youtube shorts: Adventures in Turkey (Part 5)
- 09/30/23 09:59 AM
The Genesis of Our Trip
Many of you may remember my post about Our Israel Trip in 2022. It was a trip that I really did not enthusiastically endorse when my wife, Mary Margaret, proposed it. About four days into that trip, our guide, Monte Cox, told us about his upcoming trip to Turkey. Without knowing anything about the area, I told Mary Margaret that we had to go. She was almost as surprised as I was, but what I had learned on our trip to Israel in such a short time was that even though our country might be very young, … (29 comments)
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youtube shorts: Istanbul, A Real Turkish Delight (part 2)
- 08/18/23 05:43 AM
Topkapi Palace
This palace is located almost perfectly with a view of the Golden Horn (river), the Bosphorus Strait and the Sea of Marmara. It was built between 1451 and 1481, after the conquest of Constantinople and it covers 7,000 square meters. It was the head of the Ottoman Empire for over 4 centuries. It has been turned into a museum and they have rules against taking pictures inside many of the palace buildings, but we still were able to get enough pictures to give a flavor of the palace. How do you like the size of this kitchen? The building was … (51 comments)
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youtube shorts: PebbleCreek, Who Would Live in the Desert?!?
- 02/28/23 07:35 AM
"After two days in the desert sun
My skin began to turn red
And after three days in the desert fun
I was looking at a river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was dead"A Horse With No Name-America A number of years ago, Mary Margaret and I were driving through the deserts of Arizona and we wondered aloud, "Who would ever live in this hot, dry state where even the rivers run dry?" In an ironic twist of fate, you will never guess where we live now? We live in Goodyear, AZ in the 55+ … (47 comments)
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youtube shorts: In 2022, My Glass Was...
- 01/01/23 10:58 AM
In 2022, My Glass Was Half Empty
(at times, completely empty)
The CPI hit 9.1% this year, a 40 year high. Interest rates on 30 year loans rose from 2.65% to over 7%. The Nasdaq was down 33%, The S&P was down 19% and even "the safe" 30 year bond was down 35%, the worst year in a century. Ouch! FAAMG (FB, Apple, Amazon Microsoft and Google) stocks alone lost over 3 trillion in value. Yes, I killed the market when I made my first purchases in this group. I am sorry! Cryptocurrencies were, well, don't ask! The housing market turned. … (34 comments)
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youtube shorts: YouTube, What a Year!
- 12/15/22 07:56 AM
I really appreciate everyone that has watched and subscribed to my YouTube Channel. It is hard for me to believe that my channel has over 500 subscribers. Next stop, 1,000! If you have a minute, I would greatly appreciate any new followers. What do I cover? Real estate, pickleball and fun! Ray's YouTube Channel I have really made a concerted effort to follow as many of my ActiveRain friend's YouTube Channels as possible, but please put your YouTube Handles (links) in the comments below so I can make sure that I have subscribed to your channel. Even better, … (30 comments)
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youtube shorts: Farm to Fort with David Garibaldi
- 10/23/22 02:23 PM
Runnin for Rhett's inaugural Farm to Fort event was held last night. The event featured numerous local restaurants serving tasty bites of their fair along with samples of local wine, beer and spirits. Historic Sutter's Fort was the perfect cozy venue to enjoy the delightful fall evening and the night's entertainment, David Garibaldi's energetic painting of two American icons. His first painting was a very vibrant Mickey Mouse. It is amazing how Mr. Garibaldi uses broad brush strokes, flings paint at the canvas and, for lack of a better description, finger painting to create such unique artwork. How quickly can you … (31 comments)
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youtube shorts: Elk Grove Real Estate Market Update, September 2022
- 10/07/22 02:52 PM
Elk Grove Real Estate Market Update
We are barely holding on to yearly gains for our median and average prices in Elk Grove, but the average price per square foot is even for the year. Sales volume is was down and days on market are up. We hit a high in April of $703,000 for the average price of homes sold and then the Fed started raising rates. Their goal was to slow the labor market down and bring down housing prices. They have done a good job of driving our prices down in Elk Grove. Our market is down 8.9% in … (13 comments)
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youtube shorts: Real Estate Open House Surprises
- 05/16/22 06:55 AM
I do enjoy hosting open houses and many times I am surprised at the conversations that I have with those visiting the house. Mary Margaret helped me stage a house a few years ago. She added a very large, very nice Scrabble board made by Restoration Hardware on the living room coffee table, then she added words like, home sweet home, to the board. I thought it was a little over the top, but every person that came through the door that day loved it and had to talk about it. It is a fun way to get visitors to loosen … (34 comments)
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youtube shorts: Real Estate Tips-Filling Nail Holes
- 04/25/22 08:36 AM
One of my pet peeves as a painting contractor was the way some of my employees would fill little nail holes. In one case, we had a house that literally had hundreds of little holes through the house. I told my employee exactly how I wanted it done. I showed up the next day a real problem. The homeowner had showed up and told my employee to over fill the holes with Spackle using his putty knife. He made mountains out of mole hills and it took hours to fix! This is how it should be done.
Filling Small Nail Holes
Sometimes, less … (27 comments)
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youtube shorts: Dad Joke #3-Recent Pharaoh Discovery
- 04/22/22 10:06 AM
I had envisioned a new joke every Friday, but it turns out I was a little too ambitious. It is tough getting the family together and, you know, this is work. Ha!
This week's video features three generations of Henson men. My son, Joseph, is making his third appearance. My other son, Matthew, is making his reluctant first appearance and is this week's comedian. And joining us for his acting debut is my grandson, Russell! He is a natural!
