Curtis Wetter and his wife Ruth walking in front of our office window, then Thomasina, the dog lady and her menagerie. The next photo might be the basement of the old Crocker Bank showing the excavation of their vault, this being in preparation for one such in the new US Bank.
Keep in mind the selection and viewing of the photos is arbitrary and interspersed with long-gone employees of our old meat plant.
So what, readers may ask? So the people were once alive and kicking, and briefly they have all appeared alive again. This is important to me, and possibly even to readers who might have been witness to my screen saver photos, especially those viewers who have become a little long in the tooth.
…
Sources say that it is estimated that between 5,000 and 7,000 tigers are kept as “pets” — more than exist in the wild, according to Born Free USA. A tiger can be purchased for as little as $300, or less than the cost of a purebred dog.
Now, we like big dogs. We started with boxers, moved on to St. Bernards and finally settled on bull mastiffs. They have short hair, make excellent watch dogs and their behavior is more predictable than, say, a tiger.
So, I think we will stay with bull mastiffs. Our present big fellow, All that Jazz, lives indoors, gets lonely if we are away for a few hours and has a large brain capable of human-like behavior and deep conversations. He is a bow-wow lover’s delight.
…
On a day when the S.F. Giants were not on their regular channel, 696, I stumbled upon that fine old film with Hugh Grant titled, “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” When Grant first appeared on the silver screen, many thought the handsome fellow was the answer to the late Cary Grant. However, when he showed up (spoiler alert) in an HBO special recently as less than a matinee idol, his image was somewhat tarnished. His agent should have steered him away from the role of an axe wielder. Tsk, tsk.
…
Worth a repeat:
Through the pitch black of night, a navy captain saw a light dead ahead on a collision course with his ship and immediately sent a signal.
“Change your course 10 degrees east.”
The light spelled back, “Change yours 10 degrees west.”
The captain was angry and sent another signal, “I’m a Navy captain. Change your course, sailor.”
The signal came back, “I’m a seaman 2nd class, sir. Change your course, sir.”
The captain was furious and signaled back, “This is a battleship.”
The seaman signaled back, “And this is a lighthouse, sir!”
Robert Minch is a lifelong resident of Red Bluff, former columnist for the Corning Daily Observer and Meat Industry magazine and author of the “The Knocking Pen” plus his new book “We Said.” He can be reached at rminchandjazz@gmail.com.
