active rain: Buying an Investment Property? No One Is Willing to Sell You Mortgage Insurance - 10/03/08 08:00 PM
The REALTOR called me from a cruise ship. Our pre-qualified borrower--who has been waiting months for the market to fit his budget--finally decided to make the plunge and purchase a rental property in Tucson.
His FICO score is 780. The buyer is a W-2 employee with more than 16 years on … (11 comments)
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active rain: Please Welcome My Friend Mike Carsten to Active Rain! - 10/01/08 01:25 PM
Mike Carsten is almost a native of Tucson, having moved here from Toledo, Ohio seventeen years ago. (Please leave a comment, and then click the link to go comment on Mike's blog.)
Mike is a captain in the Tucson Fire Department, and I've just hired him as a loan officer in … (26 comments)
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active rain: Improve Your Sales Results Right Now! The Picture In Your Mind Becomes the Story of Your Life - 09/03/08 08:30 AM
"The pictures in your mind becomes the stories of your life."Cody Bateman
I've been a National Sales Manager for OPEX Corporation, an international manufacturing company based in Moorestown, NJ, so I bring something to the table.
Here's how it works:
(1) What you think shapes the words you say, and … (23 comments)
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active rain: Tucson Artist Tom Murray Captures the Essence of the Southwestern Sky - 08/20/08 05:19 AM
Arizona skies are awesome. So is painter Tom Murray. I've never seen clouds captured on canvas with such realism and painterly beauty.
I first met Tom at Jane Hamilton Fine Art in Tucson on River Road near Campbell.
That's where you'll find original paintings like the one you see featured here.
… (22 comments)
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active rain: Unique Little Property in Tucson Begs for Unique Buyer! - 08/09/08 10:50 PM
This must be 70 years old; it hasn't been a service station for a long time.
I drive by it often. It sits on a corner in a residential part of the older town of Tucson, near downtown.
What could it become?
An ice cream shop?
A flower shop?
____________________
You … (22 comments)
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active rain: Initiation to Blogging: Please Welcome My Friend Debbie Bachel - 07/30/08 12:00 AM
Debbie's (left) agency is just upstairs from my office, and it's a pleasure to refer business to her. That's because Debbie goes the extra mile for my clients, and is more interested in what's good for the client than what's in it for her.
Vicki Altadonna of Tucson (right) can take the … (10 comments)
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active rain: Unique Mailbox on Soldier Trail in Tucson, AZ: a Mailbox Series Update - 05/15/08 05:01 AM
Chris Griffith, an Active Rain giant and successful REALTOR in Bonita Springs, Florida, is a gem! Newbies would do well to subscribe to her blog, both for content and ideas.
Chris's post The Mailbox Series - First Time Poster's Welcome caught my eye tonight.
Real estate bloggers here in the Rain often … (21 comments)
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active rain: Highway Visibility: Yesteryear's Real Estate "Hook" - 05/07/08 11:42 PM
Minnesota has its Paul Bunyan and the Blue Ox. Small towns across the country have the 15' tall lumberjack holding out a tractor tire. This huge bug was a new one for me.
We were in Colorado Springs last year for our daughter's wedding, and I had some free time.
One of … (23 comments)
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active rain: Agents and REALTORS: The FHA Mortgage is a Fantastic Sales Tool in Tough Markets! - 05/04/08 11:42 PM
My REALTOR partners are closing sales for Tucson buyers who have income, but have saved little towards a downpayment. Buyer demand is strong for zero down homes, or nearly zero down. Here's what you need to do to close more sales using the advantages of an FHA mortgage:
This is a MUST: Make sure your … (21 comments)
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active rain: Silly Tucson Saturday Night Post - 05/04/08 12:27 AM
Some time ago, I wrote a short post about these pigeons camped out at the car wash, just waiting for the happy car owner to drive under the light standard.
Bird brains!
Then today, a realtor from South Carolina sent me a series of photos from a car wash showing starlings going … (15 comments)
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active rain: Jazz at the China Rose, Tucson, Arizona - 05/04/08 12:15 AM
I love Chinese food. I love good jazz. Until coming to Tucson ten years ago, the two never shared the same file space in my brain.
