May Fall Ours in Arlington (MA)

Get it? May fall ours...May Flowers?...Oh well.

A look at last year in Arlington shows up 64 sales in the residential world. This year, with a week or so to go, we've got 19 -- that's quite a fall. Unless there is a big change in the weather in the next week (and there "may" be -- 64 props are under agreement ready to close), we are gonna see a fall in sales.

Not that the folks who popped off those sales are complaining (well, maybe they are). Average sales for singles are up -- 527k vs 495 for last year. Condos ditto: up about 4k from last year. Fewer days on market meant that agents had more time to shuffle around the aisles of the new MarketBasket just up the road (maybe they shouldn't be doing that...there's 160 properties for sale in town!)

We are used to propes popping off the shelves in Arlington. Looking at the singles on market, we see the AVERAGE home is now on market for 71 days and counting; the counting won't stop until the dotted lines are signed. The homes that have already sold did so in 48 days on average (my listing business banged out in 30, but that is just me...note to self -- big pat on the back is due).

So where do we stand in all this? Maybe we are standing at the peak, or most likely a very long plateau...one thing is certain -- the grass is going to need cutting no matter.

The Race is ON in Somerville

Can you believe it?...2 weeks left and we are DONE with the first quarter of 2011. How time flies -- seems like only last year I was sniffing mimeograph paper and discovering the joys of watching Valerie Werner smooth out her "Bobbie Brooks" (but that is another story).

At any rate, at the risk of jumping the gun, I feel it is time to begin the look see at how Real Estate is holding up in my corner of the world, and today we will start off with Somerville and its agents as they race to the 1st quarter finish line.

So far this year, according to MLS, 64 properties have had the "T's" crossed and the "i's" dotted on the bottom line (6 singles, 35 condos, 23 multi-fams) -- SO FAR, we say. In the first quarter of last year (the full quarter) 107 properties did the ol' fliperino. Doesn't look good does it? But wait...

Digging a little deeper finds us a few nuggets of hope; we see (through the fog) 33 properties are Under Agreement and are scheduled to close by 3/31/11. According to these projections, the first quarter of 2011 in Somerville will close out with 98 transactions, about an 8% drop. That is nothing to toot our horns about, but it is, likewise, no reason for Chicken Little to be running about saying the sky is falling. The "goodest news" (as my grandmother used to day when she worked at the First National [remember the FN?...remember the JUMBO for that matter?]) -- the goodest news is in Condo sales, where days on market have fallen from 2010's 123 days to 108 (so far) days in 2011.

No real bad news here. The "baddest" we can find is that agents may well have to ride the Lexus about for another season before trading up to the Beemer.

Belmont Balancing Act

Ok, so there may be one or two souls out there putting the ol' schnozzola to the grindstone and getting one last close into the books, but as Bob Dylan sings, "It ain't me, babe..."; I am off the clock today: getting ready for whatever extravaganzas are coming tonight.

With that cut into stone, I may relate that Belmont was nicely balanced when comparing sales of singles in 2010 to 2009. With the final caveat of last hour closings (C'mon no one's workin' today!), we can say that 144 singles changed hands in 2010. That is 3 less than 2009 (147) and a 2% tip to the "malaise", but wait....the average sale price was just shy of $778,000 according to my stats from MLS, versus 2009's average pluck of $730,000 (up a bit). The scales shift back to the center: a little less in sales, a little more in price (or commission check for the Belmont agents). Even Steven. In fact, those agents grabbed a cut of $112,011,552in sales in 2010. In 2009 those same souls were forced to get by with commissions based on a paltry 107,310,558 -- about 4.7 million dollars less in 2009 versus 2010.

I just peel with excitement at what a breakdown of the condo market might be, but that will have to wait. I am off today. See you all on the other side. May any and all of your disappointments in this dying year of 2010 inspire you all to travel roads with brighter and wider eyes.

My best,
Al.

