crank it up

Dan Leger writes in The Chronicle Herald that after the bailouts, justice ought to be served.

THERE MUST have been millions of people grinning with satisfaction...when they read about...Obama’s plan to cap executive pay at companies bailed out by the American taxpayer.

After all, these are the greed heads in red suspenders who helped crush the world economy. They are the ones who caused the crisis now threatening the economic security of millions. It wasn’t accidental.

(It) would limit the top salary at bailed-out firms to $500,000.

That’s fine for many of the CEOs. But here’s what I’d propose for those whose greed caused the crisis: hard time in the house of pain.

Obama’s move...falls far short of what the banking bandits deserve...it falls short (because) most of the latter-day bank robbers have already absconded with the loot. Most are lolling in the sun somewhere in Paradise, sipping champagne as they’re fanned by servant girls. They are far removed from the travails of ordinary people.

So why not send some of those underemployed anti-terrorism cops out to find, arrest and bring to justice the miscreants who have destroyed the security of so many?

Leger points out further into the article that Conrad Black was "a piker" by comparison, and he got six years...

This is part of why I think that much bigger trouble is coming. People are starting to awaken to the sham of governments, corporations, taxation, greed, graft and tazers, "free market" Milton Friedman tripe, and so on. There is going to be a mighty blow-back at some point, but by then, the banks will be bankrupt, the government will be bankrupt, and we will have RFID-enhanced secure documents, which will need to be produced for receipt of your food allotment. You can always plant a garden, but what is produced will be seized by thugs, or the government - same thing, maybe.

Forget about On The Beach, I am going to get into civil rights and the Olympics next.

But, all that gloom and disgust aside, here is another fun video. It's only 1:40 long, so wait 'til the boss goes for a smoke, and crank it up.

limp and limping

I have been wanting to

a) take this blog in a new direction

b) put it out of my misery

c) continue on lamely

d) ignore it (and I have been...)

e) escape

However, I am still vacillating like a wind vane. So, in the interim, I will post some scary movies that require little effort on my part. I will concretise things eventually.

snakes, ladders, snow, snot

Image ripped off from Alaska education system

Grack! I, and the fambly have been sick as dogs...and you thought I didn't love you anymore... I'm still pretty sick, but the miniature ME is more settled, so I have a few minutes.

Did you hear about the guy who is renting condos from flippers, and hiding behind the RTA (Residential Tenancy Act) to rip off the condo "owners"? Seems that this snake on the property ladder is leasing condos from "accidental" landlords, renting them out to foreign exchange students, pocketing all of the cash, and telling the "owners" to go frag themselves. Ouch! Can you imagine? Rennie Robots, who were more than bold, bought pre-sales, that they then had to complete on. Faced with $3600/month mortgage payments, they desperately lease them out for $1800+/month to some scammer who re-rents them for $2400+/month, and pockets all of the cash. OMFG! The hairball, as interviewed by CBC, says that he only refuses to pay rent to landlords who "harass (him)".

Landlord: Uh, Mr. Jones-Smith-Brown, your rent cheques have bounced for the last 6 months, and my bank is freaking out on me because I am behind on payments. They are threatening to foreclose!

Mr. Snake-On-Your-Property-Ladder : Quit hassling me man! I'm never paying you now!

The cops say that they can do nothing, because it is difficult to prove "intent to defraud". Flippers in Paradise, indeed... Rule of Law, indeed!

So, how about those City services? Snow removal? Pshawww! The City's plan is to wait for the rain. Get out of your car and take public transit!

"Ooops! Sorry! The buses can't run because one of the two plough operators is on
holidays, and we can't afford to pay over-time".

My sister-in-law observed a City truck driver, with a plough, and a hopper full of sand and salt, snooze on her quiet corner for over two hours.

I saw the first taxi cab on my street in three weeks last night. He got stuck. I went out with a shovel to help him.

ICBC reports a 30% increase in claims since this weather has started. My question is; how many hundreds of millions of dollars in property damages, personal injuries, lost productivity, etc., has the City's lack of response cost the citizens of this city? I heard Raymond Louie last week going on about how this is a "40 year event". Horse shoes! This is the second year in a row, and is a building trend. Climate change is upon us (forget about the Global Warming BS, Climate Change is the reality).

