Our northern neighbors: Killjoys

The CBC is issuing ten things you should know for Halloween safety. No masks, jack-o'-lanterns, or darkness (hard to do that in Canada, unless you start at 3 in the afternoon.) This is my favorite, though:

6. Build a spooky but safe and well-wired haunted house
With spooky smoke machines, lights and screeching soundtracks, Halloween enthusiasts can put on a haunting good show. Secure extension cords so trick-or-treaters can easily pass by without stumbling. When buying lights, check for certification from the Canadian Standards Association or the Underwriters' Laboratory of Canada. Also, check for frayed wires and be sure not to overload outlets.

I'm pretty sure they made a Red Green episode out of this, eh?

(story via Fark.)

We should check what they're putting in our cream cheese

Junior New York City hedge fund trader Andrew Tong charged in October that his boss forced him to take female hormones to dampen his aggressiveness, which the supervisor said was leading him to make bad trades, according to a CNBC report. In his lawsuit against Mr. Ping Jiang (a big-time trader who reportedly earns $100 million a year) and employer SAC Capital (one of the biggest hedge fund names on Wall Street), Tong claimed further that he was harassed and even sexually attacked, and had started wearing dresses.

From News of the Weird. Stick to your peanut butter, boys.

Tough sledding for the dough

Another push week, as my 11-2 week could only tie our distaff genius (she'd've won if only she would stop rooting for the Vikings.) Two weeks roll over to next.

Panera blogging back down

I mean, if you were ever to blog about the peanut butter, it would be a catastrophe.

Today's movie quote

At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

-- Billy Madison

This may have applied to Eric's football picks. Two?

OK, guess the realtor

The following is an email I received this afternoon. Since I am instructed to reach my circle of contacts, it belongs here. We can discuss this at breakfast.

Dear Dr. Banaian, As the past president of the St. Cloud Area Association of Realtors and a person that has been selling real estate for almost 30 years I feel that the area leaders in our community such as yourself should have the best information about our market.

The media has said such disturbing misinformation lately I strongly feel we all must do something to educate the public in our area with the truth.

I will be emailing you next a summary from our MLS on our market published today.

1. Interest rates still are hovering around the 6% mark for thirty year loans.

2. There is plenty of money for loans for buyers with good credit..just ask Wells Fargo, Bremer, or Liberty Bank.

3. Yes, there are a lot of foreclosures. However, most of them are from bad decisions. When 30 year fixed rate loans were available in the 5 ½% range, why would anyone consider an adjustable rate mortgage? I have been a strong advocate of buyers not touching the equity in their homes unless they are in a financial position to cover both loans in the event the market changes. That is what has happened. Many of the foreclosures in the newspapers are on seconds.

4. The soft market creates a wonderful market for buyers. There are many many choices in all price ranges and 95% of the sellers have adjusted their prices. In the Midwest we still have the best built and best quality homes for the price. Compare new construction in California with ours!

5. With so much negativity in the press, can you think of anyway we can stimulate the potential buyers? We know many many young buyers are scared because of what they have read in the newspaper. It is not only good for the buyers and sellers but for the entire St. Cloud area economy.

I do hope you appreciate this letter and the statistics that will follow. After working the Tour of Homes a few weeks ago, I was stunned with the comments that I heard from people walking through.

Please do your best in your circle of contacts to clear some of the mistaken ideas up.

Oh. The power of cheese

I will have to say, being in Wisconsin as much as I am is interesting. There are very few people who do not follow the Badgers and Packers here. Game time leaves the state almost open for looting there are so few people on the street. Fans are loyal and passionate. Very different from what I'm used to in Minnesota where fans ignore non-fans. In Wisconsin, fans try to get you to join in the fun. The head coach at UW asked fans to wear only red in support of the team. I'd say he got 19 out of 20 people stadium wide to comply as seen from the blimp overhead.

On that note, I have to rub it into Vikings fans, with Favre up for a record breaking passing title, the Norsemen didn't stand a chance. So, OOOOOOOoooooooo, the power of Wisconsin Cheese.

That doesn't mean the Vikings won't win in Green Bay. What goes around comes around with these two teams.

Todd