That was before I visited the China Rose on Speedway in Tucson, AZ.
Frank Hartline invited me to join him and his wife Cheryl for dinner … (5 comments)
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active rain: Oldie But Goodie: Antique Truck Still in Service in Tucson, Arizona - 05/04/08 12:01 AM
They say it's a dry heat. Summers get into the triple digits, but with the lack of rain and humidity year round (not to mention NO salt on the roads in winter) Tucson preserves its vehicles better than just about any place in the country. Here's a great example.
I was pulling … (6 comments)
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active rain: Spiffing Up the Laundry Room - 05/01/08 11:47 PM
My Darlin' and I spent Sunday afternoon walking through three model homes in the Tucson Mountains.
The homes were nicely staged, more Texas than Tucson, IMHO, and the landscaping was exquisite.
The largest model was about 2,000 square feet, with lots of glass facing the mountains. The interior kitchen, if I recall, … (15 comments)
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active rain: The Ferris Wheel Real Estate Market - 05/01/08 11:32 PM
So there we were, last Saturday night, at the Pima County fair. I've been partial to fairs since I was a kid of seven on the eastern shore of Virginia.
Grandpa would take us, and cousin Jerry and I spent out time looking for empty Coca Cola bottles. We gathered them up … (9 comments)
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active rain: Dinosaur Bones On the Ranch in Oklahoma? - 04/30/08 10:43 PM
One of the joys of owning your own piece of real estate comes from things you find. Sometimes its a find in the backyard. A friend of mine found coins from the revolutionary war days on his property in south Jersey.
Our friends, the Colonel and his Darlin', were walking the limestone … (14 comments)
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active rain: Southwest Colors in Spring: This Cactus Really Is Purple! - 04/29/08 11:44 PM
It's a variant of the common Prickly Pear. The first time I saw one, I would have sworn it was spray painted by a graffitti artist.
If not that, it must have been fabricated from metal. Some of them are gun metal grey.
The color just doesn't jive with an easterner's sense of … (21 comments)
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active rain: REALTOR as Trusted Advisor: Get Beyond the Lender Greed Factor - 04/28/08 12:43 PM
Beyond Greedy LendersAre your clients surprised that mortgage interest rates are climbing higher? You can position yourself as a trusted advisor by not parroting the "greed" factor. Instead, become acquainted with specific world events that are causing the trouble. Here are a few things to keep an eye on:
The US Dollar … (10 comments)
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active rain: False Advertising and the Bathroom Break - 04/27/08 06:54 AM
Any port in a storm... We were driving through New Mexico last week, and saw the Necessary as we pulled off Interstate 10.
No Key Needed was painted in five inch high letters, but as I got closer, it was apparent that this was indeed, false advertising. LOL
I'm Mike in Tucson, … (23 comments)
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active rain: Friday Night Post: Twilight In Tucson, Arizona - 04/26/08 01:38 AM
I don't know which I like better, the fire of a Tucson sunset, or the lovely stillness of the moonrise at twilight, after the sun has disappeared in the western sky. I took these two photos a half hour apart, the first from the parking lot at Gates Pass in the … (32 comments)
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active rain: It's Not What You Have... It's WHAT YOU DO WITH WHAT YOU HAVE That Makes the Difference - 04/24/08 10:31 PM
This photo is the perfect example of that! This is GARBAGE! And it's wonderful!
I ran into an acquaintance who hasn't seen me for more than six months.
She looked sort of sorrowful as she asked "Oh. How have you been doing in this awful market? I know it must be a struggle. … (37 comments)
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active rain: The Home Inspector Told the Bank I Needed A New Roof - 04/24/08 12:24 AM
This is why we'll always have a job. The buyer in the FSBO transaction paid for a home inspection.
The home inspector told him that the roof was not economically repairable because of the age of the house, and that he shouldn't put much money into something so old.
I guess the … (18 comments)
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active rain: Microsoft Stalls on Yahoo Purchase. Maybe This Is Why! - 04/23/08 11:12 AM
Sorry for the holdup? Temporary glitch? Come on! Let's talk!
