Saturday, January 30, 2010

Did I mention I'm allergic to Sage?

Approaching a new low in CACB stock price.

I'm writing this early Friday afternoon, and it's at .65. Previous low was .61.

It'll be interesting if the aggressively grown bank survives regularly scheduled FDIC Friday bank gleanings, to see what the stock does next week. CACB is further proof to me that it's dangerous to try to maximize a bubble, though you look like a winner when it's happening.

**********

I've now had three different people comment on the "new electronic" smell of my MacBook. Is that like the "new car" smell, or....the "new book" smell?

This generation's nostalgia is going to be so different from my generation's nostalgia...

**********

I'm going to go all non-analytical here, and just knee-jerk some reactions.

I like the idea of a "spending freeze." I do it at the store all the time.

Drop the filibuster rules and let the Republicans filibuster for real. See how that plays out.
I'm thinking their total non-cooperation is going to come back and bite THEM in the ass.

KTVZ's rules about posting comments don't seem sufficient to me for them to have ratted out the posters.

UGB -- It doesn't seem to me that we NEED the room. And there is no reason we can't get more room WHEN we need it. (And probably wouldn't cost anymore than the frakken appeal...)

**********

O.K. I'm going to put this fairly bluntly. And even so, I know someone will disagree.

But coming in with the title of a book isn't 1/10th as useful as coming in with the author's name. As far as I know, and all I've ever seen, is that every bookstore and library in the world sorts their books by subject and then by author's last name.

Oh, you can often find the book by searching the title online (as long as it's accurate, which often it's not, and again it's easier to find an author if you misspell than a title...) into a data base, but it's an extra step, to be sure.

Just saying...

**********

My Bad.

I washed my car on Thursday.

Sorry about the snow.

**********

I almost didn't buy the MacBook because it doesn't have the version of Solitaire I like so much.

Vegas Style, three passes through with three card turns, costs 55.00 per game in funny money and you get 5.00 for each card stacked.

I buy very expensive internet browsers and solitaire players, basically.

**********

Juxtaposition #1.

From today's Bulletin, by way of the NYT's: BELIEVE IT OR NOT, EXISTING-HOME SALES ROSE IN 2009.

From the Bend Economy Bulletin Board as of January 29: January, 2010 Notices of default -- 402. (A record.)

Juxtapostion #2.

Headline in business section: U.S. ECONOMY SHOWS SIGNS OF MOMENTUM.

Right next to it: OREGON RANKS THIRD IN U.S. FOR 'UNDEREMPLOYMENT.'

*********

Let me get this straight, Bulletin.

Land-use laws are only useful when convenient, and should be disregarded when they keep the land-users from making money.

Well....if the law is convenient, it isn't necessary.

And it seems to me that environmental laws almost always get in the way of money-making, exploitation of natural resources. That's WHY we have them. I'm sure it's easier and more profitable to strip-mine, for instance, and not have to repair the damage.

In fact, show me an environmental law that wasn't necessitated by the common good versus short-term profiteering and exploitation.

Though your concern for the small farmer is heart-warming, Bulletin.

But your full-court press on behalf of destination resorts seems oddly out of time and place.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"full-court press on behalf of destination resorts"

Seems like there are already enough destination resorts that have been approved -- and are any of them even close to being built out? (Eagle Crest?) Hard to believe that another golf course is needed.

It's true you can't make good money farming only 80 acres -- the scale economies just aren't there. In fact they may only come with 1000 acres. It's amazing that they've hung on that long. In other parts of the country the small farmers would get out of the business, with their land taken over by larger, more aggressive operators.

But farmland seems way overpriced in CO because even when it's exclusive farm use, there's always the possibility that someone rich will buy it up and make it into a hobby farm -- a playground of sorts. If farmland could just truly be treated exclusively as farmland (nothing more, nothing less), then its price might fall enough that an efficient operator can buy it and actually make a profit off of it. Over the long haul.

Right now the hope is to sell out to sell out to developers -- a one time, short run gain.

Duncan McGeary said...

I have good example of the book thing.

First of all, let me state here that I'm really good with titles and authors.

Really, really good. Rain-man good.

But I have to know a title to remember a title, and sometimes I'm just busy and distracted.

Had a kid in looking for "Sole Survivor." That sounded really familiar to me, but I asked, "Is it fiction or non-fiction."

He said, "non-fiction," and I'm pretty up on my non-fiction inventory.

Later that night, I was stealing some Koonz books from Linda, and there it was.

First of all, what's will the inability of readers to understand the question "fiction or non-fiction?"

Secondly, if the kid had said Koonz, I immediately would have directed him to it.

Anonymous said...

