The Pan Does the Work but the Dish Gets the Glory

Never could figure that one out. That one, up there at the top of this page. The ditty about pots and pans from Juliachildville. Well, actually my old Grammy used to say it. Today, however, it is all as clear as crystal.

We lost the listing. It expired. We told them the home was priced too high, it would not sell. They refused and we held. Held to their price. We told them where is should be priced and they held and we showed and OH'd ourselves to death.

Now the listing is gone. And we have gotton a rather humble call from another broker. They have been given the listing. The listing price? Within $5000 of where we wanted to place it. So today I am the pan and that other broker is the dish. I just hope the next listing I get has a new kitchen.

Some Things You Do Not Need to Know About...

...Arlington.

Jimmy Doolittle may have spent "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", but he spent much of the other time of his life in Arlington, MA.

The town is named for Arlington National Cemetery and was changed to the current monniker in 1867 from the Algonquin name.

We all know of the great battles of Lexington and Concord, but we do not know that half the fatalities of that April day occured not at the famous sites, but, in fact, in Arlington.

"Uncle Sam" is from Arlington. Yes there really was an "Uncle" Sam. Sam Wilson who stamped his barrels with US before he shipped them to government supply stores. Folks yonder took it to mean UNCLE SAM's property and not UNITED STATES property

36 Highland Avenue, Watertown

I will be doing stand up comedy at my newly listed property OPEN HOUSE on Sunday 7/22 from 1:00 to 3:00. The address is above. Stop by to see this wonderful and unique 9 room 3 BR 2.5 bath gem with flooring the likes of which you won't see anywhere. BEAUTIFUL. Parking for oodles of cars, great sunset views off the deck. Grape vines with GRAPES to eat growing on the property, yumyumyum. See you.

Winkum and Blinkum and Nod...

Sometimes a house talks to you. Sometimes it cries at the end of the day as it bemoans the weight it has to bear. It creaks and groans throughout the night as it gives back the fottfalls and burdens that have pounded it during the day. Sometimes, however, it just flirts:

"Hi there big guy," it says and it gives you a wink. "Why don't you come up and see me sometime?"

So it is with this house.

Broken (or is it Broker) English

Now, I am not perfect, but I do try to write with style, flair and something akin to the "King's English." I do try to write with dignity and attempt to pass that on to my readers, whether they be viewing a blog, a letter or a listing sheet.

Below is a listing. It is here printed, good readers, exactly as it appears: spelling, spacing and intent have NOT been changed.


Come show and sell this Beautiful 2 family in an excellent area,close to everything. Home perfect for owner occupancy.Each unit offers 3 levels of living area, seperate off street parking,private fenced-in yard(flat)for entertaining.Home is in Great condition. Priced for quick sale.Best offer can own this highly desired home. Call Now!!! Bring Your Best Buyers.Bank approval with all offers. Serious inquaries only,please. Have your Offer forms and Check books ready!!! Thank You.

Someone needs to go back to school,...or at least, back to the spell check.

Super Savings!

Not long ago readers saw a ditty here about a buyer who chose his banker because the pens worked at the branch office where he'd turn in his pocket change (see Financial Arrangements).

Here with we expand on the subject and present a buyer who chose a lawyer with an equally eclectic methodology.

This chap, we'll call him Frugal (Froogie for short), dabbled through the Yellow Pages for names of the local barristers.

"Well," he reported, "'twas like picking horses in the Derby. One looked all like the others.

Until, Froogie admitted, "there was this one guy with a coupon."

A coupon?

"Yeah,...$25.00 off the first hour of billing. I liked that."

But does he know his stuff.

"I hope so. But he's trying to drum up business, he seems hungry. And I liked that. I'm hungry too. Got myself a prime rib at the Stockyard with the twenty-five I saved. It worked for me."

As ever, readers, you should consider the solicitation of professional help in all endeavors.

