Wednesday, May 13, 2009

BB2's a pretty toxic place. I don't go there.

Funny thing happened on the way to April 2009... we became Fairly Valued.

Remember, back last August, when Brucey was still riding atop his Perpetual Filing Machine (Perpetual Flying Machine?), hbm had sworn off BB2 for the 122nd time, which we celebrated as it coincided with his age... and National City had stated that Bend was still tops in overvaluation.

We had $285K medians, which Nat City said was 46% too high.

So... that brings us to $195K medians... which... is... where.... we... are. Back to 2003 levels.

Yup folks, we are no longer exceptional. We are average. Well, sorta.

We are actually far above average in unemployment & the rate of housing price depreciation.

That's the unfortunate part. We're in a Bad Way. 17% unemployment doesn't just vanish. In fact, with Cessna & the Multiplier Effect, we're probably going to lose several thousand jobs from that source alone.

Bend is in Collapse Mode. The Virtuous Circle is now a Vicious Cycle. All will be undone, and then some.

People will soon start making arguments that prices in Bend have reached IRRATIONAL LEVELS. And they will be right, in one regard.

You will be able to buy cheaper than owning.


It really won't make ANY SENSE to rent. But prices will go below that parity. They will because there is no money here. There is unemployment, there is no money, and there are no jobs. And when that happens, price doesn't matter.

Bums can't buy houses.

I think there are some touting that now is an INCREDIBLE time to buy a home in Bend. This is just indicative of someone who has no idea about the repercussions of a Black Swan.

Black Swans don't make sense. Medians are headed towards the low $100's. Buying will be cheaper than renting soon. Believe it.



Speaking of crazy old cooters, hbm found a good piece in Business Week about the implosion of Bend.

“It boggles my mind how we’re going to get out of this,” Erik Kancler, executive director of Central Oregon LandWatch, told The Bulletin.

Maybe the only way to get out of it is to follow the example of other Bendites, load up the U-Haul and get the hell out of Dodge.

Funny that hbm & I have what appears to be similar "agendas". Or at least similar conclusions about what people should do if they are down & out in Bend, OR.

We don't see eye-to-wandering-eye on much, but we certainly share the belief that Bend is a crumbling edifice of Greed & Corruption & Crushed Dreams.

And all we hear, is that our beloved City Leaders SAW IT COMING, all along.

Bull shit. None of these dumbfucks saw anything coming.

Go read the Bully archives. Not a single City or Business Leader was predicting ANYTHING except a BRIEF SLOWDOWN, and then off to the races, harder, faster, and HIGHER than ever before.

Everyone "running" Bend wanted you to buy, buy, BUY.

And they believed it. Sawyer & hundreds like her (and him) bought after the top, when we were down just 10%... not the near 50% we are down now.

And still they tell you to buy. Why? It's actually starting to be a "Good Deal".

OK, I'll go along with that. IF, you can pull of positive cash flow from Day 1, and IF you have absolutely NO PLANS of ever selling. THEN, it can work.

But why? It'll work FAR BETTER in 1 year. And FAR, FAR better in 2.

In a couple of years, when all have lost hope, Bend will be a nice little spot for making money. NOT the CAP APP days of yore. But just positive cash flow each month. Regular place, with an OK RE market.

It's getting there, but it's not there yet. We have $195K medians, the rest of the country is $165K, or so. We are STILL too high, and will ultimately go 20-30% below national medians.


This crazy fucking blog, attracts your standard garden variety lunatic. And that repels quite a few. Can't stand the heat, I suppose. Saw this over at BendBB:

by popgoesbend on Thu Apr 09, 2009 9:10 am

Marge sometimes posts that info over at BB2...

by Jack_Elliott on Thu Apr 09, 2009 1:35 pm

BB2's a pretty toxic place. I don't go there.

The guy wants info on RE, someone suggests coming here... but WE'RE TOO TOXIC. AHHH! Stay away! You'll catch BB2 Swine Flu AIDS!

Oh geez. I don't think Jack Elliott has heard about the New, Kinder, Gentler BB2, with 1/100th the FUCK YOU IN YOUR SMELLY CUNT factor, now that Buster has curled up in LaPine, and is giving hand-jobs to goats.

Sorry, but I read this sort of thing and realize that this Jack Elliott guy is like Oran Teater in hbm's piece: They will fucking deluded themselves into things at all costs that serve their own purposes.

This place is "toxic"? Really? WTF does that mean? And it's actually true for many on BendBB, they just won't come here. Too rough-N-tumble, too Wild West.

I just think that's sorta funny. If I want info, I will go anywhere on the web to get it. I don't think anywhere is "TOXIC". That's just weird. "TOXIC" is harvesting IP's, and that is done on BendBB, not here. "TOXIC" is moderating & deleting comments... again, not done here. "TOXIC" is having some sort of Trusted Registration process, when no such thing is possible, which is done... well, you get the point.


Finally, I figure I will throw hbm, Dunc, and other lib's a bone. I had a chance to watch CNBC over the past week... I do not have cable here at my house.

Ummmmm... when did they become an almost Zombie Force For Repugs?

I last saw that station 10 years ago, and they were relatively neutral. What happened?

They had the odd position of blaming the economic problems on Barack, but somehow saying the huge stock market rally was happening despite all the awful things he was doing.

When did this happen? I see OPB leaning towards the dreadlocks & granola crowd, but this is ridiculous. It was so BLATANT.

I did not watch Fox News, so hold all cat calls of YOU SHOULD WATCH FOX NEWS!

Anyway, I guess I am back to the obvious slanted view of KTVZ, but man.... they don't hold a candle to CNBC. that was just ridiculous.


Finally, just a note on Social Costs.

Social Costs are borne by all people, when a small number choose to (usually unilaterally) impose them on everyone else.

I usually illustrate this with littering. I HATE littering. It's SO EASY to avoid, and is just a direct transfer of costs onto everyone. I HATE IT.

But that seems what this country is becoming. SOCIALISM. The costs of a few are imposed on the masses. Very few benefit, but the costs they impose are HUGE.

That's what we are. It is everywhere. We are a nation of Narcissitic Paris Hiltons. Every little thing MUST BE indulged NOW. If we can make $1 while costing society $20, so be it.

I know everyone is reviling the Socialist Movement of Barack, but to me it is less about the $1 being given to the Free Wheelers. It is about the $20 that I, my kids, and my kids kids will have to bear.

Capitalism may not be perfect, but Socialism is a disaster. It's nothing but the masses trying to impose costs on everyone else. In a social context, it's rampant littering with no garbage pickup.

That is where we are headed.

207 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   1 – 200 of 207   Newer›   Newest»
Anonymous said...

it's a man baby!

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Busters Dream CUM True!!

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Busters Dream CUM True!!

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

I hate those doubles...

LavaBear said...

Those are toxic silicon man boobs.

LavaBear said...

I have cable but I've turned off cbnc. I'm pretty sure they have a quota of saying "Green Shoots" 22 times an hour and if they are short by 1 they are all docked a weeks pay.

Anonymous said...

"I don't expect prices to go anywhere but up from here," Lester said, "because they can't go any lower."

Pam Lester August 2007.


"Homes in Bend are affordable again, and I think we have hit bottom," she said. "I think there are signs of recovery."

Wendy Atkisson May 2009.

What is it with the RE tools and their spin?

PopGoesBend said...

"According to the report, the median house price for Deschutes County in the third quarter was $277,000. If house prices were 43 percent overvalued, the median price should be roughly $156,000, and that doesn't make sense, said Adkisson. Citing local data from the Multiple Listing Service, she said the last time prices were at that level was the fourth quarter of 1999.

"I don't understand where they come up with the number," said Adkisson. "As long as I remember, they've always said we're overvalued."

Wendy Adkisson, admitting she doesn't understand. - 12/09/08





Local broker expects the Bend market to rebound in 12 monthsWendy Adkisson, principal broker with The Garner Group in Bend, believes home prices in Bend will pick up in the next 12 months, rather than 2010, as Frank Nothaft predicted Thursday in remarks to the National Economists Club.

Wendy Adkisson, more than 12 months ago. 3/28/08

Anonymous said...

I only watch CNBC when I need a laugh. If you only watch CNBC, you'd think everything is good and it's time to go spend that money you've got hiding under the mattress.

Anonymous said...

There is a new book, "The Narcissism Epidemic:Living in the new age of Entitlement" by Jean Tweng and Keith Campbell.The book covers a lot of ground,but deals with the current mentality of not waiting until you can save up money to buy something. Why should you.? You got a trophy at school just for showing up(so did everyone else.)You DESERVE a new car and a new house- zero down,of course. One of the stories deals with an honors class that objects to pop quizes, because they were not given advance notice, and were not told what would be asked.
You DESERVE free health care-let someone else pay for it.Too many Americans believe they are entitled to things that they have not earned.
The current economic depression is going to be a rude awakening for many.

hbm said...

"You will be able to buy cheaper than owning."

I think you meant to say, "You will be able to buy cheaper than renting."

In some parts of the country that's true already. But even when that happens here the market will continue to fall because of (a) no jobs, (b) no money and (c) the huge inventory of unsold homes that were built during the bubble.

hbm said...

"We don't see eye-to-wandering-eye on much, but we certainly share the belief that Bend is a crumbling edifice of Greed & Corruption & Crushed Dreams."

Yep. And will continue to be as long as city government blindly marches to the beat of COAR and COBA.

"And all we hear, is that our beloved City Leaders SAW IT COMING, all along. Bull shit. None of these dumbfucks saw anything coming."

I'm not sure. They're not all completely stupid. There were three kinds of people in Bend during the bubble:

1. Those who knew it was a bubble and was sure to pop.

2. Those who knew it was a bubble but kept thinking that by denying it they could delay the pop a little bit longer and rake off more money.

3. The true Kool-Aid addicts who bought the Doctrine of Bend Exceptionalism lock, stock and barrel.

I suspect most of our city's "leaders" were in the second group.

Anonymous said...

I bought in 2004 and you can now probably buy the house I bought cheaper than I paid. That's OK with me, I've been blessed with a stable high income job. I'm glad prices have gone back down... And I can afford to have paid a bit more than I should have so I don't feel so bad about losing some money. Many lost much more in the recent market collapse, which I managed to avoid. Win some and lose some is how it goes my friends. That's just life. Let's hope Bend can make a real recovery and we can fix the infrastructure problems.

hbm said...

Okay, time for another brief rant about Bend's weather:

It really, truly, deeply and profoundly sucks.

Bend's Endless Winter drags on and on and ON. It's the middle of fucking May and the trees don't even have leaves on them yet, fer Chrissake.

May in Bend is like March anywhere else.

I think the word may be getting around about the climate here, and that can't help the real estate market either. What good is having all these great "outdoor recreation opportunities" if the weather is too shitty to enjoy them eight months out of the year?

Okay, seven and a half months.

End of rant. Thank you for your attention.

Anonymous said...

I'd just like to comment on this idea of people being "sold a bill of goods" or "Bend exceptionalism". I bought here knowing nothing about anyone's opinion about the place. I just liked the mountains and the rock climbing, and I could afford the prices at the time. It was only later that I realized how Bend was being abused and that the apparent prosperity was being fueled by unsustainable credit. This is all very disappointing, but I didn't buy a place in Bend because someone hyped it to me. I just liked it here and I was able to afford it. You know, some of us genuinely are a good match with what Bend really is. We do genuinely like it here. I think there are a lot of people who moved here not because it was hyped or sold but just because they liked it and it was affordable when they bought in.

Anonymous said...

"I think the word may be getting around about the climate here, and that can't help the real estate market either."

===

The climate has been "KNOWN" for years, decades, and yes, even centuries. Just look at any climate history (no, not AlGore's limp hockey stick) of Bend, and you will see that this year is very similar to last year, decade and century.

And it was all known to anybody who had a brain.

Read this sentence again:

"...the word may be getting around about the climate here..."

I would have to work hard to craft a more stupid sentence than that one!!!

hbm said...

"I think there are a lot of people who moved here not because it was hyped or sold but just because they liked it and it was affordable when they bought in."

I'd include myself in that category. My family and I came here before the hype started. We were looking for a nice small town to live in, and Bend appealed to us on that basis. But Bend has changed and we've changed. To us, the negatives now outweigh the positives. Nothing against those who still like Bend, but it's no longer the right place for us.

"The climate has been "KNOWN" for years, decades, and yes, even centuries."

But not widely known to the world outside of Bend. When the outside world catches on that Bend is not exactly the warm, sunshiney paradise that the tourist brochures and web sites portray, it won't help the RE market.

THAT was my point, Einstein.

hbm said...

"Let's hope Bend can make a real recovery and we can fix the infrastructure problems."

We'll never fix the infrastructure problems as long as we continue to allow growth to run ahead of infrastructure, and that won't change as long as COBA and COAR are calling all the shots.

Anonymous said...

I would have to work hard to craft a more stupid sentence than that one!!!

Umm, no you wouldn't, you do it all the time

Anonymous said...

We don't seem to have the annual inventory "surge" happening yet.

http://bendhousingdata.com/

Yet I am aware of many, many houses that that have been for sale, never sold, and are (for some reason) just sitting there with no "For Sale" sign.

So, WTF?

Anonymous said...

Anyone else ever hear of Tucker Max?

Speech at OSU:

If you're here today, I assume you know who I am and what I do. But for that ONE asshole in the crowd who got dragged along with his friends doesn't know who I am, I'll give a brief intro:

My name is Tucker Max and I wrote a book called I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell. It details a series of short stories I wrote about drinking and fucking and being a typical guy in his mid-twenties. It's sold over 800k copies and spent over 105 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List (for the Comm majors: that's more than two years). It's #4 this week, actually. The Times also credited me with starting a new literary genre called "Fratire." The followup book was sold for what was then record setting advance. The Washington Post said it was the only book that every college student has read. It has become so popular I was just nominated to Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2009. I also just finished shooting a movie based on the book which will come out this fall, probably September or October.

