Do you remember, like, when I wrote (griped) about, like, every few words being, like, “like”? That brain worm still lives, and the worst thing is that it lives in pubic presenters, who spread that disease just by yapping. Some are, like, journalists? You know, like, they invade my brain as soon as they start, like, talking?
Questions? Yep, that’s another one. It began with a generation of scared talkers, who were so insecure that they had to ask permission to speak. I think, like, if they do that? they should, like, stop talking? Because they advertise, like, their weak mind. I mean, to strong, confident listeners anyway, this is a huge tell. To a predator, you become prey.
IF you are going to, like, present yourself as an expert?
Then act like one.
Oh wait. There’s another one. Super. SUPER SUPER SUPER, Everyone is super excited, super happy to be here, super happy that YOU’RE here, super sad, super fat, super full, super cut, super thin. Kill….me… now. Again, as are many issues I bring up, this one is ‘complicated’. First, foremost, we have every day, every hour, constant reminders of how we are herd animals. MOST people are. They just follow. They are insecure, they are lazy, they lack ability to forge a trail, they lack self confidence to even make a definitive statement: Is it, like, super okay for me to, like, talk? I’m going to say 80% of people are like this. I always apply the 80-20 rule, which I have changed to 80-10-10. This means 80% of people follow the herd, 10% of people actually think; 10% of people don’t know/don’t care. Check it out; it applies to almost every scenario.
Complication two: Most parents don’t parent anymore because they are afraid to discipline. Discipline is necessary. Ask a Marine. Imagine undisciplined Marines on the battlefield. 10% of them would have zero ammunition, 80% would have ammunition but not know how to use it, so it would be 10% who would shoulder the burden, if the others didn’t accidentally shoot them. Which they probably would.
So if you have a child who was never disciplined and then they go out into the ‘world’, they will not know how to perform. Hence the questions. Hence the wide-eyed copying of others. Hence the inability to take responsibility. Responsibility frightens many of them. Hence the ease of manipulating them. They don’t know how to walk alone, as it were.
So that makes them SUPER uncomfortable, and often SUPER unqualified, even though they expect to be praised. Yep, that’s the new brain worm: super. Attorneys, ‘journalists’, doctors, interviewers, interviewEES. Super has drilled into the weak brains among us. It never ends.
So what? Well, everybody wants to be a star, have millions of ‘likes’ (not that kind), everybody wants to be the oracle. Let me clue you in. The SECOND you spout “like like like” or “super super super” posed as a question, I know a WHOLE lot about your brain. And so do all of the others you encounter. Right now, when my favorite YouTube creators say like like like and super super super, I’m just very disappointed IN them and FOR them.
Think about it, and kill the brain worm before it infects your brain.
Surprise. The Polar Vortex is basically a round circulation of air at the north and south poles. It stays pretty round until something disrupts it. Right now, some ACTUAL scientists believe electromagnetic anomalies, or rather souped up EM behaviors, are the reason the north polar vortex is currently misshapen. Stay with me now; I’m engaging my nerd science urge, which rules my life all the time. But I have to keep it in check because most people’s eyes glaze over if you mention science. If you’re still here: MY PEOPLE!!!
So what. Well, if the circulation of air, moving pretty fast, breaks format, all of the other weather around it is affected. If the circle breaks towards the south, sort of droops down, all of the surrounding weather, including Canadian cold as crap weather, gets pushed down. It’s like it was shoved. THAT’S what’s happening to us right now in NC. It’s what happened to TX a couple of years ago. It’s not a mere ‘Alberta Clipper’. It’s the effects of the disorganized polar vortex making all of us miserable. It is NOT global warming. Huge eye roll.
The polar vortex is STILL AT THE POLE, it’s just misshapen. Now don’t start talking about global warming, to be said with a loud whiney voice. It’s not that. If you believe the ACTUAL scientists, it’s happening because of a blast of electromagnetic radiation from the SUN. This could last right into Spring. Won’t this be fun. All I worry about is 1) electricity bill; 2) my cats getting too cold; and 3) roof collapsing. Not in that order; cats come first. If we get three feet of snow, the roof thing could actually become reality.