I've never seen this happen on Yahoo. Have you? I tried to upload one of my banks' ratesheets to price a loan, and the message won't upload. Maybe it's time to go to Gmail!
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona mortgage … (15 comments)
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active rain: First AZ Blogging Network Get-Together in Gilbert is TOMORROW Morning! - 04/23/08 06:22 AM
Tomorrow. Thursday, April 24th. 9:00 until 10:30, or stay for lunch. Free T-Shirts with embroidered logos! (Okay, I made up that last one. You won't get a tee shirt.)
If you live in Arizona, and you haven't seen this logo floating around Active Rain, you haven't been spending enough time on Active … (8 comments)
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active rain: There's No Place Like Home in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert - 04/23/08 12:43 AM
Getting away for ten days does a lot to recharge the batteries, freshen one's outlook, and to minimize the problems that seemed overwhelming just a week ago.
We were in a beautiful area of God's creation--southeastern Oklahoma in the springtime.
Still, the rain across the desert in spring paints the valley floor twenty … (19 comments)
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active rain: Homebuilding On A Miniature Scale: A Sure Sign of Spring in Tucson, AZ - 04/23/08 12:29 AM
While we Lenders, Real Estate Agents, Appraisers and Title folk are worrying about the housing market and its effects on our individual economies, there's hope on the horizon.
Hummingbirds have returned to Tucson, Arizona.
Oblivious to the humans around them, they court the opposite sex, settle on a mate, and get down to … (10 comments)
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active rain: Photograpy on the Fly: West Texas on the Way to Tucson - 04/21/08 10:23 PM
West Texas, driving home to Tucson.
Keep the shiny side up. That's the main thing on my mind.
West Texas is flat, monotonous, and the Interstate runs a straight line to the horizon.
Except for the rumble strips to keep you awake, what do you do to relieve the boredom?
I take photos. Set the … (22 comments)
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active rain: Balance in Life: It's Time for the Annual Roundup in Caddo, OK - 04/11/08 09:20 AM
Mike in Tucson will be less visible on the blogosphere for the next ten days. I'll be working cattle.
"Well, who will you get to help work cattle in the spring?" I put the question to my friends Dick and Olivia in early 1995. Dick, having retired from the Air Force, had decided to … (24 comments)
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active rain: Just For (Lenn &) Lenders: Reduced Doc Loans Follow Dodo Bird to Extinction - 04/10/08 08:04 AM
For years, my favorite loan for high FICO borrowers with substantial assets and large down payments has been Suntrust's "Eligible" through Desktop Originator. Fannie Mae gives me its Approve/Eligible, and Suntrust says "regardless of what Fannie says, you do not need to document..."
Before I learned to use DO, Countrywide's Fast and … (13 comments)
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active rain: Rebuttal to the Notion that Mortgage Brokers are Redundant in the Banking World - 04/09/08 09:02 AM
The late 70's gentleman who found his way to my office (broker) had been referred by a client. Quiet, principled, churched, and a Rotarian for more than half a decade, he had fallen on hard times when a business venture folded. He had extended credit to his customers, and they had … (28 comments)
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active rain: Greenspan on Home Price Stabilization: 2008! - 04/08/08 06:52 AM
Alan Greenspan has taken a lot of heat for believing (and acting on his belief) that bubbles are okay, and that they will sort themselves out. No matter. He's retired.
He still has one of the most acutely perceptive minds in the business, however, and when Alan Greenspan talks, I'll listen. At … (16 comments)
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active rain: Two New Active Rain Referrals in One Weekend! - 04/07/08 03:55 PM
If you're young enough to ask the question "What is a broken record?" you'll have to forgive me.
I'm starting to sound like a broken record when I tell you that Active Rain relationships result in real business!
The most recent referral came this weekend, from Kent Simpson. Kent wrote about it yesterday … (84 comments)
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active rain: For Newbies Only: How to Avoid "Comment Stuttering" - 04/07/08 07:53 AM
It happens from time to time. Active Rain sends in the bulldozers to tear up a section of road when increased traffic creates a bottleneck.
