Lush lawn

Now this is a lush lawn!

Finally got the house rented

3200 in repairs, but it's looking nice. I had about 20 calls and 6 people come see it, and 2 people who wanted it. Then one backed out , so it was an easy decision. These people make like 35k and have worked there 5 years and seem like good people. Only time will tell.

In other news, I am dealing with another tenant in shitmore who isnt paying. This could provide for some quality blog content over the next few weeks. Maybe I should change the title of this blog to "why you shouldnt own rental houses"

Effing words with friends

Tonight I thought I won my first game. I had the lead twice and was ahead by 6 points and we each had one letter left. Then wifey (no longer a friend) scored 4 pts and my two point letter U counted against me for 2 and it was a tie. So that elusive first win is still in the future but at least this is one game I didn't lose: it was a tie.

Dry cleaning fun

In the past two weeks I have tried to drop off my dry cleaning at the cleaners four times, burly every time they were closed during normal business hours.

Today when I went, I notices a piece of paper taped to the door. Yes, an eviction notice! The same state of mi paperwork I use to evict my tenants.

I have been going there since 2004, and I always talked with the owner of the store when I was in. I feel bad for the guy, but over the years I made friendly suggestions to him to help improve his business and he never implemented any of them.

Lesson learned: listen to me.

Example of wasted government spending

Just found out yesterday that Medicare pays for you to get your toenails cut every 45 days. I wonder if the podiatry association has anything to do with that?

Prohibition

How in the hell could so many countries, including the US, ban alcohol? In our society, it simply seems outrageous this type of policy could be law and actually enforced. Actually, I guess it wasn't really enforced....see Al Capone.

In other news, drinking four beers in one "sitting" is "binge" drinking. Right.

I like Jeff Daniels

For my out of state readers, you may not know Jeff is from Michigan and lives in Chelsea (not far away from ann arbor). My first experience with Jeff was Harry in Dumb and Dumber ( I am greatly disappointed Jim Carey is not on board for the sequel).

He is a big supporter of the local area and you may have seen him in the Michigan ads.

Daniels most recent endeavor is Newsroom on HBO. This is a great show, and I highly recommend it.

Observations on wheels/rims

Why is it that manufacturer rims are not ever as cool as after market rims?

My Favorite Sesame Street Bit...

No question, this is #1

These guys must like it too

For Rent...

The Whitmore Lake Duplex is for rent. I put it on Craigslist last Sunday night and I received 13 calls on  Monday. I have never had such high interest in 7 years of renting. Hopefully I will be able to finally find somebody good (what I mean by this is somebody who can actually afford $695 per week.)

White T-Shirts

I have approximately 45 white T-Shirts. I know, this is a lot! I wear one under my dress shirt every day at work and every so often I buy more at Costco. I like the Costco ones the best - they seem to fit great and are inexpensive.

I accumulate so many because I never get rid of any of the old ones. I guess I am a hoarder like that. The funny thing is you can easily tell which ones are new and old based on the color. The old ones are basically yellow....

T-Ball Observations

I am at practice right now and count 14 kids and 12 coaches. WTF

Belly Up

It finally happened - wifey killed our 2nd fish. I am shocked it took this long. Mo-in-law got us two fish  much to my dismay. They were gifts for our son on his third bday. The first one died pretty quick, and the second lasted nearly two years. Two years of over-feeding and cleaning dirty fish tanks. The fish were named Jack and Jill. RIP

Browser Observations

Recently Google has made their browser available on the Iphone/Ipad IOS operating systems. I downloaded Chrome on my Iphone because I thought it might be an upgrade compared to the default Safari browser.

A little history: I use IE on my work computer because I can only use IE with my work internet portal. However, I also use Chrome daily on my work computer to stream CNBC and for my google docs (drive) programs, as well as Google Finance. I feel Chrome works better with those programs, as well as it makes my organization easier to use a different "program" when managing my open windows.

I enjoy using Chrome on my desktop, and I also use it periodically on my airbook. But on the airbook I also use Safari and Firefox. No browser has taken the lead; they are all commodities as far as I am concerned. But by logging in to Chrome through Gmail, all your settings are supposed to be synced in the cloud - same favorites, same tabs open, etc. However, I can't login to my Chrome browser on my phone. It just doesn't work. I did a little research and determined others are having the same problem, albeit a minority of users. Not sure why I am in this minority. Anyway, I couldn't figure it out.

Speaking of the syncing feature in Chrome (even thought I can't benefit from it), why is microsoft so far  behind with these types of features? Apple has a great sync service with their iCloud, and now Chrome, but Microsoft always seems to be a few steps behind.

