About Santa Rosa's Rincon Valley

Here is a list of happenings this weekend in and around Sonoma County. Hope you'll come and visit!

13th Growing up in Neverland $8-$12; Sonoma State University Everete B. Person Theater; Based on the story of Peter Pan about a boy who refuses to grow up. www.sonoma.edu/performingarts

13th Possessions of Mrs. Jones 6th Street Playhouse; $15 - $25; Evelyn Jones lives in the shiny happy suburban fantasy. But when God and Satan emerge from her washing machine to enlist her help in preventing a hostile corporate takeover of Heaven and Hade, Evelyn begins to unravel. Playing thru Dec. 8 523-4185, www.6thstreetplayhouse.com

13th -- Hall Napa Valley Winemaker Dinner ; $79 ea; 6:30 pm;The Inn at the Tides; Food & Wine Education: Bodega Bay welcomes Megan Gunderson-Paredes, Assistant Winemaker, of Hall Napa Valley for a wonderful 4-course dinner with specially selected wines to complement each course. Reservations a must. 800 Coast Hwy 1, Bodega Bay (800) 541.7788

13th, 14th, 15th Actors' Theater Presents GO, DOG, GO!
Family Fun, Performing Arts: This classic children's book comes to life on stage in an exploration of movement, color and space. The dogs delve into life with gusto, creating a visual spectacle for the audience to feast upon. This play is a rollicking musical world of doggy fun. Like a pop-up book that comes to life - and never stops. Steele Lane Community Center, Santa Rosa, $10 per ticket, Call for information & tickets,(707) 543.3282 or (707) 544.5995

14th All In The Timing; 7pm (1pm Sun matinee) Casa Grande's Fall Comedy; All In The Timing, a brain-teasing Comedy by David Ives, will play at Casa Grande High School's New Multi-Use auditorium. Tickets at the door. $6/$5 Students & Seniors; (707) 536.6276

14th Charlotte's Web; $12 - $18; 2pm; Wells Fargo Center; Treasured tale featuring quirky and endearing farm animals. www.wellsfargocenterarts.org 546-3600

14th Public Solar Observing; 11am - 3pm; and 7pm -??; $3;for adults, Robert Ferguson Observatory Kenwood; 833-6979; www.rfo.org

14th World Diabetes Day Walk in Awareness 10:00 am - 12:00 pm; Community comes together in non-competitive walk in the fight against diabetes. Info booths, ceremony and more. 10 a.m.-noon. Free. Ellis Creek Extension, Petaluma. 415-302-7414.

14th Artisano Geyserville Inn; Artisano is a celebration of local, handcrafted wine, food, and art. The event will feature small production artisan wineries, handcrafted gourmet food producers, restaurants serving locally produced meat and produce, and several of the regions premier artists. The event is a benefit for Slow Food Sonoma County's School Garden Project in elementary schools in Santa Rosa, Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville and Cloverdale. www.artisano.org Tickets: call 1-888-878-6621 for ticket sales. Website: http://arestravel.com/4042_attraction-tickets_a843.html Geyserville Inn 894-8500

14th St. Francis Wild Game Winery Dinner; $125ea; 6:30; This annual dinner highlights local game harvested from fields and streams by prominent producers. Winemaker Tom Mackey will pull out a beautifully aged library selection to pair with Chef David Bush's delicious new appetizers and sides to dazzle our guests. 100 Pythian Rd., Santa Rosa (888) 675.WINE x 255

15th Doll & Toy Show & Sale; 10:00 am - 3:30 pm; Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building; Lots of antique, repo and modern dolls and accessories. $4.50 adult, free 12 & under. 542-0112.

One of my favorite things to do in the morning, is to read our local paper, The Press Democrat, over a cup of coffee. I've noticed over the past year that the morning paper is getting thinner and thinner. On Mondays it has gone from 4 sections to just 2. It's really become a bit of a joke.

I have a friend who is a journalist for The Press Democrat, and she said that readership is down, all the newpapers around the country are struggling and being shut down. She told me that staff writers are being laid off, and that it's really just a matter of time before our local paper folds (by the way, it's owned by the New York Times).

