tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post4418813473317324557..comments2023-07-07T00:32:17.629-07:00Comments on BendBubble2: Bend Oregon: The Other Shoe Has DroppedUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger150125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-83596675307640800852008-02-19T11:32:00.000-08:002008-02-19T11:32:00.000-08:00tates Try to Manage Foreclosure RulesLegislators h...tates Try to Manage Foreclosure Rules<BR/><BR/>Legislators have introduced bills to protect homeowners from foreclosure in Georgia and Oregon, while the Maryland Court of Appeals has ruled it is not unconstitutional to start foreclosure if the homeowner has not received notification.<BR/><BR/>A Georgia bill introduced by Democratic Senator Emanuel Jones would extend the period between foreclosure and sale of a property from 37 to 90 days.<BR/><BR/>The proposal aims to curb the number of foreclosures in metro Atlanta, which hit a record high of 58,076 in 2007, according to a study by Atlanta-based real estate data firm Equity Depot.<BR/><BR/>The Oregon House unanimously passed a bill Thursday that would prevent lenders from taking advantage of homeowners facing foreclosure.<BR/><BR/>Under the bill, homeowners would have at least 24 hours to go over contracts. Lenders would be required to spell out contract terms in plain language and include information on how homeowners can cancel their contracts.<BR/><BR/>The bill also addresses foreclosure notice requirements. The notice would have to contain information on how much the homeowner owes and how much he or she must pay to get out of foreclosure<BR/><BR/>“Not only does this help families facing this devastating loss of home, it will also help protect Oregon’s economy from the severe economic downturn our country is facing,” said Democratic Representative Suzanne Bonamici, vice chair of the House Consumer Protection Committee, in a statement.<BR/><BR/>Meanwhile, the Maryland Court of Appeals did not side with a woman who claimed her constitutional rights were violated because foreclosure proceeded on her home, even though she never received notices.<BR/><BR/>The mortgage issuer sent notice to Joyce Griffin via two certified letters and two regular mail letters, none of which were received. She found out her home was sold in a foreclosure auction only after the new owner posted a notice on her door.<BR/><BR/>Although the court noted banks should be required to have proof that homeowners received foreclosure notices, the opinion determined Griffin’s case should be taken up by the legislature.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-4723852054076029052008-02-16T22:35:00.000-08:002008-02-16T22:35:00.000-08:00"There will be no Executive Session" From the j..."There will be no Executive Session"<BR/><BR/> From the just posted Feb. 20 agenda. Perhaps my efforts are having some effect.<BR/><BR/>--><BR/><BR/>Does this mean what I think it does?<BR/><BR/>Does this mean that Goldschimidt will not be cumming at the party?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-26300740241340993332008-02-16T10:40:00.000-08:002008-02-16T10:40:00.000-08:00\\|//Gilchrist on the verge of becoming a ghost to...\\|//<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080216/NEWS0107/802160424/1001" REL="nofollow">Gilchrist on the verge of becoming a ghost town</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-62580243303584013892008-02-16T00:13:00.000-08:002008-02-16T00:13:00.000-08:00while many students at Summit come from affluent f...<I><B>while many students at Summit come from affluent families, a quarter of the student population is receiving free or reduced lunch, an indicator that they come from low-income families.</B></I><BR/><BR/>So 25% of the kids at Summit, our town's "rich snob" high school, are on government assistance. That is pathetic. <BR/><BR/>This is NOT a rich town, everybody!! <BR/><BR/>Why's The Bulletin doing 1500-word features on "Affluenza" and the pressures of material wealth when it should have, hey, a whole "Living Poor" <I>section</I> with tips on food stamps, lice combs and how to have fun family vacations in the woods rather than Hawaii.Bend Economy Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06444426668314688251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-58321859020002034002008-02-15T23:37:00.000-08:002008-02-15T23:37:00.000-08:00\\|//‘AFFLUENZA’By Alandra Johnson / The BulletinP...\\|//<BR/><BR/><BR/><B>‘AFFLUENZA’</B><BR/>By Alandra Johnson / The Bulletin<BR/>Published: February 15. 2008 4:00AM PST<BR/><BR/><I>Coming from an affluent family isn’t a guarantee that a kid will thrive. In fact, some researchers believe that wealth is tied to a unique set of problems for students, an epidemic sometimes called ... ‘AFFLUENZA’</I><BR/><BR/>For years, most researchers dedicated to analyzing the problems of youth focused on inner-city kids or those growing up in poverty. But within the last decade, the focus has expanded as researchers began to notice problems plaguing teenagers from middle- and upper-class families.