Sunday, June 21, 2009

The Bedrock Of The Oregon Economy? Wishful Thinking.

Well, Summer is here & it's a truly glorious time to be in Bend!

Seriously! I don't know about you guys, but I am all about soaking up local fun stuff with the fam over the Summer. It's almost always some sort of "no-pay" non-Cali-banger chillax activity, costing at most $5 to park in some forest parking lot somewhere.

And it's sure as hell hard to write this blog. I'm being pulled to go for a walk in the cool morning air right now. Plus, things seem to go well in Bend over the Summer.

I think that'll change this Summer though.

Unemployment is coming out for Bend this week, and if it's anything like the State figures, it should be just awful.

Go to the OL-reliable OLMIS spreadsheet for State unemployment, and you'll see the 12.4% ADJUSTED rate for May was the highest on record, squeezing out the previous all-time high set in Jan 1983 of 12.0%.

The more-important unadjusted rate of 13.4% set in that same month, still stands as the record.

But we're getting there. We're still #2 in the nation, trailing only Michigan.

Which is pretty unbelievable. When you think of Michigan, you think of ---?

Right. Michigan has a single dominating industry that is kicking it's ass. Everyone knows what it is, and KNOWS that it is the one thing dragging down the WHOLE STATE.

But Oregon? What single industry "drag" do we have?

Is it tech? Well, sorta. RE? Yeah, sorta. The last gasping breaths of timber? Hmmm... maybe.

No, it just seems like Oregon AS A WHOLE, is just falling apart. This whole state is just reverting to it's mean.

And this may not be the WHOLE REASON, but it seems to me to spring primarily from one cause: Deluded narcissistic exceptionalism.

People here think their shit don't stink.

Everyone knows Mountain Comfort is going down the toilet. But still, the owner DeeDee Keith insists on sticking $1,000 SALE tags on plain-jane crap furniture.

She's going down, but she is still running insipid ads non-stop on KTVZ.

She's going down, but would rather PR-Market her way into oblivion, rather than cut prices.

She thinks her SHIT don't stink. And that if she pushes hard enough, she can convince you to buy her shit.

She went cracker-ass broke on Apr 14, but just a few months back, dished up a self-serving turd in the Bully, who was only to glad to oblige:

Divine downtown

DeeDee Keith jokes that she always promised Karma, her dog, that some day she would get them a better place to live.

And boy did she deliver, going from living out of a trailer at a KOA campground to becoming a successful Bend businesswomen.

... after a few years, Keith outgrew her leased spaces, so it made sense to her that when a large, prime piece of property on Wall Street became available, she would buy it.

And she did, explaining it this way: “I was young and dumb, but I had a good business plan.”

Keith was anything but dumb. She not only expanded her business, she also oversaw the construction and design of the new Mountain Comfort building from the ground up.

And speaking of up, this is where Keith made good on her promise to her dog.

She built up, as in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom luxury rooftop condominium above her store.

Taking the store elevator to the third floor, the elevator doors slide open and the Mediterranean-style design of the floor begins to emerge. The first doorway you pass is Keith’s manager’s condo, and between this condo and her condo door is a complete workout facility with an elliptical machine, treadmill and several weight machines. Keith explains this is where she alleviates some of her workday stress. Across from the workout area is a window door that leads to the outside deck facing Pilot Butte. This is Karma’s domain, where the builder constructed a 50-yard dog run and barking station. At the end of the run is a large, custom-built doghouse for the faithful dog.

The whole piece is just endless self-serving tripe. Standard Cali-Banger bullshit. Someone who just thinks they are God's Gift.

And about 6 months later, it was all gone. The TAINT of the Bend Bully PR AIDS strikes again.

Here's another Shit Don't Stink piece from the Oregonian:

Portland-area retailers try to retool leases

In fall 2008 when Storables' Fischer realized how the recession was hitting his newest store in Mesa, Ariz. -- where sinking home values and consumer confidence had tanked early on -- he tried to set up talks with his landlord, a mall operator he said already was struggling to pay for an expansion.

By January, when Fischer started trying to meet with landlords, he already was late to the game. Many of the larger tenants already had begun talks. Adding to the logjam, he said, larger chains such as Williams-Sonoma, Chico's and Anthropologie often start with more favorable leases tied to sales or whether certain neighbors stick around.

"It's the big national tenants, not the regional or small local, that can really work that," said Fischer, adding that one of his landlords told him that having an empty space was better financially than offering lower rates.

A drop-off in rents, Fischer said he was told, could leave a lender wondering about the value of the landlord's building. Such a scenario could trigger a review that could mean the landlord has to make up the difference to the bank.

WTF? So these landlords & lenders are in this game of chicken regarding pie-in-the-sky lease rates. They would actually rather have their space EMPTY, than a paying tenant.

The grass is greener thinking. Always jam tomorrow, NEVER TODAY.

This is just psychotic, yet widespread thinking. Hold out for $2.50 a foot, even though vacancies are 90%.

The thinking is, "I KNOW I could have gotten $2.50 a foot a few years ago, and the value of this building imputed at that rate is $X million, but if I were to actually take $1 foot, it would be $X/3 million, and since I owe $2X million, I can't take $1/ft or the bank will come after me".

So everyone in this weird fucking state is in state of suspended animation, always believing in some Pollyanna, dumbshit dream that TOMORROW WILL BE A BETTER DAY.

Always. Seriously, look at this headline from TODAYS Bully:

Summer is finally here — will the tourists come now?
Prospects for Central Oregon could be worse - July especially should see more visitors - but don’t expect a record-breaker

On the heels of an abysmal winter season, Central Oregon’s tourism industry is hoping for a boost in business during its ever-important summer season.

That could come from a range of events planned for July, as well as from perceptions of a rebounding economy, but tourism officials still don’t expect a full recovery or at least stabilization until at least 2010.

Earlier projections of a 25 percent drop in tourism this summer have softened somewhat, but most lodging operators still expect to be down from last summer, Audette said.

She expects the region’s resort properties to do well this summer because they offer the feel of a vacation getaway while still being a short drive from the Seattle and Portland markets.

Look at just how much HOPE & DREAMING there is in there. The whole piece is just hopeful bullshit. Bend is NOTHING but smoke, mirrors, and illusion. You can NEVER count on anything to be real. Here's a dreamscape excerpt, included in almost every Bully article EVER WRITTEN:

Room-tax collections are the most reliable indicators of the health of the tourism industry, which is estimated to have a $571 million annual impact on Central Oregon’s economy.

100% BULLSHIT. That $571 mill is 100% MADE UP. But it is printed damn near every day in the Bully. Why? Cuz this place is Kool-Aid crackerland.

DeeDee Keith PR-Marketing her store into oblivion, rather than just cutting price.

Portland commercial landlords & banks playing cat & mouse so that some effemeral and 100% FAKE building valuation can be hit with lease rates that aren't even being collected.

Bob Thomas filing appeals to keep open a dealership because he thinks he's entitled.

Roger Lee & Alana Audette lying day-in and day-out about how important they are to Central Oregon, and the City of Bend (you & me) are actually FUNDING THEIR BULLSHIT.

There's a fundamental thread here: Oregon cultivates DREAMERS.

Now this is great when things are going OK. Even dreamers have their place on the upswing.

But man, on the downswing, they do All The Wrong Shit. The HOLD OUT, when they should BAIL OUT. They don't know when to say WHEN. They don't know when to STOP THE BULLSHIT.

Audette STILL claims $571 mill in tourism, DESPITE THE FACT that even SHE ADMITS tourism is DOWN DOUBLE DIGITS.

"Yes, room rates are DOWN 25% YoY, but that $571 mill figure I 100% MADE UP last year STILL STANDS, YOU DUMBFUCKS!"

Roger Lee, same deal. EDCO has "helped" land blah-hundred jobs, bringing in blah-many-millions to the Cent OR economy. 100% UNADULTERATED BULLSHIT.

This fucking place is run by RETARDS. Pie-in-the-fucking-sky idiots. The whole fucking state is that way, it's just especially severe in Central Oregon.

And we're seeing the upshot. #2 in unemployment.

Can't really narrow down the cause... until you realize it is just general self-delusion.


OK, I can't let it go this week without a total reprint of the NYTimes piece on the CRACKAGE OF BEND. It's the only way I can circumvent the comment posting limits.

This is such a great piece, because it addresses something KNOWN to Cent OR locals for many moons: Cali-Bangers are the root cause of ALL EVIL.