Value Added Investment Grade? One step at a Time

Agents live for broker tours. For those not of the "cognoscenti", a broker tour is like an Open House, except it is an Open House for the "elect" -- read that for only brokers. It is a chance for a listing agent to show a property to other agents in the hope they may well have a client who would like the home. Agents going on tour do not necessarily like the Broker Tours for this -- they like it for the free food that is usually spread out by the Listing Agent to entice the traffic. For example, in my corner of the world, "lunch" is served in Belmont, Arlington and Cambridge on Tuesdays, Wednesday it is Newton, and Friday it is Watertown and Waltham (yum yum). Other towns in my area have their days...check an agent's GPS history and you can figure that out for Medford, Lexington, Wellesley, Brookline and so on.

The other day, I go to this broker tour. I am cheerfully met at the door by a sprightly young agent (I know she is young...the low cut sweater [a Cashmere Over Sized Cowl Tunic from Michael Star; $326] that she wears is slightly amiss at the left shoulder exposing not just a maroon bra strap [Victoria's Secret], but also the wing of an angel tattoo pricked into the skin, I surmise, after a long night with some Brown University frat boy(s?) -- I recognize the work...Ronnie's Tattoo, Providence, RI; $89.99).

"Welcome," she says, and, "Oh, could you please remove your shoes?"

Now readers, at my stage in life and in this place and time, I should be excited when a woman asks me to remove ANY article of my clothing, in this case, if for nothing else, for the one second of fantasy that this person has a foot fetish. Alas, sadly, she spoke too fast and cut all "fantasm" to the quick.

"It is the rugs," she imparts, "they are collector quality."

For the first time, I looked below the agent's torso, passed the Eileen Fisher Stretch Ponte Pencil Skirt (Sak's Fifth Avenue, $158), down the finely waxed calves (Li Kim Thuy's Nail and Wax Shop [bikini lines a specialty], Dorchester, perhaps?) and down to the bare feet ("Shoeless" Joe Jackson; Chicago White Sox, 1919). Off to the right was an imitation brass scupper (Home and Hearth, $68), and neatly resting in it were the agent's shoes; black high heeled "court pumps" from Redoute Creations, Paris (40 Euros or 60 bucks at current exchange rates).

"You see," she continued, "the rugs are all quite pricey. This one is an Isfahan and over there in the sitting room is a Bakhshaish. This runner is a Hussainaba. They are investments!"

Now folks, I really do not want to talk rugs here, but rugs as an investment?...I mean if you want people to just stamp and stomp all over your investments, that is O.K, but why not just give your money to Wall Street? That's what they down there everyday.

"Uh, huh," I say as I remove my shoes (PayLess $14.99 Buy-One-Get-One-Free [BOGO]), thanking God for the wisdom of that trip to Marshall's the day before (New black socks, slightly irregular, 6 pair; $3.99). As I am doing this, I am searching about for the route to the kitchen and the free lunch platter laid out. After all, all I want, all ALL agents want is a sandwich and maybe a Coke to go (free at Broker Tours; $1.59 at 7-11; remember to cash in the can and you come out a nickel to the good!).

"And," she points out, "all the collectibles on the walls!", and she directs my attention to the shelves and cut outs and nooks and crannies filled with bric-a-bracs, porcelains and potteries of all manner of invention.

"Listen," I say, still looking beyond her slender posterior for the platter (do I smell roast beef!?), "I don't know, kiddo...you are going to bring a lot of people into this house and with all these nicknacks about, well...I'd be afraid that some of them are going to get 'paddy-whacked'...and you'll be the one that will have to, shall we say, 'give the dog the bone' if you get my drift". She didn't, apparently she is too young for the "This-Old-Man-He-Plays-One" joke motif.

"Come again?" she says, and I reply something to the effect that at my age, I would need a good dose of Viagra to do that (she didn't get that joke either).

"I don't understand," she says.

I tell her, "What I mean is...it's the stuff...no one -- not even you!!! -- will be looking at the house. It is ALL stuff. First you ask folks to take off their shoes...what if they have a hole in their sock?" (Thank God [again] I went to Marshalls!), "then they walk into this museum. Let me tell ya, honey, people want to live in a house, not a museum. You know who lives in a museum?...King Tut lives in a museum, and for him that's an upgrade, 'cause before that he was living in a freaking hole in the desert for 3 thousand years!. Folks want to see if their entertainment center from Jordan's Furniture will fit here. They want to see the glow of the hardwood floors; they don't want to tip-toe around some magic carpet smuggled out of Pakistan. For your sake and for the sake of your client, you need to get this place cleaned up. You're not selling admission tickets here...you are selling a house."