<BR/><BR/>While having money certainly doesn’t bring about problems, affluence doesn’t guarantee a free pass from trouble, either. In fact, some researchers believe that teenagers raised in financially comfortable circumstances are more likely to adopt certain negative traits including a sense of entitlement, a lack of motivation, stress, anxiety disorders, psychosomatic behaviors, substance-abuse issues, low self-esteem, a self-image tied to material things and more.<BR/><BR/>This array of issues is sometimes referred to as “affluenza.”<BR/><BR/>Kimberly Williams, a pediatric neuropscyhologist with the NYU Child Study Center, believes that the problem has become an “epidemic.” These problems, she says, stem from children getting their “identities from their place in the world.”<BR/><BR/>Pressure and anxiety<BR/><BR/>About eight years ago, child and adolescent psychologist Madeline Levine noticed a shift in the teenagers coming into her office. In the past, certain clues would point educators and therapists to children who needed help, such as failing grades, poor hygiene or low-income backgrounds. Then that all began to change, according to Levine.<BR/><BR/>The students coming into Levine’s office had the “appearance of having it all under control.” Yet they were clearly depressed and stressed. One patient in particular inspired Levine to look into this matter. The girl, who came from an affluent family, had carved the word “empty” onto her forearm.<BR/><BR/>Levine said she realized that “nobody has a clue these kids are really unhappy.”<BR/><BR/>She went on to write the best-seller “The Price of Privilege,” which examines many of the issues affecting youngsters from upper-middle-class families.<BR/><BR/>The problems, Levine says, are real. She says upper-middle-class teenagers have the highest rate of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and psychosomatic disorders of any socio-economic group. Levine believes it “meets the criteria for epidemic.”<BR/><BR/>While these problems spring up among the upper-middle class, Levine doesn’t think income level is the real key.<BR/><BR/>“I don’t believe this is actually about money,” said Levine. Instead, she says it is about a culture “where stuff matters more than people.”<BR/><BR/>She says kids get a message that they need to achieve or accumulate things in order to be valued.<BR/><BR/>“It’s driving kids to think they have to get everything right,” said Levine.<BR/><BR/>This, in turn, leads kids to not want to fail, which means they are less likely to try new things and therefore don’t develop resiliency, she said.<BR/><BR/>Summit High School counselor Debbie McKeown sees some of the issues tied to affluenza play out in her counseling office, particularly those connected to anxiety and stress. Many students, she says, arrive at school at 6:30 a.m. to take early-bird classes and then don’t leave until after 6 p.m. She sometimes wonders, “When is the quality time with parents?”<BR/><BR/>McKeown knows that affluence enables many families to offer their children wonderful opportunities, including spots on traveling sports teams, summer study programs and more. But these opportunities also mean kids are busy. Many kids, she says, “see teachers and coaches more than parents.”<BR/><BR/>She sees kids who “break down and start crying” because they are so tired and have so much going on. They get “overcommitted,” which can lead to depression and anxiety.<BR/><BR/>McKeown works with students, who might be getting their first B or C grade, trying to help them and their parents to accept that letter grade. Sometimes, she says, they are “looking for that letter grade rather than substance.”<BR/><BR/>Williams sees many children in her New York office who struggle with perfectionism. She says those who stress out can “self-medicate” with alcohol and drug use.<BR/><BR/>“They start to rely on their accomplishments for their sense of worth,” said Williams.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes McKeown helps students and families “refocus goals” for a particular teenager. One of her recent students, for instance, planned to go into medicine, but he started feeling burned out. He never considered pursing his longtime passion for creative writing. McKeown talked to the student and his parents about aligning his “aptitude more with his passion” and altering his career path.<BR/><BR/>Material goods<BR/><BR/>McKeown thinks fashion and material goods play a role in some students’ lives at Summit High School.<BR/><BR/>“There’s so much of it here; it’s just a way of life. Kids don’t think it’s odd to pay $100 for jeans,” said McKeown.<BR/><BR/>She remembers pulling into the parking lot on her first day at Summit and wondering at all of the nice cars.<BR/><BR/>McKeown recalls thinking, “I wonder who all these parents are?”<BR/><BR/>Then, she realized the nice vehicles weren’t from moms and dads, they were students’ cars.<BR/><BR/>Her concern is that some students tie their self-image to these material things. And now that the economy is slumping, she worries about how they will react if they can’t keep up.<BR/><BR/>McKeown says teenagers worry they are “not going to be popular or not going to fit in” if they can’t purchase certain things.