What sweet fucking redemption to have a NYTimes piece that essentially blames these equity locust motherfuckers for ALL OUR ILLS.

Slump Dashes Oregon Dreams of Californians

BEND, Ore. — Susan and Mike Telford had a plan back in the boom years in California. They would sell their house outside Fresno at a solid profit and take their equity to this sunny mountain city to build a better life, a fresh-air future in Oregon.

“We wanted to lose the commute, to lose the smog,” Mrs. Telford said. “We wanted to lose California.”

They moved here in 2006, when Bend was one of the fastest-growing places in the West and money and migration from California fueled that growth. Now the Bend area’s unemployment rate, at almost 16 percent, is one of the highest of any metropolitan area in the nation. “For sale” signs dot desert-toned, unfinished subdivisions. Luxury furniture stores downtown are going out of business. San Francisco chefs have fled.

The freefall has made Bend a succinct symbol for the economic perils of “lifestyle destinations” in the so-called New West, recreation-heavy communities where jobs have been heavily tilted toward construction and services and where many of the new residents were self-made exiles from California cashing in on their overpriced real estate. Bend, a former timber town that now has 80,000 residents, was particularly popular among those drawn to the often rainy Northwest because it is located on the sunny side of the Cascade Range.

Now the Californians who contributed to Oregon’s growth are in some cases adding to its economic struggle. As of May, Oregon had the second-highest unemployment rate in the nation, at 12.4 percent, behind Michigan. California, which has not released its May figures, ranked fifth in April.

While some other states with high unemployment, including Michigan, have seen their labor forces shrink, Oregon’s labor force has grown. Economists say some of the growth appears to be driven by people who moved here with money they made in California, whether from real estate or stock market investments, and expected to get by but now must look for work.

“It’s just so depressing to hear them because they thought they had life handled and they don’t,” said Bobbie Faust, an employment counselor who works for the state in Bend.

The Telfords are among those facing trouble. They had presumed they would be able to sell their house in Fresno for more than $300,000 to help pay the mortgage on the new house they bought near the Deschutes River in Bend for $475,000. But the Fresno house has yet to sell, and Mrs. Telford, an accountant, has lost a series of jobs at small firms here that she said had downsized. The couple’s only income now comes from her unemployment checks and her husband’s salary as a high school teacher.

“The cash flow is negative,” Mrs. Telford said. “This will be the first time we’ve had to go into savings.”

Not all of the newcomers are from California, of course. Lost equity, lost jobs and the possibility of foreclosure also threaten people who moved here from just across the Cascade Range, on the wetter western side of Oregon, as well as some from Seattle or the East. Measuring California’s economic impact on Oregon and its struggles is difficult, and economists say that Oregon, which has less than a tenth of the population of California, has not always been directly affected by its neighbor’s fortunes.

Still, just as other places in the West have blamed California transplants for treading heavily into town, the words “California equity” roll off many tongues here in Deschutes County with particular resentment these days.

“California immigrants can never win in Oregon,” said Philip J. Romero, an economist who has advised governors in both states. “In a boom, ‘They are crowding the roads and bidding up house prices.’ In a bust, it’s: ‘They alone caused the price of my house to drop by hundreds of thousands of dollars. They came up here without a job, and now we can’t absorb them and they’re competing for my job.’ ”

Carolyn Eagan, a regional economist for the Oregon Employment Department, pointed to federal data showing that the overall percentage of personal income from dividends, investments and rental income in Deschutes County was almost 26 percent in 2007, the latest year for which data were available. Compared with an overall state rate of slightly less than 21 percent, the figures suggest that people here, more than elsewhere, have relied on income from sources other than a steady job.

“Shhh,” Biff Ingels, a transplant of four years, standing outside the main job counseling center here, said when asked where he had lived before. “California,” he said in a whisper.

A cultural shift appears to be under way. One of Bend’s leading restaurants had been Merenda, whose chef, Jody Denton, came from San Francisco in 2002. Under mounting debt, Mr. Denton closed the restaurant in January and left for a job in Australia. Several people involved with the restaurant before it closed have reopened it under a new name, 900 Wall, its street address. The menu has been recast from mostly French and Italian cuisine so that it now incorporates more ingredients from the Northwest and has slightly more approachable pricing.

“We’re trying to present ourselves as a local restaurant,” said Cliff Eslinger, the executive chef. “We’d relied far too heavily on outside forces.”

Another casualty was Bend Living, a glossy regional magazine driven by advertisements for high-end homes and luxury furniture. Kevin Max, the magazine’s former editor, is planning the first issue of a new magazine about Oregon culture and history, based in Bend and set to make its debut this summer. It is called “1859,” a reference to the year Oregon entered the union.

“Bend Living was about Bend’s emergence into 24-7, go-go-go, irresponsible construction and people living beyond their means,” Mr. Max said. “1859 is kind of National Geographic meets Condé Nast Traveler. It’s about Oregon, so it’s all about sustainability.”

Locally, sustainability is a challenge. Bend’s job market has not proved diverse enough or deep enough to provide jobs for the newcomers who suddenly need them. “Poverty with a view” is how many people describe Bend before the boom. Economists say the city’s sudden abundance of investment income and housing equity from newcomers made Bend seem more secure than it was. While experienced people like Mrs. Telford, the accountant from Fresno, struggle to find work, there are longer term questions over how the area will support its newest residents.

Zachary Lauritzen, a student teacher at Summit High School, on Bend’s west side — the side some residents call “Little California” — said he was teaching a lesson in government when the topic prompted him to ask how many students had lived in California.

“Half of them raised their hands,” Mr. Lauritzen said.

Buster, please uncurl from fetal position, leave LaPine, and come back!

hbm, I been saving special titty-fuck for you so long!

tim, please thwack my nipples for bad apostrophe usage!

132 comments:

hbm said...

"Well, Summer is here & it's a truly glorious time to be in Bend!"

What the fuck are you smokin', Homer???

Yesterday's high in Bend: 57 degrees.

Yesterday's high in Anchorage, Alaska: 59 degrees.

"Summer"???

hbm said...

"What sweet fucking redemption to have a NYTimes piece that essentially blames these equity locust motherfuckers for ALL OUR ILLS."

Actually, it doesn't. Your reading comprehension leaves something to be desired.

Was it the "Calis" who hyped Bend as some kind of "paradise"? Was it "Calis" who owned the land that was developed? Did the "Calis," for the most part, do the development and building? Did they control City Hall? Did they rezone everything to allow McMansion crapshacks to be crammed onto postage-stamp lots?

Nope -- it was our own local GOBs and GOGs who screwed us.

And most of the "Calis," like the couple from Fresno mentioned in the Times story's lede, were screwed as much as, if not more than, any of the locals.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

“California immigrants can never win in Oregon,” said Philip J. Romero, an economist who has advised governors in both states. “In a boom, ‘They are crowding the roads and bidding up house prices.’ In a bust, it’s: ‘They alone caused the price of my house to drop by hundreds of thousands of dollars. They came up here without a job, and now we can’t absorb them and they’re competing for my job.’ ”

Anonymous said...

hbm. dude chillax, its summer.

and, yes, butter is creamy smooth right when he says half the class is from cafi.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Granted hbm, the local GOB's well & truly screwed the economic pooch.

But I use "Cali-Banger" more as an indicator of STATE OF MIND, rather than STATE OF ORIGIN.

DeeDee Keith? Fucking CALI-BANGER of the Nth Degree.

Overspending, fake titties, I'm-gonna-run-this-fucking-place, Hummer driving DOUCHE'S is the context I'm using.

Anonymous said...

hbm... i'll grant you that this summer's been cool. and it ain't cool to have cool summers... cool is for winter, ya dig? chill.

oh, and happy father's day.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

A cultural shift appears to be under way. One of Bend’s leading restaurants had been Merenda, whose chef, Jody Denton, came from San Francisco in 2002. Under mounting debt, Mr. Denton closed the restaurant in January and left for a job in Australia. Several people involved with the restaurant before it closed have reopened it under a new name, 900 Wall, its street address.


Funny, but this is HOW IT'S ALWAYS BEEN. This is not a CULTURAL SHIFT.

Dumbfucks with ME TOO business plans. Literally a CARBON MOTHERFUCKING COPY of something that just FAILED, plopped down in the same spot.