She begins a retort of some sort, but I am gone; I see the snake route to the kitchen and the spread; catered by Rebecca's!!! ooooh!, Turkey, Tuna, Veggie, and ROAST BEEF on SOUR DOUGH ROLLS ($7.99 each), a bag of Cape Cod Chips ($1.19)...and a Diet Coke.........TO GO.

Liquid Assets in Waltham

Ms. Flanagan, my thoughts are with you today.

For those who do not know Ms. Flanagan, she is the Berkley St homeowner who is, well, not living in her home because the home moved...yes moved...about a foot, so the FOX news folks tell me, OFF its foundation.

Why did it move? Seems, 'though I am no engineer, it "trolleyed" off its cement track because of the recent storms that brought oodles of rain, followed by doodles of more rain a few days later (actually yesterday).

I cannot say how rain can "push a house", but I am reminded of the earthquake term, LIQUIFICATION. This is where the ground, normally harder that a sixty-year-old coot over dosing on Viagra, gets pushed, cajoled and shaken enough so that is gets soft (like the coot after his 2 minutes as Lord Lochinvar, or George Clooney). It may well be akin to when you kick a hard clump of dirt and it breaks up in to a gazillion little pieces. In that state of being, the soil no longer can hold the man-made edifice upon it and things shift, or fall down as the case may be. In Ms. Flanagan's case, water may have softened by the whole thing and, the rest is "moving".

The news reports that the Flanagan home is not in a flood zone (I know the street) and I would agree from my unprofessional view, but I would also conjecture that the forensics of the situation will point to GROUNDWATER issues, and that would not be covered anyway.

At all rates, my heart goes out to them and I wish them well. I would hope there will be no tears shed -- there has been wnought water...

Sellin' the "Crib" for a new career

The caricature to the left is of the Salwens; Mr. and daughter Kevin and Hannah. It appears on page 23 of the March 15, 2010 of the New Yorker. The Salwens for those who have not heard are, now (at least for this week), writers with a successful book, and wanderlusts on a successful book tour bringing in the dough. Their book, The Power of Half details their story and subsequent "journey" spiritual journey, that is (oh brother!), not the book tour pay per speech journery tour that brought them to New York recently from their backwater hovel in Atlanta (actually it was an $800,000 home with an elevator, YES an elevator but why haggle).

Your see, the Selwens have this precocious (some would say obnoxious)daughter (that would be Hannah), now 15 or so, who, in 2006 as the family stopped at a red light, saw two men: a homeless rummy to the left and a rich folkster in a Mercedes to the right. She posited that if the guy to the right in the German car did not have such a good car (read that as not all the money he had), the rummy to the left would be able to have a meal (read that as government hand-out).

Ahhh, says the moron father...yes, but but but, and the kid says NO BUTS WE NEED TO GIVE IT ALL AWAY so that the rummies of the world can get to Burger King STAT! The father should have cut it off right there telling the kid she has no business suggesting the dispersal of HIS hard earned samoleons. Ditto, the father should have cut it off right there by telling the brat that, perhaps, the guy to the left (rummy) should ask the guy to the right for a job, and that what the kid is proposing is communism -- from each accrding to his abilites to each according to his needs. But Karl Marx NEVER did put together a best seller on that score (and it appears the Salwens have; see Barnes and Noble), but that is getting ahead of our opus.

To make that long story short, the Salwens SOLD their home for $800k, elevator and all, and gave half dough away to some seed eaters in Ghana (what ever happened to that Atlanta rummy right around the corner from them?).

And now, they are on the book tour.

We posit a few points here:

At first I was pondering saying what a true moron the guy is, but hey, the guy's got quite a financial head on his shoulders. Wealth is all fluid -- Look at it this way...he sells the ranch for a good a good bowl of rice, puts on the sneakers and runs for the hills. That's one way around the housing crisis.