<BR/><BR/>She says this will be a struggle for some families.<BR/><BR/>“How do you shift back to those old-fashioned values?” said McKeown. “We’re still fine, we’re still a family.”<BR/><BR/>McKeown says that while many students at Summit come from affluent families, a quarter of the student population is receiving free or reduced lunch, an indicator that they come from low-income families.<BR/><BR/>Students can feel pressure not just to be the best students, according to NYU’s Williams, but to also be the best looking.<BR/><BR/>She said affluenza affects middle-class families as well as the affluent. Some families, she says, spend their money on cars, video games, manicures and “might spend their last dime on a pair of sneakers.”<BR/><BR/>Families can be living “paycheck to paycheck and still be taken in by materialism,” said Williams.<BR/><BR/>Psychologist Levine points to shows such as MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16” as encouraging the notion that bigger is better. Sometimes, she says, parents also promote this attachment to material goods. One mother she worked with mentioned the need to do some “retail therapy.” Levine thinks it’s dangerous to promote “the notion that material goods somehow have magical and curative powers.”<BR/><BR/>Bend mom Sandy Hill thinks materialism does play a part in kids’ lives, and she thinks parents are a big factor.<BR/><BR/>“I’ll be the first to admit I should say no sometimes and I don’t,” said Hill. She has a 19-year-old son in college and a 17-year-old daughter at Bend High School.<BR/><BR/>Hill can’t compare her own experience with her kids’ because she grew up very poor, where saying yes “wasn’t an option.”<BR/><BR/>Hill says she and her husband do try to teach their children the down side of instant gratification and the benefits of saving. For instance, their son Spencer pays for his own books and living expenses in college, even though Hill says those are costs they could afford.<BR/><BR/>But still, Hill knows they both agree to buy things for their children “a lot more than we should.”<BR/><BR/>Sometimes, she says her daughter will tell her, “You really should get me this because everybody else has it,” said Hill. But for the most part, she says, her daughter and her friends find ways to save money by exchanging clothing or making things on their own.<BR/><BR/>Entitlement and motivation<BR/><BR/>Some students who come from affluence can develop a sense of entitlement, according to Williams. This can come in part from parents who over indulge their children.<BR/><BR/>“Children haven’t learned how to acquire things for themselves,” said Williams.<BR/><BR/>Many parents come to Williams because they worry their children are not motivated. In some ways, this may seem the opposite as being overachieving, but Williams says they are just different ways in which children react to the same issues.<BR/><BR/>Kids can lack motivation, she says, because they are anxious about what to do or how to proceed.<BR/><BR/>Williams says lack of motivation is usually a sign of something else. Kids may feel like failures, be in the wrong type of school, feel anxious or may be using drugs. Lack of motivation, she says, is a secondary issue.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes, too, Williams says, parents have trained their children to work only for rewards. They make the honor roll, they get a new Xbox. When the rewards are removed, some kids lose their motivation.<BR/><BR/>It’s hard to say whether these issues are a problem in Central Oregon.<BR/><BR/>Levine says most of the research on affluent youth has focused on those living in suburban settings. That means that the experience of Central Oregon teens may not necessarily match up.<BR/><BR/>Counselor Gary Whitley says Bend High School is more of a “blue collar, middle class kind of place” and doesn’t see too many issues from students involving material goods. That said, Whitley believes teenagers today face a lot of difficulties.<BR/><BR/>“I think there’s more pressure on kids today in some respects,” said Whitley. “A wide range of issues create stressors for kids and can be present regardless of the socio-economic piece.”<BR/><BR/>Michael McDonald, assistant principal at Summit, thinks it’s hard to pigeonhole students.<BR/><BR/>“Kids from all backgrounds are capable of flying high or of running into problems,” said McDonald.<BR/><BR/>He believes Summit has just as many issues as other schools he has worked at when it comes to substance abuse.<BR/><BR/>“There are definitely kids out there that feel entitled. There are definitely kids out there that don’t,” said McDonald. “The job of the school is to not let that be the focus.”<BR/><BR/>Bend mom Hill believes, for the most part, Bend students aren’t too entitled.<BR/><BR/>“I think for the most part, they’re pretty good here,” said Hill. “It’s not like it would be in a big city.”<BR/><BR/>Hill believes, as long as they say please and thank you, it’s OK for her children to ask for things. It’s the parents’ job, she thinks, to say no.<BR/><BR/>What parents can do<BR/><BR/>“Parents obviously love their kids a whole bunch,” said Summit counselor McKeown. “Parents really, really do want to do the best for their kids.”