This is why this place is forever mired in an economic quagmire. Stupid fucking ideas in some sort of GROUNDHOG DAY loop, forever being repeated...

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

it ain't cool to have cool summers...


I still find bitching about Cent OR weather a little strange. I came from the Midwest where it is HIDEOUS.

275% humidity, 190 degrees in the shade EVERY FUCKING SUMMER DAY. Weather that kills old motherfuckers.

And the Winter is a hurricane gale of horizontal snow.

I know hbm, San Diego is perfect, so Antarctica should not exist... but there are FAR WORSE places than here, weather-wise.

I'm not 100% HAPPY with the weather here, but I don't really want to be in the places that are like that. Weather is like 6th on the priority list.

That said, I will botch about the weather until this blog goes down...

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Ummmm.... BITCH

Anonymous said...

Oregon has always had a boom and bust economy. This is largely due to the native Oregonians refusing to leave to seek a better life.
If you have kids in college, when they graduate, tell them to go anywhere, except Oregon.
Because of this unwillingness to move, employers can pay low wages, with little benefits.
Why do you think Oregon has the highest percentage of people working for the government, (next to Hawaii)??

Anonymous said...

The "haves" in this state are government workers, not people from California.
The "have nots" are the rest of us slobs working for private companies.

Anonymous said...

State workers are not overpaid.
When I retire, I will barely be making $45,000. a year, and I may have to pay for some of my medical benefits.
Is that overpaid??

hbm said...

"This fucking place is run by RETARDS."

A-yuh.

Have you seen my proposal to rename Bend "Chelm-on-the-Deschutes," after the village in Yiddish folklore where every inhabitant is an idiot? Do you like the idea?

Face it, middle-of-nowhere towns like Bend simply DO NOT attract the top talent in any profession, be it medicine, law, politics, education, journalism or whatever (except maybe professional triathletes and rock-climbers). People with brains, talent and ambition go where the big bucks are, and that means the big cities.

But Bend folks refuse to recognize this, deluding themselves into believing that we have "the greatest" everything.

Another problem is that friendliness and a pleasant manner are valued above competence here. Thus the mediocre thrive as long as they're "nice guys."

hbm said...

"“California immigrants can never win in Oregon,” said Philip J. Romero, an economist who has advised governors in both states. “In a boom, ‘They are crowding the roads and bidding up house prices.’ In a bust, it’s: ‘They alone caused the price of my house to drop by hundreds of thousands of dollars. They came up here without a job, and now we can’t absorb them and they’re competing for my job.’ ”

I believe his point is that California immigrants GET blamed for everything, good times or bad, not that they really deserve the blame.

hbm said...

"But I use "Cali-Banger" more as an indicator of STATE OF MIND, rather than STATE OF ORIGIN."

Thanks for the clarification, but in that case why call them "Cali-Bangers"? Why not "gauche, ostentatious, shallow nouveau riche assholes"? You can find those in every state.

Duncan McGeary said...

We're seeing some premature ejaculation with the P.R. right now.

There are going to be some disappointed newcomers.

hbm said...

"I still find bitching about Cent OR weather a little strange. I came from the Midwest where it is HIDEOUS."

Yeah, Midwest weather sucks even harder than Bend's. But that don't mean Bend's don't suck. Especially compared to all the hype about what a fuckin "paradise" we live in. I guess hearing that bullshit constantly is what really galls me.

hbm said...

"We're seeing some premature ejaculation with the P.R. right now."

"Premature ejaculations" -- that's good. Mind if I steal it sometime? With attribution, of course.

BTW does anybody know how many times The Bull has called the "bottom" of the RE market? Somebody should research it. My guess would be at least five or six times.

Duncan McGeary said...

Too nasty for my own blog. Go for it.

What's the opposite of the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf?

Word Veri -- distr.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Tehran is blaming the Jews & the USA for vote-tampering.

Is there any vote we won't tamper with?

I'm just glad to be bunched in with blood-thirsty Jews. I like dat.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

BTW does anybody know how many times The Bull has called the "bottom" of the RE market? Somebody should research it. My guess would be at least five or six times.


More amazing, is that according to the Bully they've been right every time.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Calif. jobless rate climbs to record 11.5 percent


By JULIET WILLIAMS and MICHELLE RINDELS

LOS ANGELES

California's unemployment rate climbed to 11.5 percent in May, the highest in modern record-keeping, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Friday.

MORE

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

HART: California: Look left, for our nation's destiny


By Ron Hart

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.

If you want to see how the Obama big-government agenda will play out for us in the future, look no further than California, his dream high-tax state which votes overwhelmingly Democrat. If you follow the Democratic agenda, you end up with financially strapped states from which businesses and taxpayers are leaving in droves. Even with the highest tax rates in the USA (10 percent plus, not counting city taxes), these states run the biggest deficits. Compare that to the zero income tax state of Texas, which balances its budget and created more jobs in 2008 than all of the 49 other states combined.

Let's look back to Arnold Schwarzenegger's election as the "Governator" of California, a state so shallow that it takes only celebrity status to get elected. Concerned that the state was spending too much and businesses were leaving, Californians chose The Terminator over their other choices: child actor-turned-mall-cop Gary Coleman, watermelon-smashing comedian Gallagher and porn star Mary Carey. Torn between porn starlet Carey and actor Schwarzenegger, California went with Arnold. He had slightly more political experience, although Carey had proven she can take uncomfortable positions. Somehow, Californians managed to choose the least financially responsible candidate.

So how did liberal California get itself into such a budget mess, given that it has one of the highest marginal tax rates in the country? As I pointed out in a column in 2007, "Some states are high on taxes - and themselves." California actually funded a sex-change operation for a male prisoner. But hang on, here is where it gets silly: He now is asking to have the sex-change reversed. This is why I never throw out old clothes.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

As a constitutional scholar, Obama clearly knows that convicted murderers are entitled to sex change (and reverse sex change) operations should they not be 100 percent satisfied. It is right there in the Constitution, along with the right to free prescription drugs, free health care and dominion over the automobile industry. Look long enough and you will find it.

If you wonder how "soak the rich" liberalism will play out with the New Left regime in D.C., just look at California. As Ronald Reagan said, "People vote with their feet." The reason Texas, Tennessee and Florida (all zero income tax states) grow is because entrepreneurs flee high-tax states and bring their businesses and jobs with them. I joke that my home state, Tennessee, is called "The Volunteer State" because they can't make you live there.

And if you think these high tax/regulation/union friendly states are lower on other taxes, think again. Taxing and spending are like alcoholism: once started, they never end. At least drunks are funny; imprudent politicians are not. California lawmakers are working on another $1.50 per pack tax on cigarettes, on top of Obama's contemplated tax of $3 per pack, marking the first time a president imposed such a tax while having a pack of Newport menthols in his pocket. With Obama having to print so many dollars to fund his deficit, cigarettes both inside and outside of prisons might become our main currency - either that, or something else we can trust, like a Walmart gift card.

Hollywood is still in bed smoking a cigarette, celebrating the afterglow of its love affair with Obama. The "environmental president" recently flew his crew out to California ($265,000 in Air Force One costs) for two Democratic fundraisers in L.A. Because Hollywood is always a model of equality and fairness, there were two-tiered donor events. One, hosted by Stephen Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, cost $15,000 a head to attend; the other cost $1,000 per person and was presumably hosted by Carrot Top and Kathy Griffin. Even as they celebrate diversity, egalitarianism and affirmative action, our Hollywood elite feel it important for the nation to not to lose sight of a fundamental truth: there should always be an A-list and a B-list.

I am not saying Schwarzenegger's political career is over but, lacking the muscle to stop the spending in California, he is just one more bad decision away from signing up to be the next spokesman for Viagra.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Because Hollywood is always a model of equality and fairness, there were two-tiered donor events. One, hosted by Stephen Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, cost $15,000 a head to attend; the other cost $1,000 per person and was presumably hosted by Carrot Top and Kathy Griffin...


Now that's funny!

Duncan McGeary said...

Rewrote today's rant about the Traditions Golf Tournament.

What were they thinking?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Actually 15% seems really good to me, since you'd have to kill me, drag my rotting corpse to the side of the golf course, turn my dulled eyes toward the action, and shoot electric bolts into my head, to get me to watch golf.


Geez Dunc... you're going soft. You're practically BEGGING to be invited.