And, all of a sudden, our Federal Transportation Minister is concerned about the 2010 Games, and how we will deal with it if it snows. We will get 4 more trucks. Yee haw!

I could go on, and I will, but is this really The Best Place on Earth? Hummph!

cold comfort

From the Gloom and Mentira

Canada's stock market plunge... contributed to a 3.2 per cent drop in household net worth in the third quarter of this year, equivalent to ...$191-billion, Stats Can said Tuesday.

Stock prices were down by 18 per cent in the third quarter,...

“The...loss in... equities, combined with the related loss in the value of pension and life insurance assets..., was the principal factor “Also contributing were slower growth in residential real estate values and continued household borrowing. Total household assets fell 2.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2008.”

(slower growth? Hah!)

...the largest percentage drop in household net worth (in ten years)...

The numbers for the final quarter will almost certainly be worse, Patricia Croft... said....

Gosh! It is all happening so fast! Who'da thunk it?

I heard some bobble-head or another say last night that Vancouver RE prices will decline by 15%-20% in 2009. That would be on top of the ~15% haircut in 2008, I presume. Another fella said that price retreats will be in the same % as sales declines. That would be about 70% for Vancouver. 2010 will see another 30% off RE, and 2011, another 12%. Dare to Dream!

It is all happening so fast! Who'da thunk it?

Our fearless leader, who was so nonchalant about the economy until last week some time, had this to say today -

PM's economic flip: 'I've never seen such uncertainty'

Globe and Mail

OTTAWA — Stephen Harper has delivered his bleakest forecast yet for the Canadian economy, warning yesterday the future is increasingly hard to read and conceding the possibility of a depression.

"I'm very worried about the Canadian economy."

When asked whether a depression might be possible,...‘The truth is, I've never seen such uncertainty in terms of looking forward to the future,’ ...Harper says.

"It could be, but I think we've learned enough about depression; we've learned enough from the 1930s to avoid some of the mistakes that caused a recession in 1929 to become a depression in the 1930s." (emboldening mine)

This guy is so full of CRAP. Are you not thankful that it is his "hand on the tiller"? Garf. I really don't think that any lessons have been learned from the Depression - except how to better swindle people.

It is all happening so fast! Who'da thunk it?

Are you ready? Things are melting down faster than the Arctic.

Meanwhile, some Antarctic snow birds are having problems of their own. It seems that someone decided that two penguins are gay, and protested that they be given eggs of their own to hatch, as they have been stealing eggs of other penguins at the zoo in China.



Gay penguins... Who'da thunk it?

Oh, and I almost forgot, the Fed cut interest rates to between 0%-.25% today. The only route to kick-starting the economy now is lots and lots of overtime for the printers. Free money for everyone! (except in Delaware, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Nevada, Iowa, Indiana, Idaho, Omaha, and The Big Island, and anywhere prohibited by local statute. Some restrictions may apply.)

pity the fool

From the comments section:
"Pity the fool who bought this... Buying an asset which doubled in 3 years is nothing short of idocy..."(sic)

5164 Madeira Court
Asking price: $1,090,000
Selling price: $870,000
Previous selling price: $389,750 (2005)
Taxes: $5,240 (2007)
Days on the market: 36
Listing agent: Betsy Carstairs, Park Georgia Realty Ltd.

Even though this 1,972-square-foot house...sold for $220,000 under asking, the selling price was still $480,000 above what (was) paid for it about three years ago.

"Unlike financial markets, real estate is always a good investment," agent Carstairs says. What else is she going to say? The place has shed value in the week passed since it was sold.

...built in 1971, is in need of some (major) updating — brown carpets aren't for everyone — but it has attractive features...it's on a dead-end street... It is fitting that it is on a dead end street, it is a dead end investment.

The new owners are "excited about the idea of giving this '70s-style home a facelift," ...Carstairs says. "They can't wait to roll up their sleeves and work together to create the home of their dreams."

(italics mine)

Now, that is just crazy. They were asking 3 times what they paid for this house three years ago, and got double - without doing anything to the place. The new "owners" will need to put $100K into the place while it is dropping in value. Will it go back to 2005 value? Oh, yeah. Will it go back to 2003? Oh, yeah. How low will she go?

