Quoted: If it's really your 'dream job,' don't say so

Quoted: “Making a computer typically requires the mining and refining of dozens of minerals and metals including gold, silver, and palladium as well as extensive use of plastics and hydrocarbon solvents. To function, digital devices require a constant flow of electrons that predominately come from the combustion of coal, and at the end of their all-too-short useful lives electronics have become the single largest stream of toxic waste created by man. Until recently, there was little, if any, voluntary disclosure of the lifecycle ‘backstory’ of digital media.”

Quoted: The US Conference of Mayors, a nonpartisan organization that represents cities with populations greater than 30,000, is sending out an industry warning that they expect employment rates to continue to climb in 2010, reaching levels as high as 15% in some municipalities. Servicers in these areas should prepare to face a much heavier distressed asset portfolio as borrowers struggle to cope with lose of income, says Dave Gatton, a director at the firm.

There is positive activity in the real estate market. How much of it is is due to the mad rush to claim the first time buyers tax credit (since expanded) and how much of it is real growth is difficult to say.

Quoted: Listings of single-family homes and condominiums declined an average 2.82% across 27 major US metropolitan markets in October, according to data compiled by Web-based real estate brokerage ZipRealty (ZIPR: 4.07 -0.25%). The 593,794 total homes for sale in the 27 markets in October 2009 are down from 611,026 in September and represent an inventory 28.65% lower than that in October 2008.

Sad. I drove by this right after it happened last week. Cool little non-profit coffee shop on a busy street.

We really do pick the most mature people to govern us.

Sigh...

Quoted: Hidden in a veto statement from the governor is an obscene message apparently directed at the lawmaker who wrote the bill.

Home sales have increased overall, but sales of new homes nationwide dropped last month. One big reason is selection and availability. We're seeing builders move from selling completed homes or partially finished ones to a business model of doing more build-to-order properties. With the end of the year coming and the end of the first-time buyers credit with it, buyers cannot capitalize on the perks of buying now if there is no new house to buy.

A good example locally would be Renton, which has for years been one of the fastest growing cities for new housing starts. A buyer could easily find 75-100 completed or near-completion homes to look at 2 years ago. Right now in Northern Renton, there are now only a handful of new, ready or near-ready to occupy homes available for sale. The lots sit empty, awaiting pre-sale buyers to claim them.

Quoted: Sales of single family homes fell 3.6 percent from August levels, and were down 7.8 percent from September of 2008, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Sad, I remember this episode in tennis - too young to really know what hard-core drugs were at the time.

Quoted: Andre Agassi’s upcoming autobiography contains an admission that he used crystal meth in 1997 and lied to tennis authorities when he failed a drug test.

This might be it, applications for mortgages/refi's are dropping to correspond with slowed sales and seasonal adjustments. This may be the best chance to get in to refi - the interest rates will not hold at this level for long

Quoted: “The holiday effect [the decline in home buying activity during the November-December holiday season] is a few short weeks away while mortgage rates are moving higher and the window on the $8000 first time buyer incentive is quickly closing.”