For me, you'd have to hot-rivet both sides of my fucking nutbag to 2 trains traveling in opposite directions, reach up my torn-apart asshole, pull out my skinless corpse, cram it in a cannon, aim for Sunriver, and blow me onto the course, eyes opened with toothpicks, ala Clockwork Orange for ME to watch golf.

Duncan McGeary said...

Fuck train. Two supersonic jets....

Oh, never mind.

Too funny.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Did I mention they would re-aminate my corpse with the squeezings from the tampon yanked outta my dead Grama?

Well, they would.

I don't know how many dead-Grama-tampon-squeezings Bloody Mary's I've had to sober up.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Did I mention I have the Chuck Norris of Grama's?

5 men died trying to amputate her pussy, after they found out Satan had a condo there.

They then nuked the disemboweled pussy.

It continues to have it's monthly period to this day.

That's tough fucking Grama pussy.

Duncan McGeary said...

"Geez Dunc... you're going soft. You're practically BEGGING to be invited."

Did I mention that's only if Tiger Woods is playing?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Dunc, please stop goading me into talking about my dead Grama's tough-as-leather amputated cunt, whose tampon squeezings are used to animate the Spawn of Satan.

Please, such things are irrelevant to this blog! PLEASE!

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Another casualty was Bend Living, a glossy regional magazine driven by advertisements for high-end homes and luxury furniture. Kevin Max, the magazine’s former editor, is planning the first issue of a new magazine about Oregon culture and history, based in Bend and set to make its debut this summer. It is called “1859,” a reference to the year Oregon entered the union.

“Bend Living was about Bend’s emergence into 24-7, go-go-go, irresponsible construction and people living beyond their means,” Mr. Max said.



See? This guy ADMITS that his previous rag was about RIDICULOUS CALI-BANGER EXCESS, 100%!

But BY GOD, he's going to start another WORTHLESS BEND MAG, claiming it's about "SUSTAINABILITY". Uh huh.

This place is PACKED with ONE TRICK PONIES... dumbfucks who fail OVER AND OVER AND OVER, and wonder why.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Susan and Mike Telford had a plan back in the boom years in California. They would sell their house outside Fresno at a solid profit and take their equity to this sunny mountain city to build a better life, a fresh-air future in Oregon.

“We wanted to lose the commute, to lose the smog,” Mrs. Telford said. “We wanted to lose California.”



See, there people SOUND reasonable, but damn near all of them try to REMAKE CENTRAL OREGON IN SOME CALI-BANGER IMAGE.

Always. Fucking Hummers, dick implants and fake tits. 9 of 10 of these fuckers can't resist the urge to morph back into the perverted, eco-horseshit, narcissist, hedonistic Cali-monstrosity they truly are.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

While experienced people like Mrs. Telford, the accountant from Fresno, struggle to find work, there are longer term questions over how the area will support its newest residents.

Like we always have: Squeeze them for every last fucking 401K nickel they have then send them on their way, in a broken down U-Haul-minivan bastardized POS.

hbm said...

"See, there people SOUND reasonable, but damn near all of them try to REMAKE CENTRAL OREGON IN SOME CALI-BANGER IMAGE."

How, exactly, were the Telfords trying to "remake Central Oregon in some Cali-Banger image," Homeboy? Is there anything that says they had a Hummer, a fake dick and titty implants? They sound like pretty ordinary, middle-class people to me -- an accountant and a teacher, not a couple of fucking hedge fund managers.

All they wanted to do was LIVE here, fer crap's sake. Is that a crime?

Well, yeah, I suppose in your book it is. And by that standard everybody who wasn't born here should leave -- including YOU. So why don't you go back to freezing your ass off in the fucking Midwest?

hbm said...

"my dead Grama's tough-as-leather amputated cunt, whose tampon squeezings are used to animate the Spawn of Satan."

Ah, so THAT'S how they keep Cheney alive. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

"Ah, so THAT'S how they keep Cheney alive. Thanks."

Is there a childish cheapshot that you can actually resist making?

hbm said...

Ah, a Cheney admirer in our midst. There aren't many of those left.

Anonymous said...

The reason Texas, Tennessee and Florida (all zero income tax states) grow is because entrepreneurs flee high-tax states and bring their businesses and jobs with them.

In principle I wouldn't mind living in a zero income tax state -- who wouldn't -- but certainly NOT Texas, Tennessee, or Florida. Never mind the 100% humidity, the education system is in general absymal (partly due to religious fervor but also because of those 'gloriously' low taxes).

As for businesses leaving California due to oppressive restrictions, this is also a load of horse shit.

Too much of the state's economy was BUILDING HOUSES. Some statistics: The 65,000 housing starts that Cali had in 2008 were the lowest ever recorded. In 2009 there will be less them 40,000 new housing units at the very highest. Conservative estimates put the loss of jobs at more than 360,000 and at least $50 billion from the state's economy.

It's not like businesses are fleeing due to oppressive burdens from government. Are Cali home builders moving to Tennessee because of the glories of its economic policies?

Rather -- d u h -- the demand for new houses has plummeted. That's why Cali and its state government is hurting (not to mention the entire West coast).

The sad thing is that we as a nation DO have a lot of work to do --- it's to develop alternatives to depleting fossil fuel energy sources and to find ways to suck up excess greenhouse gas emissions. But the investments aren't there, largely because it's not entirely clear what to do.

Maybe we could hire the ex-Gottsock's sign holders to hold solar panels, and move them in the direction of the sun to generate electricity. At least that would be something useful.

Mike said...

"Ah, a Cheney admirer in our midst. There aren't many of those left."

I doubt there are many more Cheney admirers than there are Pelosi admirers. Which is why your comment is so pointless, unfunny, and sadly predictable.

hbm said...

"As for businesses leaving California due to oppressive restrictions, this is also a load of horse shit."

Indeed. The same brand of horse shit that Enron peddled to get CA to deregulate energy in the 1990s so they could loot the state, and that corporate looters have been peddling since Grant was in the White House.

If low taxes were the engine of prosperity, Mississippi would be the economic powerhouse of America. (David Sarasohn said that.)

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Which is why your comment is so pointless, unfunny, and sadly predictable.


I personally thought it was hilariously predictable.

Anonymous said...

I'm an Oregon native currently stuck in this sewer of a state called Texas. You can have it, nothing but religios bigots, racists, and assorted morons who are stuck back in the past. The Schools,air,and water out here are secind rate at best and the the only thing these idiots care about are guns and high school football. PS the humidity and tornados suck too!

LavaBear said...

>>> The Schools,air,and water out here are secind rate

You Texans talk funny.

hbm said...

"If I owned Texas and Hell, I'd live in Hell and rent out Texas." -- Old Proverb

Anonymous said...

Gee, that's a nice thing to say, hbm.

Anonymous said...

Here's one for Buster, our resident anarchist:


Lancaster, Pa., keeps a close eye on itself

A vast and growing web of security cameras monitors the city of 55,000, operated by a private group of self-appointed gatekeepers. There's been surprisingly little outcry.

By Bob Drogin

June 21, 2009

Reporting from Lancaster, Pa. — This historic town, where America's founding fathers plotted during the Revolution and Milton Hershey later crafted his first chocolates, now boasts another distinction.

It may become the nation's most closely watched small city.

Some 165 closed-circuit TV cameras soon will provide live, round-the-clock scrutiny of nearly every street, park and other public space used by the 55,000 residents and the town's many tourists. That's more outdoor cameras than are used by many major cities, including San Francisco and Boston.

Unlike anywhere else, cash-strapped Lancaster outsourced its surveillance to a private nonprofit group that hires civilians to tilt, pan and zoom the cameras -- and to call police if they spot suspicious activity. No government agency is directly involved.

Perhaps most surprising, the near-saturation surveillance of a community that saw four murders last year has sparked little public debate about whether the benefits for law enforcement outweigh the loss of privacy.

"Years ago, there's no way we could do this," said Keith Sadler, Lancaster's police chief. "It brings to mind Big Brother, George Orwell and '1984.' It's just funny how Americans have softened on these issues."

"No one talks about it," agreed Scott Martin, a Lancaster County commissioner who wants to expand the program. "Because people feel safer. Those who are law-abiding citizens, they don't have anything to worry about."

More at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-spycam-city21-2009jun21,0,3641451.story

Anonymous said...

Re: Hope...

