Billion Dollar Lottery...
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Posted:Oct 20, 2018 11:03 am
Last Updated:Jul 21, 2023 4:31 am 32924 Views
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You can't win if you don't play... and last week the jackpot rolled up to $680 million.
Reports last night claimed the jackpot exceeded $1.6 BILLION making it the largest jackpot in the US lottery history!
Sure, I put $5 in with 30 coworkers in a chance to retire with more money than I could imagine. The girl who made the transactions for us mandated that if we hit the jackpot ALL of us have to show up Monday to decide which tour bus we will hire to go claim the prize money.
No one called or texted.
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Getting real about real estate...
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Posted:Oct 13, 2018 2:15 pm
Last Updated:Jul 21, 2023 4:20 pm 26806 Views
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I've accelerated my home shopping this month.
Last week, I went to see some single story townhouses. 1 and 2 bedroom 4-plex units in a 55+ community. I like the idea that parking is near each unit and some separation between buildings. Easy in and out of the development, but no gate or security guard.
There are some negative aspects... low ceilings, small bedrooms, baths & closets. The place is dreary and depressing to me, inside and out. The buildings are old and some appear that repairs aren't as timely as they should be. Coin operated laundry shared by each 4-plex. We met one guy who has been flipping units there, that could be something viable since I'm in the remodeling business. My has flipped a few units over the years and mentioned she would partner with me on such a venture. For what they offer, the asking prices seemed high. Yes... negotiate, negotiate, negotiate.
I learned some important shopping tips from shopping with women. Men are different. A guy will buy the first thing that looks good. Women won't see a first choice... everything is a second or third choice. If a woman finds something that meets ALL of her search criteria, she will continue to shop for something better!
This week, I've been getting links from an agent featured in a different place. 3 and 4 story condos in a gated community. The development is easily ten times larger than the place with townhouses. Priced better, the 2 bedroom units are in the same price range as the 1 bedroom townhouses and the HOA is also less. There are more restrictions in the condos, including no pets (good) coin laundry shared by many. Some buildings must be primary residences... renters are not allowed. Personally, I think that would make the units hold their value.
Getting in and out of gated communities has it's delays. All the listings talk about the amenities. Pool, spa, exercise room, golf, theater... all the things I have no interest in. I'm really not looking forward to condo life. Stairs, assigned parking 50 yards away, laundry at the end of the wing.
The community is predominately Jewish. I worry we would be considered as outsiders. My wife has no religion and I worship internet. I mentioned to a friend about acceptance there and he said "Put that out of your mind." I'm also concerned if the community would be prejudice toward my Chinese wife. Again, he said "No worries mate, she's friendly and outgoing, they'd be drawn to her in an instant."
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The eye of a hurricane...
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Posted:Oct 10, 2018 7:35 pm
Last Updated:Oct 28, 2018 5:20 am 29112 Views
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I was looking at photos of hurricane Michael that came through the Florida Panhandle today. Having lived in South Florida for nearly 60 years I've seen many hurricanes including ones that came across my city where we experienced the eye of a hurricane.
The experience you receive is a hundred plus miles per hour wind and rain, then the eyewall passes over you'll likely to find the rain stops, the wind stops and it is all quiet for more than 20 minutes. As you reach the back part of the eye wall the wind and rain hits you in the opposite direction from the way it originally passed over you. Very creepy.
Katrina in 2005
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Complaint Desk...
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Posted:Oct 9, 2018 4:10 am
Last Updated:Oct 13, 2018 4:45 am 31350 Views
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I was in multi-tasking mode yesterday. Lots of interruptions. More than any normal Monday.
Working hard to close a deal, I sent revised drawings and prices to a Friday so she and her husband can review. The call came early with 4 important requests... something that would take an hour or so got started several times, but I had to resolve a few emergency complaint requests. I got back on it around 7pm and worked a few more complaints until 7:50pm when my wife summoned me to head home. At 10:50pm I was online taking a few minutes to digest dinner, read a blog or two and get back to work to finish what I planned to do in the morning.
I'm getting good at resolving complaints but not good at getting any of my work done.
A bad complaint I want to keep distance on is an order that took 2 weeks to process and the factory acknowledged 8 weeks to complete. Their acknowledgement isn't accurate as they are running 2 weeks behind, so that makes a total of (counts on fingers and toes) 12 weeks when the salesman told the customer 8 weeks.
They (the ) are 'freaking out' as they sold their previous unit and won't have a working kitchen or bath when they move into the new place. The is angry and doesn't want to talk to the salesman... he want's a 'higher-up' to call (clears throat) and that would be me, but since I know nothing about the order I'm expecting the factory to make some changes and complete the order on the acknowledgement date.
I thought by going home the complaint desk would be closed. My boss texted me to complain about something else that needed to be resolved last night.
That said... The complaint desk was open until 1:30am!
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If the vigilante decides to take a vacation...