Just imagine paying $500/month in property taxes on top of the mortgage payments, new furnace and windows, new roof, new kitchen, new everything. This place has a great view, but is a bad deal, IMHO. The ones who bought it in 2005 hit the jackpot though...

enforcers

REBEL ENGLISH BIKERS GETTING VESPAS

I wrote about the pope packing it in, but it seems that due to popular demand, he is considering other avenues (an assumption that the pope is XY, and not XX). condohype has made an excellent comment today, and the pope reproduced the affair here.

Prior to sending a cease and desist regarding the language via our Legal staff, if the matter can be resolved internal it would be preferred.
————————————
FROM: xxxxxxx@rebgv.org
RE: Identification of site management

Further to the changes as outlined below which we expect to be implemented immediately, we also request that...

...this email will serve as notification with respect to our requests and will be kept on file and further forwarded to our legal department. (bolding is mine)

That is threatening language, thinly veiled, in my view.


I was surprised by the pope's announcement, but at the same time, was not. I became somewhat bored with RE when the top was in, and now it seems a slow fall to bottom - like a feather from a humming bird. La-la-la. Big news would be the whole danged flock of humming birds falling from the sky like so much hail. Further, I have either alienated, or bored, many readers. Having these kinds of bombs dropped on you can dampen ones enthusiasm, and instill cynicism further. I too have had a letter with mention of libel, civil proceedings, subpoena, etc. - in regard to some anonymous comments that did verge on libel. I removed the comments, but did not alter my post. That satisfied the complainant, and the pope has done similarly.

It can be daunting to keep it fresh, and RE related, which his eminence did well. There has been so much financial and political intrigue too, it is almost useless trying to write about either - they are both so colossally fragged up. I'm just finding everything to be surreal, if predicted, these days. I have had a hard time keeping up - my toddler is a terror (in the best of ways), and demands and deserves a lot of attention. I often start posts that end up saved as drafts, because I lose the rhythm, and the post becomes senseless (this is one of those). Pages sit open for days awaiting comment, until the news is stale, and there are 10 new essays to write every day.

I seem to have misrepresented the situation with VCI this AM (as pointed out by Many Franks), and hope that I have done better in my redaction. It was really about the photoshop, and I rushed the writing. I was distracted.

All the best, your eminence, and thanks for all the laughs, news, and traffic.

...and lies and videotape...

I have realized the futility of explaining fairness, decency, honour, the Westminster Parliamentary system, the constitution, history, and a whole lot more.

Just remember Goebbels' meme about repeating a lie often enough.



from here, by way of Garth Turner's.

no comment

I am practically speechless, I have too much to say. Where to start? Where to finish? "There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life." That is what Fellini said.

The "Old Chinese Curse" (supposedly, NOT!) May you live in interesting times seems applicable here too. Things certainly are interesting - fascinating, even. I am digesting so much information these days that I am in overload mode. There is a lot of really serious shite coming down the pike. Another of my favourite quotes (from NASA) is; Don't let your pre-occupation with reality stifle your imagination. Yeah! I could lay out all kinds of wild scenarios...

My mind has been turning back to art. It is a nice refuge from the madness. That is why we do it. The painting above is entitled Half Life. You can draw your own meanings and context from it.

The one below is entitled The Cleaning of Democracy - Lima 2001. It was inspired by student protests against Fujimori - in which they symbolically washed Peruvian flags outside the government buildings - to be rid of the corruption that was tainting the country. Those could be Canadian flags washed of the Maple Leaf. Today, we have the Opposition building a coalition to bring down the Conservatives, and cleansing our own Parliament of their stench. I am most excited about this.



We are on shifting ground, and I see no stability in sight.

the big ones

Thanks to Saturday Night Live for providing me with some blog fodder.

I get weary of the doom and gloom, so a little levity is welcome.

Update: SNL/NBC seems to have canned the YouTube vid, but I found another...

TSX - the week in moving pictures

My holdings are down ~50% this week. Such fleeting exuberance I had 6 months ago, such nebulous hope. It is just not as much fun as the track. At least there, you get to see the jockeys fall off of their horses. Watching the numbers turn red on the board is just boring. Though, I thought that it was funny that Washington sent the automotive executives home on their private jets to come up with a business plan. Wankers.

So in lieu of any meaningful analysis, some exciting video in representation of the markets this week.



The TSX is up some today, but yesterday it sure looked like the above video - with the same cartoonishness. I bet that it goes below 7000 on Monday.