You can't see the maintenance crew or know that they're working under the lights, around the clock, to install the new, improved roadway.
All you know is that … (32 comments)
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active rain: In This Real Estate Market, You Need Deep Roots - 04/05/08 10:22 PM
"Bloom where you're planted." I saw this Barrel Cactus high up on a rock outcropping in the Tortillita mountains.
Not all success comes from being planted in fertile, cultivated soil. The tiny seed that is now this hundred pound giant fell between the rocks.
It found enough wind-blown soil, moisture and shade to … (21 comments)
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active rain: Local Expert: Look What You Can Find Under the Bridge! - 04/05/08 09:54 PM
Tucson (rather, greater Tucson) has passed the million mark in terms of human habitation. With that number of people comes a greater requirement for infrastructure. Things like this concrete bridge spanning one of our many arroyos.
Thousands of cars pass over this bridge each day, commuting to work, going to the grocery … (15 comments)
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active rain: Good News for Interest Rates: Bloomberg Reports on Jobless Claims - 04/03/08 08:02 AM
By now, you know that Bloomberg is one of my favorite sites for evenhanded financial news reporting. Today's article: U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rose 38,000 to 407,000, bodes well for Agents selling and Lenders supporting their buyers. Look for interest rates to improve today.
If you like it, LOCK IT!
I'm Mike in … (17 comments)
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active rain: This Fool Started in the Lending Business on April 1, 2003 - 04/01/08 11:46 PM
Today is a milestone. Five years in the lending business. All five here in Tucson, Arizona. I remember telling the processor at my first job that I intended to learn to run my own Desktop Originator with Fannie Mae. "Over my dead body!" was the response. Her name is Cherubina. She didn't … (24 comments)
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active rain: Mickey's House: Not Just a Home. It's More of an Artist's Gallery (Part 3 of 3) - 03/31/08 02:25 AM
In case you haven't read Mickey's House: Part 1, here's the LINK. Then check out Mickey's House: Part 2.
Mickey wasn't home when I previewed his house for a client. I'd left a note on his coffee table (next to the carved Western Diamondback Rattlesnake you saw in Part 1) asking him … (23 comments)
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active rain: Mickey's House: Not Just a Home. It's More of an Artist's Gallery (Part 2 of 3) - 03/30/08 12:57 AM
In case you haven't read Mickey's House: Part 1, here's the LINK. You'll want to read it first if you have the time.
Everywhere I turned, Mickey's woodcarving artwork had become a part of his home.
I had come to preview the home, and was just stunned by the diversity, complexity and … (17 comments)
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active rain: Mickey's House: Not Just a Home. It's More of an Artist's Gallery (Part 1 of 3) - 03/30/08 12:06 AM
His name is Mickey. (Not the Indian carving there on the left with the turquoise inlay); Mickey is the carver.
He started whittling one day, found he liked it, has an aptitude for it, and never looked back.
Mickey's home was for sale, and before I turned in my REALTOR license to be … (11 comments)
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active rain: Local Expert: Desert Bighorn Sheep Management Area on Tucson's Northern Boundary - 03/30/08 12:01 AM
Pusch Ridge, at the western end of the Santa Catalina Mountains on Tucson's northern boundry, is home to the last of this area's Desert Bighorn Sheep.
The imposing granite escarpment that gives Pusch Ridge its name is extremely rugged. Its high, sheer rock faces make for good Bighorn habitat,
To see Desert Bighorns … (2 comments)
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active rain: Huge Spread Between Borrowing and Lending Costs: Are The Banks Getting Fat? - 03/28/08 02:03 PM
There's an interesting article today on Bloomberg.com, by Ann Woolner. That's Ann on the left. She's not real big on banks right now, because they're hoarding the cheap money the Federal Reserve has made available.
She makes the point that if she went under financially, none of her creditors (the yard … (13 comments)
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active rain: For Newbies Only: Use Your Camera to Capture My Imagination - 03/28/08 12:32 AM
Words without images are like eating a hardboiled egg without salt. You'll get some good out of it, but the experience won't be very satisfying.