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Posted:Oct 6, 2018 9:44 am
Last Updated:Oct 9, 2018 2:28 pm 30512 Views
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I'm inspired to write this blog after reading another blog stating an increased amount of fake profiles on Asia Friend Finder.
For years, I've made it my hobby to sniff out profiles with bogus photos. That could be women listed on Russian or Ukrainian marriage sites with profiles here that are are totally different. Maybe it's stolen pornstar photos or social media celebrities with thousands of followers. It doesn't matter to me... if the photo was stolen, I'll report it.
HUNDREDS of fake WOMEN'S profiles have been closed/deactivated due to my efforts... but you don't really know that. Except for a dozen 'status' blogs for the resistant scammers that weren't deleted in a timely manner, what I do is 'behind the scenes' so it's easy to complain about the scammers here and not know that's only a fraction of the numbers of profiles created on a daily basis.
Why so many scammers? I'm thinking unsuspecting members fall for their false stories... like a job in another country that went sour and needing money to get back to America. Oh... and by the way... I love you!
Pay to get them back to 'the good old USA' and they are talking marriage with you.
If their system didn't work they would have to resort to other means of scamming... so, it's must be working to have so many. ALL dating sites have this problem.
Let's not take the word 'vigilante' literally, what I do is passive. I send a message to the customer service with the profile name and where the original photo was stolen from. Pretty simple and it works!
On a good day I'm reporting 4 bogus profiles and they get deactivated within 24 hours.
Are you good with math? Take half the numbers I'm averaging... 2 per day times 365 days in a year. Over 700 per year. Easily I've been doing this for more than 7 years and remember weekends where I reported as many as 25 profiles. That's an amazing number to think that 5,000 scammers were knocked out of business... yeah they returned, several times, again and again.
The thought is why do I invest so much free time knocking out scammers when I have nothing to gain from it?
I'm thinking about taking a vacation from being the vigilante and see what happens after a month or two... THEN you guys can really complain about the number of fake profiles on this site.
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I got pulled over for speeding...
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Posted:Sep 29, 2018 9:32 pm
Last Updated:Oct 2, 2018 8:29 pm 30106 Views
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On the way back from the Mexican shoemaker 'Zapatos' I had my new boots on and suddenly I see some blue lights flashing in my rear view mirror. It was the police signaling me to pull over. I did and he told me to present my driver's license, registration and proof of insurance. I explained I'm unable to reach for my wallet and I needed to get out of the car. He stepped back to allow me to do so and when he saw my new boots he began laughing uncontrollably. Shaking his head he understood why I was speeding.
"Yeah officer, I just got these boots 15 minutes ago and didn't realize this would be a problem when I started driving."
The officer told me he would let me off with only a warning and to promise to remove the boots when I was driving. "It's a deal" I said.
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Bill Cosby's new apartment...
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Posted:Sep 29, 2018 2:47 pm
Last Updated:Oct 2, 2018 8:58 am 29399 Views
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This past Tuesday, actor Bill Cosby had moved to a new apartment at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. He was found guilty of 3 counts of aggravated indecent assault and sentenced to 3-10 years in prison. Some say his stay will be a short one. Some say his sentence should have been greater.
I read a fellow inmate greeted Cosby with a stale hotdog bun to the face. Reading comments to the news story, I believe someone said 'bun today... hotdog tomorrow...'
Well Bill, payback is a bit*ch.
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Get out your Moon Cakes...
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Posted:Sep 24, 2018 3:19 am
Last Updated:Oct 11, 2018 4:19 am 29770 Views
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It's time to get out your Moon Cakes and celebrate the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.
From what I've read, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important festival in China after Chinese New Year. This festival means family reunion and harmony and is celebrated when the moon is full.
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Downwind from a steakhouse...
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Posted:Sep 19, 2018 4:01 am
Last Updated:Sep 19, 2018 4:01 am 29066 Views
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I usually leave my office between 7:30 and 8pm (read: diner time) and have to travel a few main roads to get to the highway. This puts me past a mall and several plazas with restaurants on both sides of the roadway. That's the time I roll down the windows and inhale the smell of cooked food, especially from a few steakhouses along the way! I actually enjoy waiting at a red light for the aroma of cooked food.
Just past the half-way point puts me in Hollywood and a really large plaza with several restaurants on the perimeter road alongside the Interstate and again... it's time to roll down the window and catch the smell of grilled steak wafting over the highway...
They have TGI Friday's, Red Lobster, Miller's Ale House, Dave & Busters next to each other and the smell is awesome!
The best part of all this is smelling cooked food has no calories...
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deceptive sales tactics...
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Posted:Sep 17, 2018 3:23 am
Last Updated:Oct 11, 2018 4:19 am 30796 Views
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I'm shopping for a condo and called the realtor from one of the listings I'm interested in. She apologized as the property was sold and neglected to notify the website to remove the ad. I'll file this under unprofessional laziness.
Some realtors have other listings and bait people with really good ones that just happen to have been sold... but if you are interested, they have others that are somewhat more expensive than the one that hooked you in. I'll file this under deceptive sales tactics.
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