I’m writing this riveting blog about weather because I recently said, “We don’t have a polar vortex in the Southeast!” And well, that person just didn’t believe me. But no, the vortex is right where it’s supposed to be; it’s just been zapped. Good news: it will reform into that nice tight circle. When it’s good and ready.
Now about the sun. (Are you still here?) One day, the sun is going to explode and engulf Earth. You know that, right? Relax, it’s going to be millions of years from now. Meanwhile it’s a huge ball of gas, really HOT gas, and it is not perfectly round nor perfectly predictable. Occasionally it has a tantrum and when it does, we feel the effects of it, and isn’t it amazing that it’s not by feeling hot? LOL. No, it’s ice, snow, disrupted electronic devices, wonky internet…stuff like that. And that’s what’s happening now.
So stay warm, try to keep out the cold as much as possible, protect your pets, FEED THE BIRDS (and give them water in the form of water, which takes some work). If it does snow a lot, take a walk in it, because it’s good for the soul.
We keep clutching our pearls waiting for the next rate drop. Then we get insulted. A zero point two five ‘drop’?? Behind some heavy mahogany door, wealthy men are laughing. That’s the picture I have in MY head.
I did a quick check of a 400K home price (which reflects a first time buyer price here in the Triangle). At a THREE PERCENT interest rate, thirty year mortgage, zero down, the principle and interest payment would still be $1687. That does not include taxes, insurance and HOA. My advice? Download a loan calculator and LOOK at what your payment will be (approximately, but close).
The problem is overly inflated house prices! The days of frantic buying are over. I heard we’re 6 months (cognitively) behind reality. We are watching more and more inventory being flooded into a stagnant market, listings sitting longer and longer, prices dropping and dropping, and buyers languishing while shopping, with no sense of urgency. My goodness, what will it take for reality to settle in? We are still ‘whistling past the graveyard’.
Builders are offering rate buy downs? That’s the same as an adjustable rate mortgage folks, and one day that rate will ADJUST to a number you may very well not be able to pay. The wording is different, the result is the same…as in 2008. Ask questions: What will my payment be if the rate goes to 7%? See how you like THAT number.
Buyers, I’m saying this: You now have leverage. Finally, you are not over a barrel. Use your leverage, and as one YouTube creator said, “Be careful not to catch a falling knife”. An adjustable rate mortgage is not always a bad thing, unless you do not understand it inside and out. My first mortgage was an adjustable rate, but at a time when rates were in the stratosphere. Nowhere to go but down. AND I could refinance anytime after the first year, BEFORE the rate adjusted, at no cost to me. Use your mind and your leverage.
Want to chat about it? It’s free to call me. I’m Brenda with Premier Advantage Realty.
I live my life in gratitude. There are so many things to be grateful for, not the least of which is being able to get up every day, healthy, able to work, able to enjoy friends and family, able to make blueberry muffins. Even when I don’t need them. But every once in a while, the week is just fantastic.
So far this week I’ve had contact with two past clients whom I adore, an old friend whom I also love, and two family members I haven’t talk with for a very long time. It feels good when good things come piling in, and I always remember to thank God for these blessings.
Life is scary right now, but keeping my head in the right space has wonderful rewards. I wish you grace and peace, and a wonderful Thanksgiving! Like I always say, when the news gets you down, or when the news isn’t good, start counting the things you have to be grateful for. You’ll never get to the end of the list and before you know it, you’ll feel better.
I’m so tired of waking up, reading the news, and getting pissed off. Here’s the new one. Insurance companies (who have replaced God) are making it easier for ‘investors’ to destroy your community.
Do you like living in your neighborhood? Do you feel safe in your stable environment? Well insurance companies are grouping homes together for ‘non resident owners’ so they can insure multiple houses under one policy. Why does this matter? Because filling your community with renters DESTABILIZES your neighborhood, as it becomes filled with transients. It makes sure you NEVER KNOW whom your neighbor is or will be. I’ve had ‘rental’ neighbors move in and start cooking meth. It’s coming your way, because THIS is how the money hungry real estate grabbers have decided to ‘provide affordable housing’.
