Very funny – Annalyn thinks Taylor looks like Rutledge Wood
Posted By RichC on May 8, 2019
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Is there a best time to become a first time home buyer?
Posted By RichC on May 7, 2019
In a discussion with my son Taylor last week, the subject of homeownership came up. He is single and currently rents, but like many millennials, hasn’t been in a big hurry to "put down roots" as have previous generations. 
On the other hand, being that his career is in "planning" and "economic development," regularly talks housing and homes. Now that he is approaching 30 years old, the idea of home ownership vs renting is weighing heavy on his mind.
I’ll admit, I am biased toward homeownership … but then I like owning, working on and managing real estate as a long term "investment" (BTW, that’s probably a bad term when talking home ownership). So I put my "bias" aside and tried to look at his situation, his interests and how much he really wants to be tied down with the expenses and work to take care of his own house … even though 
I’d like to eventually see him in his own home someday (although something I think would be better to "share" with a partner). Katelyn and Drew are homeowners and are dealing with remodeling updates in their own home. It’s a challenge even when you are living there to know if updates are a smart move or just an expense – interesting link.
After we had the discussion, I started to read a few more articles looking at the pluses and minus of buying real estate to live in. I quoted him the "live there for 7 years" number that I remembered (which is now stated at 5-6 years … likely because of more efficiency in writing mortgages — no points, lower costs) and then started to thing about economic ups and downs. The later is something Brenda and I never considered when we bought our first house in 1982. Back then, I just assumed inflation and real estate would just continue to rise steadily over time; it has for us, just not "steadily."
The chart from Case-Schiller gives pause to pondering when to buy if you do not necessarily "love" being a homeowner or need to move from a rental place. Of course trying to pick the lows and highs of any market is a Fool’s Errand. Still, the long bull markets for almost all investments gives one pause to if this is the best time to buy real estate unless you know you are going to live in the same place for a long time.
Are we in another housing bubble?
Shiller warned the world about the two big bubbles that devastated our economy over the last 20 years: the dotcom crash in the late 1990s and housing crisis from 2007 to 2009. That — and the fact that he’s a Nobel Prize-winning economist at Yale — means when he talks, people listen.
A few months ago, Shiller warned the world again about a potential housing bubble. As the graph shows, since 2012, we’ve been seeing the third biggest housing boom in modern U.S. history.
Food for thought … LINK.
Music Monday: The NPR Morning Edition theme is changing
Posted By RichC on May 6, 2019
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What makes the Mississippi River important and so big?
Posted By RichC on May 5, 2019
Every student learns just how big and important the Mississippi River is in our country. From transporting materials from the America’s breadbasket to markets throughout the country and beyond … to draining the snowmelt and rainfall off the land so it can be cultivated (was reminded of this with all the flooding this spring). It is an amazing river that has hundreds of tributaries coming from both the east and the west. As a lover of maps, I was reminded just how many linear and square miles of the United States feeds this massive river (click map for larger view).
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. Its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2,320 miles to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi’s watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi, of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the fourth-longest and fifteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana
Archiving a list to have some fun with our Amazon Echo
Posted By RichC on May 4, 2019
We added yet another Echo Dot and so it only makes sense to ask Alexa a few more questions. Here’s list that has been floating around the Internet and so just wanted to archive it on My Desultory Blog.
100 Funny Alexa Tricks for the Entire Family
For music lovers:
- “Rap for me!”
- “Sing me a song.”
- “Beatbox for me.”
- “What is the loneliest number?”
- “How many roads must a man walk down?”
- “Do you know the muffin man?”
- “Who let the dogs out?”
- “What is war good for?”
- “I shot a man in Reno.”
- “Hello. It’s me.”
- “What’s your favorite style of music?”
- “Who is your favorite Marvel character?”
- “Who put the bop in the bop-she-bop-she-bop?”
- “Happy birthday!”
- “Play that funky music white boy.”
- “Who killed the radio star?”
- “Why do birds suddenly appear?”
- “Have you ever seen the rain?”
- “Twinkle twinkle little star.”
- “Never gonna give you up.”
- “What is love?”
For movie & television lovers: (more…)
Even news savvy Americans struggle to grasp Mueller report
Posted By RichC on May 3, 2019
You are not alone in wanting the Trump-Russia collusion story and investigation to end. Americans in both parties are tired of this investigation and "thought" that 
after finally getting the summary from the US Attorney General William Barr (right), and the release of the full $30 million Mueller investigation report (with security redactions), that it was done? Nope … it seems the political hype is just beginning.
As we recall, the initial investigation was started to see if the 2016 Trump campaign colluded with Russia to influence the results of the election — to that end (after 2 years), the investigation turned up that it did not (if anything, it discovered that the Democrats running the Hillary Clinton campaign paid a UK spy to create a dossier that was used by the FBI to secretly wiretap their Republican adversary). 