That's the story you know, the Tucker Max the public sees. And based off that, if I give a speech, you probably expect me to tell funny stories like the ones in the book, because that's what Tucker Max does, right?

Well, yeah, actually it is. I mean, shit man, I've fucked a midget, and amputee and a set of twins, raise your hand if you've ever done that! There's no question that when I am out drinking with my friends and have fun, that's me, and that's who I am, and those stories are what are in the book.

BUT---That's not what this speech is about.

You can read all about my adventures on your own time. This speech is about the book, but instead of being about the stories, it's about the lesson I think you should take from I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell.

Now, if you just superficially read the book, probably all you focus on is the drinking and fucking and poop jokes, and while those are there, they are only the first level of meaning. There's more to the book than that. Below all of that is my answer to the fundamental question--What are you going to with your life? Ultimately, THAT is what I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell is about:

It's about living the life that you want to live, not the life others push onto you. It's about being the person you want to be, not the person other people want you to be, and it's about enoying the time you have. I convey this message not by preaching it to you, but by showing you how I do it.

I know what you may be thinking, and I actually kinda agree with you: This is not obvious in my reading. All I read was some guy throwing a girls clothes out the window b/c she was so fat he didn't want his friends to see her. And that's true, that's all there, but there's more to the book than that.

So what I'm going to do is give you some back story to my life and explain the path that led me to write this book, because to understand where I came from is to understand the message of the book:

As a kid, I had an early knack for humor and writing. There was one elementary school teacher in particular who identified it and tried to foster it in me. I also had another teacher in high school who kinda helped me see that I had a talent for writing and told me to pursue it, but I grew up in Kentucky. No one growing up in Kentucky writes or does entertainment for a living. Everyone else around me pushed me to a different path.

Growing up, the expectations around me where that I would be a doctor or a lawyer or a businessman or something that is a typical and easy to understand success like that. So I listened to the people around me and went to hardest academic school I could find to best prepare me for a conventional job: The University of Chicago.

But a funny thing happened as I studied to get that conventional job: I kept writing on my own time. Never because I thought it would go anywhere, but because I loved it.

My freshman year, I started a quote list because one day after I said something really funny at the dinner table, I thought "someone should write that down," so I did it. I started to think about things I said, and began to try to deliver the best line I could in any situation, so I could have something funny to put on my list.

I also wrote a column for the schools newspaper, The Maroon. The thing I hated about the school newspaper is that if someone wants to read about serious world affairs, they'll read what the NY Times or the Wall Street Journal says--no one gives a shit about what some idiot 19 year old has to say about world affairs--shut the fuck up.

So instead of being one of those pompous hard-ons, I looked around at the world I lived in and I wrote about that world, calling out specific people and organizations at my school, really not much different than how I write now, just a different subject matter.

Well, the thing blew up. My column became the most read feature the Maroon had produced in as long as anyone could remember. I was a mini-celeb on campus, always causing controversy and getting attention, and even though I graduated top 10% of my class and with highest honors, that column and my quote list are still the things I am most proud of from college.

It came time to figure out what I was going to do after college, for a second I thought about the entertainment business, or something with writing--after all, there was proof I had talent. But this time it took my parents and the other people around me even less time to convince me to not do that, because by then I had really bought into the system, and I let them convince me that to be a writer you had to take writing classes and that being a writer was not an acceptable way to succeed.

So I pushed the thought of writing completely out of my head, and I took their advice and I went to Duke Law School. I even got an academic scholarship to go there.

Well, I hated law school. Not because it was hard, but because it was so easy and boring and pointless. Don't ever let anyone tell you its hard. It's not. The only hard part is getting in. I stopped going to class first semester, stopped buying books second semester, and lived in Cancun for six weeks once during my second year.

But, despite the fact that I couldn't stand the actual school, I really liked my time there because of my friends. I finally had friends who were not only as smart as me, they partied harder than me, and were funnier than me. If you've read my stories, you know them by their nicknames; SlingBlade, PWJ, Jojo, GoldenBoy, Hate, etc.

Amazing friends, no real responsibilities, and lots of alcohol and women around. A lot of the stories from my book are from this time in my life, because I was living a life that l loved--doing things I enjoyed and being with people I liked, and it showed.

Maybe because of this, because I wasn't doing anything besides being the person I'd always wanted to be, writing came back to me with a strength it hadn't in a long time.

During finals second year, SlingBlade and I were punch drunk in the library after being up all night procrastinating instead of studying, and on a whim I made up a website where girls could fill out an application to date me.

Even though it started a joke, I found myself devoting all my time to it. In one month, I put more work into that crappy little site than I did in all my actual studies over all three years of law school.

Here's the real kicker: Because I thought it didn't matter, because I was totally unencumbered by any expectations--because I was free to fail--I let loose on that thing, and my creative energy came forth in way it hadn't since I was a child. It turned out to be truly, genuinely fucking funny.

Yet despite all this work, despite how happy I was working on site, it never occurred to me that this was a sign of something. I was so blind that a few months later, when we went to our summer jobs in cities all across the country, I took the site down and basically forgot about it. The thing that had brought out the best in me, I ignored. I was completely blind to myself.

But I did keep up with my writing by sending hilarious emails to my friends about all the dumb shit I would do when I was out drinking. If you've read my book, you read one of those emails I sent to my friends. It's in the Charity Auction Debacle Story, the one where I talk about the senior female partner who propositioned me and I turned her down--pretty much the only sex I've ever turned down in my life. You know what comes next...

I was fired from the summer associate job.
What was supposed to basically be an extended summer vacation, essentially a no-show job that you can't get fired from...I got fired from.

Three weeks into my legal career, it was over.

Looking back on it now, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. If they hadn't fired me, I don't think I ever would have had the courage to quit being a lawyer, to give up that six figure job and pursue my dreams on my own. But at the time, I was completely devastated. My world was crushed.

Thankfully I did have a back-up plan: I could go work for my father. Since I had trained my whole life for either law or business, if I can't do law, I'll just do business, right? My dad owns a successful restaurant company in South Florida, and I had a great idea for how to expand the concept and take it national, so let's do that.

At first, the challenge of the business and the thrill of something new invigorated me. My dad has a great restaurant concept and we had a fantastic plan to expand it, but there was so much wrong with the way it was run, I had all kinds of problems to solve first.

The biggest were the employees. I wanted to fire most of the people who worked for my dad because they were either incompetent suck-ups or brazen thieves. I thought that because I was right and my name was on the door, my dad would back me. I was still young enough to think that being right was what mattered. You guys are probably still young enough to think that, but you'll learn your lesson. Long story short, the employees were better at office politics than I was, and my dad ended up backing them.

I got fired. By my own father. From the FAMILY BUSINESS.

Seriously, go to Mizner Park in Boca Raton, Florida. There is a restaurant called Max's Grill.
My dad is in there 5 nights a week, you can ask him about it. Now that I'm such a success, he may hem and haw and make excuses, but make no mistake about it:

My own father fired me.

So there I was. 26 years old. Alone. Living in shitty Boca Raton, Florida. Fucking girls I couldn't stand, like Miss Vermont. Fired from the entire legal profession. Fired from the family business by my own father. I had failed miserably at the only two things I had trained for in my life. Kicked out of the system I had bought into.

The funny thing is, I was still writing, and not having a job let me read a lot and work on my writing, but I was so brainwashed, it STILL didn't occur to me that I could just be who I wanted to be and write full time.

It was actually in this period that I wrote the Sushi Pants Story--it ends with me drunk, and I drive to my office and type that story to email to my friends. Whats really funny is that the format I use, the time stamp format, people have lauded me as being a genius for inventing that, but thats bullshit. You know why I wrote it like that? Because I was too drunk to write in complete sentences!

Then, with my world as bleak as it had ever been, three things happened right in a row:

First, I read a book called AHBWOSG by Dave Eggers. At the time it was hailed as a comedic masterpiece, and Eggers was seen as the next big thing in literature. I read the book and thought, "What the fuck? I can do better than this." But instead of manning up and attempting to actually write a better book, I did what all envious people who abandon their dreams do when they see someone succeed where they are afriad of trying: I hated on him.

Then, my buddy PWJ called me one day, and had a long talk with me. He told me that the site was amazing, and that my stories are the funniest thing he'd ever read. That I could be a writer.

Hearing this from someone else, especially from a guy who I respected, meant something to me. Tucker Max as writer.

I wanted it, I considered it, but I still couldn't make the leap. I was still having trouble wrapping my head around the idea of taking the path less traveled. I had bought into the system so fully, and abandoned my passion for so long, I no longer believed in it or in myself. It just didn't seem realistic that I could do it.

Then I read Fight Club. If there is any one singular event that I can point to that set me on the course to who and what I am today, it is reading Fight Club. It woke something primal and fundamental in me.I had seen the movie when I was in college, but until you have gone out into the world and worked a shitty job and thought to yourself, "Is this it? Is this why I went to school? For this?", you can't understand it. But once I read the book after the real world kicked me in the teeth, it clicked. It gave voice to something inside me I had not been able to elucidate before:

I had been sold a lie. Life was not about going to the right schools and getting the right jobs just so I work a job I hate in order to accumulate more crap I don't want or need. That's not how life was meant to be lived. There is another way. I can be the man I want to be, I can do the things I want to do and I can live the life I want to live...I just have to stop believing the lies I have been sold, and stop caring what all those people think who don't matter, and find the courage to go out and do it.

The only thing stopping me...is ultimately me.

One month later, I went to a wedding in Chicago. I stayed with a buddy of mine who had just bought a two bedroom condo, and one of the bedrooms empty. I made a joke about wishing I lived with him, he replied "Sure, you can live here, why not?"

I never went back to Florida. The funniest part is that he was totally not serious about the offer--who the fuck would want to live with me? Disaster--empty beer cans, emotionally broken, funny walking sluts trapsing through the apartment at all hours, strange odors coming from unknown places--who wants to live with that? I don't even want to live with myself.

On the morning of August 4th, 2002, I sat down at a blank computer screen and started working. It wasn't even my computer--I had to get my roommate to let me borrow his. I had no money, nothing of value to my name, and no real plan at all. But I wanted to fucking write, so I just started writing.

A month later, on September 9th, 2002, the site went live. I was 26 years old, and for the first time in my life, I was being the man I wanted to be and living the life I wanted to live. I didn't know how I was going to do it...but, I was going to either find a way, or make one.

The rest is pretty much history. I put up the site, then the book, then the movie, and now I am "Tucker Max."

So--what the fuck does this have to do with the book? Well, the book is about this journey. It is a written record of me living my life the way I want to live it.

Yes, I write about having sex, and about getting drunk, and about busting on people and about being an asshole sometimes, and about all that shit. All of that surface stuff that people focus on so much is all there, but it's not really the soul of the book.

Here's the best way to understand that: Go read all the copycat blogs and books out there. There are so many people who have tried to imitate me, and every single one has failed miserably. Why? Because they think the stories are only about drinking or fucking or acting stupid, and since they think they do the same things I do, they can write about it the same way. But they can't, because the stories are not about all that shit--they're about one man's expression of love for his life.

The specific things I do are just my individual way of expressing myself, but the book is ultimately about having fun, defining your own life, and ultimately, being the person you want to be, and THAT is what you should take from it, because THAT is what I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell is about.

Now look: I am not going to stand here and lie to you and tell you that I was thinking about all of this when I started writing the emails to my friends that became the stories in the book. That's not only fucking ridiculous, it's patently false. The stories in the book started as nothing more than what they are: My attempt to write something that would entertain me and my friends.

But that's the point--I wasn't trying to be anything or do anything aside from the simple things that made me happy, and writing those stories made me happy. I was never trying to invent a new genre or write a massive best seller or create a huge brand or get named one of the most influential people in America.

But guess what? A funny thing happens when you cast off all the bullshit everyone dumps on you, and just live for yourself and follow your dreams: What it takes to get you there shows up in the finished product. When you love what you do, it shows, and people respond.Now, before I finish, I want to call some of you out. I can tell some of you are getting this, and that's awesome, I hope this does resonate with you and start you on the right path.

But I know, I FUCKING KNOW, that some of you are sitting there, all skeptical, thinking to yourself "Whatever, this is just some bullshit inspirational speech he is making because he's getting paid. I am different; this doesn't apply to me."

SHUT THE FUCK UP.

I am not some old fart blathering on about pie in the sky bullshit. You and I are almost the same. Ten years ago, I sat exactly where you are sitting, did the same shit you are doing now, and since that time, I have drank more beer, banged more girls and kicked more ass than all of you chewed bubble gum lackwit pussies put together! So don't fucking try and say this shit doesn't apply to you--that's exactly why you love my writing, because you CAN relate to it.

I started where you are now, and I AM who you could be, if you have to courage.

Shit, I DID HEAR THIS SPEECH at 21 from some dope-smoking peacenik, and I told that fucking hippy minstrel to go back to his weed smoking and hating the World Bank and leave the real work to us. AND I WAS FUCKING WRONG. It took me another five years just to realize I wasn't living the life I wanted.

And don't you fucking dare get up in the Q&A and say some stupid shit like, "Yeah, that's all well and good, but you didn't tell me HOW I am supposed to live my life for myself."

Man, fuck you too. You think I had a map to get to where I am? I had no fucking idea--I was winging it the whole time. Shit, I had to INVENT A NEW LITERARY GENRE!! There are no directions to life; you have to figure most of it out on your own. You want to live a life you love, you can't do it in a paint by numbers style--you make it either because you want to free your soul or you don't.

Make no mistake about it: What you do with your with your life is A CHOICE. You can be who you want to be, you just have to have the courage to go do it.

You don't hear this from your parents or your teachers or your friends, because they never tell you the other option. You know why? It's because they don't know it exists. They tell you that to do what everyone one else is doing, they tell you that you have to get a safe job and be like all of them, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY DID.

But you don't have to do that. There is another way. You can make the choice to do what I did. You can't be Tucker Max, but you can recognize what you love, then find the courage to commit fully to it.

