Blue Nettles

Hi guys, check out this web page. We can see your house and ours in Perth. Way Cool!!!!! Whitey ( Google Earth .com)?

Yes, I had a kidney stone last week. I'm showing my age as things break off and start rattling around inside.

But after 8 hours of excruciating pain, I dragged myself to the emergency room and they gave me pain medication. That's pretty much the whole story. I still have to have x-rays to see if there are more in there.

Note on picture - not actual scale of stones - it just feels that way.

Dad, on you article about NOAA; I've never heard about that (I have very little to do with them) but it wouldn't surprise me. One hard and fast rule about government science: It is all tainted by politics. No way around it.

Hi everyone-
Yes, Larry- I heard about your kidney stone and have tried to reach you a few times in the evening- but your line has been busy. - Just wanting to check to see that you've recovered. Let us know if you're doing better.
Marisa is going to Girl Scout Camp this Sunday for a week (July 3-9). She will be at Camp Cloud Rim. She is doing a photography/media camp. She is excited. It is always fun to receive mail at camp- if any of you want to write a note or card to her- I know she would love it. If you are local- you can just give me your letter/card and I'll deliver them to her counselor who will distribute them during the week (I hope we'll be seeing each other- with the Marlars' arrival) in an envelope with this info on it: Marisa Bush, Media Blitz: July 3-9, Camp Cloud Rim.
If you are mailing something- you should mail it within the next few days to:
Marisa Bush
Media Blitz:July 3-9
Camp Cloud Rim
P.O. Box 1740
Park City, UT 84060.
Well, we are enjoying our summer. The Huffs and Don/Marion were here last week for a great visit. I am enjoying focusing on my schoolwork a little bit better and focusing on things at home. Duane is busy with work but some windsurfing/bike riding, too. If anyone local saw the story about the kiteboarder that got killed at Rush Lake last weekend- Duane knew him. (Actually, he was the roofer at our Laurel house). Duane spent some time with the old windsurfing gang over the weekend mourning Mitch's death. Duane has officially decided not to pursue the sport of kiteboarding- thank God! The girls have been busy swimming and hanging out (with a few math classes for both, too). We have spread the scrapbooking supplies out on the dining room table and have been enjoying doing that together. Our addition project is going slowly. We are looking forward to the Marlar month in Utah! Max & Whitey- it's great to talk to you so close!
Love, Kay

Hi everyone:

Life is starting to come together here. The last 2 weeks have been working many long hours as we have prepared for an open house here at the marina on Saturday. Just hotdogs and drinks all day and invites to the berthers as well as in the newspaper and other general locations. We felt it was fairly successful - not a huge crowd but very good feedback from the people that were here. The best thing is they have noticed the beautification things that we have done around the place. I have done alot of it by painting picnic tables and planter boxes and planting lots of flowers. It's good to be done with it and get back into the marina business. Whitey is still working on the lighthouse for us to live in and manage the rest of staff. He's got the challenge of having to work with a staff that has been here for many years - the maintenance guy for 16, the harbormaster for 4 and before that had lived on her boat here for many years, and the bookkeeper for 25+. They are pleasant enough to us but don't really go the extra mile so it can be interesting sometimes. In addition Whitey has 2 Mexican guys helping in the lighthouse. So we are both practicing our Spanish. We are enjoying ourselves. We are hoping our little run around boat will be back from repairs by Friday - then we can really have fun. Oh, and the company got Whitey a truck this past weekend so he is happy with that. Easier to get things from Home Depot and also when I'm away on the weekend he has his own vehicle.

Hope Larry is feeling better.
Have a save drive, Ellie.

Love,
Max

Ok, this blogger was to share information. I heard through the grapevine this morning, that Larry had a kidney stone last week and he/you were at the emergency room!

This may not be an exciting subject, but ....
Any details??

Ellie

We just finished music camp at church. We are wiped. It is a lot of prep work for a short amount of time. The boys had a great time.