What to do with that leased BMW that you can no longer afford. Strangely, I found the denouement to be funny in its impotence.

run

I've been as busy as a hen on an anthill - doing lots of reading, trying to figure out what the heck is going on in this world. I don't have much of a clue, but that is okay - nobody else does either. I could write about what I think is going on, but there is a shortage of tin foil, so I will spare you from that for now.

The $700 billion bail out package in the States is more like $2 trillion, and it is probably much more than that. Goldman Sachs is purportedly using $7 billion of the $10 billion that they received for Christmas bonuses for the big-wigs. WTF? Same band, same song. RE continues to unwind, but things are sticky on the way down, or are they? Now, the "Obama Factor" is going to save Vancouver RE! The credit card companies keep cranking up my credit limit, and offering me 2.99% rates for six months - to go on a winter vacation, or buy Christmas presents, or consolidate other debt (that I do not have). Credit Crunch my eye. Condo projects are biting the dust in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary...and there are big holes in the ground where the buildings were supposed to go up. So reminiscent of the early 1990s. Garth Turner is writing about squirrel meat and canned beans, shot guns and ammo (he is sounding jaded). I was squawking about a Depression 5 years ago, and people though I was nuts, but now it is in the main stream of consciousness. Have a gander at this video - from Fox News, no less. You have to love such an interview taking place in a bar.


It is all getting terribly repetitive. Deck chairs and icebergs and sinking ships. Gaack!

Most poignant quote of the day - Forget about gold – the ONLY precious metal is lead.

apropos

You may have already seen this, but I thought that it was wryly funny.



Okay, I just have no time or energy right now.

sesame street

One of these things is not like the other one...



I read something that prompted me to look and see what is available in Beverly Hills, and found this 3 bedroom/3.5 bath beauty for $2,995,000. It is on a half acre (21,825 square feet), and basks in warmth and sunshine year-round. And, you might bump into Salma Hayek whilst looking over the asparagus and arugula at the Atelier Market.

So, maybe you can't get a Green Card, and need to settle for something in Vancouver. There is always V738247 in Shaughnessy for $2,888,000. On a 16,748 square foot lot, 3 bedrooms, with 2.5 baths, it basks in sunshine and relative warmth for about 100 days per year. And you might bump into David Emerson whilst having your BMW lubed.

...one of these things is not the same (although the prices are so close).

Things are still way out of whack here folks.

paint it black

blah, blah, blaffelgab

Home price slide may be over-stated.

Canadian home prices cooled last month, but the depth of the correction may have been exaggerated by distorted data, says...TD Securities Inc.

The average price of a resale home across the country's 25 major markets fell by an estimated 6.2 per cent year-over-year in September, according to a report last week from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).

The decline was larger than many market watchers had expected, and added to fears the Canadian housing market could go into a U.S.-style freefall.

However the price drop was led by a 43 per cent plunge in the number of homes sold last month in Vancouver, the country's most expensive market.

“The crux of the issue is that unless the underlying cities are properly weighted...the results can be biased by dramatic changes in the volume of the sales in certain cities,” said the report by TD economists Millan Mulraine and Eric Lascelles.

Currently, the average existing home price is calculated by using an average that gives each city a weighting based on its contribution to overall sales, Mr. Mulraine said. TD recalculated the data by fixing the weighting to last year's data instead, which is a more standard method of calculating year-over-year comparisons for economic data, he added.

Under the new weighting system, last month's average existing home price decline would be a more moderate 1.3 per cent from Sept. 2007, the TD report said.

Here we go; if you don't like the numbers, just change 'em, or at least, change the way they are interpreted. This same thing has been done with inflation numbers, unemployment numbers (if you are not receiving benefits, or have given up in despair, you are not unemployed!), and who knows what else. It is just so much Newspeak - a la 1984. The stock market has not really crashed since July, it is up significantly since 1934! Trillions have been made! You are not really older than you were 20 years ago, your hair is not grey, and you don't really weigh more than you did in high school - you are actually younger than your parents! (and your hair less grey), and you weigh a lot less than Luciano Pavarotti! There, don't you feel better now?

Prices 8% less than last year are prices 8% less: who gives a flying fig what the volume of sales is?

crash of the titans

This pic has been used beyond redemption...

...so, I redeemed it

Slow motion train wrecks and all...

