Bills, bills and bills

So if everything is cheaper in the USA, how much do you have to pay for utilities and so on.

Remember that bills of utilities change a lot during the "winter, spring, autumn", when the airco is turned off. We also have a pool that uses a lot of electricity for the automatic cleaning system.

At this time, these are our recurring bills:(per month)

Electrical Company: $300

Waste Management (trash collection): $7

Gas: $13

Water: $68

Orbitel (inet + cable+HD channels+Hd recorder): $102

BTW: Is it really 12 degrees celsius over there? whoehaha

In Memoriam Ramon Sr

Saturday we went to the funeral of Ramon Sr in Gila Bend. The church was packed with people and the ceremony was held in English and Spanish.

Ramon Sr. was honored by his friends and family. Maybe the most emotional moment was a train (Union Pacific, his employer) that stopped and honored him when he was brought to the cemetary.

Ramon Sr. life was all about sharing everything he had with friends and family. He was the most generous man we have ever met. His helpful attitude and his love for his family will always be remembered.

We hope his family can find strength in the fact that Ramon Sr. touched a lot of lives for the better and that his spirit will live on in the hearts of his children and his grandchildren.

He will be missed by all.

Adding a counter called Google Analytics

I have added a counter to this blog. It will take 24 hours to start gathering information, the counter helps me to track pageviews and unique visitors. It is not displayed on the blog itself but I can review it in my google account. There is also a very funny world map that displays the physical location of the visitors of this blog. One big and one smal country are highlighted, now I will try to conquer the rest of the world.

Run on the banks

It took 75 years and the corrupt NAR, Mortgage Mob and a whole bunch of Housingflippers (sorry I meant real estate moguls/investors)for a NEW RUN on the BANKS.

It was only a matter of time but it is a VERY important economical event: Northern Rock (UK bank) gets overwhelmed, savers want their money back. Next in line (American big bank) is Countrywide. Diversify and be careful out there.

UPDATE: I watched some movies from the BBC on Yahoo! finance regarding the Run on the Northern Rock Bank, guess what the commercial was after the news report ... Countrywide financial offering No-Cost-Refi... indeed the USA is the land of the brave!

Look at this post of Friday 10th of August from this blog, seems that 3rd phase was no joke after all :-) A few weeks and we'll see those rows at Countrywide in the USA.

No blood in the streets yet, only panic:So capitulation is near:During that capitulation and desperation phase price drops will be severe. Median price in Phoenix dropped this week by $ 3500. Rental prices were stable :-)

Oh, this is the reason for the housingcrash, but that was pretty obvious of course...

It is NOT normal when home prices rise 7-11%, year over year. Home prices have on average risen 200 basis points above inflation. So 4-5% appreciation year over year is how it was and how it will be in the future.

But then again, real estate never goes down because people need some place to live, Susanne researched it and God doesn't make anymore land...

Video files party

Teacher Party at our Place

WaaW, that was a great night. After our Friday bar closed due to bankruptcy (Ramses) and our "new" bar (The Duke) couldn't live up to expectations, we took matters in our own hands. As you can hear in the small movie files, teachers are a loud bunch:-) But we had a lotta fun, and it seems we all face similar problems in our classes. I want to thank everyone for showing up and making this a very enjoyable evening. I will give Josephine Cochrane a Nobel price post mortum, becasue she invented the dishwasher. We thank you!

Great Quote (updated)

"In fact, they should bailout all the people who are upside down on their SUV loans. After all, you've gotta have a car...to park in front of your house that is on the verge of foreclosure. Where else will people live if they lose their house? Rent? [Shudder]"

"I make nearly 100K and cannot afford a home in California, using my tax dollars to help irresponsible people keep homes they can't afford, while at the same time keeping me out of the market, will be enough to send me over the edge."

Today is a good day to review the Eight' Miracle/Wonder of the World

the RE-election of this bunch of liars. First building(s) in the world that collapse due to fire. Why did those buildings crash like a detonated demolition, maybe because it was ...

Our family mourns

The Sandoval family lost Ramon Sr, father of Ramon and Brad, husband of Bonnie. He was a great father and husband and beloved family member. His positive attitude, his willingness to share and his love for his family will always be remembered. Cancer took him by surprise a few months ago, we hope he didn't suffer too much those last few weeks.

His funeral will probably be held the 15th of September in Gila Bend.

Sign Spinners

What do you do on a Saturday when you want to earn some money. Well, you can become a sign spinner. They hold signs and swing them to attract attention from passing cars. Here you see 4 human sign posts with signs of homebuilders. Did I already mention it is 110 F in the shade between 11h-16h, well that means it is probably 65 degrees Celsius in the sun :-) Oh, they get paid 7 bucks an hour, before taxes ...

Kittens

We went to the animal hospital today to get our kittens back. They were both declawed and fixed (below) and they got their shots. Auch, the $830 bill hurts, but a sofa or bed that gets demolished by our cats is a little bit worse:-)

(the cat in the second picture is not ours)

Retarded USA banking system

It is very difficult to explain the US banking system but you can ssume it is on a 19th century level. This week I visited the bank EACH and EVERY day. It is totally insane. Yesterday we received our checks from the school so we deposited them at once using the drive through LOL. Depositing a check takes about 10 minutes, which is quite incredible to say the least but they deposited the check in a WRONG account. Not one of ours. Oh my, luckily trading/buying stocks, bonds, CD's and mutual funds is cheapo here.

If you can't beat them, JOIN them

"Century 21 gets kicked out because they can't pay their bills anymore." Or on a website that WAS for the greatest part sponsored by the real estate mob, it goes like this: Century 21 Metro Alliance finds lien notice on door Looks like those lying realtors got what they deserved, real estate never goes down...they don't make any more land... haha

I am thinking of joining the realtor troups, they are all gone from Maricopa now anyway.
To earn the realtor degree,
you need: an IQ of schrimp(PROBABLY: CHECK), $550 for the education (pay with credit: CHECK)and 2-4 weeks of your time(SUMMER: CHECK).
I don't have anything to do during the summer and I already own the domain maricopavalleyrealty.com :-)

Ultimate fighting UFC75 on US Spike TV

I will not be available Saturday night. I'll be watching this, free of charge. My favorite fighter: Mirko Crocop. This is not for the faint of heart. videolink

My take:

Henderson beats Jackson: 3-0 decision

Crocop beats Kongo: KO 1st round

Hamill beats Bisping: submission in the 2nd round

Kongo will leave the Octogan with a head ache

A rate cut by the US Federal Reserve is 99% certain now

Bonds spiking and the dollar dropping, it's almost inevitable now. The government will lower interest rates to stop the chaos in the housing market.

Who in their right mind would be out signing their name to a mortgage on a depreciating asset today?

Not me :-)
Prices are dropping fast in Phoenix now: link.

What a great guy, I love this man!!!

Just a reminder or two

Hilarious

3 Minutes of TRUTH

are hard to find on US television without a host that attacks you in a real negative way. This guy wrote a book before it happened, he is the smart one. CNN should embrace Peter SChiff and invite him in the studio every day.
Why is that host so agitated? Shooting the messenger or serving the "there is no housingbubble, real estate always goes up realtors". The government will help 80 000 people in the first phase, well that's 6 920 000 to go ...

It looks like the truth hurts, sometimes.

Naomi's first day of School in Pictures (Alice in Wonderland)