We will be leaving for Utah on Friday, July 1. We will stay with Charley and company for a while and then move to SLC to stay with Kay and company. We hope to see lots of everyone. I'm looking forward to a cooler and greener summer. The boys are very interested in spending time with cousins. George will work out of the Avaya SLC office. I hope to make a day trip to Brigham City. George has never seen northern Utah.

We will leave Utah on Sunday, July 24, and head to Vernal. Of course, we have to see Dinosaur Land. We will spend a few days in Colorado Springs, CO, to see George's family. We hope to be back in Phoenix by July 30.

School starts for us on August 15.

This looks like a great adventure. We appreciate everyone working with us on dates and giving us a place to stay. Jackson will be very excited to see more people to play with him.

See you soon.
Love,
Ellie

Happy Father's Day, Poppa.
We love you,
Ellie, George, Davis, James

Ha! Ha! 

Hi everyone-
I am back on the blog. If you didn't see my email- we officially changed our internet service. Our address is: DMMK96@comcast.net. Our summer started today- we started 6:30am swim workouts this morning. The girls are enthusiastic about it right now.
Interesting thoughts about homes and investments. Right now, we are in the belief of investing in this home and maximizing its functioning. We're into the construction of the master bedroom/den bumpout. Its necessary for us to function more efficiently here (our teenage daughters need their own bathroom or rather their Dad needs his own bathroom!). Well, we'll consider the return we might get if we decide to sell later.
Happy summer everyone!
Love, Kay

Hello everyone:

We are back in touch finally. Finally on line with our own computer. (Can you hear the relief in my typing?) If you haven't heard, we now have a land line phone as well. (707) 648-1949. Anyone can call whenever they would like (hint hint).

That is interesting about you getting some time of real estate, Larry. All good points from you and Charley. The bottom line is it would just be nice to have your own place and not have to deal with landlords. In regards to marinas here, California has had a law for years of only 10% liveaboards at each marina. And most marinas are at their limit there.

And speaking of living space. We were told a week ago by the government agency that governs such things that we could not leave the houseboat here. They are not license to have floating homes only normal boats. Lars tried to fight it a bit, saying it was a 'one of' occurrence for the manager but they said no way. So we were a bit depressed about it as this would have been the perfect set up for us. (And we are tired of construction) The good news is we still have the lighthouse. We went through it on Friday with Lars & Nancy to discuss renovation options. We will take of the entire 3rd floor and 1/2 of the second. Get a completely new kitchen, bath, take a couple walls out, get a skylight above the bedroom, etc. It's not too much really. We insisted that Whitey get some assistance this time. They have 60 days to do the work so start today tearing out carpet, etc.

Besides that life is good here. Enjoying ourselves.

Take care,
Max

Hong Kong 

I agree with Charlie's statement about ninety percent. The problem with homeownership is that you aren't creating wealth or doing any value-added (adding a deck doesn't count) unless you are sub-dividing it or taking a empty lot and building something on it. Otherwise it is just sheltering your funds. The only exception is the usual supply and demand changes that, in the housing market, is heavily influenced by demographics and zoning regs - both out of the hands of poor shmoes needing a place to live.

A good example of that is now my rent is about 40% (or less) of what payments on the same space would be if I bought it. What makes that really disturbing is that if I were the owner, I'd have every incentive to condo it and run with the money. So I might need to move soon. Never know.

As to the 'living on the water' idea Dad, people were jamming up the marinas and the counties around here started limiting the number of "live aboards" so we wouldn't have large floating cities like Hong Kong (see above).

Assets feed you. Liabilities bleed you. That's the simplest and truest test of whether your money is growing (as an asset) or just being consumed (as a liability).

Think of what your house really is: wood, pipes, electrical wires, shingles, concrete. Are these items becoming more valuable the longer you own them and the more you use them? Would you pay more for a used car than you would for a new car? Does a 40 year old house have more intrinsic worth than a 1 year old house?