You can do it, but you have to choose to do it.

I know it can be done, because I did it.

And if I can do it, so can you.
Besides, let me ask you something: What's the alternative? If you don't live the life you want, what life are you living? A life you don't want.

And if you don't want your life, why are you even getting up in the morning?


Thank you guys, you've been great."

http://www.ihopetheyservebeerinhell.com/

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

I KNEW IT!

Remember, way back when... when I said that PUTNAM POINTE was a load of shit, and that the 11 condo's being sold would be on the bottom floor if it were a true "affordable housing" project, and a true City-fueled clusterfuck if they were on the top floor? And remember that they initially put the condo's on the lowest floor? Remember?

Yeah, well KTVZ is reporting those condo units are on the top floor. They KNEW that initally reporting those units as being on the top floor would inspire outrage, so they said they'd be on the bottom floor. But the fucker could not resist... now they have silently announced that the RIDICULOUSLY OVERPRICED SHITHOLE CONDO UNITS, are in fact on the top floor, as could be expected in any Bend City Councilor approved boondoggle.

UNBELIEVABLE. Our city council not only VIOLATED the initial 100% AFFORDABLE HOUSING purpose of this project, but they give short shrift to the people it was meant to benefit. What a load of bullshit.

NEVER TRUST BEND'S LYING ASS CITY COUNCIL. THEY ARE ALL LAIRS.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

the 11 condo's being sold would be on the bottom floor if it were a true "affordable housing" project

Well, of course that's not true. Let's say it would be less of a clusterfuck. This thing was a clusterfuck before shovel hit dirt.

Duncan McGeary said...

I'm assuming most of those apartments were rented because the cost was subsidized? That is, the rents may be 400.00 to 600.00, but they aren't being paid in full by the residents?

Anyone know?

And why would anyone buy a condo in a subsidized rent building?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

There's a fairly shameless BULL GLORY HOLE FUNDING BUTTPLUG story about how they are going to spend $200K on sidewalks downtown by expanding the scope of the REDMOND DOWNTOWN PEDESTRIAN MALL (ie FLINT MICHIGAN CLONE).

Uh huh. Fucking Redmond is going to a 4 day school week next year, but the motherfuckers need new sidewalks in their FLINT MICHIGAN SIMULATOR ZONE.

Construction boondoggle to ripoff Redmond citizens. Remember this when your kid is huffing meth & there are no cops to kick their ass, cuz he ain't in school cuz it's SAV-MUNEE FRIDAY... but at least you Redmond motherfuckers will have new sidewalks downtown.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

And why would anyone buy a condo in a subsidized rent building?

2 WORDS -- BEND CITY COUNSEL ULTIMATE FIGHTING CLUSTERFUCK.

The place is RIDICULOUS. WHY is it downtown consuming space better left to build METH HUTS? This sort of thing could have easily been built on 1st next to the railroad tracks.

Right, it should HAVE NEVER BEEN BUILT. It was a 100% CITY COUNCIL FUELED BOONDOGGLE. Absolutely no need for it, and it doesn't even fulfill the need for which it was built.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

No one posted this? Oh well, here it is again, if they did:

Bend home prices fall below $200K; sales upPublished: May 13. 2009 4:00AM PST

The median price for a single-family home in Bend fell to $195,000 in April, but sales surged, according to the monthly Bratton Report released Tuesday. The median was last below $200,000 in early 2004, according to The Bulletin’s archives. The median price fell 27.8 percent from the April 2008 price of $270,000 and 50.8 percent from its peak of $396,000 in May 2007. Bend home sales, though, rose nearly 18 percent — from 89 in March to 105 in April. Sales rose 12.9 percent from April 2008.

The price per square foot, considered a better indicator of value by most real estate professionals, fell from $110 in March to $105 in April. That’s down 32.3 percent from the year-ago price of $155.

In Redmond, the April median price for a single-family home was $174,000, down less than 1 percent from $175,000 in March. That’s off 22.7 percent from the April 2008 price of $225,000 and 39.8 percent from the peak of $289,000 in November 2006.

Redmond home sales in April rose from 32 in March to 39 in April, up nearly 22 percent, but sales fell 23.5 percent from April 2008.

Redmond’s price per square foot dropped to $86 in April from $92 in March.

Anonymous said...

Redmond school cuts in Bulletin sound terrible. People with kids aren't going to want to live there.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

The median price fell 27.8 percent from the April 2008 price of $270,000 and 50.8 percent from its peak of $396,000 in May 2007.

At some point, it seems that I will have to either re-purpose this blog, shut it down (again), or something.

I mean fuck me, we've been cut in HALF, something I'm not even really sure I believed was possible when medians were nearing $400K. Medians BELOW $200K? Shit...

And that means all the lagging stuff, like unemployment & biz closings, are still just getting going. That means if there are around 60,000 dwellings in Deschutes County (maybe conservative), and they have lost $200K each (also conservative, since the AVG loss is probably bigger than the MED loss), then this place is DOWN $12,000,000,000 in NET WORTH.

$12 BILLION GONE. And there's probably only 120,000 of us here. That's an even $100,000 AVERAGE LOST for every MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD in this fucking place.

In my little piss-ant investments made that went wrong, I've only lost a few thou. I actually feel pretty damn good about where I'm at. I lost so little, it only took me a few weeks of work to make it up. The recent rally been berry berry good to me, also.

But $100K lost for each person here is END OF DAYS. Just imagine losses of that magnitude spread across the US: That's about $32 TRILLION LOST. THAT is a QUADRUPLE GREAT DEPRESSION, I'M MOVING TO MEXICO IMPLODE-O-VISION.

I don't think that'll happen, the rest of the US NEVER even came close to how bad it was here. But we'll go down farther. WE WILL have the equiv of a TRIPLE GREAT DEPRESSION here. Watch for the MASS EXODUS COMING TO A SCHOOL DISTRICT NEAR YOU.

Duncan McGeary said...

"At some point, it seems that I will have to either re-purpose this blog, shut it down (again), or something."

Nah. You're good.

Besides, we have yet to watch the whole commercial real estate bubble explode.

Downtown sq. ft. value up 1600%? Makes even the housing bubble look modest.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Nah. You're good.

I guess I considered myself the clapboard crazy fucker who shrieked THE END IS NIGH! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!


That time has passed. Only Brucey has the belated sense to Get The Fuck Out. Many are stranded here by debt or dwindling resources, and can't leave to start over.

Maybe rename to BEND-BUST-1, cuz the "bubble" is well & truly over. The "Bust" has begun (the point of maximum decline speed on a sine wave), and it's going to make what has happened so far look like a walk in the park.

Anonymous said...

Yep, it's Fugly as hell and many have been barely hanging on the past 6 months and wishing hoping for a quick bottom and reversal. That hope is now being fully hammered as the harsh reality sets in - that Bend's economy is worse than just about anywhere in this country, and will likely be years bottoming and recovering.
Yes, a large exodus is now very likely in the next few years, this summer should be a watershed in that regard.

Anonymous said...

Have any of you bothered to look at the proposed City of Bend budget that is now online at the City's site??

Talk about denial! They predict that they will sell over $7 million of property at their befuddled Juniper Ridge project. They also don't think they need to lay any city workers off and that development fees will roll in like nothing has happened to the overall economy. I really wonder where they get their Kool Aid!!

Anonymous said...

Many of you will loose your job in the next 6 months.Do you really think you will find another one, here?

Elsewhere-
Under 7% unemployment.
Nice college town- great night lifelots to see and do-
Good weather -
No state income tax.
Nice homes for $125,000.
Austin, Texas

Anonymous said...

"Many of you will loose your job in the next 6 months.Do you really think you will find another one, here?

Elsewhere-
Under 7% unemployment.
Nice college town- great night lifelots to see and do-
Good weather -
No state income tax.
Nice homes for $125,000.
Austin, Texas


So please leave to Austin ASAP. I have been in Bend 20 years and plan to stay 20 more, love it here feast or famine. I have a job not at all related to Bend and it is very secure, even if I lose it I have salted away enough to live nicely for the next 1-15 years.

LavaBear said...

Chrysler dealerships closingLooks like Thomas Sales in Bend and Dave Hamilton in Redmond are on the list.

Anonymous said...

That's funny because Matt Thomas was on the radio just the other day saying how only good things could come from Chrysler's problems. More fuckin coolaid.

You're right Matt, losing Chrysler might be the best thing that ever happened to your dealership. Worst vehicles ever...

Anonymous said...

I didn't follow the PUTNAM POINTE thing...what is the significance of top floor or bottom floor?

hbm said...

"Uh huh. Fucking Redmond is going to a 4 day school week next year, but the motherfuckers need new sidewalks in their FLINT MICHIGAN SIMULATOR ZONE."

You know, I hope, that school district budgets and city budgets are separate.

Anonymous said...

Nike is cutting 500 jobs in PDX.

Anonymous said...

"Elsewhere-
Under 7% unemployment.
Nice college town- great night lifelots to see and do-
Good weather -
No state income tax.
Nice homes for $125,000.
Austin, Texas"

Sounds like Bend minus about 20,000 jobless California transplants.

Anonymous said...

>>Sounds like Bend minus about 20,000 jobless California transplants.

Problems is there may not be jobs for them back in California either.

Head East, young man.

Anonymous said...

"Yes, a large exodus is now very likely in the next few years, this summer should be a watershed in that regard."

BUH BYE, CALIFORNIANS. THANKS FOR DROPPING ALL YOUR CALI HOME EQUITY INTO OUR POCKETS WHILE YOU WERE HERE!

Anonymous said...

Excuse me but why would anyone want to gloat at a time like this.We are about to enter a depression. I am a fifth generation oregonian, remember the Mark hatfield days. But you cannot have this I hope these people get theirs attitude, Not healthy at all we are all going to have to pull together and help each other out.

Anonymous said...

It's just catharsis. Besides, not everyone is ready to be helped yet.

Anonymous said...

But you cannot have this I hope these people get theirs attitude, Not healthy at all we are all going to have to pull together and help each other out.----------
Why help a bunch of people out that have proven time and again, the only persons that they care to help out are themselves. And helping, and helping, and helping...

Anonymous said...

Funny...I grew up in Bend, went off to college, worked overseas before finally settling in PDX. I've always wanted to move "home" but couldn't parlay my skills into a paying career in Bend (most couldn't), I'm not a trust funder (most aren't), and I'd like to be able to live and save some dough at the same time. The truth is I'm finally seeing how I can get home in a year or so when Bend RE hits the reset button. Sad truth is Bend may still have the environment but I'm really worried the town may be left as a depressed shell of what it once was. That may take a decade or so to move through before the "rediscovery" and gentrification of what was once a boomtown. Not sure I want to live through that? Not sure I'll ever be going home.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

New Gay Bar in town? No, just Bend's standard startup business plan:

A cockpit and a prayer

Bend aviation startup has a mock-up; now, it needs $12 million to get an assembly line up and running
By Andrew Moore / The Bulletin

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

...the plane also would serve the general aviation market, he added, noting that it’s specifically designed to easily carry skis and golf bags.

“Those requirements are essential for an aircraft like this,” Lemaire said.

The company is roughly three years old and is seeking $12 million from investors to build two prototypes. Lemaire said the company would need an additional $100 million to certify the plane and set up a manufacturing facility.


Huh. $100 mill to carry golf clubs around @ 470mph.

Sound like Standard Central Oregon Delusional Whackos Looking To Waste Investor Money? Nah....

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

“If you are interested in aviation, this will be a part of history,” Lemaire said. “There’s no four-seat aircraft with this kind of performance. You compare this with planes flying today that were designed 20 or, in some cases, 50 years ago, and there is no comparison.”

That IS true. Their prototype is nothing like what the Wright Brothers flew at Kitty Hawk.

Cuz what the Wright Brothers built ACTUALLY FLEW. IT HAD WINGS. AND AN ENGINE.

Anonymous said...

I view those press releases in the Bull as a last ditch effort to keep from going under.

It could happen, maybe there proto is like nothing the aviation world had ever seen.

Unlikely but 12 million could happen.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Looks like some compression for Auto Row.

Chrysler cuts 2 local dealers loose, with a 3rd set to benefit

That had to be one of the Top 3 Over-retailed sections of town.

TS&S, which has been in business since 1937 and carries Chrysler’s Dodge lines as well as the Subaru brand, plans to appeal Chrysler’s decision, said Matt Thomas, co-owner of the company with his brother, Bill Thomas.

A representative for Dave Hamilton, which has been in business in Redmond since 1974, said the appeals process would be a waste of time and money.


Classic Bend Denial by TS&S.

Casey Hamilton has decided to go straight to Starz. She hot & MILFy.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Unlikely but 12 million could happen.

What? Really? Dude, I don't know ANYONE in their right mind, who would blow $12 mill to build a prototype, that would then REQUIRE $100 mill to even be certified & built.

Dude, no. That $12 mill would be -100% ROI on Day 1.

This piece is an OBIT.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

From the Oregonian:

Oregon dealers vow to fight Chrysler closures

Dealers across the state were angered. "I hope the American public looks at this and says we aren't buying anything made by Chrysler because they didn't treat the dealers right," said Nancy Hamilton, who five years ago inherited Dave Hamilton Motors in Redmond from her husband. "The dealers have been their bread and butter for years. For them to throw us under the bus is wrong."

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Step 2 In Shutting Down Auto Row:

GM dealers await word from company on plans to cut 1,100 stores in restructuring plan

DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. dealers across the nation are awaiting word from the company on whether they will be fired.

GM says it will notify 1,100 U.S. dealers on Friday that their franchise agreements will not be renewed.

Dealers expect to hear either by telephone or FedEx letters that will begin arriving in the morning.

The company says it has too many dealerships for too few sales and must make the cuts as part of its government-ordered restructuring plan.