I'm still digesting the last weeks, and there is ever-more to digest. It is difficult (for me) to look at markets, bail-outs, etc., without getting into politics, but I'll do my best.

Trillions of dollars lost in the stock markets, and governments pumping trillions into the banks to "save" them, but who, and what, is being saved? Those trillions (or, in the case of Canada, billions), are not magic dollars pulled out of a hat, they are dollars from central banks, and have interest attached to them. We, or more accurately, our children and grandchildren, will be on the hook for that. Who benefits? It could be said that we benefit; by not having bank failures (yet), by not having our economies wiped out (yet), by saving jobs (so far), by propping up RE markets, and businesses that have made record billions (and collectively, trillions) in profits. Nobody "knows" if these cash infusions are going to make any real difference (well, I know that they won't), but what the heck, eh? It's just Other People's Money. My own feeling is that it is just delaying the inevitable, and we are still going to have a global recession, or worse (worse is my feeling). It's a bit like the guy who is over-leveraged, and keeps borrowing more to make the payments on what is already borrowed. It just can't end well.

85% of Canadians' wealth is in their homes, and those homes have fallen almost 7% in value nationally, and 8% in Vancouver since May. And it has just begun. American RE is still falling. But, it's different here, right? Then there are all of those hedge funds and mutual funds and such that make up the rest of the wealth. That has only fallen 40% since July. Oil has fallen 50% since July, and with all of that, a large chunk of government revenues. Just wait for the lay-offs, when even more tax revenues will be lost, and unemployment benefits, welfare benefits, CMHC insured mortgages go belly-up, etc., start to suck evermore money. Then there are the consumer goods that will not be purchased, leading to even more tax revenues foregone, plus more unemployment.

The only prediction that I can make right now, is that it is going to get very ugly, soon. I know that my predictions are worthless - I am not an expert, or highly educated and paid economist, but were they not the ones talking about slowing appreciation in the housing markets that would be confined to single digits? Were they not the ones saying that oil was going to $300/bbl within a year? That the Canadian economy was as "solid as the Canadian Shield"? That the government would never run deficits? Insert your own platitudinous reassurances here ___________.

I've got more to say on this, but have not the time right now. I'll be back.

the more things change...

The Vancouver real estate market does not seem to be pricing in the new realities yet. This place on E. 39TH AV, Fraser, is one of the 24 places in all of East Vancouver that is priced under $500K It's for sale at $499,000.00. Are they freaking serious? The blurb says;

This existing 3 level home offers more square footage than can be re-built on this 2947 sq. ft. lot. House is in need of structural work & updating. However, character features such as original staircase, doors, window casings, & floor mouldings could be highlighted after renovation.

Character features? Floor mouldings can be highlighted? Wow. Hold me back. I still have a few days to get a 0%/40. Building codes won't even let you build something of this modest size. And, can it really be called "three level" with a straight face?

Somebody ought to tell the vendor that the TSX is down over 40% since July, and that it lost 16% in the last week alone. People have lost 30% of their retirement funds. Cut the price on this disaster to $250K, and get the bleeding over with. The MSM described today as a "bloodbath". The pigs are being slaughtered. Don't be a pig.

Then there is this beauty for $508K. note: it's a 3 level, 3 bedroom palazzio too.

Good starter, renovate or build your home. CD1 Zoning. This 3 level 3 Bedroom, 2 Bath solid home is situated in desirable Renfrew Height Area, South facing with view potential. Quiet neighbourhood, central location.

You will get an 800 sq' bigger lot than the one above, and this one in is the desirable Renfrew Height Area (sic).

This is no sport at all. Van. RE is frozen in time like so much ABCP. Somebody complained about my pictures, and posts the other day, and suggested that I was becoming deranged. If all of this madness seems "normal" to everyone else, then I am truly unhinged. I must be suffering some kind of Joan of Arc, or Nostradamus delusion. Is this some kind of reality TV show? Like that Jim Carrey film where he lives in a TV set?

It was weird switching channels. Somehow, looking at RE right now seems more of a madness than looking at national, and world events.

...the more they stay the same.

message media

The markets bounced back a bit today, huh? But the trend is down, and volatile. Today was a suckers' rally. The big boys bailed yesterday, and the sheep followed. Then the big boys bought back in, and more sheep will think it's okay, and the big boys will dump again, and so forth. Okay, so I have a pet theory of the looting of the people's wealth. I'll get to that at another time.

