jon zolsky: From Dummy to Dummy…with Love
- 01/24/11 12:09 PM
If we are talking about computer hardware and software, there are a few people who know that stuff … usually those who worked for serious companies.. and those who do not know that stuff, otherwise called dummies… like myself.
In Russia there was a joke. If you can do something with your own hands – do it. If you can’t, teach others how to do it, and if you are not able to do even this, then teach the teachers… Hmm, that was a heck of dummy, fellas.
I did not make it to the elite and I am not teaching … (6 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Christening in the Arctic
- 01/23/11 03:59 PM
In Russian Orthodox religion there is a holiday, Christening in icehole, which in Russia falls on the night between January 18 and 19. It is similar to baptizing, as you have to get into the water (usually a river). The event was quite popular even in my years in the Soviet Union, when instead of a religious Holiday, it was just a fun night with tens of thousands of people coming to the river, and I remember that it was getting very dangerous when the ice could not hold that huge mostly drunk crowd, and started cracking and the water was … (19 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Are You Taking The Calls?
- 01/22/11 05:40 AM
Cinnamon Wright, a personal assistant to broker Tish Lloyd posted Know who you're calling when you dial the number
It describes a common situation when someone calls for an agent or a boker in the office, and does not want to give the name before being transfered. It is a cute blog, would cause you to smile, and it is followed by comments which are pretty uniformed in that it is OK to ask for a name, and it is OK not to put the call through if the name is not given.
I understand that assistants may be instructed to take a … (14 comments)
|
jon zolsky: A Toast!
- 01/03/11 05:24 PM
This blog was inspired by an excellent blog post by Russel Ray Dear 2010: I'm so sorry that some people didn't like you
I am not so rich to throw away years, months, or even days. These are our days on earth, and better or worse, this is our life, and no rain check in store for us for what we did not like. No return, no exchange.
2010 was as good, as we managed to make it, and it was as bad as we let it happen, but it was the year of our life, and we should be … (25 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Somebody stole my identity
- 01/03/11 01:36 PM
I was thinking of putting together a few photos for the relatives, none of whom is in the US, and whom we have not seen for 20 years.
So, I asked Olga to take my photo on the beach, and I did not like it. Then next day on the beach we did it again, and again I did not like it. Seems like she can’t make a good shot. When I am taking her photos, they come perfect… but she does not like them.
Why is it that I did not recognize myself on the photo? I remember myself, … (22 comments)
|
jon zolsky: My Daily Dose of Paradise
- 01/01/11 08:43 AM
Do you know how to make sure you never forget your wife’s birthday? Miss one….and I guarantee it would happen only once, if your marriage survives this one…
No, I did not forget my wife’s birthday. I made sure I will never forget it. I married a girl with the same birthday as my – 1st of January. This way when in the morning she turns to me and says “Happy Birthday, honey (hmm… did she say “honey”?), I know that I need to say “Thank you. Happy Birthday to you”.
And it really works…
I am writing this post before leaving … (54 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Familial Status
- 01/01/11 05:48 AM
We got a new baby...sort of.
This was a tricky short sale. I will write about it shortly, but show me a short sale, which isn’t tricky… The Seller was from Siberia, and he was returning back to Russia. When I asked him why he was in trouble and needed to short sell, he smiled and said that when here in US we sneeze (economically speaking), there in Russia they have a full blown cold or flu…
A week before closing we were in the house finalizing the details, and I saw a black cat. I like cats, so I kneeled … (19 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Falling Star
- 12/27/10 07:04 PM
I was in Julian’s three times in all these years.
The restaurant was a staple in Ormond Beach for years and years. Excellent location on the first block south of Granada Ave on Atlantic Ave. (A1A), it is within walking distance from the Shopping plaza, it is across from Grand Seas, a classy time share Resort, it is directly across from Oceanfront 89 Condominium, other resorts and condos.
First visit was with our clients. It was OK, not that there was anything out of the ordinary, but food was decent, as was the service. Restaurant was full of people, and … (12 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Collapsing Rainbow... Heavy Damage
- 12/26/10 03:34 PM
I love people who call themselves investors. They walk in, they ask all questions about buying in Daytona Beach Area, and then they say that they are not sure in the economy. They have read this, and listened to that, and thought about something similar happening in Rome of Caesar era...
I guess they want to buy the economy...
You can show them that on e can’t build for what you can buy it now. They look at it with blinking eyes, and then they would say that they are afraid of a bubble. They sort of understand that if you … (4 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Mother Theresa's Moustache... OR Geography and AR
- 12/25/10 06:44 PM
I have noticed that customers in search of vacation properties often are not that tied to a particular area. Often there is no real priority, and for us here on the east cost in Florida this can mean from Jacksonville to Miami.
And if this is true for other areas as well, we have to remember that they may not know some geographical terms. Everybody knows Jacksonville, Daytona, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, but there are a lot of smaller places. Many prospective Buyers do not know them.