Unfortunately, I must use IE for work. While none of the other browsers seem to be much better than any other, I am hamstrung by IE which is not available on a MAC or IOS. Let's get some functionality!

Tigers game

Here was my view of the field for yesterday's tiger game. Pink stick- eat it or lose it!

Observations on Passwords

Start here.

Yes, wifey has my google password as of this moment.

Now, she doesn't.

BOOM.

Bee Update with Mail in Rebate Bonus

Start here.

Wifey has still not called the bee guy, so we went to the local "DO IT YOURSELF" hardware store, and bought some bee spray. In fact, the bee spray is normally priced at $4.79 per can. But today, it was on sale for $2.00, with a $2.00 mail in rebate = FREE. Pretty interesting.

As recent as a couple years ago I would be all over the rebate, and would send it in ASAP and set all kinds of reminders for myself to make sure I actually received the check and when the check never came, I would tell everyone how DO IT is a POS company and they effed me out of my rebate. Can you tell I am an avid conspiracy theorist with MIR's?

New Nick is not going to bother with it. I bought two cans and am entitled to receive a $4.00 rebate. Eff it. fitty cent for the stamp and 15 minutes of my time, I'm over it.

FYI, the last rebate I was entitled to and did not receive was the $300 ATT Uverse prepaid visa card they promised when I signed up. Still waiting on that one.

Bottom line, I sprayed the bees pretty good and they were not happy with me. If anymore bees are visible tomorrow, I have one more can waiting for them. And if that doesn't work, no problem - the spray is free, right?

Homeless People Observations

Actually it is not on observation on homeless people, but on observation on wifey's behavior towards them. They stand on the highway exits all around AA, especially the exits wifey takes (you will find out in a moment).

So I found out today that wifey gives either $1 or $2 EVERY time she sees one of these bums at the exits. She says she even has some "favorite" homeless people and thinks about bringing them home with her and let them take a shower. WTF.

How does she decide on how to give $1 or $2? She says it depends on how "cute" they are or what type of mood she is in. WTF.

Growing up, my mother had a completely different view. I remember vividly when I was in college we went to San Fran (tons of bums). Come to think of it, if I were a bum I would want to "live" in San Fran too, because of the year round weather. Mom, brother, and I, were walking down the street and a bum asked her for some spare change as she passed by. He was sitting on the ground up against the wall of a building. She stopped in tracks, turned around, and YELLED, "I don't like beggars!" I was terribly embarrassed and fled the scene.

I guess she doesn't have the $50/mo bill I do.

Much Anticipated Release of the Big Boi pants Voicemail

Busch's My Way - A New Way to Grocery Shop

Busch's website can probably explain their My Way program better than me, but I can provide some good color commentary.

They keep track of all your items purchased so when you login they tell you which of those items are on sale. You just click on the "+1" to add to your cart. Then here is another huge added value for me - they do the legwork and have the bags ready at the store in 3 hours. You just pull up and they bring the bags out to the car. No wandering around the store, no waiting in line to check out.

The strange thing is that this program has been around for 3 years and I've only used the system once that I can remember. But I just used it today and found it very easy and enjoyable to use. Perhaps they've upgraded the system since the last time, or maybe I just wasn't ready for this super advanced technology.

A time saver?

I think it is. I could see really getting used to the navigation and getting the online 'shopping' done in 5 minutes.

Words with friends

For the past two months, I've been playing words. First of all, I hope the makers of scrabble are taking a nice fat royalty. If not, that is a shame. Second of all, I am horrible. I have yet to win a game or come even close. How can I be so smart but so bad? (lol) I think I need to go to a weekend seminar or something to improve my skills.

Another Eviction Update

I spoke with the Deputy, who said I could schedule the eviction for tomorrow (Friday) after posting the notice on yesterday (wed). I told him to hold off until I can speak with my tenant because I would rather have them move out on their own so the deputy doesn't have to be paid to watch me throw their shit on the street. As much fun as this could be, it would cost me time, money, and sweat.

So I called the tenant and he said they would be out for sure on Sunday night. I warned him clearly that if he was not out by 6am monday morning that I would be returning later that day with the deputy. He seemed to understand, even though you can never be sure with these deadbeats. I expect they will be out Sunday night.

I drove over there today on my lunch break and planted the FOR RENT sign, and I will be posting on craigslist soon. The next step is for me to evaluate the dammage. I will likely need to paint and repair some random shit. So best case is to have someone in there by the end of the month. That costs me repairs plus missed rent of another $700. All in all, this tenant will cost me over $4,000 in missed rent, repairs, and legal fees. That amount is well beyond any annual profit from this property.