<BR/><BR/>That love can help parents recognize when their children are facing issues.<BR/><BR/>McKeown says sometimes parents hear about a problem affecting youth and don’t think it applies to their students.<BR/><BR/>As a parent herself, McKeown understands this impulse. “The first thing I want to say is, ‘Oh, not my child,’” said McKeown.<BR/><BR/>They “hear information a little disturbing and maybe not totally believe it,” said McKeown. Instead, she suggests parents take a moment and really listen and “be open to checking it out.”<BR/><BR/>The basic warning sign for depression, anxiety or substance abuse issues is any major change in a teenager’s behavior. This can include a drop in grades, change in sleeping patterns, change in friends, change in activities, etc.<BR/><BR/>Parents should watch for students who isolate themselves, who hide information or who have become overly sensitive.<BR/><BR/>Williams suggests parents ask themselves: Does my child seem happy? Does my child seem awake?<BR/><BR/>If parents suspect their students is having problems, Williams suggests they talk to the family pediatrician with the hope of a referral to a therapist. Parents can also approach teachers or school administrators to try to identify the problem, Williams says.<BR/><BR/>Sometimes parents jump to find a quick fix, according to Williams.<BR/><BR/>“They are a problem solver at work so they want to be a problem solver at home,” said Williams. That approach can lead to unnecessary prescription drugs and other more quick-fix options.<BR/><BR/>Real solutions take longer.<BR/><BR/>Sitting down to dinner together, for instance, is one activity that Williams recommends. She also suggests parents “be open to talk and be available to talk.”<BR/><BR/>Levine is a big proponent of downtime for kids. She also believes that children need to get enough sleep. For teenagers, that’s more than nine hours a night.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-1560434953128699392008-02-15T12:27:00.000-08:002008-02-15T12:27:00.000-08:00"There will be no Executive Session"From the just ..."There will be no Executive Session"<BR/><BR/>From the just posted Feb. 20 agenda. Perhaps my efforts are having some effect.<BR/><BR/>I'll have to go, as there are JR related updates in both the work session and regular session.<BR/><BR/>Now for a little budget analysis--at first blush, January overal revenue was only down $1.9M from budget projections, far less than Decembers $3.5M. More to come...Bewerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08389021459268558541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-7857519566730265652008-02-15T08:07:00.000-08:002008-02-15T08:07:00.000-08:00Re: From today's BULL: Girl falls from lift; offic...Re: From today's BULL: Girl falls from lift; officials examine Bachelor<BR/><BR/>7-year old snowboarder, didn't get all the way on, hung by her arms as clueless lifty tried to stop Sunrise, fell twelve feet.<BR/><BR/>Best part--she was in a ski school class at the time :)<BR/><BR/>I was up there yesterday and rode the Sunrise lift. As someone who is somewhat vertically challenged (I'm 5'2), I thought that the loading height of the chairs to be kind of high and had to adjust to kind of hop on to properly get on the chair. As a lift that services a lot of kids, the loading height of the chair should perhaps be adjusted a little.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-50602619508309096882008-02-15T07:58:00.000-08:002008-02-15T07:58:00.000-08:00Muni Regulators Seek Disclosure on Auction-Rate Bo...<A HREF="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&refer=home&sid=abzW0RRyRgas" REL="nofollow">Muni Regulators Seek Disclosure on Auction-Rate Bonds (Update2)</A> <BR/><BR/>By Michael Quint<BR/><BR/>Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. banks and securities firms may be forced to disclose more information on bidding for auction- rate bonds after dealers stopped buying the securities, triggering more than $20 billion of failures this week that squeezed local governments nationwide. <BR/><BR/>The U.S. municipal bond market's main regulator, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, plans to seek comment on whether dealers should reveal the number of bidders and disclose how often auctions fail in the $330 billion market for the securities, whose rates are set periodically at auctions, said Executive Director Lynnette Hotchkiss. <BR/><BR/>Banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. allowed more than 100 auctions to fail this week after they were unable to attract bidders and decided not to buy unwanted securities. The failure nearly doubled borrowing costs on $15 million of bonds sold by Harrisburg International Airport in Pennsylvania to 14 percent, said executive director Tim Edwards. The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey's rate reset at 20 percent on $100 million of debt, up from 4.3 percent a week ago. <BR/><BR/>``Obviously, auction-rate trading is a big issue right now,'' Hotchkiss said in an interview late yesterday. <BR/><BR/>Auction-rate bonds are long-term debt with interest rates reset