I read this quote over at Garth Rurner's blog (warning: Turner is has auto-run ads on his blog, so turn your speakers down so as not to be annoyed) and thought it worthy of reproduction here.

Harper has the manner of a man who will drive a car off a cliff, just to prove that he doesn’t need to ask for directions. Is that the kind of person you want to lead this country?

Did you hear about Harper's plagiarising speech regarding Iraq in 2003? I'll let the CBC fill you in. (watch the video - about 4 minutes)

UPDATE: Here is the comparison on Youtube (2:53)

Sorry, it is from he Liberal party. I do not endorse any party at this point.

This is on the front pages of newspapers around the world today. The Cons are playing it down, but the rest of the globe is laughing at us. Harper and his government are an embarrassment to this once highly respected country. That is a big deal.

Youtube treatment of the plagiarism. (check some of the other videos too)



Hip Hopping on Harper



I don't get the March 17th reference, but vote anyhow - on October 14.

Amero warning



Musicians don't like NAU/SPP (on the loud side)

living large

or not.

Here is an alternative to the 2,100 sq. ft. junk boxes that plague our fair landscape - a mobile mini-manse that has less of a foot print than a Cadillac SUV. Low cost, and low emission, it costs only $6/month to heat, and $10K to build. No landlords either. Why throw your money away on rent? It is an answer to the land shortage - there are so many roads, and soon, nobody will be able to afford to drive.

Spiced by some other of my readings on the dark days that are rolling down upon us, my mind turned to The Grapes of Wrath, and the Joads' plight. This little love shack would have been perfect for them.



Okay, so that might do for a single, or maybe a very loving couple, but what about the kiddies? I'm glad that I asked, it seems that there is a solution for that too - the folding house!



It looks a bit problematic as far as the furniture and appliances though, I guess you would need a 5 ton truck to carry that stuff around, and tow the trailer. Need a crew cab for the kids.

bing bang and the burning ring of fire

Yesterday, they fired up the HADRON super collider in Switzerland. There had been some consternation that they might create a black hole that would swallow up the Earth, and all of us with it. Reportedly, no black hole was created, and so we are all safe...except for RE "investors".

Urban real estate values set to plunge, UBC expert forecasts. Oops. I went down the memory hole because I thought that I remembered that Tsur Somerville was a pumper, in denial. I was wrong about that, this is what I found him saying in 2005:

"It is an issue for the person who says real estate is great and I'm selling all my stocks and buying real estate in the Lower Mainland," said Somerville. "For that person, it's a problem."

And while Somerville is reluctant to make exact predictions about when Vancouver's hot housing market might begin to cool, he can't help himself from making just one.

"You'll know when the market has hit its peak on the day that I buy a house," he said.

I wonder if Somerville has bought, he must have, because we have peaked, and are heading down into a dark hole, perhaps even a Black Hole.

The stock markets are flopping around like a beached cod fish; TSX down almost 1500 points in a week, and then bouncing up by 350 points yesterday. Can you spell v-o-l-a-t-i-l-e? Oil still sinking, even as OPEC cuts production. I guess demand for oil is like demand for housing - fickle, and not nearly as strong as people have claimed. I read again yesterday that the oil prices were driven up by speculators. Hmm. Sounds familiar. I don't know about you, but it irks me that speculators make piles of cash off of our backs, and we pay for it. What a tangled web. Burn babies, burn.

Politics this week? That could be a whole, new blog, but it has been fascinating. I can't wait for the 15th of October, just please, please, let us not have a majority Conservative government...though that would accelerate a return to "fundamentals" (and that is an intended pun, even if it is facile).

I heard talk on CBC yesterday of condohype, and they were quite tickled by our friend's writings - describing them as "very funny". Congratulations on receiving such recognition, condohype! I did not catch the whole piece unfortunately (li'l solipsist keeps me hopping, and has a voice larger than the CBC's). It is great to hear the MSM finally helping us bring down the market.

Things have been spotty here vis-a-vis ideas, and posting, and I sense that I am gradually fading away. I hope to be here still to remark on the trough, and to write about a purchase, and the renovations that will ensue, but we will see - unless, of course, the Hadron collider did create a black hole that they have not reported (don't want to panic anyone!), and we are all just goo on a shrinking planet. Kind of the opposite of "making more land"...