But even better, he invests HALF of what he sells by dumping it off to some cuckholds out of the country (out of the country because inside the U.S.A. we could actually see how useless it is to give money to porch-sitters). I say "invests", because he writes the book about the experience and now he's rolling in the dough from Amazon, B&N, and all other sorts of cash registers, doing the tours, doing voice books and becoming a celebrity of the benificent type, just like that little girl who wrote a letter to Gorbachev in the 1980's (by the way, that kid died when she was about 13, I believe, in a private plane crash on way to a publicity event).

There is a moral to this story:

There are many folks who've come forward with interesting ways to sell a home and maximize profits in these hard times -- staging, loan take backs, point buy downs, rent-to-owns, who knows?..., but this guy wins the contest.

He sold his house for a best selling book writing career.

Bravo

Wheel Estate Redux

I have been driving a Yaris these days. It appears to be, at this point at least, the only car that has not been recalled by Toyota.

Perhaps my Yaris is truly a super car, but perhaps there are other reasons for no recall and herewith are but a few speculations:

There are but a handful on the road. The numbers sold are counted in tens of thousands, not in millions like the Corolla. Perhaps Toyota forgot to recall them.

I paid a mere 13k for the jalopy. I suppose, if there is something wrong with the chariot, just dump it out on Monday morning with the rest of the recycled cans and plastic (the Yaris, I have been told, is made of aluminum recycled cans).

And, perhaps, anyone riding around in a little car made from Dr. Pepper metal deserves to die, so no bother for a recall.

Yet, as I go off to present a property, I am confident that the brakes will work at 30 MPH and the car (unlike the Prius) will not get stuck at 90 miles per hour (I doubt my Yaris will crank out 60 MPH without the hubcaps falling off).

Now I know what you all are thinking. Does he not look like a fool driving up a sales meeting whilst driving a Tonka Toy?! Where is his sense of status, his sense of lording over the baffled customer; the shock and awe of a BMW?

Ahh, yes, I have addressed that. You see, in this age of less is more, or if not more than just the best we can do, I feel the BMW or any other Luxury car from one of the former AXIS countries bespeaks a pompous and out-of-touch message. Unemployment is rising and this chump is driving up in a Lexus -- a new one??? -- damn I'll be damned if I'll give that parasite a lick of business.

Ahhhhh, but as I drive up in the Yaris, clean and shiny humming of cheap gas consumption, I am ever asked, "What is that little thing?"

A Yaris, I posit. Gets me where I need to go fast, easy, and simple. I can park it in the smallest of wedges. I am in and out. And with my business booming right now, I need to move, and move fast. Now how about this home...let's take a look and see what it does for you, shall we?

Status symbols are everywhere --- just remember symbols say, hard workers DO.

Don't Cry for Me, Agent Tina.....

Yesterday, being Washington's birthday, I decided to plaster a bit of personal honesty on Facebook -- that rightly maligned piece of crap that the kids use to coordinate their drug deals all the while being watched by B&E folks looking for a sap to tell the world he is on vacation for the next 5 days...

My bit of honesty took the review tense. It noted that I HAD been gone for 9 days. It opined that "nobody" noticed.

Today, as I check emails, messages, calls, letters, carrier pigeon guano, and all other manner of communication avenues, it is clear that my "nobody" opinion was a tad off the mark.

Herewith are a few comments that came by the assorted info-hiway splatters:

"Are you dead?!?!...I heard so, call me if you are not."

"Hey baby, you lookin' for a good time in Woburn?" (Emailer had the a wrong addy -- that's what happens when you drink mercury instead of margaritas.)

"Hey, it's me...call me, ok uhhh, I was wondering about that house." (Who are you?)

"Hey, it's me...did I just call you or did I dial wrong? OK so either way, call me."

"I'd like to order a..." (We cut that one off right there.)

"Msng U in Woburn. (What's going on up there.)

"OMFG whre hv U gone?" (Joltin' Joe has left and gone away)

"I was wondering if I can set up an appt to meet with yu and see if you think I can sell my house in Belmont" (I actually responded to that one while I was in Southern Climes)

"Viagra Cheap!" (I don't want the Viagra to be cheap...I want the DATE to be cheap!)

"Hi this is Tina from XXXXXX Realty, I mean Betty, Bettina, Elizabeth, Liza...god so like I can get so many names out of Elizabeth, and I forgot which one YOU call me, so call me." (For the record, I call her "BETH"!!!!!!!)