according to bids submitted to banks and securities firms every seven, 28 or 35 days. Banks stopped their typical practice of buying the securities for their own accounts to prevent failures after losses on debt linked to subprime mortgages led to downgrades of some of the bond insurers that back most auction notes. <BR/><BR/>Insurer Downgrades <BR/><BR/>As banks backed away from the market under the pressure of $146 billion in credit losses and writedowns, at least 129 auctions failed on Feb. 13. That's left investors who wanted to sell the debt unable to unload the securities and boosted interest costs for cities, hospitals and universities. <BR/><BR/>Zurich-based UBS AG will no longer buy auction-rate securities that fail to attract enough bidders, and Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York is reducing purchases, people with direct knowledge of the matter said this week. <BR/><BR/>Hotchkiss declined to detail disclosures that will be included in the notice because it hasn't been approved by the Alexandria, Virginia-based board. She said the notice for comment may be issued within two or three weeks. <BR/><BR/>Buyers including corporate treasurers held auction-rate securities as a higher-yielding alternative to cash equivalents such as certificates of deposits and savings accounts. New York City owes about $3.5 billion on auction bonds, or 5 percent of the city's total indebtedness. <BR/><BR/>SEC Discussion <BR/><BR/>Providing more information on auctions, such as the amount of bids and sale orders, might help the market because it ``could allay some investor concerns about getting stuck holding a security,'' said Joseph Fichera, chief executive officer of Saber Partners, a New York-based adviser to local governments. <BR/><BR/>The staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission has talked with the board about enhanced disclosure of the auction process, Hotchkiss said. <BR/><BR/>The board began work in October on changing its trade reporting system to include the interest rate on auction bonds, not just the price. At that time, Frank Chin, chairman and head of the public finance group at New York-based Citigroup, the biggest underwriter of auction-rate debt, said disclosures on details of auctions beyond the rate would be the ``subject of additional dialogue with the SEC.'' <BR/><BR/>The SEC enforces regulations of the municipal board. The commission's approval is required for any new rules. <BR/><BR/>Scant Information <BR/><BR/>The board began looking at ways to increase auction-rate disclosure at the request of the SEC, which in 2006 fined 15 banks a total of $13 million for using inside information to submit bids on auction-rate securities. Banks are allowed to continue the practice so long as they disclose to investors that they might bid, though they haven't been required to reveal if, or how much they paid at auctions or what the range of offers was. <BR/><BR/>Revealing the interest rate would help investors and issuers, Martha Haines, head of the SEC's Office of Municipal Securities, has said. <BR/><BR/>Investors have few publicly available sources of information on yields of auction-rate securities, beyond indexes published on the Web site of the Securities Industry Financial Markets Association, the bond market's trade group. The indexes are based on securities whose rates reset on Tuesday or Wednesday, and are published with a lag. The most recent indexes are for Feb. 6. <BR/><BR/>###<BR/><BR/>Interesting, considering our own city is planning on a debt auction in the very near future, or maybe was one of the failed one's...Bewerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08389021459268558541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-27187933069539568542008-02-15T07:42:00.000-08:002008-02-15T07:42:00.000-08:00Re: What the fuck is a "keg malfunction"? Kegs don...Re: What the fuck is a "keg malfunction"? Kegs don't malfunction! If your keg malfunctions, you got no fuckin business suspending human beings 100ft above the ground from badly worn cables..<BR/><BR/>From today's BULL: <B>Girl falls from lift; officials examine Bachelor</B><BR/><BR/>7-year old snowboarder, didn't get all the way on, hung by her arms as clueless lifty tried to stop Sunrise, fell twelve feet.<BR/><BR/>Best part--she was in a ski school class at the time :)Bewerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08389021459268558541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-40134139550955824452008-02-15T05:45:00.000-08:002008-02-15T05:45:00.000-08:00"We are in the middle of, I think, a ton of change...<B>"We are in the middle of, I think, a ton of changes," she said. "And some of them can't happen overnight, some of them can."<BR/><BR/>"We're adding new grooming signs at the bottom of all lifts. Right now, there's only one at the bottom of Pine Marten. So by this weekend, there should be signs at the bottom of the core lifts, so you can see right then what's groomed off of those areas."<BR/><BR/>"We've got lift closure signs, so when Outback or Northwest open, we can flip a sign and say 'open,' Carmiachael said. "We're looking on internal communication to make sure that's done more on time and right when the lifts are open."