I'm crying the elliptical blues this morning. Ouch, ouch, ouch, oh, what's my penance: elliptical, why did I forsake you? We climbed to the overlook yesterday for Old Faithful. They say it's a half mile, but that's just to fool you into thinking it's a piece of cake. Let me tell you, it's more th
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09/30/2010
We were informed that Yellowstone National Park had no Internet but that turned out to be a fallacy. While there is no Internet available at Old Faithful Inn, there is indeed WiFi service a few buildings over at Old Faithful Snow Lodge. The only problem is I might get mauled by a bear on my way t
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09/29/2010
I had considered booking a reservation at a different hotel in town, a place that costs $1,000 a night. I figured we'd be here only one night so it might be nice to stay at a really swanky place. But when I figured out we would get to the hotel around 9 PM and be out first thing in the morning to
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09/28/2010
I'm going to a place today that doesn't exist. Well, the place exists, but there is no such town. It's an area, a valley, not a city. That place is Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I'm obviously not a snow skier or I would know that. There is a town called Jackson, however, and we're spending tonight there
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09/27/2010
Like Christopher Guest's Waiting for Guffman, I find humor in some situations that others don't find amusing at all. One of my favorites is when sellers feel offended because they are asked to make a decision to sell within a specified time period. Some sellers think that when they receive a purc
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09/26/2010
When I stopped at the dry cleaners a few days ago, I was asked if I work at Lyon Real Estate. You know me -- I cut right to the chase. I said, "Let me guess. You want to know if my former CEO is a pot-smokin', peeping tom pervert? Is that what you want to know?" Lots of stammering, throat clearin
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09/25/2010
Former California state Treasurer Phil Angelides conducted a daylong hearing in Sacramento yesterday of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. As a Sacramento resident, Angelides most likely has intimate knowledge of how the market crash has devastated Sacramento. The hearing yielded testimony
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09/24/2010
We've got vultures in my neighborhood of Land Park, Sacramento. And I'm not just talking about those agents fighting in the streets after a listing presentation. Because yesterday brought us not only the first day of fall, but we're beginning our seasonal bird migration. This is the time of year
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09/23/2010
In the land of Sacramento short sales, there are days when it feels like I am a balloon artist -- blowing up balloons and squeezing them into animal shapes. I actually have a very close friend from Minnesota who lives in Texas and is a professional balloon artist. You know, you squeeze one end an
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09/22/2010
Is every transaction getting harder these days? That's the question another Sacramento short sale agent asked me yesterday. I have to say it certainly appears to be true. It's not unusual in a short sale to draw a series of counter offers before finding a suitable and agreeable buyer. There are a
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09/21/2010