This is being ‘offered’ to the idiots as a way for people to get into homes. DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN BUYERS USED TO BE ABLE TO AFFORD HOUSING? Have you ever been enjoying your rental when the owner jacked up your rent to an unaffordable rate? People I beg you, think!
Did you know that the goal of the anti-Americans is to make sure you OWN NOTHING? That your ‘government’ owns everything? Did you know that once that happens, you ARE A SLAVE?
I realize that half of the country cannot think. But for the ones who can, please try to stop this movement. One national builder (please investigate) is selling a vast number of homes to people with names we cannot even pronounce.
Right now I’m glad about life expectancy. I can barely hang on while watching the destruction of my country in favor of cash, at the expense of EVERYBODY.
THIS SYSTEM CANNOT SURVIVE. Start thinking about how you will survive once America collapses. It’s coming.
I’ll get crucified for saying this, but here goes. I watch a LOT of YouTube about current events, because I get the truth there, at least from the videos I watch. There’s a lot of talk about Mamdani right now, as you know. He touts Socialism but he really wants a dictatorship, if you listen to HIS own speeches. Not what somebody wrote about his speeches: HIS speeches.
His election has proven that the disparity between the classes has become top of mind. There is no more middle class. It has been systematically erased, but workers are still being beaten to produce, produce, produce so the products can be mandatorily swept away. Cash grabbing is so common it’s not even hidden anymore. Right out loud, workers are hearing, “Give me your money or go to prison”.
Our ads, social media and daily life tout wealth, wealth, wealth, but obviously most people are not rich. Instead, most ‘normal’ people are losing sleep over finances, as their money has been sucked upward towards the Zuckerbergs, the Soroses, the Clintons, the Bezoses, the Gateses, the ‘government servants’ who steal right in front of Americans, without consequences..on and on. The current government system is upended and the youth can see it. Polls say a scary population of young people want ‘socialism’, even though they cannot describe what that means. They are sick of the current government system and who can blame them?
Average people have seen their grocery money, their house payment money, their healthcare dollars handed to ridiculous programs in other countries they can’t even find on a map. And the assumption is that those dollars actually GO to some program or other, and not into the account of, say, Pelosi, for example. And they see their government stealing their hard earned dollars while these actual criminals are also being bought and paid for by lobbyists; they have money coming in from everywhere. Government officials in this system are rewarded for criminal theft, while never giving a thought to the consequences to the workers (tax payers). This current government system encourages handing the reins to pharmaceutical executives with NO idea how to run a country, to ‘healthcare’ execs with NO idea how to run a country, to insurance company execs with NO idea how to run a country. These entities have forgotten the people, the PEOPLE whom they are supposed to serve, and instead view us as merely a piggy bank there for them to rob at will. And who is there to stop them? Apparently, nobody. And while We the Piggy Bank are robbed, our rights are diminishing. ‘Socialism’ inches closer.
Yet the EXPECTATION for lower class people (remember no more middle class) is that you must be rich. So people become desperate and overly competitive, and will do anything to get money. Remember money is the only goal now, hence the violent behavior invading society and the wholesale disregard for the well-being of others. The people with calluses on their hands are now struggling and the ones with soft hands have the majority of the wealth: huge disincentive to even try, but we must, to feed the beast. That’s why ‘the trades’ are now more interesting to pursue than education. Bill Gates couldn’t plumb a house, but he’ll PAY to have it done. And I should add that ‘education’ also doesn’t exist anymore. Now, you show up, you get a college degree, setting up even more unqualified ‘leaders’ scrambling to the money trough we call ‘government’. This is one of the cornerstones for the demise of Democracy.
The ones making decisions about the future of actual workers, many of whom are COMPLETELY unqualified to lead anything, are the ones who never broke a sweat, so to speak. Our society has somehow made the ridiculous leap in cognition, that more money makes you an expert at everything. This might be the worst cornerstone of destruction of democracy. This ridiculous paradigm makes Bill Gates and Fauci qualified to mandate unproven, experimental substances be injected into all people. (Not THIS person!) It gives Bill Gates access to people in Africa to be lab rats for birth control. This should frighten everybody and yet…yet, statistically nobody is even aware. He seems to believe that an entire population of another continent are his to play with, because he is rich. Think about that. BTW Africa was used as a test site a looooong time ago. Think polio vaccine. Read about it.