<BR/><BR/>"So we're in the process of analyzing all those things to try to make it better and communicate better with our guests."</B><BR/><BR/>Are these idiots fuckin retarded?<BR/><BR/>"Putting up signs" is their idea of "Customer Service"?<BR/><BR/>Wow... they are in deep shit.IHateToBurstYourBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01660687201024720176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-88933827197212019122008-02-14T21:33:00.000-08:002008-02-14T21:33:00.000-08:00Excerpt from http://www.ktvz.com/global/story.asp...Excerpt from http://www.ktvz.com/global/story.asp?s=7871823<BR/><BR/>"We'd love it if we could build Rome in a day," said resort Marketing Director Carly Carmichael. "But some things do take longer, and we're super-committed."<BR/><BR/>Carmichael told me about a few things they are working on in the meantime.<BR/><BR/>"We are in the middle of, I think, a ton of changes," she said. "And some of them can't happen overnight, some of them can."<BR/><BR/>"We're adding new grooming signs at the bottom of all lifts. Right now, there's only one at the bottom of Pine Marten. So by this weekend, there should be signs at the bottom of the core lifts, so you can see right then what's groomed off of those areas."<BR/><BR/>"We've got lift closure signs, so when Outback or Northwest open, we can flip a sign and say 'open,' Carmiachael said. "We're looking on internal communication to make sure that's done more on time and right when the lifts are open."<BR/><BR/>"So we're in the process of analyzing all those things to try to make it better and communicate better with our guests."<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>Wow...way to spend the capital expenditures. What...cost a couple grand? I can see they are so excited about their plans that instead of yelling them from the rooftops, they are veiled in secrecy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-54261683493599783582008-02-14T20:26:00.000-08:002008-02-14T20:26:00.000-08:00Good lord, what do they expect when the kegs malfu...<B>Good lord, what do they expect when the kegs malfunctions on a holiday weekend. </B><BR/><BR/>What the fuck is a "keg malfunction"? Kegs don't malfunction! If your keg malfunctions, you got no fuckin business suspending human beings 100ft above the ground from badly worn cables....IHateToBurstYourBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01660687201024720176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-29737381002772106232008-02-14T20:24:00.000-08:002008-02-14T20:24:00.000-08:00Seems the new owner is still hell-bent on making a...Seems the new owner is still hell-bent on making a pile on this mound of shit.<BR/><BR/>Dream on, dumbfuck. We didn't buy it from a local... you think we'll buy them at essentially the same price from you?IHateToBurstYourBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01660687201024720176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-9113081321502129692008-02-14T20:22:00.000-08:002008-02-14T20:22:00.000-08:00Anyone notice this....?The Plaza was relisted yest...Anyone notice this....?<BR/><BR/>The Plaza was relisted yesterday...<BR/><BR/><B>2008-02-13 2801223 Bend Upper Terrace 449900 275 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801225 Bend Upper Terrace 524900 293 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801228 Bend Upper Terrace 549900 336 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801227 Bend Upper Terrace 599900 368 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801229 Bend Upper Terrace 599900 336 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801250 Bend Upper Terrace 615900 385 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801247 Bend Upper Terrace 639900 342 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801242 Bend Upper Terrace 659900 335 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801231 Bend Upper Terrace 679900 417 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801244 Bend Upper Terrace 699900 361 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801245 Bend Upper Terrace 729900 437 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801248 Bend Upper Terrace 749900 426 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801246 Bend Upper Terrace 779900 467 0<BR/>2008-02-13 2801249 Bend Upper Terrace 799900 501 0</B>IHateToBurstYourBubblehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01660687201024720176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-78912177524908208532008-02-14T18:17:00.000-08:002008-02-14T18:17:00.000-08:00Bachelor needs to be rebuilt from the ground up wi...Bachelor needs to be rebuilt from the ground up with major capital expenditures to bring it into the 21st century. Who ever came up with the plan to sell that white elephant as the next Vail/Aspen/Sun Valley should be taken out and put out of his/her misery. It's suffering from an identiy crisis in bad need of a plastic surgon. It should be the best f$#%$%^ "local" mountain that the locals want to keep secret and the out-of-townies are clamoring to get to. Good lord, what do they expect when the kegs malfunctions on a holiday weekend. The beer should always flow from the kegs on a holiday weekend. Strike that...It should always flow no matter what.