I guess I was missed after all...

A Self Serving Call to Action

The below quote came to me from my lobbying group, the National Association of Realtors. One wonders about these things. It is a plea to keep yet one more bail out going. The famous $8,000 to first time buyers is, after all just another bailout: it gives 8 grand to folks who may not deserve it and take it away from those who earned it (in the form of more debt to pay in the future -- which will be paid by rising taxes). At the risk of losing the love of my fellow agents, I say no; no to any of this. Let us all work hard, try hard, take a bit longer to recover, if necessary, but let us stop this govenmant mandated re-allocation of wealth.

Read the text:

"We have all seen first-hand the positive impact the first-time homebuyer tax credit is having on the real estate market recovery. As the expiration date for this successful program looms, we ALL need to make sure that Congress hears from us about the positive impact this program has had and ask them to extend it, and expand it, so that we can continue to see our markets fully recover."

In My LIttle Corner of the World

In my little corner of the world, the kids are going back to school. Today... Yesterday, you could sense the emotion; the little ones were out in force on the nice day, soaking up the sun, trying to get in the last bit of play. I spent much of the day in a park. It was interesting to see the dynamics: for the kids, gone were the camps and rules. Left to their own devices, they made games out of rocks and sticks, jumping and running, scoring on a point system that was duly invented for the moment and is now forgotten.

There seemed to be more bicycles out and about on this last day. A few kids were testing out new sneakers. Some older kids, high school bound, were jockeying for position on the bully ladder, using fashion the way, in my day, they used a fist.

Some parents are tearful as that whole "sunrise, sunset" thing kicks in. Others are thoughtful at the "circle of life" gig going on. A couple skulking in the corner are fully giddy at the prospect of the kids gone -- they are having an affair.

In a few days, the patterns that will dictate our lives will full into place, and we will all move on, a bit diminished by the last summer gone in a fast declining decade.

For those of us in real estate, the fall means a return to business: folks will re-assess themselves, make "New Year" resolutions and wonder, wonder about what to do next. Homes will be marketed, and homes will be sold.

So it goes in Belmont. Summer comes to a crashing end. This morning feels cold, although it is, according to the weather service, just like yesterday. But take heart -- Labor Day is just around the corner.

A Toot of the Horn to Belmont

The NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Foundation today (April 16, 2009) announced the results of its tenth annual “Best Communities for Music Education” survey, which acknowledges schools and districts across the U.S. for their commitment and support of music education in schools. As the economy challenges state and local school budgets to adequately support education, the 124 school districts named by the NAMM Foundation demonstrate the unwavering commitment to provide music education for their students. The NAMM Foundation’s mission is to ensure that all children have access to quality music education programs that encourage lifelong participation in music making.

"The potential of music to help children reach their full development is understood by the school districts represented in this year’s survey results,” said Mary Luehrsen, executive director, NAMM Foundation. “We celebrate these communities that are committed to providing access to music education programs and bettering the lives of their students.”
The 2009 survey, which opened on Thursday January 15, and ended Friday, March 13, was available to all districts nationwide. This year, teachers and school district administrators, representing communities across the country, participated in the Web-based survey. The districts were measured across curricular and programmatic criteria as well as public support of their music programs. The survey was developed and administered by The Institute for Educational Research and Public Service, ! an affiliate of the University of Kansas.

Participants in the survey answered detailed questions about funding, graduation requirements, music class participation, instruction time, facilities, support for the music program, and other relevant factors in their communities’ music education programs. The responses were verified with district officials, and advisory organizations reviewed the data.
Throughout the survey’s ten years, many districts have reported that making the “Best Communities” list has had a positive effect on their ability to preserve music for their students amid budget cuts in arts programs.

In conducting the annual survey, the NAMM Foundation is joined by advisory organizations in the fields of music and education including, Americans for the Arts (www.americansforthearts.org), League of American Orchestras (www.americanorchestras.org), The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation (www.mhopus.org), The Metropolitan Opera Guild (www.operaed.org), Music for All (www.musicforall.org), Music Teachers National Association (www.mtna.org), National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts (www.nationalguild.org), National PTA (www.pta.org), Yamaha Corpora! tion of America (www.yamaha.com) and VH1 Save The Music Foundation (www.vh1savethemusic.com). The survey was conducted by The Institute for Educational Research and Public Service of Lawrence, KS, an affiliate of the University of Kansas.