Then the exhausted worker bees get to see the videos of newly purchased yachts that cost a million dollars a month, just for docking and upkeep. Bad idea. So, that’s the look and actually, the reality. Lower classes (remember middle class no longer exists) look to find financial relief and they see it ‘way up there’, in the hands of people who never knew how it feels to worry about making ends meet OR to feel complete fatigue from exhaustive work. Forget about the young people who cannot even dream about home ownership now, very possibly never, at your peril. These youth very possibly saw their working parents lose their home, remember. Even with all the hard work, Mom and Dad lost their dream. Under the current government system…These circumstances and many others, set up resentment about the imbalance: “You don’t know how it feels to be me”; yet, you make the rules by which we live.
Meanwhile…poor people from other collapsed economies (socialist, dictatorship) believe the hype of free-stuff America and here they come, believing they won’t have to work, tipping the imbalance even further and putting more burden on the actual workers. And corrupt politicians welcome them in, just to remain in power over the piggy banks of workers. Nobody seems even slightly capable of understanding that the backs upon which these wealth climbers have ridden, are breaking or broken. It is also clear that these grifters are now so wealthy that they have zero need to care about the backs of workers. They’ve gotten theirs (from you, so you are no longer needed). READ THAT AGAIN…workers are no longer needed! So the current government is psychopathic. This system CANNOT survive. This is elementary and yet, people don’t GET IT. There’s your education system, folks. And the question is: Should we care?
Remember Chinese youth ‘laying down’? That illustrated a complete collapse of faith in their government system…and wasn’t that Socialism? The Chinese youth were right. There is NEVER enough money for money hungry criminals, never. Even at the peril of the ones working for the money they take. Until there is a way to reset ‘wealth’, new voters are GOING to ‘kill’ the current system that seems determined to kill them. This seems like first grade stuff to me. Once upon a time in a college class years ago, I asked the professor if he saw a ‘great leveling effect’ as I called it, on the distant horizon because of the outsourcing of everything American. He pooh poohed the idea. Wonder how he likes me now. This is why youth are leaning towards ‘Socialism’. They want something to believe in and the current system, for them, just ain’t it. Socialism isn’t either, by the way, but they vote and they think they want it.
I’ve watched decades of government ‘leaders’ by now, and the current system no longer works for the middle class workers, the ones it was designed for, by the way. It’s too easy to corrupt, the hacks are in place, and money has become absolute God for government ‘workers’. I’ve been proud to be American for a long time; now I’m frustrated and disappointed and sad. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a ‘Socialist’. I know that system does NOT work because it becomes, or even starts out as, a dictatorship. And besides, even if Socialism was a good idea, it’s populated by humans who would destroy an anvil with a rubber hammer. No good thing survives humans.
“Socialism comes across as a push to lighten the load on ordinary workers and make sure the benefits of the economy aren’t concentrated only at the top.” -AI
The problem is, ‘the top’ is ALREADY IN CONTROL and how are you doing with your finances? I rest my case. For goodness sake read that AGAIN.
So what am I trying to say? I’m saying: we need a whole new system. New requirements for ‘government workers’, EDUCATION, term limits, INCOME LIMITS for politicians, psychological evaluation, a ban on purple hair (yes I did say it), JAIL FOR POLITICIANS WHO steal from the government. AND…wait for it…
Teach imbeciles that WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT! You are, I am, your mama is, your neighbor is, your preacher, your sister…are you UNDERSTANDING YET? When you steal from the government, you are stealing from ME, and in case you missed it, I’m sick of it.
If you can believe Discover the Nation, rental markets in metropolitan areas are falling, as much as 12% in some areas. Grand incentives are being offered: rent credits, large gift cards, months of free rent to sign on, and still a lot of empty units sit empty, the windows staring out at what still looks like a bustling economy. It’s a matter of time before the truth breaks forth.