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-15561355009106531472008-02-14T11:20:00.000-08:002008-02-14T11:20:00.000-08:00Re: Great WSJ front page story on two brothers who...Re: Great WSJ front page story on two brothers who sold their 50 year old shipping business for over a billion last year.<BR/><BR/>This type of thing happened to a friend of mine. He took over a mine and refurbished a bunch of stuff, dealt with permitting, and made it profitable again. It mined stuff (gypsum, I believe) that is used to scrub coal-power smokestacks.<BR/><BR/>He sold it, netted $20 million, handed it over to one of the big Wall Street banks, whom promptly lost well over half if it during the dot-com meltdown. Not a happy camper...Bewerthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08389021459268558541noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-87708088010618774962008-02-14T11:19:00.000-08:002008-02-14T11:19:00.000-08:00FYIFed Chairman: Less Available Credit to Continue...FYI<BR/>Fed Chairman: Less Available Credit to Continue<BR/>http://creditcollectionsworld.com/article.html?id=20080214JGB4N33I&from=creditandcollectionnews<BR/>„More expensive and less available credit seems likely to continue to be a source of restraint on economic growth,‰ Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke testified Thursday before the U.S. Senate‚s Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-35204974044552993122008-02-14T11:04:00.000-08:002008-02-14T11:04:00.000-08:00Great WSJ front page story on two brothers who sol...Great WSJ front page story on two brothers who sold their 50 year old shipping business for over a billion last year. Turned some of the money over to Lehman with "capital preservation" as their #1 goal. Lehman promptly dumped 2/3 of their money into auction bonds and almost immediately lost over $250 million.<BR/><BR/>Naturally there are lawsuits.<BR/><BR/>How much you bet Lehman had been looking around for a sucker to take this bad paper off their own books?<BR/><BR/>Lehman says, "how can we know what'll happen in the markets?"<BR/><BR/>Yeah, right. Then how come the other two investment banks that got the money from these guys put them into treasuries?<BR/><BR/>This crap will take years to play out. The investment banks are playing "hot potato" and "smell my finger."timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04558612755834018291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-16939652685025273672008-02-14T10:04:00.000-08:002008-02-14T10:04:00.000-08:00At least my house wasn't flood damaged!Looks like ...At least my house wasn't flood damaged!<BR/><BR/>Looks like I'm coming back to the hell hole that is Bend. <BR/><BR/>Watch out, I am in full on mountain mode now and I drive a big black truck. <BR/><BR/>No cell phone, no Volvo, no fake tits, no rich husband. <BR/><BR/>And this time around, I could give a rats ass what any of those PTA moms think of me!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-11272691072589160222008-02-14T09:36:00.000-08:002008-02-14T09:36:00.000-08:00Adairs next door. I think I know your house and th...Adairs next door. I think I know your house and the ones next door. A house in that neighborhood was flooded and foreclosed and needs to come down 100k. Your house and the others need to come down 50k.<BR/><BR/>You could probably rent out, but there are a lot of rentals on the market (houses--cheap apartments are scarce).<BR/><BR/>My advice as a renter... If I were you, I'd wait until May. Rentals will be hard to find because owners will be trying to sell, and having an empty property is necessary when you're competing against so many other sellers.<BR/><BR/>This happens every year. In early summer a rental house cannot be found. Once school starts there are zillions of rentals from the sellers who have given up.timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04558612755834018291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-53772496118478638542008-02-14T08:50:00.000-08:002008-02-14T08:50:00.000-08:00The Other Shoe Has Dropped!No shit! I relocated ou...The Other Shoe Has Dropped!<BR/><BR/>No shit! I relocated out of state too late and dropped the price of my house too little. Gee, I wonder why it won't sell with a foreclosure next door and Adairs being dumped like there is no tomorrow.<BR/><BR/>Is there a tomorrow?<BR/><BR/>So, here I sit, with a bunch of money tied up in my stupid little piece of Bend real estate that I can't dump, looking at moving BACK to this marketing hell hole of a town. <BR/><BR/>It was a great town in the 80's. What happened to it???<BR/><BR/>Moving back is a last resort for me, it took me 12 years to get to a place I really love, but I was too late in getting here, and now I gotta come back??? <BR/><BR/>Since I am out of state, I can't really see what's going on, except for the constant online data I sift through every day. Good thing I am not a paying subscriber to the Bend Bulletin - at least I don't have to read their shit. <BR/><BR/>Can someone tell me what the rental market is doing in Bend. My guess is that there is a bunch of rentals on the market and prices are dropping there too. Other than coming back to Bend (gag!) renting my home seems to be my only option. <BR/><BR/>Can someone comment on the rental scene in Bend for a home owner like me and what YOU might do in my place?