The cuts come a day after Chrysler LLC told a quarter of its dealers that their services are no longer needed.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

I'll await reporting of the details of who is shutdown in Bend... IN THE SOURCE.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

The Oregon Economic & Community Development Department (OECDD) which labeled Sisters as a distressed community last year has slightly expanded that list to include the following Oregon counties:

ALL OF THEM

COUNTY -- UNEMPLOYMENT RATE -- STATUS
Baker 10.6%
Distressed
Benton 8.4%
Distressed
Clackamas 11.1%
Distressed
Clatsop 10.1%
Distressed
Columbia 14.3%
Distressed
Coos 13.7%
Distressed
Crook 18.5%
Distressed
Curry 13.1%
Distressed
Deschutes 14.7%
Distressed
Douglas 16.9%
Distressed
Gilliam 9.8%
Distressed
Grant 13.9%
Distressed
Harney 17.1%
Distressed
Hood River 9.3%
Distressed
Jackson 13.9%
Distressed
Jefferson 16.2%
Distressed
Josephine 15.8%
Distressed
Klamath 14.3%
Distressed
Lake 12.7%
Distressed
Lane 13.1%
Distressed
Lincoln 11.8%
Distressed
Linn 14.6%
Distressed
Malheur 10.6%
Distressed
Marion 11.5%
Distressed
Morrow 9.6%
Distressed
Multnomah 11.2%
Distressed
Polk 10.3%
Distressed
Sherman 11.0%
Distressed
Tillamook 11.4%
Distressed
Umatilla 10.3%
Distressed
Union 12.3%
Distressed
Wallowa 12.1%
Distressed
Wasco 9.9%
Distressed
Washington 10.0%
Distressed
Wheeler 9.1%
Distressed
Yamhill 13.4%
Distressed

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Bi-Mart is coming to Sisters

Look for the follow up story:

BI-MART LEAVING SISTERS FOREVER

Wow, this is one of the stupidest, Gottschalk-iest moves EVER. Putting a BI MART in Sisters? Are they RETARDED?

Anonymous said...

"Bi-Mart is coming to Sisters"

Ever shopped at a Bi-Mart? Seems like they're barely open. Don't show up before 9 am on a weekend. And don't show up after 6 pm on a Saturday. They'll be closed. It's like those retail stores in Germany that are barely ever open.

Anonymous said...

sorry meant:
"dont' show up before 9 am on a weekDAY"

Anonymous said...

What? Really? Dude, I don't know ANYONE in their right mind, who would blow $12 mill to build a prototype, that would then REQUIRE $100 mill to even be certified & built.No, I totally agree...it is an obit.

I am just saying, anything is possible but 12M is unlikely.

I'll use the sarcasm tags next time...

Any stories like that in the Bull smack of desperation.

Quimby said...

>> Any stories like that in the Bull smack of desperation.

So true. It's the Bull's way of throwing a bone to the community and trying to give them some false hope to stick around a little longer. They won't.....they'll bail....they HAVE TO BAIL.

The market for an aircraft like that is exceedingly small (and getting smaller) I think.

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine that an intelligent ex-Cessna employee spends any more than 5 minutes after reading that story dreaming that it will actually happen, or happen soon enough to make a difference for them.

It's way too big of a crap shoot to hang your hat on. I gotta think the Cessna resumes are flowing far and wide.

Anonymous said...

"Excuse me but why would anyone want to gloat at a time like this.We are about to enter a depression. I am a fifth generation oregonian, remember the Mark hatfield days. But you cannot have this I hope these people get theirs attitude, Not healthy at all we are all going to have to pull together and help each other out."

Shut the fuck up asshole. We'll gloat about whatever the fuck we please. You natives are even worse than us cali bangers. At least we come here with money to spend and hot trophy wives for you inbred hillbilly losers to gawk at. Now get off our blog and go fuck your sister-wife.

Anonymous said...

oh god, it's sunny out...where all going to melt on this desert island.

Run while you can...faster!

Anonymous said...

"I think the word may be getting around about the climate here, and that can't help the real estate market either. What good is having all these great "outdoor recreation opportunities" if the weather is too shitty to enjoy them eight months out of the year?"


Bingo! Fun to visit, but why on earth would I want to live in a place where I spend 66 days of the short 80-day summer IN THE OFFICE???

Nice place to retire I guess, but just because the sun is out doesn't mean it's WARM in the high desert.

On my side (the rainy side) people I know who moved to OR a dozen years ago have their places on the market (at below market prices) and are planning to move back to N. California.

Anonymous said...

You come here with trophy wives? That, my short peckered friend, is laughable. You take a good look at the skank at the top of these comments, or the pictures of any other skanky pigs that get posted on this blog, and there's your californicating trophy pig. Where do you think the swine flu came from? It's from cross-breeding with those curly tailed, razor-backed, tusk chomping, fake-tittied porkers.

Nope, I'll take the innocent, laid-back, genuine, unpretentious, Oregonian chick, each and every time.

Anonymous said...

Bingo! Fun to visit, but why on earth would I want to live in a place where I spend 66 days of the short 80-day summer IN THE OFFICE???

Nice place to retire I guess, but just because the sun is out doesn't mean it's WARM in the high desert.
sounds like your kind of a pussy...you should move to Florida

St Paddy said...

Wow! It's getting pretty toxic in here.

Anonymous said...

What goes around comes around.remember the mark hatfield days. You make me laugh so hard. we natives are better than that. You called it mellow yellow.I have a life and it sounds a whole lot better than yours .

Anonymous said...

Really though, I can understand people whining about getting their ass handed to them in the RE market or the job market but complaining about the weather...WTF did you move here for you moron? You're the chump sucker pussy to beat all chump sucker pussies if you whine about the weather. It's fuckin cold here, it gets cloudy and it rains...It's Oregon stupid, it rains here!

When you first got here, you thought this place would make you more of an outdoorsy person but come to find out, you're the same pussy you were when you showed up.

Don't blame the weather, blame yourself. The weather was here long before you and I.

Anonymous said...

Why are you people so ANGRY. Was not that way in eastern oregon we helped each other. Hey you started this and lets finish it .trying to turn around a positive into a negative. sorry I forgot because I am a native who wants to be positive, I am a dumb hillbilly inbred? Just where are you from? I am a person who cares about people?And I have as much right to be on this blog as you . Freedom of speech. I am as bad as a cali? sounds to me freind like you need a life and some kitchen counsel.

Anonymous said...

I am as bad as a cali? sounds to me freind like you need a life and some kitchen counsel.and you need to speeeel check so we're even

I don't care if you are a dumb hillbilly and/or inbred, just don't move here and then complain about there weather is all I ask.

Anonymous said...

What an absolute I did not move here My family has been here since the 1800's When and i ask when did you move here?

Anonymous said...

What you really need to do is pay attention and realize that not all anonymous are the same people.

you are crossing back and forth on several different rants.

Nothing I have said has been directed at you, you just stumble in to the room and assume that people are talking to you.

I've been here long enough...

Anonymous said...

Hey I never complain about the weather in central oregon this is the most wonderful place on this planet . Try living in seaside oregon I lived there from 82 to 92 So don't tell me the weather sucks here it does not.And I did a stint in dutch harbor in 1979 now that place is way worse than seaside oregon. saw the sun twice in 6 months. It can snow here in july and thats ok it did, this place is heaven compared to to other places I have lived so to set the record straight. I have never never never complained about the weather here. And I am not a inbred fith generation native?Point just because someone was born and raised here does not put them into a classification that you your own point of view puts them into.It is not an absolute your point of view.

Anonymous said...

again, try to follow along...it'll do you good.

yawn...

Anonymous said...

Yawn Well I am intitled to have an opinion whether you like it or not and what do you you mean by try to follow along?

Anonymous said...

I know lets stop on bashing cali's and start on native bangor's you are just so much better than anyone on this planet.You are the standard of superiority of supremacy. This is starting to remind me pre ww2 nazi germany and the guy who was in charge had a funny little mustache.

Anonymous said...

He's right about Dutch Harbor:
From Wiki:

Fogs are almost constant.
The mean annual temperature is about 38° F, being about 30° F in January and about 52° F in August.

With about 250 rainy days a year, Dutch Harbor is said to be the rainiest place in the United States.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

This is starting to remind me pre ww2 nazi germany and the guy who was in charge had a funny little mustache.

FDR?

Kevin said...

Bend! Better weather than Dutch Harbor!

Now **there's** an advertising slogan for you!

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Yay, We're a National Icon!

Bend, the Bubble-and-Bust Capital of America, is about to get some really big-time recognition: The Eye has it on excellent authority that the New York Times is working on a story about our current economic calamity.

Stories about the meteoric rise and spectacular crash-and-burn of Bend have become a staple of publications all over the country, of course – most recently in Business Week. But having it printed in the pages of America’s Newspaper of Record would kind of make it official.

It’s sobering to remember that less than three and a half years ago the Times ran a nice fluffy piece extolling the delights of Bend living. “When you own a home in the sixth-fastest-growing region in the country, you worry about letting the cat out at night because of the coyotes howling in the forest,” it began. “You scribe fresh powder turns down 9,000-foot-high bowls and muscle bicycles through high-desert hills.”

It went on to tell the story of a developer named Albert Angelo Jr., who “bought in Bend for its 300 annual days of sunshine” – the Times should be embarrassed to have swallowed that shameless old lie – “and the 4.3 million acres of public land just beyond his floor-to-ceiling windows. He plans to divide his time between his houses in Vancouver, Wash., and Palm Desert, Calif., and his new $3 million, 5,100-square-foot single-story house in Pronghorn, a resort on the outskirts of town.

“‘When I look out my Pronghorn house facing north, I see a covered patio with a 10-foot-diameter barbecue pit, a pop-up plasma TV and a view of the golf course -- but of a putting green, so my house won't get hit by golf balls,’ Mr. Angelo, 59, said. ‘You have a good lifestyle down there.’”

We wonder how Mr. Angelo feels about his lifestyle – and his $3 million real estate investment – now. He apparently still lives in Pronghorn (he’s in the phone book) but he hasn’t returned our call yet. Maybe he’s down in Palm Desert – we would be too if we could.

The 2005 Times story also mentioned that development was underway in the Old Mill District “for 37 luxury townhouses of 1,800 to 2,200 square feet, for $700,000 to $1.6 million,” and that “about 300 people are on a waiting list to purchase another dozen town houses at the Bluffs at the Old Mill.” We have a hunch that waiting list is a lot shorter now.

It’s pretty ironic that post-bubble Bend has garnered more negative publicity as the national icon of wretched speculative excess than it ever was able to generate on the positive side with all its marketing and promotion efforts.

But we’re sure the local boosters and boomers will find some way to put a positive spin on this. Hey, it’ll let people all over the country know that this is the best buyer’s market in 20 years!

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

HBM said:
Wes44: Many did see it coming and said so, and many others saw it coming and didn't say so. This is a go-along-to-get-along kind of town, and anybody who had dared to challenge the Doctrine of Bend Exceptionalism back in 2005 or even 2006 would have been ostracized by the "business community." It was like a vast tacit conspiracy of denial.

I believe Oran Teater when he says "we knew it [the bubble] could not sustain." (See earlier Eye post.) He's not an idiot, and anybody with an IQ above single digits could have seen that a speculative bubble was in progress. But he didn't dare say so and neither did anybody else in a position of influence, so we went on living in a fool's paradise until it all blew up in our faces.


Possibly a rationale for anonymous blogging....

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Should have bolded this as well:

This is a go-along-to-get-along kind of town, and anybody who had dared to challenge the Doctrine of Bend Exceptionalism back in 2005 or even 2006 would have been ostracized by the "business community." It was like a vast tacit conspiracy of denial.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

hbm, I could not put it better myself, a rationale for anonymouse posting about this thing.

Next time you need to tear down us spineless woosies, re-read your own writing....

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

SJB said:
We ALL are aware that the "bubble has burst". What are we as Bend citizens going to do about it? How about lowering the prices on the MANY, MANY over priced homes so the "local folks" can afford them...


Dude, the market is taking care of that right now... We can't "do" anything about it... it'll just happen.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Jazzman said:
It really doesn't matter if anyone saw this coming, what would those people do to prevent what has happened. NOTHING! What is important is that the economy will come back and when it does so will Bend. Lesson here; Bend is still a "one trick pony". Real question is how long must we wait. Small towns like Bend always boom to bust at lightning speeds.


See, this is where it gets tricky.

There may have been nothing to do to really "stop" the Bend Bubble.

But the powers that be, The Bully & City Council come to mind, actually did all in their power to exacerbate the situation.

The Bully was nothing but a whore rag for developers, builders & the rest of Cent OR's RE industrial complex. EVERYTHING was touted to high-heaven.

City Council NOW & THEN spends our money to promote RE sales. We have Roger Lee, yet another tout. The drop SDC's for builders, and our infrastructure will simply vanish.

And finally, City Council NEVER SAVED A FUCKING CENT of the LOTTERY WINNINGS of this thing for a "rainy day", which is NOW.

Maybe the Bubble could not have been stopped, but it could have at least been dampened or ameliorated in some way. But both City Council & The local press did all in their powers to fan the fire.

What you've got now is a smoking burnt-out husk of a town that will implode to generation depths.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Upper Terrace (The Plaza) shows 21 listings, starting at $325K.

Wha did the NYT say: starting at $700K?

I think we got an official cut in half there... the new post-Becky-Breeze owner clearly did not understand the Bend luxury mid-rise condo market:

There isn't one.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

RealtyTrac.com shows 3,957 properties in Deschutes County in some state of default...

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Interesting stuff from Dunc:

Long taile Pegasus

DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY.

I've been trying to figure out why I've continued to sell enough, despite the slowness of the buying climate, to meet my goals. It's becoming very clear to me that my attempts at diversity are paying off even more than I thought they would.

It isn't just the diversity, it's that I have core stock in each category, that makes them viable. Having such a broad selection of pop culture items, allows me to experiment with things that don't quite fit.

DIVERSIFY OR DIE.