New Bend UE numbers from this morning:
Type New Last month
Adjusted 15.9% 14.4%
Unadjusted 15.6% 16.7%

Bend is now 365th out of 372, between Fresno and Stockton.
List

###

Re: This fucking place is run by RETARDS. Pie-in-the-fucking-sky idiots. The whole fucking state is that way, it's just especially severe in Central Oregon.

From the May 19 JRMB Minutes:
"Member Foerster asked about the impact to the Hwy 97 reroute and Mr. Ditz explained it is hugely important to Juniper Ridge; the biggest issue is the connection point is not in the TSP and another issue is ODOT’s schemes do not show the full interchange. He feels it is important to have a full interchange. Mr. King added that both options included a partial interchange on the north end. ODOT is still being asked to include this. The focus is the mid-term solution and the city providing $50M for that. The hope is to get the full 200 acres included. Chair James wanted to see the whole employment zone included."

PopGoesBend said...

Deschutes County adjusted unemployment for May: 16.7
Jefferson County adjusted unemployment for May: 16.4

Deschutes County non-adjusted for May: 15.2
Jefferson county non-adjusted for May: 14.8

We are worse of than Madras.

source

Anonymous said...

"Oregon cultivates DREAMERS"

Yes and no. Oregon attracts people who think they've got it all figured out and we're a bunch of bumpkins.

They can't seem to figure out that even though things are cheaper here, that jobs pay less too, and even if you develop some real estate "for cheap" you can still only charge Oregon-level rents, that people will only pay Oregon-level prices for a meal, that there isn't a market for over-priced fusion b.s. and $10 cocktails in places like downtown Corvallis.

Maybe, we should actually be thankful for stupid newcomers too naive to realize they're just draining their savings into our economy by overpaying for everything.

tim said...

What Oregon does is harvest and process Dreamers.

Anonymous said...

Deluded narcissistic exceptionalism.

There are hundreds of towns in the USA where that think this way or project this kind of snooty vibe. I think there's no need to pick on Bend for this as if it's somehow worse than others.

Anonymous said...

The security camera thing is useless. They had those implemented in San Francisco and nobody enforces them, nobody watches them and basically no crimes whatsoever have ever been prosecuted from footage from the cameras. Bunch of expensive malarkey.

Anonymous said...

The couple from Fresno made a simple mistake. Sell first, then move not the other way around. Also, moving up market from 300K to 475K is the wrong direction when moving to a place where incomes are lower. You make a lateral (at worst) or downward move in this case. Selling for 300K and buying in at 200K or 250K would have been pretty sound move.

Anonymous said...

Don't all high school teachers live in a $475k house?

hbm said...

"Gee, that's a nice thing to say, hbm."

If you want "nice" you've come to the wrong blog.

"Don't all high school teachers live in a $475k house?"

Maybe not. But the Telfords had two incomes at the time and they thought they could sell their Fresno house for $300K. That was foolish, but not criminal. Unless you think it's a crime to be from California, as many Bendites apparently do.

Anonymous said...

Unless you think it's a crime to be from California, as many Bendites apparently do.

And almost all of the supposed "Bendites" them are from California or somewhere else too... but they've been here a bit longer or it was their dad who moved here so now they're entitled to being reverse snobs. Their poo is pure blooded Bendite poo-poo. Because it's fun to rag on people and call them idiots for their misfortunes based on their point of origin and blame them for your own too! It never goes out of style! It's just fun, fun, fun and enlightening to find the most negative things possible to post at all times about people and your own backyard. It shows true intellectual and cultural superiority.

Anonymous said...

Oregon House passes Metolius resort ban
Published: June 22. 2009 12:21PM PST

The state House of Representatives approved a bill this morning that will block two destination resorts that had been discussed for the area in and around the Metolius River Basin.
The vote, by 31-28, reversed a vote last week in which the bill did not receive the necessary majority of the 60-member House. The bill now goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski for his signature.

Anonymous said...

>> Oregon House passes Metolius resort ban

There is a God!

Who want's to chip in and help buy Shane Lundgren his one-way plane ticket to Costa Rica so he can surf instead of screw up the Metolius?

Anonymous said...

talked to a good source today. The mass exodis has begun I don't think the new cali's will be able to stand the harsh economy of oregon. Don't come here this place is bad if you have a degree or two you might just get a minimum wage job. poverty with a view is an understatement. you might have to hold a begger sign at home depoe.

Bewert said...

Cropdusting...

Nice to see one of your UE numbers has gotten lower. Amazing that you are so far behind Flint, MI.

To the Bruce hater re: the manifesto:

As my knowledge, aided with several phone conversations with the head of the Ethics Commission, progressed it became apparent that real transparency became dependent upon an insider making a complaint.

The Commission needs "proof" to actually pursue a complaint. The proof is hard docs that are a bit of a bitch to get a copy of, unless you turn an insider.

If you want to actually file the limited complaint I ended up with I'll be glad send it to you via email. I left Bend, so by law I cannot.

Personally, there is a series of acts by local leaders that made it clear to me Bend has some real issues.

####

Must say, I wish the leaders would just hunker down and fight for the crumbs, because it is a beautiful place to live.

But you've got Mayor Kathie Eckman as your leader. Been here since '88, former cheerleader.

I did a Finance Committee interview with her.

One of the reasons I left.

####

Good luck. You'll survive. Shit, everyone here has a pretty fucking thick skin.

Anonymous said...

Wait until July UE numbers come out. Cessna doesn't lay of til July 2nd.
Pretty dumb, they are actually shipping inventory to Wichita and it's not just paper. Most of the parts they won't use.

Anonymous said...

“The greatest thing about playing Dwight is that the writers keep coming up with really cool, interesting stuff for him,” he says. “In the hands of lesser writers, he would just kind of do the same annoying, dweeby stuff week after week. But they make him complex. They give him romance and power struggles and personal turmoil and friendships and all kinds of different color.”

FACT: When sitting at his desk in the background of scenes in “The Office,” Wilson is “creating crap to post on the BendBubble2 Web site.”

A beat later: “Really; I’m not joking,” he says.



*

FACT: Dwight Schrute is Rainn Wilson is buster.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

But the Telfords had two incomes at the time and they thought they could sell their Fresno house for $300K. That was foolish, but not criminal. Unless you think it's a crime to be from California, as many Bendites apparently do.


These people are obviously friends of hbm.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Marge said...

Wait until July UE numbers come out. Cessna doesn't lay of til July 2nd.



True, good catch marge. 15.2% unemployment in May? If I'd said that a year ago (6.4% UE, May 2008), I'd have been tarred & feathered.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Because it's fun to rag on people and call them idiots for their misfortunes based on their point of origin and blame them for your own too!


True. It is.

Read, Delbert. STATE OF MIND, NOT STATE OF ORIGIN.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Oregon counties see joblessness continue to worsen
by Amy Hsuan, The Oregonian
Monday June 22, 2009, 9:37 PM


But this year, unemployment rates continued to climb in April and May, critical months for seasonal employment, according to county jobless figures released Monday by the Oregon Employment Department.

In May, all but three Oregon counties posted double-digit unemployment rates. And all but five counties saw unemployment double from a year ago in May 2008.

Still, the spiking unemployment figures are slackening their pace, and some employers in construction and temporary staffing are adding jobs for the first time in 10 months.

"In many of these counties, these are going to be historically high rates," said Art Ayre, state employment economist. "... I expect we are close to the plateau, or near the beginning of the plateau, rather than the end of it."

While the Portland metro area saw a curbing of job losses, other parts of the state, particularly Central Oregon, continued to bleed despite adding jobs.

Crook County's unemployment rate hit a statewide high of 20.9 percent. Deschutes County, with an unemployment rate now of 16.7 percent, added about 1,000 jobs, mostly in tourism and hospitality. But they weren't enough to offset the floods of people looking for work from other sectors, particularly construction, which saw a gain of 100 jobs at most.

"We added jobs, but our unemployment rate still went up," says Carolyn Eagan, a regional economist based in Bend, one of the hardest hit metropolitan areas in the nation. "In the summertime, when unemployment is supposed to be lower, ours has gone up. That's one reason why these numbers are so disconcerting."

Still more pain may be on the way for Central Oregon, Eagan says. Since mid-May, after monthly unemployment figures were calculated, several large retailers have gone out of business, and Cessna Aircraft Co. announced its closure, claiming as many as 200 jobs.

"We'll capture those job losses in June," Eagan said. "That may be more bad news. But we'll know then if we some of that seasonal hiring pick up."