She said that the paper is slowly being replaced by the internet. The funny things is that those same articles are being written by the same journalist that work for the newspaper. So when the newspaper folds, and lets those journalists go, who's going to write the articles. The internet is a very funny thing. Unless you have an advertiser, you don't make money writing for the internet. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for news organizations, and see how they adabpt to our rapid change in technology.

I have to admit that I only read about 30% of the newspaper, and that most of it gets chucked into the recycle bin. It's a terrible waste of resources. There is a free internet radio station I listen to called Pandora (www.pandora.com) If you haven't listened to it, you should check it out. It asks you few questions about the music you like to listen to, then creates a play list for you. As you listen to it, you can check a box whether or not you like certain songs it plays. The more you listen to it, the better it gets at predicting what kinds of music you like to listen to. Internet new should do the same thing. Instead of getting 200 pages of information that goes into the garbage, you could just download the article s that are of interest to you.

I'm going to miss our local paper when it dies. Having a cup of coffee and surfing the internet just isn't the same as reading the paper.

I've been advertising with AdDividers for the past 5 years. I did take a brief break but have recently reinstalled my dividers in my favorite Safeway super market. The thing I really like about these, is that this Safeway is in the heart of my area of influence.

I can't say that these dividers have resulted directly to more real estate transactions, however to me this is just one more level of layering my name and face recognition. If your interested in advertising this way, AdDividers can be reached at: (805) 627 1978 or by email at AdDividers@aol.com Tell them Jim Cheney sent you.

I recently sold one of my listings to a buyer who was getting a CalPers loan. I had heard of this loan program but was not very familiar with how it worked or what a great product it was. Here's how the program works:

You have to be a public employee such as a police officer, teacher, judge etc, who is in the CalPers retirement system. There is no minimum amount of time in the system, you can apply for a loan on you first day on the job.

CalPers advertises that it's loans are highly competitive, however applicants are told to examine their Truth in Lending disclosure closely and to always compare against other loan products before making a decision on what loan to get.

The CalPers program limits the first mortgage origination fee to 1.25% on a conventional loan and 1% on an FHA loan. Lenders can only charge up to $350 for all other lender fees regardless of fee type, except for discount points which may be charged to lower the interest rate. CalPers lenders can ask the borrower to pay third party fees such as title and escrow, credit report, appraisal, notary and recording fees etc.

Reduced title and escrow fees may be obtained by using specific title companies that have agreed to charge less for CalPers applicants.

This low down payment option has flexible credit guidelines for low-to-moderate income borrowers with limited cash resources. Offers more flexibility on credit histories and income sources. Cash reserves may not be required. Income restrictions can apply in certain areas, however there are no income limits in high-cost or Fannie Neighbors® areas. Income limits are higher in rural areas.

Below is the advertised rate as of 11/6/09 for a FHA loan with a 30 day interest lock

The CalPERS Member Home Loan Program is managed by CitiMortgage. If you'd like to talk to a Customer Relations Representative, just call (800) 874-7377 or visit: http://www.calpers.ca.gov/index.jsp?bc=/member/homeloan/home.xml

The people at Google just amaze me.  I always think"too bad there isn't anything left to invent"  It seems that way until a new product comes on the market and we think "Oh, I could have thought of that!"  It seems obvious after somebody else introduces us to something new. 

Anyway Google launched a new application recently that I had just heard about.  It's called Goog411.  A cell phone or land line is used to call 800-GOOG 411 or 800-644 6411 for free business telephone listing!  When you call the number a person states: "what is the business you are looking for, and what city and state are you calling from?"  You say Pizza, Santa Rosa, CA.  And the voice gives you the top 10 listings.  You say what # your choice is and Google connects you.  Very nice but if you say "Map it", Google sends you a map to your smart phone.  You can also say "Text it" and you'll get a text message with the listings address and phone number. 

One more useful tool for the real estate agent on the go!