Someday I have to meet the headline writer at the Bulletin, because he or she is very good at their job -- if their job is to put the best possible face on things.
Last week, there was an article that said something like, "Bend Swimmer First in the Water." The crux of which, was that the swimmer finished 65th or something (I'm not denigrating that achievement) but she/he was the first swimmer from Bend to compete.
Or Ashton "Finishing Strong," when he finished 5th at the Olympic Trials, (Which is a hell of an achievement), but which I believe was exactly where he started the day.
Minor things.
There's been a little fun made over at the Bendbubble 2 blog about the Bulletin story on the guy with the battery trailer, starting with this from Bend Economy Man:
"Someone needs to tell this guy about the First Law of Thermodynamics..."
Just too funny. I kinda thought there was something 'off' on that article, but because my science is weak, my instinct was; sounds too good to be true or why hasn't someone else done that?
Because it defies the laws of physics?
To which Buster ran with it, in his inimitable way, because it turns out that he's both a physicist and a millionaire:
"Besides, those that have been here for over a year, know that perpetual motion machines are not a new idea here in Bend, only a year ago, Juniper-Ridge was going to turn garbage into oil via coal, ... all of these 'perpetual energy' devices..."
Pretty funny stuff, if you got the stomach for it. Sometimes I just can't improve on what someone is already pointing out. But I think he's completely right on to compare the subsidizing of developers and builders by deferring SDC fees with the perpetual money machine, money from nothing, too many houses, let's make it easier to build more frame of mind.
Found another example in this mornings paper.
"Despite soaring gas prices and a lackluster national economy, Central Oregon purveyors are expected to start making up some lost ground this weekend, according to tourism officials and businesses who say reservations for the Fourth of July weekend are on par with last year's holiday."
Hmmmm...."on par" doesn't make up "lost ground" in any golf game I've ever heard of.
Nitpicky things, because I just can't face saying what I really think is about to happen to our local economy. I think things are just piling up, and we're going to get slammed.
But we're now at that moment -- over the next six months -- where I think it will become obvious to everyone. Even to the Bulletin headline writer.
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I will say, that just from observation, I'm getting more locals and less tourists than most summer.
I believe there is an inverse proportional spending from tourists: the farther they come, the more they spend....
I have a friend who used to work for the Bullshitten. It is ABSOLUTELY, unequivocally a bought and paid for rag of the Real Estate industry. 80% of all ad revs come from RE interests. It is very sad that the local rag has NO CREDIBILITY to the folks who are actually paying attention.
That's the problem with the US though, fat dumb and happy means they ain't paying attention.
But they put a happy face on everything, not just real estate.
I'm betting it's the headline writer. (under orders, I assume.)
Meanwhile, I find it bizarre that I keep getting offers from Countrywide.
"Let us sign you up for deal that we might rescind at any moment because we damn well feel like it."
To which RCD constantly reminds me is their legal right, just as it is my right to tell them to jump in a lake.
Fool me once...
Meanwhile, the WaMu card I tried canceling, both live at the bank and over the phone (they ignored it, how can they do that?) has actually raised my limit. This at a time when the news is full of stories of people's credit scores being lowered because their limits dropped.
Does this mean my credit score went up?
I think I must be their most favorite kind of customer. High balances for long periods of time, paid off completely.
I hate to tell them, those high balances aren't coming back, baby.
ANY bad news in "Fairy Tale Land" is unwanted by the Growth biz.
If the card is paid off and you do not incur an annual charge, then you might as well keep it. That way it is reflected as available credit in how your fico score is calculated. If you shut down a substantial number of credit cards your score might actually go down due to a lowering of the available to used credit ratio and a reduction of total credit available.
'... they put a happy face on everything ... "
Yep. It's boosterism, SOP for small-town newspapers. And though Bend has become a big town, its daily newspaper remains strictly small-town.
Yeah, I kept the card.
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