Housing prices over time go up (generally) because they reflect the growth in wages of workers and inflation. Also, prices can go up in areas that are considered more desirable than others to live in i.e. "I'd rather live in San Francisco, CA than Minot, ND. " When house prices increase more than inflation and wages can justify it probably represents a speculative bubble. And that is exactly what is happening today in many areas of the country (Washington D.C. being one of them).

The error in thinking made by most homeowners when determining the profit on their house when they sell it, is the failure to calculate the true costs of ownership. Consider our home in Sugarhouse. We bought it for $65,000 and sold it 16 years later for $190,000. It appears we made $125,000 giving us a 6.5% return on our investment. However, if I consider the costs of upkeep, repairs, taxes, time, etc. we probably just came out even. Perhaps we could conclude that we got the money back that we had put into it all those years (and that's a good thing). But, of course Lynne insisted we go buy another house. And we bought one in Park City. I was pushing for a yurt in Minot, ND.

The growth in your home value does not constitute increasing personal wealth! It's just a very expensive and time consuming purchase. Don't be fooled.

However, your house and it's appreciation can be used to finance the purchase of real assets and investments and I am a big advocate of this. I believe it's the only real hope for most middle Americans to generate any kind of personal wealth.

The equity in your house has a 0% return. Always! And it's of no value sitting in the walls of your living room. When you need money for college, retirement, long term care or medicine, nobody cares that you have "equity". They just want the money.

Regularly separating the equity from the house (borrowing it out and getting a tax deduction) and putting it into an account that can grow now gives you an asset (a side fund). Your house is not an investment but it has the ability to create and fund an investment. Thus, you can have your cake and eat it. too. Just don't gamble it (stock market) or spend it on consummables.

If you established this kind of account, you could eliminate other drains on your wealth. What if you viewed this account as your personal bank? You could borrow from yourself to buy a car, go on vacation or do renovation work on your house. Then just pay yourself back (with interest). It takes no more discipline or money than you already have. You simply become the beneficiary of your spending rather than some financial institution. And you gain more financial control over your life.

Larry may benefit from the purchase of a condo in DC, if he lives in it long enough, can sell it for as much as he pays for it (all expenses included). On the other hand if he can rent for less and saved the difference in some other growth asset, he may do even better and with less stress and responsibility.

Americans are encouraged to view their house as a wealth asset, but it's really just another purchase. It may give us pleasure and make us feel more secure, but that doeen't change it's nature. Charley

So for the last couple of years I've toyed with the idea of buying a home or condo or something. But the market in this area is so out of control. Yesterday I went through a little two bedroom house on a very small lot but with a beautiful garden, nice nieghborhood and a ten minute walk to the Metro. How much? Listed at $350k and a couple also looking at it (it was a open house) where whispering about offering $375 (they got all paraniod when they noticed me listening - it's dog-eat-dog out there).

The market here and in a lot of regions has just become to unreal. I read articles like the one above and it is obvious we have a housing bubble. It is mainly driven by the easy money and low mortgage rates - but nothing lasts forever. The Chinese and other Asian currencies can't be held down for much longer, so the US dollar will have to experience a secular decline (don't even think about the Euro - those yahoos are tankin'). But on the other hand, betting against the US dollar has been a loser for the last 30 years. For all the things wrong with our monetary management (government and private debt, trade deficit, ect.) there just aren't any alternatives out in the world to Mr. Hamilton's dollar.

I'll just zero out my credit card debt and save my pennies and wait for the bubble to burst.

Thy turrets and thy pinnacles
With carbuncles do shine;
Thy very streets are paved with gold,
Surpassing clear and fine.

Ah, my sweet home, Hierusalem,
Would God I were in thee!
Would God my woes were at an end,
Thy joys that I might see!

Thy gardens and thy gallant walks
Continually are green;
There grows such sweet and pleasant flowers
As nowhere else are seen.

-- The New Jerusalem