Since the wheels of the investigation didn’t stop at "collusion," Robert Mueller also looked into the charge of "obstruction of justice" after President Trump took office. In other words, there was nothing on the original "collusion" charge, but perhaps there wass an attempt by POTUS to prevent further investigating that "might" turn up something?
The full report was not complementary for Donald Trump … but neither Mueller or Barr saw evidence of the original "collusion charge," nor did they believe the "obstruction" could be successfully prosecuted. So Why are Democrats in congress continuing to pursue charges against William Barr or wanting to impeach President Trump? Answer: Politics.
President Donald Trump – National Day of Prayer 2019
With a strong economy and reasonable success in handling political leaders on a world stage, President Trump has a good track record heading into the 2020 election. The GOP tax reform and cuts have stimulated jobs, hiring and strengthened American businesses while the rest of the world struggles. Hopefully even Democrats will even recognize that having strong US companies, low employment and rising wages is a good thing for our country. About the only complaints that come from both parties about the president are his thin-skinned tweets and abrasive personality. His success in the face of this investigation, left wing media bombardment and Democrat resistance at every possible turn is amazing. Imagine how great America would be if we "could" work together?
A Canon FTBn – a big investment when I was in high school #TBT
Posted By RichC on May 2, 2019
A tweet from an online friend and an automotive journalist reminded me (Throwback Thursday) that my photography hobby helped me adapt to a new high school back in the mid-1970s when we moved from the Toledo area to Sidney, Ohio. 
It was at a time when friends were already made and connecting with others was not all that easy (thankfully I connected with a few other transplants).
Besides that, I also was taken under the wing of a teacher, Dana Stahlman, who oversaw our high school newspaper and school yearbook. He knew I was interested in photography and loaned me the school camera so as long as I would take care of it (my first 35mm) and made me responsible for the school darkroom ordering and clean-up (gave me the key so I could use it whenever I wasn’t in class and after school). Eventually I purchased my own camera – a Canon FTBn – which was a big expense for me; I continued to add off-brand lenses and gear until I had a decent setup. The equipment and experience also helped me start earning money working for two local papers and taking prom portraits, etc.
Interestingly, this early experience and hobby interest, gave me a unique hobby in college and experience beyond most of my peers. It even opened the door to fill in for a professor who was on sabbatical when I was in graduate school at Miami University — I was a stipend paid graduate instructor and taught Intro and Advanced Photography as well a Printing class (Gaskill Hall). The knowledge and skills eventually gave me the confidence to start a printing and publishing company … and as they say, "the rest is history."
The first apparent use of the term, as ‘the rest is history’ seems to appear in 1839, in John Wade’s British History, Chronologically Arranged. That said, it is hard from the context to discern whether the writer, who is talking about Napoleon, is being literal or figurative. However the use picks up and figurative examples certainly start appearing in the 1850s. — link
Investing during the first quarter 2019 has been rewarding
Posted By RichC on May 1, 2019
Those of us invested or following the stock market either with individual stocks, mutual funds or ETF index funds have to be pleased with the rebound in the economy since December 2018. The first quarter has rewarded those who remained invested (so as long as they have been diversified) for the long haul.
Even with the inversion signal and long running bull market, the US economy continues to power higher. The trigger this spring was the Fed returning to a neutral from rising rate position. The longer term reason is that America is no longer punishing companies with higher taxes and onerous regulations making it more attractive to do business overseas. In fact, with President Trump’s tariffs and trade war, it is now far more attractive to manufacture in the US than most other countries. Add the tax cut, wages rising and low unemployment, consumers have a few more dollars to spend and less fear that another long lasting recession is on the immediate horizon.
The pessimist in me still worries. Our economy has always gone through up and down cycles and statistically we are overdue for a move down … hopefully small and painless. My biggest fear is from our heavy spending central planners in Washington DC be they Democrats or Republicans. President Trump for his part loves "easy money" and wants to goose the economy even more as the 2020 election approaches … and ridiculously is encouraging the Fed to lower rates by a full percentage point. Several Democrats (list of 23 below) running for president are far crazier in their rhetoric and obviously want even bigger government, higher taxes and some even a socialist takeover of some businesses. While I’m with them in being frustrated that healthcare is currently broken and the costs are ridiculous (as is higher education), a socialist takeover will not make it better or cheaper in the long run. Without competition, there’s no incentive to build a better or more efficient mousetrap.
As for now, those with an IRA or 401K … or investing in equities rather than fix income low interest accounts … have to be happy. If you own real estate in the right areas of the country, you’re also feeling pretty good. Let’s remember what worked in getting us to this point over the past few years and not rock the boat come 2020.
Busy, busy. So just posting a leftover granddaughter photo.
Posted By RichC on April 30, 2019
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Archiving a YouTube grilling recipe for summer
Posted By RichC on April 29, 2019
Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee
- lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
- digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.