But we often forget about it. I couple of times responded to excellent comments of … (12 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Hit & Run on AR
- 12/19/10 02:20 PM
My (and not only my) biggest pet peeve on Active Rain is when commenters do not read the post. They do not read, but they comment. Comments like “You did a really good job on this post” left on a reblog (example by Jim Frimmer), closely followed by meaningless “Thanks for sharing. Keep doing a good work” type…
Of course, it is strange to encounter this type of behavior on professional network, where we all are supposed to be …well, professional… And we are not…or not all of us, or not always…
So what can we do? Is there a way … (28 comments)
|
jon zolsky: An Uncomfortable Half Truth
- 12/16/10 01:05 PM
I ran into an interesting post today by Melina Tomson: An Uncomfortable Truth. Though I understand her point, I think there is more to it than what we are willing to acknowledge, and it is not all that cut and dried and black and white literally and figuratively…
I sometimes deal with Russians, and it would be standard to get the questions about the concentration of Russians. Is a racial thing? Often they are older people, and want to be around people, who speak their language and can help if needed, or be closer to a Russian store.
And what about … (48 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Disabled Comments Mean "Shut Up"?
- 12/14/10 01:39 PM
Not long ago there was a post by a prominent AR member. It was featured and created quite a discussion. The author was somehow upset by the discussion, and disabled the comments.
I do not dispute the right of the author to disable comments. I do not.
However, blogging is a way of communicating information and ideas. To do that there should be a open line of communication. Disabled comments means ";shut up";.
Especially with featured post. Having a post featured is a privilege, and it is designed to create a high volume of comments. Disabling comments on a featured blog defeats the purpose … (20 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Our Dying Niche...
- 12/01/10 06:25 PM
Today I went to the foreclosure Auction at the Volusia County Court. Usually properties in our area are sold on Wednesdays and Fridays. I do not even watch them except for condos and condo-hotels in Daytona Beach Area, and I pay zero attention to other places in Volusia County, I just do not know them…
There was one condo of interest to me. The judgment was for about $160K, and there was a history of units sold at the auction for low $20Ks. Very little chance, but was worth trying. When we got there, they have already announced what the banks … (18 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Hey, You Got a Typo in the Title
- 11/30/10 03:05 PM
Hey, you got a typo in the title
Would something like this in the email make me glad? It sure would. Because no matter how careful I am, there are those moments, when I misspell words in the title. Whether simply because the spell checker rests on Titles, or we reread and still did not catch the typo, it does not matter.
Even after receiving the e-mail and knowing that there is something wrong, it still takes me a few moments before I catch the typo…
For some reason, I do not care as much for typos in the body … (30 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Runnig Against The Wind...
- 11/29/10 07:15 PM
Today we finally closed a short sale - our Marathon… It was our Listing, and we ran aggressive display and classified advertising and kept running Open House. We got a very good offer at one of our Open House.
We structured the contract the right way. The goal was not to get the highest price, but to get a realistic price and get the transaction to close. We knew that the Seller could not contribute.
We knew that the first would not give the second more than $3,000, and we knew that the Second would not be satisfied with only … (20 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Travelling In AR
- 11/28/10 03:43 PM
In my younger years back in the USSR trains were the dominant means of transportation. And in a country as big as the USSR, it could be a rather long trip. Going from Middle Russia to the Black Sea was a 2-3 day journey in a railroad car with 55 other people (there 56 seats in non-private passenger car. They were like cubicles, with two seats down and two up on one side of the corridor, and one down and one up along the corridor.
I had my share of travelling, and it always fascinated me that having met people around … (20 comments)
|
jon zolsky: My Very First Thanksgiving
- 11/25/10 12:12 PM
Our first Thanksgiving happened just less than 4 months after landing in JFK in 1991. We lived in the Bronx in the apartment on Overing St. By that time we already were pretty well set. We had furniture brought from scavenging a 1 mile radius in a daily (nightly, to be exact) routine patrol of the area. I think by that time we already had a table.
It was what we could find by the curb, furniture for garbage, and now we were in advanced stage of replacing it with better stuff... at the same curbside. We already had a TV that worked half … (25 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Waking Up In Holiday Inn Express...
- 11/13/10 11:11 AM
I have an excellent idea for our new Congress. It is a solution to our educational problems.
If 5th graders could do practically everything, and adults mostly deserve to be executed on the spot for shameless lack of any knowledge and common sense, then all we need to do is figure how we can preserve the 5th grade level.
So, why not just make the 5th grade the last grade since at this point in their lives they not only know something, but they are happy with their knowledge? Looks like after the 5th grade we are only losing anyway.
… (16 comments)
|
jon zolsky: Get On the Dresser And Take Binoculars
- 11/09/10 01:49 AM
I was opening the door for a Buyer’s agent and her customers recently. It was a one bedroom small condo, nicely kept… I heard the agent talking to her customers. Everything was Great, views Terrific, the laundry not in the unit, but on the floor – Excellent idea…and everything else was Beautiful… Even when it was not… Some of it was just OK, and some of it was not even OK.
There is nothing wrong with the words, it is that they were used in general, and were not always applicable to the property.
It was like when you are a … (20 comments)
|
|
|
|
If we are talking about computer hardware and software, there are a few people who know that stuff … usually those who worked for serious companies.. and those who do not know that stuff, otherwise called dummies… like myself.
;)
;)
;)
