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September 2007 Archives

September 29, 2007

Noisy Desperation: The Fading Real Estate Market

Quiet desperation? Not on a road leading out of a major metropolis and into the suburbs. As endless commuter cars inched outward in a slow-moving stream at the end of the day, a haggard-looking woman held up a sign with an arrow pointed down a side street. The sign read: Buy My House, You'd Be Home Already. It wasn't long ago in the same area that one had only to put a mere broker sales-listing out and hordes of buyers and agents were breaking down the door. Now it is self-help. Caveat speculator.

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 01:04 AM | Comments (8)
Filed Under: American Culture

September 15, 2007

Jiggle the Key: Things I Should Have Known before 30

This vanity entry is part of a series I hope to compile for future children of my own or others. These are things that most humans know or should know early but I never learned til age 30. This entry is "Jiggle the Key". You see, until about age 30, if I put a new key in a lock and it didn't turn, I'd give up and declare it didn't work. Or if a door wouldn't open, I wouldn't yank and shake until it did. First try, a failure, then that was it. Jiggle the key. Bang the thing. Refeed the dollar into the change machine a few times, the card into the ATM. Now most people learn this at 5, but I was instead asking others to help (like a girl! -- sorry for the sexism), moping about frustrated, waiting for another place or opportunity. (Next entry on this topic: look at the ball when you swing).

Posted by Matthew Hogan at 12:30 AM | Comments (9)
Filed Under: Random Personal