My mind (yours too) doesn't understand words. It understands images.
We don't think in words, you and I. We think in images. A story is a series of … (24 comments)
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active rain: 4 Wheel Buggy Makes the Cut, will Perform at Tucson Folk Festival in May - 03/25/08 11:51 PM
If you're going to be in Tucson on Saturday, May 4, let me know. 4 Wheel Buggy was selected as a participant in the 2008 Tucson Folk Festival! Those of you who know me also know it doesn't take much to make me smile. When Frank Hartline (dobro on left) called … (15 comments)
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active rain: Blog Post #201. Mike In Tucson Inactivates Real Estate License... - 03/16/08 10:29 PM
...to focus on FHA and VA loans. Yep. I've held my REALTOR® status and Arizona Real Estate License for more than a year now. I wrote a post last year asking what people thought about lenders who also held a real estate license. I got an earful. And I said I'd … (30 comments)
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active rain: 200 Active Rain Blog Posts! - 03/15/08 09:13 PM
It doesn't take much to make me smile. The past eight months on Active Rain have given me some of the biggest smiles in my life! You are all so creative, so genuine, and more often than not, so funny! So here I am at post number 200, with no … (31 comments)
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active rain: For Newbies and AR Veterans Alike: Installing StatCounter on Your AR Blog - 02/12/08 03:35 PM
"I do what I say I'm going to do!" That's part of my motto, and I'm making good on a promise I made last week in my post For Newbies Only: Find Out Who's Visiting Your Blog with StatCounter.
You can view a live demo of StatCounter first, if you wish. … (149 comments)
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active rain: 2500 Home Development in Tucson May Revert to Original Owners - 02/08/08 06:59 AM
Word has it that the development known as Saguaro Springs, a 2,500 home development in Marana, AZ (near Tucson) may have tanked, and will revert to the original sellers for the original sales price of $30,000,000., resulting in a loss of approximately $70,000,000 for a national developer who has invested that … (26 comments)
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active rain: Shuffled? Mixed Up! My AR Groups Have a Life of Their Own. - 02/06/08 10:28 PM
I just added an Associate from the great state of Minnesota. Here's the drill: comment on Joyce's blog, click on More About Me, click on Add As Associate. I've done it more than a hundred times.There's my list of groups, over on your right. I had decided to add Joyce to … (19 comments)
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active rain: For Newbies Only: Find Out Who's Visiting Your Blog with StatCounter - 02/06/08 08:16 AM
It's called StatCounter, and it's free at statcounter.com. Free, that is, for records of the last 500 visitors to your blog. You can find out where they came from, how long they stayed, how many times they've visited, and more. Even better, you can discover the keyword search, and the search … (50 comments)
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active rain: Tucson Real Estate Caution: Busier Than a One-Armed Paperhanger! - 01/11/08 11:50 PM
If you have one of these signs stashed in your basement, I want to buy it from you. Today, it would have been hanging on my office door, 3131 N Country Club Rd, Suite 111, Tucson, AZ 85716.
I have not had a day like this in the last 18 months!
First … (26 comments)
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active rain: Grateful for the Rain? Yes, but Much More Grateful for the Rainers! - 12/22/07 09:36 PM
As the year comes to a close, I'm particularly grateful for Active Rain, and the part it's played in developing my business this year. But it's not Active Rain, it's you, and others just like you from Hawaii, Alaska, Canada and every one of the lower 48 states who have made 2007 such … (48 comments)
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active rain: Silly Tucson Sunday Post - 12/16/07 08:51 AM
On my way home last night, I came across these 80 feathered clowns, just waiting to make a mess.
The irony of the situation made me pull into a business across the street, get out the old camera, and walk into the intersection to take the photo.
Pigeon poop at a … (28 comments)
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active rain: Gift for My Subscribers at Christmas: The Desert in December! - 12/14/07 06:05 AM
Early morning fog wreaths the Tucson Mountains, and gives life-sustaining moisture to our desert ocotillo, prickly pear, palo verde and saguaro cacti.
