Fall in the Mountains

Fall. Here in the valley, One could hardly discern the changing of the seasons last week. This week the temperature will be 10 degrees warmer , and that exemplifies how the cooler weather has taken hold so far. In the mountains of southern Oregon it is cool now at night. The deciduous trees are beginning to change color. In Oregon it will rain once a week from now until it rains three times a week. Nice, cool, Fall weather. Like it should be. This time of year, "tis the season" in those mountains. A long Summer of gardening will culminate soon in the exhilarating sigh of the harvest. There is nothing like having a plan come together and bringing in the herd. Nothing. Those in the "know" smile a lot and slyly pat each other on the back. Locals wave each other down for a quick visit , a little show and tell, and a sample swap. Octoberfest. I miss the camaraderie of being an outlaw, especially in the mountains of southern Oregon where a man can be respectable and an Outlaw; One does not necessarily preclude the other.

On another note;

“The distinguishing characteristic of the Third World country is you have the people at the top and the rest—you don’t have a thriving middle class,”

When I think of a "Third World country", " the rest" are always poor, and with that poverty comes desperation. Desperate times call for desperate measures, thus the world, at least for "the rest", becomes a desperate place. The scary part is America lost a big percentage of it's middle class the last few years, and despite that we're being told the recession is over, the GDP is growing, or corporate earnings are up and the rich are getting richer, the middle class is still disappearing like a vanishing species . 30% were wiped out with their equity when the bubble burst.

The air is far from being gone from the bubble and " the rest" , or soon to be, are getting more desperate by the hour. Increasingly, this desperation affects our lives and cannot be ignored. Tried selling land or a home lately? After the elections in November, grab a parachute because the next dip will take us back to pre-balloon levels. California property can already be bought at 1990 prices. In some places price's are at 1980's levels. With the banks rat-holing 4 of five properties in shadow inventory, the worst is yet to come for homeowners/middle class/ "the rest" of us. Every day I kick myself for investing in land back in May. I feel your pain and don't like being one of 'the rest', America.

On a final note;

Revolutionary thoughts.

One world will be a Third World country. If you're not on top now, it will only get harder to climb the pile. Americans need to recognize if we weren't making war, or One world, or making our leaders and those who bribe them rich, there would be plenty of money. The "redistribution" of wealth we so often hear about, is not to Americans, it is to the world, and the rest of the world thinks we are fools for giving our money away. America is a rich country. We should close our borders and divide the money. 80% of us live on 2% of the money. 80% of us could live three times as well on 6% of the money. When the difference in quality of life between the vast majority, ( "the rest" ), and the 2% whom control our country's wealth becomes ridiculous (as it is quickly becoming) the seeds of revolution are born.

A Hurricane Story for the West Coast

Watching tropical depressions forming off the African coast turn into hurricanes , hurricanes that often curl north towards the Gulf and East coasts of America has me thinking,...... What happens when one of those tropical depressions forms on the Gulf side of Panama, turns into a hurricane and jumps over to the Pacific, only to curl up and smack Southern California? It could happen in a warmer wetter world. The hurricanes form now, they jump the peninsula and curl north slamming Baja California on occasion, now. Is all a Southern California storm has to be is a bigger storm, with a bigger curl,.... isn't that what a warmer wetter world is all about; more violent weather ? So, here's a prediction, In the WWW of the future , we can look forward to the weather channel following those monster "eye"s of swirling clouds curling off the equator in southern Mexico, a little farther north and into S. California. Maybe washing the Lakers away. Wikipedia cites several storms that have come close, and these days one is led to believe anything is possible. Here in the Central Valley the rivers won't drain and the place will be an inland sea someday, too. I don't feel left out now, what with all the hurricanes in the Atlantic.

Two large comets passed within the orbit of the moon around the Earth last week . All the detection we have didn't spot them until the last minute,....at least that's the story we're being told. ( I'm not making this up ) Would you announce to the world it was about to be lit up by a meteorite? Think what would happen if a big rock wiped out Modesto for instance. The rest of the World would swear it was Nostradamus and 2012 as scripted. The Mid-East would claim it was God's war on America, The Great Satan, and California, the leader of the pack. Property prices might go up in Merced.....nahhh. Control would be lost. There are just too many people whom would see a meteorite shower as an excuse for slipping into anarchy. Of course, how many burning chunks of rock have to hit the place before you think it might not be the same? Let's hope they were lone riders, and may your side of the Earth be turned the other way. A little cheer for Tuesday afternoon. California deserves a hurricane story too.