Go to http://www.namm.org/news/press-releases/nationwide-survey-finds-best-communities-music-edu for the complete listing of school districts.

"For Sale by Owner" StataGEEZ!!!

One wonders about the logic some folks apply when trying to sell thier homes without professional advocating. Not much to say about this bloke's Project Plan. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out...

Come Blow Your Horn in Belmont

In this the time, so we are being told, of darkness, it is a surprise to hear (since it is to be dark and we cannot see), the sign of the future. In my corner of the world, Belmont, it appears nearly 1,000 youngsters are involved in Music Programs run by the School Department's Music instructors. These programs are held during school, after school or on Saturday morns. The town is filled with little violinists, flutists and other sundry tweakers and tooters.

My own small one, after 1 year on the violin, opted for the oboe this year. In a nonce, she is up and running. So it comes a surprise that she is dropping said oboe in favor of another instrument -- the trombone. She will shift, no doubt under the careful eyes of her instructors (on Tuesdays in school and on Saturday mornings in the Town 4th Grade orchestra).

As for me...another instrument next to the lunch box in the morning -- and another one to put up on ebay

Someone Has a lot of Time on Their Hands

A bit more time for the New Years Resolution the bemade -- a one more shot of champagne before this artificial barrier is crossed -- read on...

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Always short of time? Not enough moments in the day? Tonight you'll get an extra second to enjoy 2008. Use it wisely; perhaps an extra long smooch is called for.


An extra second will be added to 2008 to align clocks with variations in the Earth's time.

Immediately before midnight a leap second -- the first for three years -- will be added to atomic clocks around the world by official timekeepers.

Peter Whibberley, a senior research scientist at Britain's National Physical Laboratory, said the Earth's erratic rotation meant an extra second needed to be added.

"The difference between atomic time and Earth time has now built up to the point where it needs to be corrected, so this New Year's Eve we will experience a rare 61 second minute at the very end of 2008 and revelers... will have an extra second to celebrate."

Traditionally time has been based on the passage of the Sun across the sky -- a modern version of this is still used by astronomers to track distant stars and spacecraft.

However, since 1967, an atomic timescale -- the extremely accurate Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) -- has been the world's official clock and is used for broadcasting time signals across the world.

The accuracy of UTC is essential for the smooth running of GPS and the Internet.

By comparison, the Earth is far less reliable. It does not rotate at a constant speed -- it can even wobble -- and disruptions to its core, extreme weather, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes can influence the length of a day.

Therefore, leap seconds are occasionally added to align atomic time with astronomical time and ensure that the Sun remains overhead at noon.

Whibberley told British media anyone sober enough and who had a digital clock that picked up leap second information from a reliable source, would see the final seconds of 2008 as 57, 58, 59, 60, 00 -- with 60

George Bail-OUT

So we all gush and weep over the plight of George Bailey of the Bailey Building and Loan. And are we so uplifted when the town folk pour their money at him to well, shall we say it, BAIL him out of a jam?

You see, folks, Mr. GB mismanaged the bank; threw the money at those ill prepared to repay it (Violet get a little slip of cash into her purse). The old man grouses that all you have to do is "Shoot Pool" with the Bailey boys and you get a loan. And then, of course, Bailey kin folk loses the money! Leaves it all on a counter. Gone Gone Gone.

What we have here is not a sentimental story, but one of malfeasance and shame; one of poor management and judgement and one of honest folks having to "pony up" to pay for it. We have a bailout.

Now how is that for Xmas cheer?

Santa Claus is Right Here in Town

My little cell phone camera does not due justice to what these folks have done. It is beautiful. Santa is here...even I am sure of it. No doubt I could look to the public record and see who owns the home on the corner of Ivaloo and Albemarle in Waltham, but why do it? Just believe for once in your life that it is not the normal work-a-day. It is a miracle. Happy season to all.