Without further adieu, here is the Henson Family at work!
Analytics-YouTube vs. Instagram
Views Likes
Video #1-Funny Bone (after 4 weeks)
YouTube 40 2
Instagram 8086 … (28 comments)
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youtube shorts: Tile Cleaning
- 04/21/22 07:11 PM
Our house goes on the market in about two weeks and one of our big projects to get accomplished before putting it on the market was getting our pool tile cleaned.
We have some very hard water in Elk Grove. Believe it or not, the build up on our tiles happened in just two years. The tile is only two years old! We did try to maintain it. We purchased pumice stones and rubbed until we only had little nubs left. It helped, but only by about 50%. I didn't think there was much I could do, but a friend recommended Hess … (22 comments)
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youtube shorts: Chihuly in the Desert...Amazing! ! !
- 04/14/22 01:27 PM
I have wanted to take my wife, Mary Margaret, to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix for quite sometime now. Recently, we had the chance to visit and we stumbled onto the, Chihuly in the Desert, exhibit. It is a remarkable display of Chihuly's work. I loved the sophisticated glass artwork displayed against the rugged beauty of the desert, especially after the sun went down. If you are in the area, you really need to view it, but hurry. It is scheduled to end June 19th. You will not be disappointed!
Please subscribe to my Youtube Channel to see my upcoming videos! … (53 comments)
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youtube shorts: Dad Jokes-Why is 6 Afraid of 7?
- 03/23/22 10:03 AM
Last week was my first real attempt at humor in videos so I thought I would share some of the results before introducing an even funnier video. 😎
Dad Jokes-Do You Find that Humerus?
Social Media
ActiveRain 300 views 35 comments 12 likes YouTube 30 Views 0 comments 2 likes 1 creator suggested Instagram 3,444 Views 8 comments 217 likes (mostly all in 1 day) FaceBook 32 Views 6 comments 23 likes (personal account) Twitter 34 Views No interactions This week's dad joke comes to you courtesy of Tom Hanks in the 1988 movie, Punchline. It … (25 comments)
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youtube shorts: Awkward Dad Jokes
- 03/18/22 11:38 AM
As I have been experimenting with videos for my YouTube Channel, I have had my share of issues. Even on the videos I think I do well, my photographer (aka my wife, Mary Margaret) will yell cut and tell me that I really need to loosen up. Heck, I thought I was loose. I have put a lot of thought to this issue, at least five or six minutes anyway, and thought a few jokes might be in order. So without further ado, here is my first attempt at an awkward dad joke.
If you enjoy silly jokes or want to learn … (43 comments)
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youtube shorts: Coming Soon to East Elk Grove, a Wonderful Home and Wood Ducks!
- 03/07/22 12:59 PM
We are getting our next listing ready for the market and thought it would be fun to share on of the coolest features of the property, the pond. Imagine coming home to this quiet and relaxing backyard.
The pond does have its share of wildlife that visits too. We spotted four or five turtles enjoying the sun until another man's best friend showed up.
There are some carp and catfish in the pond, but the real stars of the pond are the wood ducks. They visit the pond every year to build and raise their families. In fact, I think this one is … (22 comments)
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youtube shorts: Stone Lake National Wlldlife Refuge at Sunset
- 02/25/22 08:51 AM
One of the great things about living in Elk Grove, CA is that we have some pretty wonderful sunsets. Every once in a while, we are blessed with thousands of migrating geese enjoying our National Wildlife Refuge just to the North and East of our neighborhood, Laguna West/Lakeside, at the same time. Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you would like to learn more about the Elk Grove, Ca area and our real estate market. #youtubeshorts #elkgrove #realestate #sunsets … (36 comments)
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youtube shorts: Happy Halloween and Best Witches!
- 10/30/21 11:24 PM
A couple of years ago our display included the last performance of the Boo's Brothers, or so we thought. In a surprising turn of events, they're baaaaack! ! ! It must be more difficult for these troubled spirits to cross over to the other side than they ever imagined. Will they show up again next year? Who Knows? Ghosts can be pretty fickle.
All we will be adding to the display tomorrow will be some scary music, a bubble machine and CANDY!
What is your favorite candy? I love peanut M&M's.
Happy Halloween and Best Witches! ! !
… (40 comments)
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youtube shorts: Elk Grove Real Estate Market Update, September 2021
- 10/08/21 04:49 PM
Elk Grove Real Estate Market Update
September prices are up over 20% year over year, but a steady new trend has emerged over the last five months. The median price has not changed much at all.
May $600,000 June $600,000 July $605,000 Aug. $598,000 Sept. $605,000 Home prices have stayed in a tight 1% range. It really does look like the real estate market has leveled off for the time being. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the year unfolds.
It should be much easier for buyers and sellers to decide appropriate pricing. At the beginning … (7 comments)
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youtube shorts: Elk Grove Market Update, Aug. 2021-Seasonal Slowing?
- 09/09/21 08:57 AM
Elk Grove Market Update, August 2021-Seasonal Slowing?
Elk Grove is showing strong price growth year over year, but look at the median price over the last few months;
April $557,000 May $600,000 June $600,000 July $605,000 Aug. $598,000 The month over month median price growth has leveled off the last few months. Also, the continuous days on market has gone form 11 days in August to 23 days on our current homes on the market for sale. It sure looks like we are having a more normal last half of the year exhibiting some seasonal slowing.
If you are … (14 comments)
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The Genesis of Our Trip
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