When I reflect on this particular property, I am discouraged. I bought the house in 2006 and had a good lifer in there for several years before he died. Since then, I have bad very bad luck with three evictions in a row. This has cost over $13,000.

My only hope is to pay off these damn properties so the missed income I will incur in the future does not hurt so much. Or if I can find quality people (how many times have I said this?) then none of these issues would come up.

Olympic Observations

After watching some Olympics this year, I have the following observations:

1. Misty Mae-Treanor's headshot makes her look ugly.
2. The US basketball team will easily win gold, and today they scored 156 points against Nigeria. That is amazing. However, they still couldn't beat the '92 dream team. BTW, how the hell did we take bronze in '04?

From Wiki:

The close outcome of 2000 and the humiliating results of 2002 prompted a number of NBA superstars to agree to join the team for the FIBA Americas Championship 2003, which the squad was required to participate in to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics. The team easily cruised to a first-place finish, earning it a spot in Athens, Greece the following summer.

However, the dominant team that competed in 2003 could not be kept together. Nine of its 12 players elected not to participate in Athens. The revamped 2004 team consisted of some young NBA stars early in their careers, such as Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony, but also included recent Most Valuable Players Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson. The team was coached by Larry Brown.

After struggles in several exhibition matches, the vulnerability of the 2004 team was confirmed when Puerto Rico defeated them 92–73 in the first game of the Olympic tournament in Athens. The 19 point defeat was the most lopsided loss for the USA in the history of international competition.

After winning close games against Greece and Australia, The USA fell to Lithuania, dropping to 2–2 in the Olympic tournament. Even after an 89–53 win over Angola, the Americans entered the knockout rounds in fourth place due to goal average, the lowest seed of their group. The Americans faced undefeated Spain in their quarterfinal game, winning 102–94.

However, the semifinal match saw the team defeated by Argentina 89–81, ending the United States' hold on the gold medal. The USA did rebound to capture the bronze medal by defeating Lithuania.^[27] Still, it marked only the third time that an American team failed to win gold (excluding 1980 Moscow Olympics boycott), and the first time for an American team composed of professionals. Before 2004, American teams had only lost two games in all previous Olympic tournaments, whereas in this one the American team lost three.

3. The gymnasts still have not developed breasts.

4. After having kids, the beach volleyball due of Misty and whoever have sagging boobs. They should have had some work done. I guess its not too late? But I would have had the work done before millions would be seeing me on tv. They will never have this type of audience again.

5. Bob Costas looks the same as he did in 1991.

6. Ryan Seacrest should not be broadcasting sports.

7. Michael Phelps did not train as hard as he did for the '08 games.

8. I enjoy watching the Olympics more in my house than I did in my ghetto condo in '08 down the street from White Castle.

9. I'm spent. 

Eviction update

I documented the ridiculous vmail she left me telling me to put my big boy pants on and to act like a man. And how that motivated me to drop everything and drive straight to the courthouse for the writ of restitution. And then another car accident.

Today I received a call from the sheriff telling me he posted the eviction notice on the door! This means they are OUT!

My big fear was the judge who hates me would find a way to delay further. But he surprised me and actually did his job! And to my amazement the sheriff was out the next day.

What's up now, bitch? I put my big boy pants on, didn't I?

Moral of the story: don't fuck with me.

BMW Electronics

A few weeks back I went to a Tigers game and drove the new BMW Z4. We packed a cooler for a little tailgating action. A small cooler, just enough to hold a 12 pack. We parked, killed the beer, and went into the game.

I dropped off my buddy, and on the way back home, the radio went out. Then all the electronics went out: blinkers, power top, airbag warning, basically everything besides the engine. I got home, worried, and opened the trunk to unpack the cooler. It tipped over, and water leaked all over the trunk. No big deal, right? Well, it turns out the battery and all electrical components are in the trunk, without a seal to protect it. Just a weak carpet-like cover with no seal. Did I mention no seal?

It turns out the water was in the battery compartment where the computer hard drive and radio amplifier is housed. All fried. Totally fried. I was driving around the car while the wires were basically on fire, melting from the combination of water and heat (that day was 100 degrees).

I took it to a friends auto shop and he said immediately, "call your ins agent and take it to the BMW dealer." So I did. And its a good thing, because the $9,700 original estimate (State Farm says $8,000 is what they will pay) is covered by my comprehensive policy because it is classified as a "sudden" accident. The other thing is that the entire harness needs to be built to suit which takes 6 weeks. In car world, that means 10 weeks. Goodbye summer with the top down.

note: the dealer will do the work for whatever State Farm says, so my total out of pocket will be the deductible of $500.

side note: yes, I do feel bad about myself.