<BR/><BR/>(Gawd, why did I BUY a home in Bend?) <BR/><BR/>Many thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-89109582111018339352008-02-14T08:43:00.000-08:002008-02-14T08:43:00.000-08:00So a mcmansion on .1 acre isn't the paradise lost ...So a mcmansion on .1 acre isn't the paradise lost people thought it would be -- can you feel their pain?<BR/><BR/>*<BR/><BR/>This is WHY the #1 use of un-wanted STD's all over USA, is to demolish them NOW, and sell the lots to a neighbor, and once again, you can have .25 acre lots!<BR/><BR/>Think this isn't coming to Bend? <BR/><BR/>What do they do with a meth-house? Tear it to the ground, and the lot sits. In time most of Bends STD's will go this way.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-5357038530489574342008-02-14T08:15:00.000-08:002008-02-14T08:15:00.000-08:00http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2008/02/14/subur...http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2008/02/14/suburban_house/<BR/><BR/>So a mcmansion on .1 acre isn't the paradise lost people thought it would be -- can you feel their pain?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-26936386875056363212008-02-14T06:17:00.000-08:002008-02-14T06:17:00.000-08:00OH Shit, now we need a site called 'angrybendbuild...OH Shit, now we need a site called 'angrybendbuilder.com'. The builders in Bend are NOW ANGRY, go figure??<BR/><BR/>Behind the best time to BUY BEND RE in 20 years is ANGER!<BR/><B><BR/>Behind Cheery Facade Home Builders Angry, Depressed<BR/></B><BR/><BR/>IBSA cheery gaggle of singers and dancers are set to open the International Builders Show here in Orlando this morning. But behind the scenes at the convention, many builders are angry and downright depressed by the state of the housing market. The target of their angst: politicians in Washington, D.C.<BR/><BR/>“Our industry is struggling in a big way,’’ said Charles Kasko, an at-large trustee of the political action committee of the National Association of Home Builders. “It’s important that they stop bickering in Washington and get the job done.” The home builder’s PAC said late yesterday that it was withholding all of its campaign contributions to congressional candidates, “until further notice.” <BR/><BR/>The builders are clamoring for Congress to pass proposals, which would make mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration available to more home buyers and raise the loan limits on mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Both measures are expected to boost home sales during one of the worst housing markets in recent memory.<BR/><BR/>Home builders, who reaped massive profits during the housing boom, have been criticized for fueling a speculative run-up in house prices and overbuilding in many markets, which contributed to the current housing crash.<BR/><BR/>“Did we have a lot of speculators in the market? Yes we did,’’ said Mr. Kasko. “But the pendulum has swung so far the other way. Many builders in America are small family businesses and this is dragging them down.’’ –Michael Corkery<BR/>PermalinkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3449433527135568372.post-19928833791838752952008-02-14T06:00:00.000-08:002008-02-14T06:00:00.000-08:00Bend had better quit borrowing MUNI-DEBT to fund K...Bend had better quit borrowing MUNI-DEBT to fund Knife-River ( Capell ).<BR/><BR/>The BOND MARKET for muni's has froze. Nobody is buying this debt at auction, and you know what that means??<BR/><BR/>It means that this trash must be priced for risk.<BR/><BR/>Bend DEBT?? How about 10% or maybe more.<BR/><BR/>The city MUST freeze spending and kill all non-essential ASAP.<BR/><BR/>No more CREDIT, you can write BONDS, but they can't sell them, the auction market isn't working, nobody is buying bonds.<BR/><BR/>Why should they??<BR/><BR/>I said a long time ago, that once investors got their quarterly s and realized the loss, they would NOT go back. Average loss right now is 25% of capital, this was supposed to be for AAA, low-risk investing.<BR/><BR/>Some people have lost 80%, some 10%, but the average 25%.<BR/><BR/>Nobody wants anything now except T-Bills & T-Bonds.<BR/><BR/>No more borrowing for Bend, that little bit you get from the taxpayer is it.<BR/><BR/>Garzini say's "RUN YOUR CITY LIKE A BUSINESS", which means run your city on DEBT. Now the money is no longer available, now what do you do??<BR/><BR/>All 'auction rate' bonds are on hold, and all Bonds are sold these days at auction, and nobody is buying. So when Bend goes borrow money, soon nobody will be answering the phone. When does this city learn to only learn to live on the blood it can suck off its citizens?? You can no longer suck blood off Wall-Street, because Main-Street will no longer loan good money to Wall-Street.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com