Santa Claus is (Already) in Town

In these the dark ages (so the writers at the Boston Globe will have us believe) when we see all about us unsure and upended, it is nice to know Santa is around. If you kids are doubting, just take them tot eh corner of Albemarle and Ivaloo in Waltham. If Santa does not live there, then at least, one of his regional managers does. It s a sight to behold, both inside and out -- yes visitors are allowed in during the early evening to view the displays, and watch the movesment of trains elves, and assorted animals under the watchful eyes of folks who will swear up and down to children that they do NOT own the house, but are just there to make sure nothing breaks.

I've seen this place before -- I've been told that they start their setup in September and go at it until December.

Do not forget to drop of your wishlist for Santa. Just don't tell any auto or bank execs. They may ask for a few billion and Santa is on a limited budget this year

Other People's (Actually Yours) Money; Their Gain

This from the VERY Dead on and accurate folks at Rasmussen:

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters found that only nine percent (9%) give Congress good or excellent ratings, while 54% give the legislature poor marks. Just one-out-of-50 voters (2%) think Congress is doing an excellent job.

Since the election when Democrats grew their majorities in both the House and Senate, Congress has been in the news struggling unsuccessfully to pass an unpopular bailout plan for the Big Three automakers.

Even only 14% of Democratic voters rate the performance of the Congress led by their own party as good or excellent, compared to five percent (5%) of Republicans and six percent (6%) of unaffiliated voters. Thirty-five percent (35%) of Democrats say the legislators are doing a poor job, and 69% of Republicans and 63% of unaffiliateds agree.

Men are much more critical than women. While 66% of men give Congress poor ratings, only 43% of women do the same. Eight percent (8%) of men give Congress positive ratings, along with 10% of women.

One-in-three voters (34%) believes most members of Congress are corrupt, while 39% disagree. In last month's survey, 36% saw most members as corrupt.

Forty percent (40%) of Republicans view most Congress members as corrupt, along with 36% of unaffiliated voters and 28% of Democrats. Forty-four percent (44%) of Democrats do not see most members that way, and 38% of Republicans and 34% of unaffiliated voters agree.

A separate Rasmussen survey released last week found that voters view politicians as being more corrupt than CEO’s of major corporations by a 48% to 25% margin. The majority (59%) also believe President-elect Barack Obama should make government ethics reform a top agenda item when he assumes office next year.

With the Blagoveich scandal breaking in Illinois, a plurality of voters (39%) does not know which political party to trust more when it comes to government ethics and corruption.

The latest survey found that just 14% of voters believe members of Congress are more interested in helping people than their own careers, down from 23% in November. Most voters (71%) say the opposite.

Eighty-four percent (84%) of Republicans, 54% of Democrats and 79% of unaffiliated voters say most members of Congress are more interested in helping their own political careers. Six percent (6%) of GOP voters and nine percent (9%) of unaffiliateds think members of Congress are most interested in helping people, compared to 24% of Democrats.

Thirteen percent (13%) of voters say Congress has passed legislation to significantly improve life in America, but 60% say the opposite. Still, 57% say it is at least somewhat likely that Congress will address serious issues facing our nation in the near future, although 39% say it is unlikely.

Toys for Tots Thanks You

A big fat thanks goes out to all the "Santas" who dropped off toys under the tree at my office. (the sloppy image is from a cheap cell phone -- my cheap cell phone). By my count, there were over 300 items ranging from bicycles to cameras to Tonkas and Barbies, to basketballs (some North Pole Hoopster dropped off 6 at one time), Candyland, Monopoly, Risk, Scrabble and other great games.

Your names are not known but your thoughts and generosity are. In a time of uncertainty mauled by loonies blogging about things that need not be bought by folks who cannot affrod to buy them, it is nice to see the smart and generous ones among us coming up with some great toy staples. Wonderful, splendid.

Best of the season to you all.

Toys for Tots

Drop off your toys at 161 Mount Auburn St. in Watertown. Yesterday someone dropped off a great baseball glove; we've got two bicycles and lots of dolls...some kool games that all of us will remember...I promise I won't play with anything -- although that Playdough looks mighty inviting...

Open house here 4-8 PM on December 12 -- This Friday night upcoming. Cocktails and Hors D'Oeuves served. Last year I had kids playing floor hockey in the basement -- this year. Maybe this year the old folks will play, too.

CALL ME AT 617.470.8085 FOR INFO.