Having eight or ten different product categories, depending on how you count them, allows me find innumerable connections, carrying product that may not fit strictly in any one category, but which still don't seem out of place.
I do recall someone making a blog post about such things.... oh, right:

Bend: Doomed To Tear Itself To Pieces... Again.

No one ever seems to be happy in Bend. When it's growing, it's growing wayyyyyy too fast, at a pace that cannot last, and is doomed to implode at the end

When it implodes, it drives out everyone, and the whole place is economically gutted.

Dunc is a perfect encapsulization of Bend:

* Buys first store at True Rock Bottom Price.
* Does surprisingly well. Thinks it is personal genius, not cresting wave of fad.
* Expands in short order. 4-5 stores
* Fad implodes.
* Stores implode.
* Hanging by fingernails. For 20 years.

This is the nature of capitalism in the USA. And the nature of Oregon is the nature of the USA squared. And the nature of Bend is the nature of Oregon squared.

When the USA catches cold, Oregon gets the flu, and Bend gets the fucking AIDS.

And I can tell you EXACTLY WHY THIS HAPPENS. This is it. Are you ready, because this IS IT:

We never diversify.

Think of the US economy as a portfolio of business, because that is essentially what it is. All are, to some extent, interdependent. With some, the correlation is low, like aircraft & BBQ sauce. With some, the correlation is high, like furniture and housing...

But the good thing about diversification, is that IF YOU PROPERLY REBALANCE, you can weather almost any storm.

It means start with comics. Add games. Add used books. Add new books. Add things that "add value" to the other things.

So diversify intelligently. But also realize your Inherent Lack of Diversification. Realize you are in Bend. Realize you are selling a very targeted set of goods. Realize your customer base may have a high correlation to some sector of the economy (ie construction).

How to fix? Internet? I don't know. That space is already saturated. Start an "Awe Shucks" blog, and see where it goes? Maybe.

I guess that's my point: Success BREEDS it's own failure. Comics, Dunc's bread & butter, almost begat his collapse. Timber, once Bend's economic mainstay, very nearly put this place in a 20 year depression.

Then we made the jump to Real Estate. Ahhhhhhhh, yes. Surely Real Estate will be our savior. It never Goes Down!

And so it came to pass that RE, via a series of well-designed, planned & executed strategies using local government & media as puppets, has come to completely dominate this little towns economics.

Once again, Bend is a completely unbalanced business portfolio, ripe for a fall. We have almost nothing else to rely on to soften the blow.

This is why, and maybe you'll remember, I've said ad nauseum, that we should have taken our RE lottery winnings and Put Them Somewhere Else. NOT RE.
I'm NOT some sort of GURU, smarter than the rest. This is just common sense.

Something SEVERELY LACKING in our local ELECTED OFFICIALS & LOCAL RAG.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Damn, all my break tags seem to disappear after I preview...

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

You still in town marge?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Here was my prescription for Bend's Rebirth:

Bend: Doomed To Tear Itself To Pieces... Again.

But the primary objective should be to DIVERSIFY our economy to the extent that is achievable. Not only is this NOT BEING DONE NOW, all measure of force, time, money and effort is going into EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE.

Our local government is 100% made up of RE stool pigeons. Bought & paid for for 5 cents on the dollar. Doing all in their power to keep the gears of RE grinding along. Wiping out SDC's, building "affordable housing" and God knows what else.

This is why I said there is "nothing to be done" to save Bend. It is owned. And it'll be owned until the local RE interests are 100% wiped out. And that'll take decades.

Then, AND ONLY THEN, will Bend be ready for a rebirth. people will have had it with RE, even RE, and they will start to rebuild. When they do, unlike after the timber bust, they should NOT let one industry come to completely dominate this town. If they do, it'll simply happen again.

Diversify. It's the only free ride out there. And it is the key to Bend's future.

hbm said...

"There may have been nothing to do to really "stop" the Bend Bubble. But the powers that be, The Bully & City Council come to mind, actually did all in their power to exacerbate the situation."

Megadittoes. And they continued to pretend the bubble would last forever even after it started leaking.

hbm said...

"Hey I never complain about the weather in central oregon this is the most wonderful place on this planet . Try living in seaside oregon I lived there from 82 to 92 So don't tell me the weather sucks here it does not."

This is classic Bend "logic": There are places where the weather is worse than in Bend; therefore, Bend is "the most wonderful place on this planet."

This "thinking" is the product of a lack of experience combined with a lack of reasoning ability. People who say this sort of shit have most likely never set foot beyond Oregon's borders.

I've been having an e-mail exchange with Phil Mote of the Oregon State Climate Service, trying to figure out why the winter lasts so long in Bend. He told me the place most comparable to Bend in terms of climatological conditions is Laramie, Wyoming.

Laramie Fucking Wyoming.

Funny thing, but you never hear about people moving to Laramie, Wyoming for the wonderful climate. Guess they aren't as good at spreading lies about their "300 days of sunshine" as we are.

Anonymous said...

What’s Going UpPublished: May 16. 2009 4:00AM PST

What: Taco Bell

Where: 44 S. Fifth St., Madras

Owners: Robin Merrell Sanders and Mike Sanders

General contractor: Sun Forest Construction, Bend

Architect: Nir Pearlson Architect Inc., Eugene

Financing: Irwin Franchise Capital Corp., Portland

Size: 2,400 square feet

Details: When it is completed by August, the new Taco Bell in downtown Madras will have a new-look design compared with others that have been built around the region, said Springfield-based Mike Sanders, co-owner of the franchise.

The Taco Bell will have different colors, a different facade, and will be roomier and less boxy than older Taco Bells, Sanders said.

This will be the eighth Taco Bell owned around the state by Sanders and his wife, Robin Merrell Sanders, Mike Sanders said. Others include one each in Redmond, La Pine and Lebanon, and two each in Albany and Springfield, he said. Robin Merrell Sanders’ father originally opened his first Taco Bell franchise in 1967, Sanders said.

“Madras was a town that was large enough to support a Taco Bell,” he said. “It is going to grow. I am sure it will.”

hbm said...

"Next time you need to tear down us spineless woosies, re-read your own writing...."

Well, I guess I can't blame you spineless woosies for trying to protect yourselves. But if some of you had the huevos to sound the alarm publicly instead of just sniping anonymously on some blog, the light of reason might have begun to glimmer.

As for me, I don't give a flying fuck what the local "bidness community" thinks of me anymore, so I put my name on my stuff. But then I've done that for as long as I've been writing professionally.

hbm said...

"Don't blame the weather, blame yourself."

I don't blame the weather; it is what it is, and if I don't like it the only thing I can realistically do is move. Which I eventually will.

I do get angry at the local shills who LIE about the weather ("300 days of sunshine," "outdoor recreation paradise") in order to pump up tourism and real estate sales.

BTW we've enjoying our traditional Pole, Pedal, Paddle mid-May weather break now. In a week or less we'll be back in the shit and stay there until the goddamn Portland Rose Festival ends in mid-June.

Anonymous said...

No job? You do what you have to:

Nine arrested in SW Bend prostitution 'sting'First in recent memory, triggered by online 'sexual services'

By Barney Lerten, KTVZ.COM

Six women and three men were arrested in a southwest Bend prostitution sting Friday as police used "numerous Websites" to arrange meetings with prostitutes, then arrested them for offering sexual services, along with some male escorts.


Six of those arrested were lodged at the Deschutes County Jail, while three were cited and released.

"This operation was conducted due to a marked increase in online postings for sexual services from prostitutes in the Bend area," Sgt. Brian Kindel said in a news release.

The women contacted online "agreed to come to a pre-specified location to provide sexual services or once at the location, agreed to provide sexual services for money," Kindel said.

The male escorts transporting them were arrested for compelling or promoting prostitution, Kindel said, adding, "In some of the cases, the males were acting as ‘pimps' for the prostitutes," arranging the meetings and collecting the money.

Several outstanding arrest warrants were served, as well as charges of possessing child pornography and hindering prosecution.

Stephanie Whitson, 21, of Bend, and Jessica Carr, 22, of Redmond, were cited on prostitution charges and released, while Sean Sirvaitis, 22, of Bend, was cited for conspiracy to commit prostitution and released, Kindel said.

Brittany Crowley, 19, of Bend, was jailed on the prostitution charge and a Lane County warrant for failure to appear on a heroin possession charge.

Megan Schoom, 18, of Bend, was jailed on charges of first-degree possession of child pornography, compelling prostitution and prostitution.

Amy Lauffenberger, 22, of Lebanon, Ore., was lodged on prostitution and hindering prosecution charges.

Tami Collier, 49, was jailed on a prostitution charge and a warrant out of Lane County, Kindel said.

Jay Roberts, 39, of Portland, and Barry Williams, 30, of Eugene, were lodged on charges of promoting prostitution.

In the past, prostitution apparently has not been a high-priority crime to prosecute in Bend. In fact, years ago, asked about a crime statistics summary that listed "zero" prostitution arrests in Bend over a period of several years, then-Police Chief Andy Jordan said, "There is no prostitution in Bend."

Anonymous said...

"I've been having an e-mail exchange with Phil Mote of the Oregon State Climate Service, trying to figure out why the winter lasts so long in Bend."

hmmmm...perhaps because we live in the high desert?

Wyoming, Montana and most of the Midwest MUCH colder. West coast... fog and rain. East coast..not gonna do it. SW yea, I am sure summers in Phoenix are beautiful. SE.... never been there, but does not seem all that inviting.

this town is going to do what is is going to do it and it will be perfect, but complaining about the weather???? have you lived else where? spent anytime anywhere?

i am going outside to play now and if you are not doing that today, you are right Bend does suck...for you.

Anonymous said...

I, too, am shocked by people complaining about the weather. But there are people who come here with goofy ideas, and the ideas were probably put there by Bend's PR machine. I knew a lady who came in and bought TWO houses in The Parks--one to live in and one to rent out. After one winter, she was ranting and raving that Bend was a lie. She moved to Hawaii.

So I see it as Bend's fault for overselling itself.

Under-promise and over-deliver, not the other way around, for long-term satisfaction.

BEND IS A GHOST TOWN said...

Just arrived here.

ROCK ON...a bubble blog....and with more of an edge than HousingPANIC.

Sweet.

Looking forward to the option-ARMs resetting!

This is where the high end gets CRUSHED.

50% off coming to a house near you!

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

I, too, am shocked by people complaining about the weather.

I came from the Midwest, COLD AS HELL in the Winter, and intolerably & deadly humid & HOT in the Summer.

When it's hot here, at least it's dry. I agree, Winters suck here just about as hard as they do anywhere in the lower 48...

Cent OR weather is an improvement, so I have to myopically say that I don't really mind it that much... but 300 days of sunshine/yr... gimee a break!

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Cent OR weather is an improvement over the midwest....

hbm said...

"Wyoming, Montana and most of the Midwest MUCH colder."

So?

"West coast... fog and rain."

Not inland.

"but complaining about the weather???? have you lived else where? spent anytime anywhere?"

Hell yes -- lived 30 years various places on the East Coast and nine years in Northern California before moving here and have traveled all over the country. The weather here is not bad except for the winters, but unfortunately they are seven and a half months long.

"i am going outside to play now"

That's nice. Enjoy it while it lasts.

hbm said...

"Winters suck here just about as hard as they do anywhere in the lower 48..."

No, they suck harder and longer than in many if not most other states of the Lower 49. In March in the Northeast the tulips and daffodils are out. In April the dogwoods and magnolias are out. By May the trees are in full leaf.

May in Bend is like March in most other places.

Okay, Northeastern summers are hot and humid. But if we're talking about winters that suck long and hard, Bend is has the Northeast beat to hell.

I'm going outside to play now.

St Paddy said...

HBM, where is the Holy Grail of weather/livabilty? San Diego is not an option for an answer because it sucks to live there? So tell us the perfect place (weather,economy, livability) that doesn't suck to live?

tim said...

Jeez. Everyone should know how this works by now. When houses appreciate, everyone loves everything, including the weather.

When housing depreciates, everyone hates everything, and whines about the weather.

Why do we keep talking about this?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

When housing depreciates, everyone hates everything, and whines about the weather.

Why do we keep talking about this?


The answer to paragraph 2 is paragraph 1.

Anonymous said...

St Paddy said...
HBM, where is the Holy Grail of weather/livabilty? San Diego is not an option for an answer because it sucks to live there? So tell us the perfect place (weather,economy, livability) that doesn't suck to live?
---------

You're asking the wrong guy. You see, HBM is a complainer. That's what he does. He's a professional complainer and he actually gets paid for it. He tells others why they are wrong, complains about politics, the weather, other peoples writing skills, The Bulletin, the state song, etc., etc., etc. I could go on and on. He does!He'd be a hoot to live with. Could you imagine trying to make a dinner for the guy that he would like? And he'd be hell with the T.V. remote.

So HBM, do us all a favor and move. You've been threatening to do it for quite some time now, so man-up. Move to Hawaii and find a nice little blog over there and complain like a motherfucker. I can see it now. The cockroaches, the sand in the car, the prices, the traffic, the blah, blah, blah...

St Paddy said...

I watched SNL last night. Is HBM the Debbie Downer of CO? lol

Anonymous said...

"You see, HBM is a complainer. That's what he does. He's a professional complainer..."

Well, duh.

What an utterly useless and asinine remark.

Have any more brilliant observations? Any more complaints about complaining?

(Complaining about complainers about complaints is O.K., though.)

Anonymous said...

San Luis Obispo CA-
Great weather=
40 % of teachers make $84,000. a year- and just got a 3% raise!

Anonymous said...

San Luis Obispo CA-
Great weather=
40 % of teachers make $84,000. a year- and just got a 3% raise!
And it only costs them $94,000. a year to live there.

hbm said...

"So tell us the perfect place (weather,economy, livability) that doesn't suck to live?"

There's no "perfect place." Every place has its positives and negatives. For a long time the positives of Bend outweighed the negatives for me. They don't anymore. For other people, they do. I don't have any problem with that.

