The Price of Fame

I heard a while back that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would not get married until gay men and lesbians legally had the right to do so as well.  Isn’t that thoughtful? 

I’m sure that, at the time, the gay and lesbian population of California rested easier at night knowing that Brad and Angelina felt their pain.  What humanitarians.  Don’t you love people who are willing to take a stand? 

I am quite the humanitarian myself and there's nothing I love more than a good stand.  In fact, I am willing to feel Brad and Angie's pain by letting them give me a million dollars.  In fact, I would be willing to let them give a million dollars, one million at a time, to as many of us as possible so we know what it feels like to be rich.

I feel better already.

It's All Coming Back to Me Now

Football is a big deal in my house.  So are my 5 rescued greyhounds.

A few weeks back my husband Jack and I watched a game between the Denver Broncos and the New York Giants.  At half time the score was Denver 10, New York Giants 9.  My husband casually commented that Denver 10 Giants 9 was the same score at half time when the Giants met Denver in Superbowl XXI after the 1986 season.  He then announced that the Giants came back to beat Denver by a final score of 39 to 20.

Who remembers the half time score of a game played 26 years ago?  I turned to make sure Jack hadn’t just googled the information but I could see that his phone was nowhere near him.  I passed it off as nonsense and continued watching the game.  After halftime, announcer Phil Simms, Quarterback for the 1986 Giants, confirmed what Jack had just said only moments earlier.  That the Denver Broncos were leading his Giants 10 to 9 at halftime of Superbowl XXI; a game the Giants came back to win 39 to 20. 

My husband gave me an “I told you so” look and a “how ‘bout that” nod as I walked past him into the kitchen.

At that moment I saw my 13 year old greyhound Kira, who does not bark, standing outside my sliding glass doors waiting patiently to come in.  The time was 7:00.  I asked Jack what time he had let her out.  He said right after he had fed her at 6. 

It’s a good thing there wasn’t a football helmet nearby.  The final score would have been 10 blows to the head, 9 to the groin.

Daniel is Travelling Tonite on a Plane

On October 3^rd 2012, a stray beagle was euthanized along with 18 other dogs at an overcrowded animal shelter in Florence, Alabama.  The animals were placed in the shelter’s gas chamber, a stainless-steel box roughly the size of a pickup truck bed.  A computer-controlled pump slowly fed carbon monoxide into the chamber once it was sealed and an operator pressed a button.  

When the animal control officer in charge of the operation returned to unlock the chamber, he found a dog waiting at the door, wagging its tail.  The other dogs were dead.  The lone surviving dog, a beagle, was named Daniel, inspired by the biblical story of Daniel, who walked out of a lion’s den unscathed. 

Volunteers immediately began looking for a new home for the dog who defied the odds.

In the meantime, Alabama lawmakers passed a law in June, 2013 banning the use of gas chambers, effective December 31. 

Just when we thought this story would have a happy ending, we learned that Daniel was flown to New Jersey where he was adopted and currently resides.

Hasn’t this poor dog suffered enough?

For Sale By Owner

I have no use for the ridiculous notion that realtors should get a percentage of my home’s sale price.

When I sold my last house in 2002 the realtor I worked with got a 3% commission.  I asked him if he would be having any open houses.  He said no.  When I pushed the issue and told him I wanted an open house, he told me I could have my own.  I told him that if my house sold as the direct result of any open house I had, he would not get his commission.  He had an open house.

11 years later I would again like to sell my house.  The realtor we spoke to, Ron, is a friend of my husband Jack’s.  I asked Ron if the current commission rate was still 3%.  I thought he was going to wet himself when he laughingly told me that it was between 5 and 6%, but as he was a friend of Jack’s, he would do it for us for 5%.  He was sure to tell me that was the same rate he charged his uncle.  

I chuckled too and laughingly told Ron that if he didn’t reduce his rate I was going to comically shop him around.  I stopped just short of hysterically telling him I thought his uncle was an idiot.  Why was he charging family anyway?  When I saw Ron look imploringly at Jack, my husband shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.  He’s been down this road with me before.

Ron told me that he could probably do it for 4% but that it would have to be an exclusive listing, i.e. he wouldn’t have to split the commission with another MLS realtor.  That would be a big benefit to lose, he cautioned, as the Multiple Listing service is a valuable tool.  I believe it is.  He also told me I could probably find someone who would do it for 3%, but “you get what you pay for” he cautioned 
again.  I smiled and nodded.   

So what is it this guy is going to do for me that warrants his receiving 5% of the sale price of my house?  Would he be doing any more or less if my house sold for $100K less?  My guess is no.  And more to the point, since my husband and I are the ones who paid for almost $100K in upgrades, not to mention the mortgage for the last 11 years, why should Ron be the one to benefit from that?  Because he needs to make an adequate living?  And as Ron himself said, the benefit one gets from having a house multiple listed is what is most important.  So what am I really losing if I find a "do nothing" realtor who will take 3% as long as my house is multiple listed?  Not much it seems. 

Realtors should get a flat fee, just like the closing attorney.  If the attorney is to be paid $10,000 regardless of whether I’m selling a mansion or a shack, why should the realtor be paid $22,500 to sell a $450,000 house when he’d get $17,500 to sell the same house if it was only worth $350,000.  

I'm thinking something in the neighborhood of $5K is reasonable.

And if a flat fee isn’t enough money for realtors to make a living on, Home Depot is always hiring. 

OK, what else do I need to fix?

Pump It Up

Can somebody please explain to me the animosity towards Alex Rodriguez, third baseman for the NY Yankees. 

I read an article claiming that A-Rod, aka A-Roid and The Prince of Loathe is not only the most hated man in sports, but one of the most hated people in America.  Really?  He has been called a liar and a cheat.  Oh, and a rat.  Let’s not forget rat.  Across the land, the article claimed, that makes him the worst of the worst; the lowest of the low. 

Apparently, from what I am to understand, Alex is facing a year and a half suspension for his alleged involvement with a company called Biogeneis, a South Florida clinic that “allegedly” supplied him with performance-enhancing drugs.  Major League Baseball asserts that Rodriguez used and possessed numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances including Testosterone and human growth hormone.

Why do we care about this?  If a professional athlete wants to pump his own body with all manner of performance enhancing chemicals for our entertainment, I say why not.  I’d much rather see a slug fest than a pitcher’s duel any day of the week.

In other news, Michael Vick signed a one year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles for the 2013 season.  Vick could earn as much as $10 million.  

What a country.

Beware Old Age

Getting old stinks.  Getting old when you're out of shape stinks worse.

About a month or so ago, as I lifted a laundry basket, I felt a twinge in my left shoulder.  The pain has not gone away.

Yesterday morning I asked my husband to massage it for me.  I extended my arm and told him it was my triceps.  He laughed so hard he stopped massaging.  He said it was where my triceps should be.

As he turned and walked away I slapped him on the back of the head.  You know, where his hair should be.