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Frm KTVZ.com:

More Central Oregon jobless - despite more jobs


Only in the statistics-filled world of the state Employment Department could Central Oregon's unemployment rates again soar to new records Monday - despite the fact that more jobs were created in May than expected, in all three counties.

A big clue to why those two things can happen at the same time is what the non-seasonally adjusted jobless rates did in May - they dropped, if only a bit, from 15.3 to 15.2 percent in Deschutes County, a nearly 1-point drop, to 18.4 percent in Crook County and 1.5 points, to 14.8 percent for Jefferson County last month.

The state switched to measuring seasonally adjusted jobless rates in Central Oregon over a year ago, in part to match the state and national figures, which have been reported on a seasonally adjusted basis for some time.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

TOLD YA!

Credit BARNEY LERTEN as the first Cent OR "journalist" to start quoting the MUCH CHEERIER UNADJUSTED UE RATES!

Knew this would happen: They won't even acknowledge that UNADJUSTED NUMBERS EVEN EXIST in te Winter, because they're so high.

But BANG, come Summer, when they are much lower... well hell, all of a sudden LERTEN IS CONFUSED & ANGRY!

ONLY IN THE STATISTICS FILLED WORLD OF THE STATE EMPLOYMENT DEPT DOES THIS MAKE ONE FUCKING BIT OF SENSE, RIGHT BARNEY?

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

CACB at $1.50... Bail Out Now.

hbm said...

"These people are obviously friends of hbm."

Never met 'em.

hbm said...

FYI, Mike Telford posted the following comment on my blog tody:

I am the guy that was featured in this [NY Times] article although my wife gave the interview. I know better than to talk to a journalist but.....(grit my teeth and bless my wife) lol

Left out in this article is the fact that the move to Bend was a return home for me after 30 years in the oil business. I am a graduate of Pendleton High School and the University of Oregon. My professional interests took me out of the state but I always dreamed of returning. She wouldn't live in Pendleton so we compromised on Bend. My wife told this to the journalist but it didn't fit his slant.

We left a city with the 4th dirtiest air in the nation,in the top ten in car thefts and gang infested. The year that we finally had enough the EPA listed over 100 days as unhealthy. At these levels it is recommended that you stay indoors. She told this to the journalist but it didn't fit his slant.

My wife is a CPA a/k/ "bean counter" and for many years we had a rule that once money went into savings it didn't come out. She drives me crazy each month when the brokerage statements arrive but I know the results without looking. When the accounts are up, she files them. When they are down we have a discussion. Having to use the savings account to fund bills from time to time is new to her but for me it is the reason for having one.

She told the journalist that the house in CA was rented at a positive cash flow but he left that part out. Personally, I think it is great that someone else goes to work everyday to build my equity plus the tax benefits. Longer term, I look at this house as a winter refuge and it is only 25 miles from the south gate of Yosemite. My wife told this to the journalist but I guess it didn't fit the slant.

Has it been difficult moving to Bend? Yes, largely because we miss the social networks that we established but we are forming new ones and I have reconnected with old ones up here. Our summers are filled with friends visiting...after all who wouldn't go to Bend especially when the lodge is free.

The biggest challenge that I have in Bend is deciding where to go fishing. I have ADD and sometimes the choices simply overwhelm me.lol I have had the opportunity to fish on 3 continents and over much of the western hemisphere and in a fifty mile circle around Bend it is as good as it gets. Draw a 100 mile circle....

In five years this same journalist will be writing an article about the lost opportunities of not buying a house in Bend while the prices were below the cost of construction. In the meantime, it looks like the NYT will soon join Bend Living.

Yesterday, while gazing at Mt. Thielsen from the middle of Diamond Lake I asked her if she would be happier professionally in CA. The look that I got as an answer is not one that I care to see again.

She now knows rules #1 and #2.

#1 Don't talk to journalists
#2 Refer to rule #1.

Mike Telford

P.S. Everyday I am grateful to have the opportunity to live in a city with clean air and polite, friendly people. If that is a "bummer" then I am doubly grateful to be "bummed out".

MDHN09 said...

talked to a good source today. The mass exodis has begun ..

what is this great source??

DMV told me they are seeing more people coming in.

tim said...

How would the DMV ever see people leave?

Anonymous said...

Do you believe that was really Mike Telford?

hbm said...

"Do you believe that was really Mike Telford?"

No way to know for sure, of course. But why would somebody else bother to defend him?

MDHN09 said...

How would the DMV ever see people leave?

they where talking about new people registering

Anonymous said...

Your name looks suspiciously like a license plate. And who spelled "where" for "were." You work at the DMV, don't you?

Anonymous said...

More people coming in? for what are they all retired? because if you aint, you gonna starve.So many for rent signs and for sell signs popping up daily.

St Paddy said...

We've got some members of the third grade spelling team in here tonight.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

The Bully is protecting bars & going after the local OLCC agent like nothing I've ever seen... except for maybe pumping RE

Happy hour rules have some bars baffled, and paying up

Bend restaurant owner Gavin McMichael says he followed the law to its letter — and even consulted with OLCC staff about its advertising rules — yet local agents have told him he’ll be getting a ticket for prohibited advertising, according to e-mails he provided to The Bulletin.

But Evers said an employee at The Blacksmith Restaurant and Bar told his agent during a telephone call that drink prices were discounted during happy hour, and that is enough to run afoul of the rule.

The sanction for breaking the advertising rule is a $495 fine or a three-day liquor license suspension, according to Evers, who said a final decision on ticketing McMichael has yet to be made.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

Costa essentially is trying this thing in The Court of the Bend Bully.

He's clearly siding with the bars...

hbm said...

"Costa essentially is trying this thing in The Court of the Bend Bully. He's clearly siding with the bars..."

So is the Source. Surprisingly, we DO agree on some things.

Anonymous said...

"Costa essentially is trying this thing in The Court of the Bend Bully. He's clearly siding with the bars..."

--------------------------
Um...that's kinda the job of a newspaper. It's called accountability.

IHateToBurstYourBubble said...

So is the Source. Surprisingly, we DO agree on some things.


I'll admit it is a strange law. Bars can't advertise Happy Hour with discounted drinks? WTF sort of self-deceiving bullshit is that?

Hell, I never said it was wrong to side with the bars. I don't know this OLCC agent... it's just extremely obvious that the Bully has got out the full-court-press in favor of th bars.

tim said...

That's ridiculous. Everyone already knows that "happy hour" means cheaper drinks. How else (aside from having pole dancers) could you possibly make people at a bar happy?

Having ridiculous laws just makes people lawbreakers.

hbm said...

"I'll admit it is a strange law. Bars can't advertise Happy Hour with discounted drinks? WTF sort of self-deceiving bullshit is that?"

OLCC is a perfect example of an agency with not enough to do and too many people to do it with. IMO.

Anonymous said...

"The Bully is protecting bars & going after the local OLCC agent like nothing I've ever seen"

So now your hatred for a non-influential who-gives-a-shit newspaper makes you side with the fucking OLCC?

Newsflash foreigner, nobody likes the OLCC here in Or-eegahn.

Kudos to any news outlet for publicizing the OLCC's Nazi behavior.

Quimby said...

Is the OLCC even relevant anymore? What is their purpose other than to facilitate tax collection for the state? When they say "Control" they mean controlling the $$$

TIM>> aside from having pole dancers

Damn Tim, that doesn't make me happy, just really frustrated!!!

Anonymous said...

I know an OLCC employee. ALWAYS griping about how miserable everything is and how much they hate their job. I tend to support State employees generally, since so many bash them - but this one makes it really hard to do that.

I'm starting to come to the conclusion that they should be disbanded.

Anonymous said...

Moutain Comfort is a franchise:


Mountain Comfort Furnishings
Outdoor-inspired furnishings

From rustic, mountain lodges to western chic, country to Spanish imports, Mountain Comfort Furnishings has been offering home furnishings inspired by the Rocky Mountains and blue Colorado skies since 1984.

Since franchising began in 1991, franchisees have been providing nature-inspired furniture, accessories, lamps and more.

Please Note: The operators of Mountain Comfort Furnishings, may not have verified the accuracy of the Franchise information contained within this website. For accurate up-to-date information, customers are strongly recommended to visit the official Mountain Comfort Furnishings website.

Start-up Costs & Franchises Fees
How much does it cost to open a Mountain Comfort Furnishings Franchises?