What I do have a problem with is people who insist (usually on the basis of little or no experience with any other place) that Bend is "paradise" and that its climate and everything else about it is wonderful ... and then try to tell me there's something wrong with ME because I don't agree with them.

hbm said...

"You see, HBM is a complainer. That's what he does. He's a professional complainer and he actually gets paid for it. He tells others why they are wrong, complains about politics, the weather, other peoples writing skills, The Bulletin, the state song, etc., etc., etc."

Just trying to provide some counter-balance to the professional bullshitters who are paid to tell us how incomparably wonderful everything about Bend and Oregon is.

Anonymous said...

Q: How do you circumcise a central Oregon native?

A: Kick his sister in the chin.

hbm said...

Long piece about Bend's boom and bust in The Oregonian today. I'm not going to copy and paste it because the story is very familiar to us all. But the comments are worth looking at. One of my favorites (replying to somebody who was ranting about those eeeee-vul Californians and how they "destroyed" Bend): "Well esmarelda, your greedy Oregonian neighbors had to sell their land and allow the construction to happen. Greedy Oregonians in public office had to okay the projects as well. Greedy Oregonians had to sell their homes to the Californians in the first place."

Who was really responsible for the trashing of Bend? Not the "outsiders," but our own home-grown GOBs and GOGs. And they can't wait to do it some more.

Anonymous said...

So tell us the perfect place (weather,economy, livability) that doesn't suck to live?"

There's no "perfect place." Every place has its positives and negatives. For a long time the positives of Bend outweighed the negatives for me. They don't anymore. For other people, they do. I don't have any problem with that.

What I do have a problem with is people who insist (usually on the basis of little or no experience with any other place) that Bend is "paradise" and that its climate and everything else about it is wonderful ... and then try to tell me there's something wrong with ME because I don't agree with them.
Ok fair enough so what you are saying is dutch harbor is better than bend or I lived there and my experience there told me bend oregon is better.would you like to go on a plane trip with me and to personally experience dutch harbor alaska . Otherwise you are just talk have you been to dutch harbor alaska? and if you have not been there then how can you make such a comparision. So my view from living in both places and my personal experience with both places gives me the right to make an evaluation ? does it or doesn't it? HBN

hbm said...

"Ok fair enough so what you are saying is dutch harbor is better than bend"

I said nothing like that at all. Go back to the third grade and learn to read.

But what the hell, why am I even talking to a moron who apparently thinks Dutch Harbor (wherever the fuck THAT is) and Bend are the only two places in the world. Good bye.

Anonymous said...

Oregonian:

Bend Mayor Kathie Eckman remembers hard times in the area after she moved to the community of 15,000 during the late 1970s. She paid about $45,000 for a house that lost a quarter of its value in the 1980s recession.

"It was just timber then -- we didn't have the tourism -- and when we lost the lumber mills, it was extremely difficult," Eckman says. "When people couldn't move out of here back then, the expression was, 'It was poverty with a view.'"

Eckman watched the region rebound as the economy diversified. She's preparing now for another recovery. She'd like to recruit new industry, a task she says will be easier if the state doesn't ax Bend's hard-won four-year college, Oregon State University Cascades campus.

The city is raising fees to install new water and sewer lines for the next boom. "We have to do it very carefully," Eckman says, "because if you tax people too much, there's going to be a revolt."

Eckman and others believe Bend will learn from the latest boom and bust.

####

Now there's a leader.

Anonymous said...

posting from the Oregonian...spot on

"Oregonians are native to Oregon, thus they can blame Californians for ruining their state, right? Makes sense. Have you been out to the reservations to confirm your theory?"

Anonymous said...

"The city is raising fees to install new water and sewer lines for the next boom. "We have to do it very carefully," Eckman says, "because if you tax people too much, there's going to be a revolt."it's more like they are raising fees to pay for the infrastructure we need now.

Whatever you do Kathie, don't make the developers pay SDC, we need them to keep building at all cost for the next boom is surely right around the corner.

Lately I have been hearing a number of RE Agents stating that we are down to 21 months of inventory. While anyone in their half right mind knows that this is not true, this is the coolaid being served up at the moment. Never mind all the NODs, dark matter, and shit that is currently in default. Oh well, it's just causing the industry to be more creative with their bullshit.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Oregon April Unemployment coming out today... 12.9% in March:

Keep an eye on it....

Anonymous said...

Eckman watched the region rebound as the economy diversified.

Is the reporter smoking crack? If the economy had actually diversified, Bend wouldn't be so fucked right now.

Anonymous said...

Probably "diversified" was a typo. What Eckman witnessed was simply a "transition" (not a "diversification") from wood products to real estate hucksterism.

Anonymous said...

"Oregon April Unemployment coming out today... 12.9% in March:"

It went down. 12.1% in April.

People are going back to work.

So much for the world coming to an end. Doomsdayers are pissed.

Anonymous said...

Seasonal workers started working summer jobs. High pay jobs still went away but the low paying seasonal jobs helped offset the reality of the situation.

While it's better than nothing, those numbers are hardly worth cheering about.

Anonymous said...

Boy oh boy, only 12.1% !

Anonymous said...

>>>IHateToBurstYourBubble said...
You still in town marge?<<<

The short answer is NO.
I am in Winchester Bay and finally found a wifi spot. Too cheap to do an air card. Weather is sunny, foggy, windy, cold, warm, cool did I mention windy. Flowers are bloomin like crazy. Upper Upmqua had a lot of nice poison oak. Bend still looks good. But the travel time is a good change.
Glad to see you have some new assholes on the blog. I'll be connected til the AM.
Median sold price of Bend SFR is $221k so far in May.

Anonymous said...

Just arrived here.

ROCK ON...a bubble blog....and with more of an edge than HousingPANIC.

Sweet.
HousingPANIC? Never heard of it. But I doubt it has as much of an edge as here!

Anonymous said...

But what the hell, why am I even talking to a moron who apparently thinks Dutch Harbor (wherever the fuck THAT is) and Bend are the only two places in the world. Good bye.
You don't know what dutch harbor is ? now who is the moron? hbm you live in such a small world no wonder your experiences are limited. Dutch harbor is one of the main fishing ports on the aleutian islands ( which is in the united states) It was attacked 6 months after pearl harbor ( do you know where that is)It was the only line of defense in the aleutian islands during world war two.

hbm said...

Sweet.HousingPANIC? Never heard of it. But I doubt it has as much of an edge as here!Fuck all you Republicans!

Anonymous said...

Wow, and you thought YOU got a big home equity loan!

An Oregon entrepreneur's life of luxury, bought on credit

Tim Blixseth, once among Forbes' 400 wealthiest Americans, and his then-wife enjoyed a French chateau, complete with moat with money from Blixseth's loan on his ski resort from Credit Suisse.
Mike Albans/Associated PressTim Blixseth, a Roseburg native who made his fortune trading plots of timberland, sayshis deal with Credit Suisse was entirely legitimate.

In the soaring Big Sky Country just northwest of Yellowstone National Park, a bitter war is being waged over an ultraexclusive ski resort and a secret financial deal that left a Montana judge stunned at the "naked greed" of the participants.

Tim Blixseth, a Roseburg native who made his fortune trading plots of timberland, is at the center of the scandal as the club's founder. With him in the cross hairs is Credit Suisse, the Wall Street titan that loaned Blixseth's club $375 million in 2005.

**

Blixseth accepted a $375 million loan from Wall Street titan Credit Suisse against his ultraexclusive ski resort, Yellowstone Club.
But the Yellowstone loan exemplifies much of what went wrong with the financial industry during the past decade. The shoddy underwriting, the failure to take into account whether the borrower had any hope of servicing the debt, the emphasis on loan fees -- all were present in this transaction just as they were in thousands of home mortgages that fueled a disastrous housing bubble.

The judge contends that Credit Suisse could afford to be blithely indifferent about the club's ability to repay the loan and how the proceeds were spent because it had no intention of holding the loan.

After all, Credit Suisse had sold the Yellowstone loan to hedge funds and other investors.

"This is exactly why our economy crashed the way that it did, because of the irresponsible and predatory lending practices of big banks like Credit Suisse," said Tom Hutchinson, a Portland attorney with the Bullivant Houser Bailey law firm.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Oregon's jobless rate takes a breather

Oregon's unemployment rate flattened at 12 percent in April, interrupting the state's economic free fall but providing little hope to people stuck looking for work.

The state lost 9,500 jobs in April, seasonally adjusted, a far cry from February, for example, when 22,800 jobs disappeared. In April, 242,550 Oregonians were unemployed -- more than double the number a year before.

Although most industries are losing jobs, government and educational and health services are hiring as the U.S. Census Bureau gears up for its 2010 population count. That doesn't help, however, if you've lived in a travel trailer in La Pine for eight months seeking work in central Oregon.

"There's really nothing in this area," said Bob Porter, 52, a former transportation manager who parks his trailer on relatives' land. "And I think my age has an effect."

Economists welcomed the halt in unemployment growth announced Monday by the Oregon Employment Department. But they noted the rate remains high and a one-month snapshot does not constitute a trend.

A 1.2 percentage-point joblessness jump in March resulted, in part, from more people, such as nonworking spouses, seeking employment. But April's lull -- unemployment rose only a tenth of a percentage point from a revised 11.9 percent level in March -- may mean the opposite: that some job hunters are giving up.

"My guess is that we're getting a little bit more of that discouraged-worker effect," said Tom Potiowsky, the state government's chief economist. "We don't think the unemployment rate's done rising."
Long-term jobless

As Oregon's jobless rate remains among the nation's highest, the ranks of long-term unemployed -- those, like Porter, without work for more than 27 weeks -- are growing. During the 12 months ended in March, an average of more than 23,000 Oregonians -- 15 percent of the unemployed -- were long-term jobless, up from 6 percent in 2000.

"That's telling you it's becoming harder and harder to find a job," said Christine Riordan, a policy analyst for the National Employment Law Project, who compiled the figures.

The New York-based workers' advocacy organization reported that as of March, a record 24 percent of the nation's jobless had been out of work for more than six months.

Carolyn Eagan, Oregon Employment Department regional economist in Bend, was out of work herself for six months before landing her current position. "Those six- to eight-month searchers are not uncommon," she said.

In Oregon, unemployed people get an initial 26 weeks of benefits that can be extended to as many as 79 weeks in all. "We haven't seen a ton of people exhaust all options," said Janet Orton, Employment Department unemployment-insurance reports coordinator.

A month ago, the Employment Department pegged Oregon's March jobless rate at 12.1 percent. Once all states had reported, the rate turned out to be second-highest in the nation -- behind Michigan's.

On Monday the agency issued an unemployment-rate revision, as it routinely does -- to 11.9 percent for March. The next national ranking comes out Friday.

Oregon's unemployment rate increase in April was statistically insignificant. That heartened Joe Cortright, who chairs the governor's Council of Economic Advisors.

"This may -- and I want to underscore the 'may' -- mean that the free-fall period is over," Cortright said. "But it's too soon to say this is the bottom. You'd want to see it for several months in a row."

Even then, economists expect the unemployment rate to rise, pushed up by discouraged job seekers who take heart and start looking again. Meanwhile newly unemployed stream into WorkSource Oregon offices.

"With the economy as it is, I don't look at it as anything I've done wrong," said Erika Nelson, 37, who lost her job recently when the restaurant where she worked closed. "I'll get through it. I'll get a job eventually."
Sense of urgency

Another job seeker at the Bend office, 23-year-old Nora Roldan, searched with particular urgency because her rent payment was overdue. Roldan waitresses 10 to 15 hours a week for minimum wage plus tips, and wants a full-time job with health benefits.On Easter Sunday, Roldan was injured while riding in a friend's car that collided with another vehicle. Roldan, who helps care for her unemployed boyfriend's two children, faces $28,000 in bills for hand surgery.

Oregon awaits a national economic turn for the better, said John Mitchell, a Portland economist. He sees some hopeful signs nationally, including a shrinking inventory of new homes for sale, lower house prices, large government stimulus spending and recovering capital markets.

"Everybody's out driving their cars, but remember they're all wearing down" and eventually will need replacing, Mitchell said.

One approach for job seekers could be to move. Porter, in La Pine, may return to the Portland area.

But Roldan, who would relocate given the right opportunity, reflects the situation of many when she says, "I have no money to move, anyway."

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

It went down. 12.1% in April.

People are going back to work.

So much for the world coming to an end.


Damn, you're right! 12.1% unemployment is Great News!

We're a LONG WAY from the TOP SPOT: Michigan still leads Oregon by 1/2%!

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

And take a look at that unemployment graph: Note where The Good Times still reign; The Midwest.

East & West Coasters still revile the Midwest as crap, but I guarantee you the Midwest is going to come back. Low home prices, good employment... you watch.

All the libs who'd rather be dead than live in the Midwest may have their wish. The Coasts are going to die...

Anonymous said...

That doesn't help, however, if you've lived in a travel trailer in La Pine for eight months seeking work in central Oregon.

Hell, there's always net porn! An entrepreneurial guy could just start up toothless-suckers.com and get him some.

hbm said...

"All the libs who'd rather be dead than live in the Midwest may have their wish. The Coasts are going to die..."

So when are you leaving, Homer? Why are you still hanging around in this liberal hell-hole? Go East, old man!

hbm said...

"Dutch harbor is one of the main fishing ports on the aleutian islands ( which is in the united states)"

Thank you for that information. If it is in the Aleutian Islands it definitely has a shittier climate than Bend.

"It was attacked 6 months after pearl harbor ( do you know where that is"

Yes, I know where Pearl Harbor is -- in Honolulu -- and I've been there. It has a much better climate than Bend.

Anonymous said...

>>Low home prices, good employment... you watch.

A huge number of midwestern cities have lost more jobs than Bend will ever have. They are NOT healthy. You need to be more discriminating when you say "midwest," because the midwest is STILL bleeding population to the south.

Anonymous said...