Time for a Well

Michael Burry, the former hedge-fund manager who predicted the housing market’s plunge, said he is investing in farmable land, small technology companies and gold as he hunts original ideas and braces for a weaker dollar.

“I believe that agriculture land -- productive agricultural land with water on site -- will be very valuable in the future,” Burry, 39, said in a Bloomberg Television interview scheduled for broadcast this morning in New York. “I’ve put a good amount of money into that.”

An Ocean of Money

There was an ocean of money. It touched all the lands of the world, and the world's money was it's tributaries. The people of the world all relied on the ocean of money for stability, credit, investment, and necessary planning for the future. One day some greedy men realized that if they could dive to the bottom of the ocean of money and fart, then keep the gas hidden in a sea of investment, the tide of money would rise and appear to have grown, when really the growth was just a bubble. It was in this fashion that the greedy men fooled people into thinking the sea of money was growing, and the greedy men were earning a share of the ocean of cash honestly. People, seeing the wave of opportunity and an ocean of money, took advantage and started farting in the ocean, too. People were quick to digest the enterprise of gaseous cash and Brrrrrruuuuuppppp......the McMansion was born. Brrrrruuuupppp............... a new SUV. As long as the ocean of money was rising nobody was worried about sea levels. Then came a day when the bubble burst and the stench of the greedy men's work filled the air. The ocean of Money, long depleted by greedy siphoning, yet disguised in it's tides, sucked reservoirs dry as it fell back into it's original banks . In some places old banks were left dry. Rivers quit flowing. Springs disappeared. Cash flow stopped. The tide dropped trillions. And people everywhere wondered how they could have farted away all that money, that never existed, and they would never be able to pay back. I used to ask myself all the time ( about the worlds money), Where did that ocean of money go? Now we know, It never existed, it was a just a bubble that drowned a lot of people and gassed the future when it popped.

Interesting Times

I think about how the world has changed in the last five years, then I think how the changes have been spoon fed to us through the media with catch phrases and glimpses of what the truth means. It's the "race to the bottom", and the two times I heard that phrase being used by our lawmakers I was surprised. I wasn't surprised that it was quickly hushed up and not used again to describe America's current situatiuon, although it best describes that very situation in my mind. In recent years we heard a lot about the concept of "one world" . What does one world mean to Americans though? World competition, the refusal to close and protect American borders, maybe the erasure of borders, allowing common currency, and huge deficits in trade. One world means Americans must compete on a world level; ie with 86 cent an hour wages in China and 26 cent per hour wages in Cambodia. Obviously the standard of living is better in China than Cambodia, but not quite what Americans are used to earning. We sure like buying those products produced at slave/world wages, even if we don't want to slave for them. However that's whom we're competing with, so better understand the plan for Social Equalization. A society of ultra rich (Money) and the poor. Crazy? How could it be achieved? Right before our eyes! The first step was creating a ten year bubble. America thought it was thriving when all we were doing was running up debt and allowing the "plan" to be put in place. Then? Take our money away, bursting the bubble and taking those on the edge, over. And how that's happening! Money was devalued when we doubled our currency, the result of allowing so much credit the place went bust. Then with only half the "real money" we had before ( our creditors have the rest), credit had to tighten forcing property values to plummet and s l o w g r o w t h. Aren't most Americans deeply vested in their homes? Isn't that their biggest investment in life and for retirement? 20% of all mortgage holders are upside down right now. That's not to mention those whom have already lost their homes. Wiping out the middle class has been achieved to a certain extent already. Remember all those stories about the elimination of the middle class? The job is probably 30% done now and growing. Over the next ten years I expect the value of land/housing to drop at least 50%. Why? So the continuation of reducing the American standard of living can proceed. That $500,000 dollar house will only be worth $250,000 in the future; that $100,000 house only worth $50,000 etc., Inevitably stripping the vast majority of Americans of their wealth and eliminating the middle class. This isn't happening by accident, or because of economic hard times, it is the design of those with power and money. The American standard of living is too far above the world norm. Reducing our wealth works better in the plan for " The New World Order". Finally, bankrupt Social Security, then force Americans to accept much smaller benefits. That should do it. Without Social security, a bankroll in our property, and the value of everything from labor to property falling, it shouldn't take more than a generation or two for us to "drop" more in Line with "One World" and "Social Equalization". Alas, I've been reading to much Patrick-net. Doom and Gloom. I also passed on the deal of a lifetime in Oregon this week which is depressing. I'm thinking I need to go to London, get a change of scenery and some perspective. Soon.