This is one of the most beautiful times of year in the Arizona Sonoran desert. If you live here, you're blessed beyond measure. If you don't, come visit!
Daytime … (34 comments)
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active rain: Newbies (& AR Addicts) Only: Scavenger Hunt, Active Rain Style - 12/06/07 02:11 PM
I had Attention Deficit Disorder before doctors knew they could charge to cure it. Little games help me focus on the task at hand. Here's one I made up to start my day on Active Rain. Copy it, and some good things will happen in your Active Rain life. You will...
… (56 comments)
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active rain: Carrots for the Donkey: Fed to "Re-Liquify" Credit Markets - 12/05/07 11:26 AM
The problem with the carrot on a stick approach is that the guy holding the stick is behind the donkey. One jackass behind another, so to speak. My mind's eye conjures up all sorts of potential for disaster.
Since Thanksgiving, short term money (3 month USD) has been much more expensive than the … (21 comments)
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active rain: Fail Safe Followup System for Rainers: Simple, Sound, Safe... and Dirt Cheap! - 11/27/07 06:56 AM
It's simple. You can teach it to the rawest recruit in your office.
It's sound. Nothing will fall through the cracks.
It's safe. You'll never lose data unless the building burns down around you.
And (near and dear to MY heart) it's dirt cheap!
Last week's post Networking Heritage? Her Mom Was a … (30 comments)
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active rain: For Newbies Only: Blog Template--A Conversation With One Person--Me. - 11/24/07 01:04 PM
Edit: 4/10/08 (83,000 members)We're closing on 60,000 members in Active Rain. Yesterday saw 44 Newbies join our ranks, from places as far from my Tucson home as Vancouver, British Columbia and Ponce Inlet, Florida. With so many new members, and so much content to wade through, it's hard to know what to … (44 comments)
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active rain: Wordpress: Can We Make It Easier for Readers to Comment? - 11/23/07 09:36 AM
I'm spoiled by the Active Rain interface that lets me comment and interact. Todd Carpenter has an extremely useful site called Lenderama. This screen shot is from the latest post by a writer taking advantage of Todd's "Open Microphone" feature.
Wade Young, of Red Door Home Loans, has written a piece … (20 comments)
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active rain: Zoom Zoom! Zero to First on Google in 60 Days! - 11/11/07 12:27 AM
This post won't teach you anything about HTML meta tags. Active Rainers have already paved that street. This post is a success story for my brand, Mike in Tucson. Three things converged to bring about that success:
the genius of the Active Rain business model,
Active Rain members who read and comment … (157 comments)
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active rain: For Newbies Only: The Ten Commandments of Active Rain, With Apologies to Moses - 11/10/07 04:32 AM
When Moses came down off Mt. Sinai, he brought with him ten commandments. "Do, or don't do these things," was the idea, "and you will prosper in the land." There are ten do's and don'ts for success in the virtual land of Active Rain as well.
Edit: But first... Read the ActiveRain … (112 comments)
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active rain: Tooting My Horn: 50,000 Points and 100 Posts! - 11/08/07 07:10 AM
...thanks to my readers, commenters and subscribers! Today, I'll pass the 50,000 mark on Active Rain. Not much in the scheme of things, but for me it's a milestone. Since you're reading this, you know how much a part you've played in helping me get to this goal. Thank You!
Special thanks to … (49 comments)
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active rain: Tagged For A Meme! Jungle Boy--Mike in Tucson - 10/05/07 02:09 AM
I got Memed! Mike Mueller, a lender in California, notified me with a single word: "Sorry." He's a great lender. Go check him out.
That smiling fellow on the left is not Mike Mueller. It's a Three Toed Sloth from the jungles of Suriname, South America. Top speed: .15 mph But I … (31 comments)
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active rain: LOL: Laugh Out Loud, or Lots of Love (bless your heart...)? - 08/24/07 07:45 AM
When I was a kid, my sister, bless her heart, was always telling me what to do and who to hang out with! She subscribed to Mark Twain's theory of change: "Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits." (lol)
Bloggers often use "LOL" when commenting. (I see "bless your heart" … (15 comments)
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