A huge number of midwestern cities have lost more jobs than Bend will ever have. They are NOT healthy
Agreed . . . mysteriously it's random small cities in places like Iowa that are doing very well.

But northern Indiana is in the crapper, as is wide swaths of Ohio and Michigan.

hbm said...

"mysteriously it's random small cities in places like Iowa that are doing very well."

My hunch is that nearly all the employable people left those little Midwest towns long ago, leaving only the old and the disabled. And almost all those who are still working probably are self-employed as farmers or small merchants.

If hardly anybody is looking for employment, of course the unemployment rate is low.

Anonymous said...

Recent unemployment rates in the Pacific Northwest:

WASHINGTON: The state said Tuesday that April's jobless rate was 9.1 percent, the same as the revised rate for March. It's the first time in more than a year that the monthly rate hasn't gone up.

OREGON: The seasonally adjusted rate for April was 12 percent, slightly higher than the revised figure of 11.9 percent for March.

IDAHO: Unemployment held steady at 7 percent in April, the first time in 20 months the jobless rate did not increase from the month before.

Anonymous said...

"My hunch is that nearly all the employable people left those little Midwest towns long ago"

Probably right . . . Iowa has two great research univerities (Iowa State and U. of Iowa) but all those graduates leave for the bright lights and big cities of other states..... Iowa doesn't have any city of any size. The small towns are DYING (except for rich, subsidized farmers).

Anonymous said...

Treefort downtown closing at the end of the month

Anonymous said...

Re: "My hunch is that nearly all the employable people left those little Midwest towns long ago"

---

Obviously you have never been there.

I grew up there. My hometown, about the size of Bend, had 7.4% UE in March--as compared to Bend with 17% or so. It is a regional center that didn't try to grow too fast and never had an RE bubble.

And it doesn't have beggars n every other corner right now...

Anonymous said...

Caregiving is one secure type of employment in central oregon depending on your credentials

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Treefort downtown closing at the end of the month

Yup, Dunc called that one on Day 1. I saw it the first week & could see it was doomed. Too bad. When will people give up on the Downtown Bend Amenity Business Dream?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

So when are you leaving, Homer?

When the shit hits the fan, my brutha. As I stated long ago, I ate my own cooking, and am doing better than ever in this RE ravaged economy.

But I am not buying yet. I will save my nickels & see if I can survive when things hit bottom in 2012-13... I hope to Pay Cash & Live Simple.

Anonymous said...

Can someone tell me what Treefort Downtown was? Restaurant?

hbm said...

"My hometown, about the size of Bend, had 7.4% UE in March--as compared to Bend with 17% or so. It is a regional center that didn't try to grow too fast and never had an RE bubble."

I'd be interested in knowing more details. What are the chief sources of income there? What are the major employers?

Maybe some places in this country have figured out (or luckily stumbled upon) a formula for stable, sustainable prosperity without the crazy boom-and-bust cycles that Bend suffers through. It would be worth hearing about them. Bend's "leaders" might even learn something from them -- though I have zero confidence that anything will chance as long as the realtor/builder/developer axis is in charge.

Anonymous said...

Sawyers Plead the Fifth


Monday at the Deschutes County Court House, former Bend Police Captain Kevin Sawyer and his wife Tami were subpoenaed to testify about financial records of Starboard LLC, their real estate investment company which is currently under federal investigation. The debtor's examine was part of a lawsuit filed by Bend Doctor David Redwine and his wife Laurie, investors who say they're owed over eight hundred seven thousand dollars.

When the Redwines' attorney asked Tami if she had any ownership of Starboard LLC, she read this statement, saying quote:

"Pending the conclusion of any criminal investigation ... related to this litigation, I decline to answer any other question, produce any document, or take any action to facilitate the production of any document concerning this litigation."

For every other question after that Tami refereed to that statement. Other questions asked if she had ever heard of Starboard and if she had ever been in any business dealings with Starboard. Tami did answer yes to the question: If she planned to take the fifth on all questions. She also asked if the Redwines' attorney wanted her to read the statement again.


Kevin Sawyer answered several basic questions about his relation to Tami and how long he had been married to her. But when asked about starboard, he also refereed to the statement and refused to answer. During the hearing the Redwines' attorney informed the Sawyers that he would charge them with contempt under both penal and civil law. According to him, that could lead to fines. The Sawyers' attorney accused the Redwines' lawyer of bullying.

The Redwines' attorney says he will file contempt charges against both Tami and Kevin Sawyer within the next week. He also says at this point the District Attorney's office will get involved.

Duncan McGeary said...

Treefort = children's clothing, etc.

It seemed to me that a dozen of these places popped up with a six month period.

Wonder if they were being flogged in Inc. Magazine...

Anonymous said...

So are there beggars on every other corner in Bend these days?
Is there spillover from the Portland hipsters? (see WSJ article a few days ago)

Anonymous said...

I'm sure every kid in town needs jeans like these (sorry Treefort!)


appaman straight leg jean
$ 60.00 USD

Anonymous said...

"Treefort = children's clothing, etc"

Here's the context . . .

Best Minimum Wage . . .
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2007
No great observation here, but I'm noticing way more of the amenity type businesses opening all of a sudden. I mean, we've been talking about them for a couple of years, and they've been opening all along, but suddenly there seems to be a jump in the number, and an inflation of the high concept that is very noticeable. Interesting timing, and I think the result of the surge of newcomers since 2004.

For instance, the number of kid's clothing stores, both new and used, has jumped by 5 or 6 or 8 or something. Seems like every time I open the paper, I see a new one.

Later . . .Hey Duncan,. . . I'm the "new comer/rich person/Californian/" opening one of the many "amenity type" stores in Bend. Across the street from you, actually. My partner and I are opening treefort (the urban kids clothing and gift store) that you seemed to get such a chuckle out of. By the way, The definition of Urban is: relating to or characteristic of a city OR TOWN. Rather than trying to change Bend, we want to be a part of the growing desire for independent, edgy, and unique stuff for kids. It's supposed to be about fun, not snootiness.
Problem I have with your blog is,
I'm not a new comer, I've been in Bend practically all of my life and working retail since I was 15.
I'm also not rich, I took out a business loan just like you did to open the shop I always wanted to.
Oh, and I'm not a Californian either. My family lives here, my daughter goes to school here, and my husband and I pay and have always paid our taxes here in Oregon.
Also, I resent that you actually suspect that we think it is such a great idea to go into construction in the busy holiday season just to be open for the slow time of year. In fact, we signed that lease back in June and intended to be open within a few months. The problem was that the city laid the smackdown on us with permits. Between the compensations of our landlords and the determination to get through the curve balls that life throws, we hope to do our best despite these obstacles.
So rather than spending all your free time blogging about how much you hate new businesses and laughing at how foolish their concepts are, take into consideration that we could be your allies and actually support each other. Maybe being so self aggrandizing is working for you. I personally would like to see each and every one of these small shops not only stay open, but succeed. I feel like it can only affect me and the community positively.
I'd love for you to have something nice to say about us some day, however, if people continue to be directed to treefort from your blog, I guess any press is good press!

Cheers!

Duncan McGeary said...

That was also the last time I mentioned my doubts about an existing small business by name....

Anonymous said...

That was also the last time I mentioned my doubts about an existing small business by name....
Definitely a good policy, but also take credit for the fact that you nailed this one with perfect accuracy.

Bewert said...

The cycling world is atwitter with the news that Steve Larsen had a heart attack and died yesterday--but there is nothing in the various Bend news sites about it. Anyone there hear anything about this? I saw him out running a few days before I left and he looked healthy as ever.

PopGoesBend said...

Email from his brother Mike to the BendCycling email list:

-----------------

It is with deep sadness we share the news of Steve Larsen's sudden and untimely passing. Steve collapsed during a workout Tuesday evening and despite their immediate attention medical professionals were unable to resuscitate him.

To many of us Steve was an inspiration, a competitor and a mentor who touched and influenced our lives. Though his time here was brief, his accomplishments as a professional cyclist, professional triahtlete, and businessman were not. Steve was a multi time National Champion in Road Cycling, Mountain Biking, and Xterra off road triathlon and an Ironman Triathlon Champion as well. He started and ran a number of businesses including his current ventures at Steve Larsen Properties, a commercial real estate brokerage and WorldTri.com, an online retailer.

Though his athletic ability was extraordinary, his greatest treasure and passion was his wife and five children. The love he shared with them and from them was his greatest gift and accomplishment.

Steve Larsen March 13, 1970 - May 19, 2009.

------------


I hear it was while running on one of the school tracks. There were people who responded immediately with CPR and called the ambulance, but were unable to save him.

Bewert said...

Thanks, Pop. That's a complete fucking bummer.

Bewert said...

OK, looking for info on Steve earlier I came across this:

http://datingisweird.blogspot.com/2008/08/keep-it-trashy-bend-oregon.html

The "Retard Game" game comment is...

Bewert said...

http://velonews.com/article/92268/autopsy-shows-steve-larsen-did-not-die-of-a-heart-attack

Anonymous said...

Bruce,
So how's Utah?

hbm said...

Steve Larsen's brother was quoted as saying he'd been having trouble breathing and experiencing swelling in his legs, but he continued his workouts. That decision most likely killed him.

I don't want this to be construed as a putdown of Steve, but the pursuit of "fitness" can become an unhealthy obsession. When you're having trouble breathing and your legs are getting swollen, that's generally a sign that something is seriously wrong and you'd better do something about it.

Bewert said...

Re: Bruce,
So how's Utah?

###

Have yet to see a panhandler. 79 and sunny right now. Hundreds of jobs actually being advertised. And a new Foreign Trade Zone being set up, which is pretty interesting.

Beer still sucks, though. It's not even funny, the amber shitwater they claim is beer here.

And the gov, a decent guy, is leaving for China. His replacement Lt. Gov. is a bit of a troglodyte, as in evolution and climate change bashing.

What I found really surprising is that Dems actually control the Salt Lake County Council now. Blue seems to be spreading in the valley...

Anonymous said...

Ok, busters back from malay,

I'll update in a few days after rest, good to see hbm back, yes hbm BEND SUCKS HOMER dick.

Bend is a base-camp,

I'm buying a nice junk of beach here in Malay, came back to take care of the money-trans, going back asap,

Breakfast, shower, and sleep for a few days, see you cunts around, ... me WSJ speaks of big lawsuits on bloggers these days, page-one story, ...

FYI during the past month I used the NET fucking once, even though everyday I walked by the internet-cafe in my village, never once did I fucking desire once to look at the news, todays WSJ says the world coming to an end on page-one, you wouldn't know that on the airplane, fucking bangkok was hustling with biz, spent a few days in Pattaya on the way out of malay hadn't been there since NAM days, I really like pattaya can't stand bangkok, really like the islands down south my thai-malay girlfriend father is the mayor of my island, and got me a good deal on some beach front land, about $300/acre, the kind of shit that would cost $10M/ac on hawaii HBM, yes, down to one girl, hard enough fucking one 8hrs/day, just couldn't please them all, pon says we marry when I return, I think not,

Ok, so $6k for 20 acres of beach, with a clean flowing river for swimming ( no-salt ), lots of stuff unlimited crab, oysters ( snails) ( fresh water ) rice, mangos, papaya, you name it grows, coconut, all kinds of greens we got a tree house going, pon promises it be done when I return. Lots of fresh water ponds on land all full of 2ft catfish, ... pon says no shopping, just grab the goods off the land and chow. The only thing to spend money on is a few beers everyday, about $1 for large bottle. 10 cents for large bag of ice, when I get power I'll buy a fridge.

Well costs $300 USD ( compare that to $20k US ) 300 ft well with 220v pump well-head, septic ( $100 ), and a bunglow tree house about $50. $100 for power to be brought in. Pon likes to take about six showers a day, so full flowing water is priority one.

These people make $1/day.

I told pon I'll be sending her $100/mon, so she'll be the richest person on the island. Most of the money will be used to finish the tree-house ( bungalow ).



bye guys,

Anonymous said...

HBM, where is the Holy Grail of weather/livabilty? San Diego is not an option for an answer because it sucks to live there?

*

I can answer that question. Been there, the best weather in the world is Nairobi, Kenya, 70f all year round and sunny, ... trouble is you have to live in a jail cell so you don't get your throat cut while your sleeping.

Nairobi is at 5,000 ft, on on the equator, perfect continous weather, and high enough to be cool, only problem is 10M african folks who are 50% hiv positive and feral.

All paradise has its trade-off.

Anonymous said...

Christ, this is a tough one. Which version of Zanadu to choose. Malay, or downtown Salt Lake Shitty.

Bewert said...

http://tinyurl.com/oryley

Bewert said...

Buster, I thought you had been fucked to death.

Bewert said...

Re: downtown Salt Lake Shitty.

###

Nairobi...

Anonymous said...

Homers picture is quite funny, the katoheys ( lady boyz ) in Pattaya actually look like that by the 100's, there is a section of 'walking street' where for blocks you can find tall 'lady boyz' with huge implants just like these pictured.

My girlfriends number one joke is that I like Katohey's, no I don't, but they can be very sweet people.

A better comparison on the sexual xanadu would be Bend, SLC, Nairobi, ... Let's see SLC you got mormron wives, ... enough said, BEND you got REHO's with fake tit's, and lipo-suck, ... Nairobi you can buy pussy by the minute, even the most poor can get laid 5 times on the way home from work, its virtually impossible to rent a room by the day, they just stare at you, don't understand the concept, rooms are something you rent by the minute in Africa.

Fucking SLC, think about all that fucking god-damn alkaline lake shit blowing north on a hot day, ... all that shit, ... if there is a hell on earth its SLC, and its the only place joe-smith could go, that nobody would fuck with him.

But fucking Bend, OREGON what a fucking shit-hole, when the topic of pussy comes up, dead horse, but gals under 25 in BEND are good, but after that they get to be recycled gold-digging ex-divorced REHO's on the MILL, no offense to dear marge... Simply can't think of a good thing about BEND, other than mtn biking in a few months, and hiking now in the badlands, it will be months before the trails are dry to mtn-bike, and now its time to road bike.