The Deal of a Lifetime

Six months ago I left Oregon. I wanted to be closer to my youngest son. My oldest son is in Europe. When he finishes university this year, I want him to return to the US so I can be closer to him. My wife is also in the same city as I am now. I wanted to be closer to her, too. Returning to California will financially be my ruin, no doubt, but one realization I came to on the side of Hope Mountain was that although safe, secure and prospering, I was growing older without sharing my life with the woman and the sons I love. After forty months of soul searching and hard work in southern Oregon, I sold what I loved to return to what I love. I tested that love this week. On Friday a six acre parcel in Kerby Oregon appeared on realtor.com selling for 40,000 dollars. 

It was a duress sale and I had the inside track. When I called the agent and found out it had a Mobile home, Kerby city water, a well also, and Power, ... I decided it was probably too good to be true, but it was worth a look. On Sunday a friend and I drove to Oregon to take a look. The agent explained the owner was sick and the court was liquidating assets. There had been an offer already. On Monday the court would look at offers and select the best one. The parcel was a steal. 20 to 30 thousand dollars under market value (today). I put an offer in at $42,000. When the realtor met with the court representative on Monday, there were only two offers and mine was the high one. The court accepted it . The property had been on the market three days. It was todays deal of a lifetime. How lucky could I get? Is all I had to do was buy it . I could return to be an Outlaw and Oregonian. Once again have money, security, a home,......... or Love? I pulled out of the deal today. Just call me a fool for love. There was a helluva deal on a two bedroom , two bath house, on three acres with a nice barn for only $28,000............in Minnesota this week, too.

PS Thanks for all the help Tracy. You were a joy to work with for a day.

Fighting depression, Back taxes and Where do I go from here?

Life is Wonderful, Every miserable moment. I have to tell myself that too often recently. Nothing is wrong, really,.. I just worry about being old and poor and ugly,.... and old and ugly doesn't bother me but poor does. I bought property in the State of California and they immediately let me know I owe back income taxes by placing a lien on the property. Naturally the lien is for twice as much as I owe, forcing me to do my taxes ! Damn California. Reason one I should have never left Oregon. Depressing. Regardless, I had my taxes done for 2004,2005,2006. I can handle the state,.. but the fed's,............ Those three years alone will eat up my cash reserves. In a matter of hours I have gone from being solvent to broke. If the damn government wanted taxes from my money, they should have taken it before they gave me the money in the first place! I must admit, the state never had a chance to collect, and so their lien on my property pisses me off that I gave them a chance. That's the bad thing about property, no place to hide. So, a hop skip and a jump away from the mountains and I'm already hating the Government. Again. I guess that's one reason that my friend Guy and I are heading back to southern Oregon this weekend to look for property. There are some "deals" along the Redwood highway in the Illinois Valley, and Guy is ready for an adventure. Myself, after five months in the city, after five months of being without my own home, and now saddled with what will surely be future financial obligations, I'm feeling like maybe I should go back to the mountains and lick my wounds for another couple of years. Damn taxes. Damn government. Damn real estate market. If I could sell the parcel here in the Sacramento valley that I just bought , I could clear these taxes up, but between the taxes, the commission for the realtor, and the damn market, I stand to lose twenty thousand dollars. No way! I think it's time to return to the hills and cling to my guns and and my garden. That's the idea as we head up to Kerby this weekend to look at five acres . Here's hoping we come across the deal of a lifetime and recognize it.