Air BNB homes are either empty or being switched to properties for sale. International investors are standing by, based on new laws, high prices and astronomical special assessments in some areas. For the first time in decades, “renters are back in control”. But are they really? Costs are rising faster than wages, free months worth of incentive notwithstanding, and people are giving up on ‘traditional’ housing like renting or buying. Well what else is there?
This is being called a ‘cultural shift’. More and more people are embracing ‘off grid’ types of lifestyle. More and more people are finding out that a life in under 400 square feet is pretty good when you’re not stressing about how to make a 5 figure house payment. According to Discover the Nation, “Housing markets don’t defy gravity forever.” Some of us watched a big correction in 2008: proof. We didn’t learn a thing, except that greed lives on, no matter what. I feel the effects of that greed looming.
On a side note and keeping the cultural shift in mind, remember that people in their 30’s are focused on setting roots…buying a home, starting a family. This market makes that impossible, and could be one reason young people are so angry these days. Their expected trajectory has been destroyed.
The ones who would be rushing to the market to experience the ‘American Dream’ cannot afford to buy a home now. Jobs are not as available and student loan debt still cripples young people. Those who can afford to buy are eyeing high interest rates and just refusing to accept both high home prices and ridiculous monthly payments. Some are moving back in with parents. House prices have been ridiculously high for a long time now, too long, so one important part of society is now pushed out of home ownership or even renting. Entire groups of people are being offered ‘free housing’, which kills the market in those areas while builders keep flooding the market with product that won’t sell or rent. If I didn’t know better, I’d call that insanity.
The rental market is struggling, clearly. But it’s not just rental high rises and it’s not just luxury accommodations nobody can afford instead of sensible, affordable housing. It’s also production builders. They have finally gotten a strangle hold on resale sellers, because only the wealthy builders can offer the tens of thousands of incentive dollars they offer to potential buyers. One builder is offering up to FIFTY THOUSAND dollars to fill their inventory with bodies, while they still build, by the way, and that’s with a total of 500 to 1500 dollars out of pocket to the buyer. That surely feels like a dream to those brave enough to test that water.
One builder is using their own in-house lenders to ‘qualify’ a buyer with a credit score under 500 in order to sell them a home. Oh, and how about a 3.99% interest rate offered by builders too. Often these come with adjustable rate products which ensure that the 490 credit score buyer will lose that home to foreclosure within years. I’ve seen this before too. By the way, that house that was such a dream come true? It’s still vastly overpriced and possibly cheaply built.
But the builders and lenders have made their money. Builders have ridiculously overpriced badly built product. Loans are sold to investors who will cash in on mortgage interest over the life of the loan…until they default. Am I writing history? Does this sound familiar to you at all? Do you remember the last housing crash?? It’s starting again. When I heard the ‘under 500 credit score’ advertisement, I knew. Here we go again. The only good thing is that buyers who have had to give up hope, will get it back. In the aftermath of a crash, or even during it, buyers have all of the power, and their demands are brutal. Sellers take a beating. Personally? I’m tired of this ridiculous greed-fueled, roller coaster market. And it makes me very sad to see young people blocked out…BLOCKED OUT…of the housing market. So while I see them take revenge after a crash, I understand.
If we think the crash of 2008 was horrible…which it was… we ‘ain’t seen nothing yet’ as they say. This time, the pain will be greater and spread thicker across America. And the recovery will take longer and will look awful if it happens.
Not painting a lovely picture, am I? Well maybe I’m wrong.
I’m Brenda Briggs with Premier Advantage Realty. Reach out and let’s talk.
We are back to violence. I’ve lived through an era like this in my life, where monstrous violence exceeds the inherent ability for mankind to harm itself. It was the worst of times. I would postulate that at least one of those happens per hundred years, possibly more as humans make an effort to destroy humanity.
I have a theory that we’ve done this before, not just once before, but many times. Everybody knows that major excavations in certain regions uncover literal cities. Those cities had to have been covered over eons ago. But the thing is, everyone stops digging once they find THAT city. I believe there is evidence of other societies beneath even those.