'Paradise': Pussy, fruit, beer, water, ... good food, a good woman who massages you, and rocks on your lap when you sitting in a clear warm river, your both wearing wraps,... now that's paradise, a place where its fucking taboo to kiss in public, but OK to fondle your cock.

Bend is NOT fucking paradise, ... is there anyone here who still thinks so?

Bend is a fucking desert Island of cargo cult parasites. Always been, and always will be.

Anonymous said...

>>Christ, this is a tough one. Which version of Zanadu to choose. Malay, or downtown Salt Lake Shitty.

I forget. Which one has Olivia Newton-John again?

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Buster, but why the need to buy more RE? Foreign countries with all their strange laws -- i guess if only $6000 it's not a bad gamble. Watch out for tsunamis.

Anonymous said...

Buster paradise="Suckee, suckee, two buckee!"

Anonymous said...

But wait a minute Bend is a paradise without all the hoopla cali bullshit. Was here in 1969 bend was a nice peaceful little logging town. What might be paradise to some might not be to others. What you interpret to be one thing might not be to someone else. depending on their background ect.I am anticipating a return to what i interpret bend to become what it once was ( A nice peaceful little logging town). Without the logging of course.

St Paddy said...

That Buster, what an imagination that kids got:)

La Pine never sounded so good. I think I'll make a special trip to the Dairy Queen down there.

Anonymous said...

BB2 a toxic place? Why because we don't suck cock like dunc ( ned flanders )? Or BENDBB?

That said, yesterdays WSJ about bloggers getting sued for expressing their opinion even of civic leaders should be chilling to anyone with an opinion.

Anonymous said...

Buster paradise="Suckee, suckee, two buckee!"

*

Well I think you'll more likely find that in Bend. The going rate in Pattaya ( Thailand ) is $1500 baht short-time, and $2k long-time. That be USD $50/$70. Short-Time is 2 hours take a 10-babe back to your hotel-room, long-time is 9pm-9am, do as you wish.

In Istanbul they still fuck for a buck, but you only get 5 min, in Africa you can fuck for a nickel.

I like to see all the girls, like a market in Pattaya, must be 100k girls all for sale in an area the size of downtown PDX, with 1,000's of bars all playing music, and the girls are cool, and playful. In Bangkok they're desperate, and cling to you when you walk by,

Nope Buster don't pay for sex, always have girlfriend with me, always.

Last I looked on craigs the meth-ho's of Bend were doing tricks for $100, for an hour, anything you want, just go to bend-escort on craigslist, ugly fucking Bend bitches of course, meth ho's, 100% Bend Oregon.

Thank's very much, I'll stick with Island beauty's fresh from the farm, whose only desire is to have 10+ orgasms a day.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Buster, but why the need to buy more RE? Foreign countries with all their strange laws -- i guess if only $6000 it's not a bad gamble. Watch out for tsunamis.

*

No more strange fucking place than the USA. Thai/Malay property ownership very straight-forward, you put the property in the girls name, and you have a lawyer setup that she can't sell without your permission, typically the problem is if the 'family' needs cash they pressure the girl to sell, the girl knows that long-term, owning land is security for their old-age, as they can rent the land to farmers and have perpetual income.

The real problem is that fathers and brothers are almost always drunks looking for an easy source of cash for booze ( whiskey ). I think that's why its so critical for these thai/beauty's to latch on to a farang ( white-fuckhead ), cuz the thai-men are generally worth a can of warm spit or less. One in four women at 30 are widows with children.

Your just as likely to have tsunamis on the Oregon coast as Thai/Malay, my place is on the east side of the Island, not much damage like they had up in Phuket. Besides most of us build 'tree house' Bungaloes basically homes up on very high stilts, there is always flooding during the rainy season.

Strange Laws? I think the god damn fucking USA is the worse of them all a philosopher once said "The more the law, the worse the people", no where is there as much law as the USA.

I never buy property with the idea of making money, not even in Bend, its always about 'INCOME', and in thai/malay, you can generate very good income, folks rent the land, and pay you in food or cash, its very communal, as everyone goes on everyone's land and takes what they need, .e.g. mangoes, ...

I figure I'll be back for a month or two until I get all the legal stuff done. I don't want to go back until I have my own place, tired of staying at mom & dad's house, I can't stand hotels, and my girlfriend likes to live on the farm ( bungalo ).

$6k is a drop in the fucking bucket, compared to what it can do for the girl, to own her own 20 acres is like winning the $500M power-ball in Oregon.

Anonymous said...

.I am anticipating a return to what i interpret bend to become what it once was ( A nice peaceful little logging town). Without the logging of course.

*

I always felt a return to 1983, .e.g. plywood downtown, and only D&D as the drinking hole.

yes, the timber is long gone, can't return to logging,

just a ghost town, without any possible hope, a few hustlers in recent years sold swamp land to cali suckers, just like from the 1920's buying florida swamp-land was a joke, for years to come there will be jokes about people paying millions for Bend desert land, that could have been had 20+ years ago for $50/acre.

No return to the 1960's, like an old whore, Bend can never return to its virginity. Bend is was washed up, and used up old whore, who would like to pretty her self up for the next cycle.

The bottom will look like early 1980's, and last 5-10 years. Most of you KUNTS will leave.

For newbies this fucking 'paradise' angle has always been sort of a joke, like a few of us have said 40+ year old-timers have said over the BB2 years, bend is only paradise if you haven't traveled.

Peaceful? I don't see Bend being peaceful in the next 1-2 years, I see rampant crime, people are hurting real bad in PDX, lots of un-employment, lots of human misery, it will spill over, its bad in CALI, it will spill over, they'll keep moving up to ORYGUN, they'll be living in their cars. ...

Tried explain this shit to my thai-girl, about white-fuckheads living in their car with the family, just couldn't understand, owning a car in thai/malay is for the rich, living in the rural areas with unlimited free food ( vege, fish, fruit ), they have no conception why white-fuckhead familys would live in a car in urban environment. I try to explain that nothing grows but trees in coastal oregon, and nothing grows at all ( that you can eat ) in Desert Bend Orygun.

It's sort of the thing to watch humanity slide into poverty and misery, where a place that people make $1/day all can be happy, as the essentials of life are free. But in the USA, nothing is free, and nothing grows for free, and everyone lives on MAR's, e.g. in desert land where all is artificial including the water.

What is Bend?

Honestly folks, I have said before and I'll say again, folks who weathered the Great Depression who had a little money did so in Paris, and I intend to weather this storm in Malay, eat fruit, and fresh fish and ignore the news for a few years.

Yes, I can see light at the end of the tunnel in Bend, but that is years from now, in the immediate future I see cannablism, poverty, and misery on a large scale.

Anonymous said...

You can get a LaPinoid bitch to swallow the goop for free! If you don't mind getting her tooth caught on you scrotillia.

Anonymous said...

Oh how I miss the days when there was less traffic on the board......

Anonymous said...

living in the rural areas with unlimited free food ( vege, fish, fruit )
It's nice to know that there are still places where people live close to the land "off the grid". Of course alcoholism and poverty often goes hand in hand with that -- it's that way in any country. The rural life is nice once in awhile, but a person would go crazy if you're "stuck" there forever.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure, I think one is far more likely to go crazy in a city. Spending ones time gathering food and cooking is a pleasant past-time.

The folks that I know who live in the villages feel they have an 'easy life', at first I found this confusing, but then when you realize that those who work in the city say Bangkok, work 12 hr days for six days a week for $300/mo, that they're the ones with lives of misery.

To live in a village, is slow, and to those who have had the taste of bars and drugs the village may appear 'boring'. Honestly I find not to miss the internet whatsoever, and given that I don't watch TV, the night is just fine.

One rises at 6am and has their coffee does chores by 10am when its hot, and swims or whatever til 4pm when it cools down, like Italy one takes a long nap after lunch. Time is slow, life is slow.

On the other hand having a horrible job in a city, 12 hrs day, six days a week, ... given that I myself have not 'held' a job since my 20's, I know that I couldn't handle it, ...

I think that I don't get bored of village life, but I'm also content to go to wats ( monastery's ) for weeks and practice buddhism, and one bowl of rice gruel and day, and silence.

Bend to me is a life of xc-ski in the winter, and spring, summer, fall of biking, and hiking. Boring to some, but 40 yrs of such in Bend, I bore not. I think that many people in this group are most likely couch-potatoe computer nerds who would go out of their fucking minds without their gadgets, I don't own a camera, and don't travel with a computer, I have no desire to know about news when I'm in a village.

These malay villages, like chinese villages I used to live in 10+ years ago, these people get their food-work ( agriculture ) work done 6am-10am, and the rest of the day is theirs, yes some gamble and play card games or rock-games ( like 'go' or checkers ), and some read, but many have art, or a passion. The men more tend to be lazy, and the women tend to be entrepreneurial.

I can schedule a typical 7 day week village life as such, ...

5am wake-up and fuck, and shower
6am ( hok-chow ) coffee, and take a good shit
7am breakfast ( fruit ), shower & fuck
8am-10am work duty, tasks that need to be done
10am shower and fuck for a few hours
noon lunch ( rice & fish & veges ), and shower and fuck
4pm shower and walk or swim in a river or ocean.
5:30pm shower and fuck
6pm start dinner ( chicken, fish, rice, curry, and chile sauce ), clean-up,
8pm have a few beers, snack I like peanuts, social hour with the boyz
10pm go to bed, and shower and fuck

So tell me about boring, I don't find this life boring, ... what do western people in Bend do with their day?

I like to cook, I like to eat. I think fucking is a big part of life with the poor, sure beats watching TV in my book. Right now is hot season, when its not so hot one can spend more time working, their is always things broken, these people just ride their 'motorcycle' ( moped ) until it breaks, when its not hot, its nice to spend time fixing things.

In my humble opinion ape-man is/was most comfortable living in the jungle eating fruit all day and playing with his dick, in the village a beautiful woman plays with your dick all day and brings you fruit. This is how humans are supposed to live, the domestication of and urban living of man, is a source of much un-happiness.

Anonymous said...

Actually the $300/mo is a figure for a person with a 4yr college degree job, or about $10k baht. A more typical average monthly salary for a wage-slave is about $2k-baht/mo, or $70/mo, folks who contract out their time to say harvest rice all day can earn $100 baht/day, or $3/day. Whoopee!!!

Anonymous said...

You can get a LaPinoid bitch to swallow the goop for free! If you don't mind getting her tooth caught on you scrotillia.


*

Any Bend fuck heads who still think Bend is 'paradise' just go to Craigslist 'erotic' personals, and take a look at the photos of our gorgeous women of LA-pine/Bend.

Bad teeth and pubic hair in those teeth, now that is Bend's COVA poster girl. Toss in a some scrotum tissue, and you have a real City of Bend PR/MARKETING winner.

Anonymous said...

Now who says that BB2 is caustic and mean spirited?

Anonymous said...

Buster has quite the imagination.

Anonymous said...

Hey i'm all for Buster's newfound 'hunting and gathering' lifestyle. . . anthropologists now know that people living that lifestyle did pretty well compared to our current agriculture / office cubicle culture .. . .


Recent discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe from which we
have never recovered. With agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the
disease and despotism, that curse our existence. . . .

Are twentieth century hunter-gatherers really
worse off than farmers? Scattered throughout the world, several dozen groups of socalled
primitive people, like the Kalahari Bushmen, continue to support themselves that
way. It turns out that these people have plenty of leisure time, sleep a good deal, and
work less hard than their farming neighbors. For instance, the average time devoted each
week to obtaining food is only twelve to nineteen hours for one group of Bushmen,
fourteen hours or less for the Hadza nomads of Tanzania. One Bushman, when asked why he hadn't emulated neighboring tribes by adopting agriculture, replied, "Why should
we, when there are so many mongongo nuts in the world?"

Jared Diamond: "The Worst Mistake In The History Of The Human Race"

Anonymous said...

Hey i'm all for Buster's newfound 'hunting and gathering' lifestyle. . . anthropologists now know that people living that lifestyle did pretty well compared to our current agriculture / office cubicle culture .. . .

*

I have long advocated this lifestyle on BB, I think folks just didn't get the picture, a recurring theme of mine has always been that the ape-man in the jungle fondling his nuts all day and eating ripe fruit from the tree lives a far better life than the Bend cubical man.

Yes, man civilizes himself and creates religion and marriage, and with that come inequality, and sexual restraint, and ergo much unhappiness, misery, and greed. The good news is paradise still exists, and even better news is at the bottom of Bend's cycle we too may return to our primitive roots of none greed.

Anonymous said...

Hey folks I just found this site. I'm thinking about moving to Bend.

I have a car to live in, and no kids. I'm not looking for a job, as I quit looking years ago.

My concern is power to charge my laptop, and free access to internet while I'm in my car at night. Do any of you folks know a good place in Bend to park your car and have access to free power and wifi?

I'm a 36 yr old vet, and have an 19 year old girlfriend who is pregnant, so we'll also be needing health care, thus the parking should be very close to a hospital.

Much thanks - Dan.

Anonymous said...

You're making a GREAT decision. Bend is a wonderful place to live. It has everything going for it. 300 days of sunshine a year, great restaurants, the best skiing in the west, a quaint little downtown, superb medical facilities... Who could ask for anything more? And there's an RV type, full hook-up parking lot right next to the hospital that should accomodate your living situation nicely. Come to Bend, and get your little slice of heaven!

hbm said...

"300 days of sunshine a year"

Oh, please. How long are you going to keep trying to peddle that worn-out old lie?

hbm said...

"the best skiing in the west"

Another lie ... unless you define "the West" as "Oregon."

Anonymous said...

HBM is full of crap. If you would like a quick look into his world, watch the following clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWyCCJ6B2WE

Anonymous said...

Ouch today USA is losing its AAA rating, hello third world shit-hole, ..

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of people.

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