It's rather quite complicated. During our most recent bubble. Most of the developers holding most of the 'farm-land' sold off the 'water-rights' to the BIGGEST water-managers in the USA, aka "stewert resnick", and owner of Suterra, richest man in California, and also 'water-master' of western USA.

The trouble in my mind with 'farm-land' is that long ago, before the COID ( irrigation district ) farming in the desert was non-sense. During the most recent 'hollern-bubble' since the 1960's where lord-hollern transformed the worn-out resource thin-logging community in to a destination resort. All these historical lands lost much of their 'water-rights' having been sold to Resnick, who also has been buying up stuff down toward K-Fall's. He already owns the water-table in Central-Cali.

I humble opinion is OUR debate about 'farm-land' is a hoax, you all know what happened to the Owens Valley? Right?

The fact is water is MORE valuable to be sold to LA, this is the fact. That is the future. Interesting also that resnick owns the largest bottled water franchise, and also sells spray pollution that brings fear into users of tap-water. It's all a grand-game. Add in the fact that the entire Juniper-Ridge project was ONLY designed to move Suterra out of downtown and out to JR where they could use underground well's and go off government radar for their military aerosol encapsulation projects, now licensed to Israel.

Most recently HOLLERN has completely lost his ass and most of his BIG tri-county resorts are now BK. So he's out. Now Resnick is in, he's my man to watch, because he owns the water we drink. Well a lot of get Tumalo water, ... but those outside of downtown Bend that depend 'irrigation-water', well much of that water is now spoken for by water-rights long sold during the most recent boom.

In summary what is farm-land without water? My answer is once Owens Valley was rich farm-land, but its water was sold to LA by the likes of Resnick, and now its desert. In my mind that is the future of Central Oregon.

H. Bruce Miller said...

Re destination resorts: I'm going to take a conservative/libertarian/Randian view here and say I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for the poor downtrodden farmer. It was his decision to be a farmer. He knows what the land use restrictions are, or should. If he can't make a living at farming he should do something else. Where is it written that he must be allowed to make millions by selling his land for a destination resort (read: expensive gated golf course community)?

If The Bulletin had its druthers, every square inch of land in Central Oregon would be covered with houses, shopping centers or "destination resorts."

Anonymous said...

Regarding CACB. Can you all imagine a world without MOSS?

Got to be the greatest success story of our christian zionist bubble post 1998.

How a bank-teller in 1998, went to be a bank CEO, and at the same time run the biggest christian home schooling network. How pray tell to these women do these things. The lord really does work in strange ways in Bend, Oregon.

Anybody scratching their ass and pulling out butt-hairs and not understand what's going on just go to dunc's book-store and ask him to order or sell you "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds ..." This book will teach how these bubbles have always ended since the 1600's, incidently since man invented the mercantile economy, and lord be the 'printing press' their could be NO fucking PONZI scheme without the press.

That's why at the 13'th hour after death, our BULL still beats its penis in the wind with UGB talk, because it's all they know is promotion PONZI schemes, .e.g. making worthless desert land valuable with pencils, .. aka redrawing the UGB boundary.

How do bubbles always end? In lawsuits, imprisonment, ... suicide and finger-pointing, ... Read Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds ...

Dunc for Mayor.

Duncan McGeary said...

Since I don't want Hollern coming after me, I have to mention I haven't heard anything of the kind.

In fact, I think Brooks Resources has been relatively smart about how they've not built on spec, or spread the risk with partners, or how they've mothballed.

I think the land was cheap, when they bought it, or they already owned it.

If you don't mind, I'd rather not have a bunch of rumors about "the richest man in California" if you don't mind, Buster.

These are your theories, not mine.

Mrs Sally Heatherton Esq said...

yes, I completely agree, and I'm just a dumb fucking mexican, this bilbo doesn't speak for me, .. I think lord hollern, he fucking look out for all mexican woman and children, he like the great white god of central oregon, anybody who diss dis man tis a fuckin liberel. ok. I macho men, I know abut it thing. ain't no eason to hollarn coming aftdar me or day dunc, beecauz we both nose our place in BEN.

Wtich redgars to Resnick, I eat his shit and luv is white man. I spray sutearaa products on failee corn in maydayco I knot thsi thing 'check-mate' from suteraa. Me Ben man, mee bend here long time, maybe 2 yers.

Anonymous said...

Dunc,

What part of brook resource discussion made you decide to lube your arse with KY jelly? The part about giving $5M of land to the BULL in exchange for promoting UGB expansion of HOLLERN land, which just happens to be the majority of land around Bend in the UGB fringe?

May I suggest a good proctologist in PDX, should you acquire a prolapsed anus?

bilbo