Total Investment: $212,390-$499,800
Initial Franchise Fee: $29,500
Royalty Fee: $6000 to $15000
Advertising Fee: 1/2%

LavaBear said...

>>>I'm starting to come to the conclusion that they should be disbanded.

I was down in Arizona recently. Walked through Costco and noticed the same bottle of booze was $10-$15 PER BOTTLE cheaper. (And the fact Costco sells booze) I guess we don't have sales tax. We know income tax is tanking. Property taxes are the next shoe to drop. Guess booze is the only way for the state to make any cash. Gotta keep that monopoly that the OLCC has in place.

Anonymous said...

Are you telling me this is all gone? You mean foreclosed? Chapter 11?

It IS quite over the top. It's like making up for growing up without toys. Hopefully hubby's building and land acquisition business is doing better. I hear there's lots of cheap land ready for the acquiring these days.


The twin alabaster sink bowls, nearly translucent, cast a soft orange glow as the light shines through them. Inside the bottom of each sink bowl, the Keiths have collected little pebbles from their trips to the San Juan Islands and deposited a handful in each sink. On top of the pebbles, they have small polished rocks with power words carved into them.

Anonymous said...

As a free people we enjoy the right to be fucked in the ass by every tyrannical government agency that protects not only our freedoms but us from ourselves. Thank you OLCC for being the kind of Institution (Mob, Nazi party, fill-in-the-blank) that makes America the great nation that it is.

PopGoesBend said...

When will the nation's job markets return to normal?

and more importantly, when does IHS Global Insight think that Bend unemployment will return to normal? 2014 Q1. That's a short 4.75 years away!

Wait.... but this guy thinks there are numerous signs pointing to the bottom of the Bend real estate market...

I'm confused.

Anonymous said...

"Moutain Comfort is a franchise:"

I heard a while back that the "going out of business" sale is a farce. They aren't really going out of business. They're just ditching the franchise and then they'll re-open with a new name.

tim said...

Re: Ditching the franchise and reopening.

Hasn't that just recently happened downtown with one of the furniture stores? They ditched the franchise, reopened, then went under two months later.

Deja Vu?

Quimby said...

Damn, any franchise agreement worthwhile has a non-compete.

Strange.

Anonymous said...

Its not all bad, I heard G5 Search Marketing has jobs

Anonymous said...

Yes not all bad. Bend has one company hiring Ruby on Rails programmers. Should solve the unemployment problem quickly as soon as they move into a new building.

Anonymous said...

"Its not all bad, I heard G5 Search Marketing has jobs"

Too bad our softball teams sucks ass. But the ladies are first rate here.

Anonymous said...

Going out of business and then re-opening assumes that there IS business to be DONE. You don't see Gottschalks re-opening as something else.

Bewert said...

From Juniper Ridge Blog:
Anonymous said...

Neuman, Stevens, Lyon and Larkin are all CRIMINALS.

They knew being CPA's that what they did was immoral and illegal and they know fully well they were running a PONZI SCHEME. They belong in prison and to have their licenses taken for life as to never practice as accountants ever again. They are the scum of the earth.

They knew they were gambling with other peoples money, money which did not belong to them. For them to say they have done nothing illegal is bullshit and they are hiding behind some loophole in the law like cowards. They should have all of their personal assets seized and be put out on the streets until they go to prison where they all belong.

They all seem to whine about how much they have had to pay to their lawyers and getting nothing in return, but funny how this works when it is THEIR money. What about the 21 million dollars you STOLE from your clients? Plead guilty and go do your time. You know that you committed a felony or massive amounts of felonies.

You are all the scum of the earth and I am going to make sure you never practice as CPA's ever again. You are not worthy anymore.

A perfect example of GREED and abusing their status as professionals. NO ETHICS AND NO HONOR. Not what I want in my CPA. CRIMINALS and THIEVES.

I know that the best medicine for you four is to spend the next ten years rotting in a prison with the meth dealers and the child molestors as you are no better.

All parties who knew about this ponzi scheme are guilty and truly criminal as well. Kevin is a parasite on society as well. I hope you rot in prison along with these four who are off to prison eventually as there is no way to excuse this kind of unprofessional conduct.

Ego's and pride and Greed is the real reason you are all in this world of shit. The FBI will prosecute you and deservingly so.
June 21, 2009 1:19 AM


Anonymous said...

So if they think they were not criminal in their actions, then why all of the LLC's? Why not pull the money out and put it into personal accounts? If they claim they have done nothing wrong!

I do also believe they will all be cozy in prison together where they should spend at least ten years and while they are there have all of their personal assets stripped from them. Every single asset they own should be reverted to the clients they STOLE from.

I agree they should have their licenses taken for life and spend their lives as felons as this is what they are. No reason to argue about this as there were no ethics or honor among these thieves who are all whining about how they have overpiad their attorneys as this rumor is running like wildfire in Bend. Neuman and Stevens are both professional whiners and should be the first two to be cell mates with Bubba. Explain how they could afford to pay for their attorneys if they are in fact now broke? what about their lavish lifestyles, vacations and massive spending since they filed for bankruptcy protection?

Like the family who lost all of their money and not able to buy their cattle farm. None of these criminals can face their victims and truly and truthfully state they did not know what they were doing was wrong, immoral, unethical and grossly negligent.

I vote to send them to prison for at least a decade as that is a nice place for common criminals. Goes to show how elitist ego maniacs think when they can walk around and say " We did nothing wrong" they are victims themselves as their scam did not go as planned. I am sure there are plenty of bank robbers in prison who will relate to their stories who are also all innocent.
June 21, 2009 1:31 AM

Bewert said...

More:

Anonymous said...

Some of you need more to do and before you start running your mouths need to figure out what the hell you are talking about first before you throw out baseless arguments. First of all they weren’t all CPA's, if you don't know that then you don't know the first thing about these guys. Second of all, how exactly did they "steal" or are you just regurgitating phrases you've heard people, much smarter than yourself use? These men are some the most honest, sincere, ethical men I have ever met and they made a bad business investment, that's it. The money is all sitting in these completely devalued real estate holdings that they don't have any control over anymore so what do you want them to do? And what lavish lifestyle and vacations and massive spending sprees are you talking about? name one. You're rambling here is almost laughable. It's obvious you don't have a clue what you're talking about. There was no ego and no creed in any of these four men and if you think that, then you really don't know them. These men's lives have completely crumbled around them and they have been left with nothing. And who told you that they all still are able to pay attorney's? Another fact that you have wrong. You obviously have something personal against these guys and are using their misfortune to make yourself feel better about what I can only guess is a sad, miserable and pathetic life. Try writing about something you have the first clue about. It's better to say nothing and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
June 24, 2009 2:37 PM



Anonymous said...

Hey, I also know "V" and I can tell you as someone who knows all 3 VSN that I wouldn't..ever do business with V but would at the drop of the hat do business with Steven and Neuman again. These are without a doubt some of the finest human beings I have ever met and just because you have personal issues with them doesn't make them criminals. They didn't take anybody for any money, they made the best business decisions they could at the time. All of you who lost money...join the club, we all have. 1031's are extremely risky, and you wouldn't have been doing them if you weren't trying to lower your tax liablitity and get out of paying taxes. Give me a break, this holier than though attitude that seems to be a recurring themem in here is ridiculous. A lot of you need to grow up and move on. One last comment. CRB and Umpqua wouldn't have been doing this business w/ Summit if they thought it was illegal. No one thought it was illegal, no personal money was being funneled out. It was just a bad investment and everyone made one and more then just these four men made bad one's with investment money
June 24, 2009 2:50 PM

####

Lots of emotion flowing. I wonder how the FBI investigation is going.

Bewert said...

There is a big Ponzi here, too, that came to light after the RE fall. Guy was promising 5% PER MONTH in interest.

Investors gave him $100 million. State started investigating, but his buddies in the legislature put pressure on the investigation and the AG Shurtleff decided not to investigate after a private meeting arranged by his state rep friend. All quite humorous here in the land of multi-level marketing.

Guy is really full of himself:
http://tinyurl.com/llmcfp

See his grand plan at
http://freecapitalist.com/

Just how gullible are Mo's?

Very: http://tinyurl.com/msrqvx

Anonymous said...

They are at least guilty of looking guilty. But you never know. They could be innocent, just like OJ Simpson.

hbm said...