We have a guide called the Bible and I haven’t known it to be wrong. It says that the human heart is wicked. It says that in many ways, not the least of which is use of the word ‘sin’. Call it what you want to. I don’t really care. But leave your children untrained, undisciplined and what happens? Someone once told me that you don’t have to teach a child to lie (I didn’t do it!); you have to teach them to be strong enough to tell the truth. The effort to undermine truth is now called ‘my truth’. That, my friends is what is known as ‘my opinion’. Truth is truth.
I believe generations of children are being brainwashed in institutions where learning is the goal. Learning about mathematics, writing, history (so we don’t repeat it), literature, art, psychology, medicine, grammar (yes, it matters). If I hear one more person say ‘julery’ instead of jewelry, or reality instead of realty, I’m going to explode. You have no concept of root words, like jewel, leading to the word ‘jewel-ry’ if you have not studied or ever read the words. And if you say real-i-ty to me, you will NEVER be my REALTOR. You may go to the DOC-I-TOR, but I go to the doctor. You get my point. Anyway I went down a rabbit hole. Children don’t need to be talking about their genitals; that’s the job of parents to answer those questions. Children don’t need to be swayed in one direction of another politically. They need to learn to speak correctly, write well, cope with stress, understand the value of study, and realize that not everyone is Einstein.
I think now more than ever it is important to know when you are being tricked into having certain ‘beliefs’ or feelings, whether your ‘teacher’ has an agenda other than actual education; and it is important to view everything with skepticism until you get facts. There used to be a bumper stick that said, “Question Authority”. And there was one that said, “Question Everything”. Both are profound statements. And they don’t mean CHALLENGE authority; they mean question. Like…find out if that teacher has fact based teaching. And remember you have a mind of your own.
So we’re back to assassinations now. Many of you are too young to remember or know about the era we went through when it seemed like every day, someone else was killed. Planes were hijacked, politicians all over the world were killed, and it seemed like it would never end.
Then one day, I realized that we have to wait out the killers’ brain development. In a decade, I used to say, this will stop. It’s always the young men who have the uncontrollable kill gene, the utter lack of coping skills, and who were raised in anger and murderous intent. And they are always dumb enough to be manipulated by rich old men who never had dirt on their hands. Who is telling you to do this? Have they ever actually worked? You killers are not smart. You give up your lives for people who wouldn’t give you the time of day. That makes you an idiot. Carlo Cipolla said, “A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly incurring losses.” I’m going to guess you have a loss coming YOUR way.
Maybe the worst thing is to be killed by someone with half of the IQ of Charlie.
Charlie Kirk was a father and a husband, a good person challenging people to think about what they were shouting about. His famous, “What is a woman?” question stumped one COLLEGE STUDENT after another. Amazingly, shockingly, it stumped the naysayers shouting and jumping around like idiots. He only wanted you to THINK about what you were SAYING. And I ask, when did thinking become a bad thing?
It became a bad thing when so-called educational institutions started handing out participation diplomas, instead of actually teaching. We have an entire generation of dummies out there, shouting their entitled opinions without an ounce of thought or data or proof to back up what they say. And surprise! They like it that way, because the low road is easy, particularly when someone else is funding your journey. The proof is in the resulting economy.
Institutions trying to hire don’t WANT these people in their ranks, because, with few exceptions, they are just dumb and they are lazy. I hear what they say, and I get job offers in my inbox every day. Why? I’m a senior! Who hires seniors?? I’ll tell you why: My education was real. I earned it. I know how to do stuff. I can do higher level math and chemistry. I can problem solve and manage projects. I know about and do customer service. I care about being the best. And I show up. And I set goals and meet them. And I am loyal, and grateful to the company that hands me a paycheck. For the few who are not in the dumbest generation, capitalize on your skills and your attitude and your work ethic because you are rare and precious.
It took war to stop killers the last decade of idiots. And it will happen now, I predict. I’m okay with it if it wipes killers from among society. I’ve seen this one too many times now.
Rest in absolute peace, Charlie. You will be terribly and forever missed.
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