There are a few questions here: does this lawyer accept competitior coupons?...does he "double coupon"?...and what about bottle deposits on the empties?

Life, Liberty and...

...
We all know those words, but but herewith is a bit of elaboration...I bet ya did not know the inspiring scholors of the founding fathers were real estate brokers!

The phrase is based on the writings of John Locke, who expressed a similar concept of "life, liberty, and estate (or property)". While Locke said that "no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions", Adam Smith coined the phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of property". The expression "pursuit of happiness" was coined by Dr. Samuel Johnson in his 1759 novel Rasselas.

Written by Thomas Jefferson, the words in the Declaration were a departure from the orthodoxy of Locke and Smith. Locke's phrase was a list of property rights a government should guarantee its people; Jefferson's list, on the other hand, covers a much broader spectrum of rights, possibly including the guarantees of the Bill of Rights such as free speech and a fair trial. The change was not explained during Jefferson's life, so beyond this, one can only speculate about its meaning. This tripartite motto is comparable to "liberté, égalité, fraternité" (liberty, equality, fraternity) in France or "peace, order and good government" in Canada.

The phrase can also be found in Chapter III, Article 13 of the 1947 Constitution of Japan.

An alternative phrase "life, liberty and property", is found in the Declaration of Colonial Rights, a resolution of the First Continental Congress.

Happy Fourth to all. Call me at the office (see the right side of your screen) if you want to make yourself happy by buying a property (it'll make me happy too!).

Some things you do not need to know...

...about Waltham.

The city is known as the "Watch City", but you know that. Some 40 million Waltham Watches were built and the world is more "on-time" for it. Mike Case, late of the History Department of Boston College, however, likes to point out the lovely paradox of the city that corraled time yet overslept on the big day.

You see, readers, during that whole, "the British are coming, the British are coming" thing going down in April of 1775, while communities big and small had their sons up at the crack of dawn to shoot it out at Lexington (just north of Waltham) and Concord (one town northwest), the good settlers in Waltham overslept. Not a single Walthamer was awake to put the flash in the pan and knock down a Brit. So much for clock work action.

To their defense, I must point out that there was no Waltham Clock manufactory in 1775 and, at any rate, the city today has a great restaurant row...reservations accepted for 7:00 PM SHARP!

The Devil Made Him Do It

And now for a little local color.

Hotter than... it is today...My younger one want to go to to the public pool in my little corner of the world. Not a bad idea.

The Underwood Pool in Belmont Massachusetts has the distinction of being the first public pool in the United States -- assuming you exclude as pools the cesspools of Upton Sinclair and the riverways of Mark Twain.

Plopped down on land donated by William Underwood, it is an icon worthy of fame to any man, yet our Mr. Underwood, like so many greats, holds claim to another title of fame.

Yes, the Devil was the source of Mr. Underwood's wealth. We're not talking Mephisto here; we're talking Underwood Deviled Ham.

Not to be the only multi-man from Belmont, we may offer you the diversity of Robert Welch Jr.

Scurry from the pool's location on Concord Avenue up yonder about a one minute walk towards the center and stop at 395 Concord (next door to the post office). Today the building is the Armenian Studies Center, yet until 1958, it was the headquarters of one of Mr. Welch's babies -- the John Birch Society. If that nugget leaves a bitter taste in your mouth the ponder another of Mr. Welch's inventions: it is sweet, it is refreshing, it is "delicious" as Seinfeld's friend Kramer says.

Yes readers, we are talkng about nothing less than the Junior Mint.

Robot House

I like the way kids give directions. Nothing bland like, "First right after the Sonoco station." or even, out of the dashboard, "turn... at... next... left... 100...yards..." and so on. No sir, not for kids.

My own kid informed me that the way to her friend's house was the right after the robot house.

How, I wondered, would I know what the robot house was, but wouldn't you know it?...there is was. What a house, what character! What directions! And it does look like a robot!