Bruce: I notice the Ponzi guy has one of those silly Larry the Cable Guy goatees that every damn redneck male in the country wears. I would never invest with ANYBODY who had one of those, no matter how impeccable his CV was.

Although the original Ponzi was clean-shaven: http://molini.us/sunnysays/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ponzi_cover1.jpg

My wife tried to get me to grow one. I let it grow for about a week and then realized what I was doing and said to hell with it.

Anonymous said...

hbm, stereotype much?

tim said...

hbm,

How do you keep your wife away from the cable guy if you won't even grow a goatee for her?

Bewert said...

Tim, that's funny.

####

The plan:

"Koerber generally paid 5 percent a month in interest to Founders Capital's first-line investors, the indictment says. Those investors allegedly were encouraged to obtain money from other people and pay 3 percent interest a month to those second-line investors. The second-line investors, in turn, were allegedly encouraged to pay 1 percent a month to third-line investors."

Some stories:
Alpine man accused of widespread investment scam

Lawmaker wanted heads to roll for 'my friend'

How close were Koerber and Utah legislator?

Brilliant. Merged a Ponzi with a multi-level marketing scheme.

Only in Mo Land.

Oh, and today it turns out that a councilman, who heads the planning commission, took a $120,000 loan to prop up his business from one of the biggest local developers.

Prominent developer loaned cash to troubled SLC councilman

####

I knew this place was fucked politically 25 years ago. But I had this (what I now realize was naive) belief that Bend was different.

Oops.

####

So what the fuck is up with the latest Repug savior, Gov. Sanford?

Now that is a good case of self-immolation.

But FOX NEWS is always watching out for the Repugs. Check the party tag in this screen cap.

At least Olbermann and company don't just flat out lie.

Anonymous said...

How is it that politicians think they can get away with cheating?
If you live in N. Carolina, and say you are going hiking, maybe you can get away with visiting some bimbo in Tenn.
But Brazil?? Is this guy nuts?
Why do these guys (Clinton, Gary Hart, etc.) always think somehow they will not be caught?

Anybody got any thoughts on this?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous hbm said...

"Gee, that's a nice thing to say, hbm."

If you want "nice" you've come to the wrong blog.

*

Jeebus xmas old hbm has really come over to the dark side. The un-censored world of BB2 and we embrace him.

Three weeks and I'll be on a jet-plane back to Thailand, and then to Malaysia.

I'll tell you KUNTS this, I had all my houses rented the same day I posted them on CRAIGS for all the fucking god damn self centered doom&gloom from this fucking crowd of KUNTS with their head in the sand.

What's the secret? When people move out and I paint inside & out, and put in all new appliances, ... The first people that saw the houses I had for rent last week both said "Oh my god, can I have an APP", of course all these people had government jobs, ... and wanted to live close-in to downtown in a nice house for around $1,000/month.

All my houses have oak hardwood floors, and fucking cute.

With online tenant screening check I can now screen within an hour, and knew in same-day if these folks were go/no-go.

Been back here now for three weeks from Malaysia and my smile is already gone. Didn't take long for the pain of Bend to enter my blood and make me back into a sour puss.

Haven't been to a Bend bar once, since my last bar fight 2-3 weeks ago, ... just working and going to bed early and having 'skype sex' every morning at 4AM.

That post about 1031 on BP's site sounds like a plant, trust nobody boyz, the lawyers are hovering like sharks, ...


bye, guys, ...

Yes, nice blog, welcome to BB2 god damn fucking assholes :)

Anonymous said...

Well in politics you ask for FORGIVENESS never for permission.

It was politically correct to say your going hiking for cover, somebody must have seen the bitch on the plane, the cover failed.

Political folks do this shit all the time, besides South-America is like Thailand its all about cheap and available pussy. More POL's travel to these places then the press lets on.

Anonymous said...

Just one comment BP, please don't post SLC news here.

Do you fuck-heads want me to start posting Malaysian news?

I don't think so.

Let's keep it Bend, ... please.

Please BP, ... nobody gives a rat's ass about SLC, we love you as a person, but we don't give a fuck about MORONISM.

Quimby said...

Interesting Map:

http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/gapmap/index.htm

Oregon sticking out like a sore thumb.

hbm said...

"How do you keep your wife away from the cable guy if you won't even grow a goatee for her?"

A. I used to have a full beard. Now I have a moustache.

B. The cable guy is fat and displays his hairy butt crack. Not much competition there.

Bewert said...

Re:Quim's map

####

What's amazing is how well the upper midwest corridor-WY/ND/SD/NB-is doing. Lot's of energy stuff out there these days.

RIP Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, two icons of the 70's and 80's ;)

Anonymous said...

How about a good old time 'map' of BP's glory hole??

Fuck Quim's map, we all know BP's honey-pot better than we know our own wives ass.

What about BendBB? Now that BP is gone is he pulling train at the D&D?

Anonymous said...

Two years ago BB2 was four guys generating 600 comments a week.

Today BB2 is four guys generating 120 comments a week.

Is this progress?

What does this say about Bend?

LavaBear said...

Gazprom + Nigeria = Nigaz

Fuckin Nigaz are gonna lay some pipe.

"Russia is keen on developing a trans-African pipeline to transport Nigerian gas to Europe."

Russians are looking to import some Nigaz gas? Their shit don't stink?

Anonymous said...

Unemployment rate in Fargo, ND is under 5 %

Anonymous said...

Unemployment rate in Fargo, ND is under 5 %

- That may be, but it's largely due to workforce stability and credit card processing. I'd say the latter is poised for a slowdown.

Anonymous said...

Ooops! Spoke too soon about Fargo. Here's the real deal.


http://www.ndworkforceintelligence.com/admin/gsipub/htmlarea/uploads/lmi_ap2008fargo-westfargo.pdf

Anonymous said...

Lots of bitterness on this site. The economy hasn't even gotten really bad yet.

Bewert said...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "FLASH--Summit 1031 Bankruptcy Petition":

Lyons and Larkin came on in 2006, exactly when these loans quit being made. Effectively the loans quit being made the day Lyons and Larkin took over the day to day operations of Summit.

The best way to take care of this would be to have a trustee who is anxious to sell. Talked to a Realtor today who had an offer on one of the properties and Padrick AGAIN, said he's got 5 years to sell these and he's in no hurry. So all you creditors ought to be breaking down Padrick's door and demanding he get your money back. Instead of wasting his time going after Umpqua for money that he's never going to get.

Also, I can't imagine when this is all said and done that the Umpqua and Summit principals don't go after Padrick w/ a defamation lawsuit for putting all this erroneous information in the papers, and completely misrepresenting the situation to the public.

Bewert said...

2009-015239 IMAGE
DOC TYPE: Clerk Lien DATE REC: 4/14/2009 11:02:56 AM
DIRECT: PADRICK, KEVIN D TRUSTEE INDIRECT: NEUMAN, MARK A
INDIRECT: STEVENS, BRIAN
INDIRECT: LYONS, LANE D
INDIRECT: LARKIN, TIMOTHY

####

Interesting reading.

...the trustee asserts claims for Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Conversion, Professional Negligence, Civil Conspiracy, Aiding and Abetting, Implied in Law Contract, Constructive Trust, Accounting, and Injunctive Relief."

Anonymous said...

Lots of bitterness on this site. The economy hasn't even gotten really bad yet.

*

This site has always been about loser-renters flagellating themselves.

Yes, Bend has NOT even begun to get bad. OUR newbie renter-losers will soon know the meaning of 'fucked-in-Bend'.

Anonymous said...

Buster,
Not that it's important or relevant to anything, but just curious about your second home -- I got a SE Asia map in my National Geographic yesterday. Are we talking west or east side of the pennisula? e.g., Langkawi? Ko Tarutao?

Anonymous said...

I love how the owners who have sen their house values halved over the last three years characterize this site as being inhabited by a bunch of bitter renters.

This site has been where people in all kinds of situations have been yelling (first) beware! (and then) I told you so!

It's about the message.

The characters that dwell here are interesting, but more interesting has been the reaction (laughter, disdain, defensiveness, anger) from the housing true believers.

hbm said...

"OUR newbie renter-losers will soon know the meaning of 'fucked-in-Bend'."

If you bought a house in Bend in the past four years, it will not be worth what you paid for it again for probably another 10 years. The real fuckees are those who naively bought during the bubble.

Anonymous said...

http://christiannymphos.org/2007/12/21/tasting-his-fruit/

She from Westside?