Alan May, Coldwell Banker Evanston Realtor, North Shore Realtor

For Rainers, of a certain age, we all remember Tinker Toys.

We don't wonder much, about where they came from. Unless you live in Evanston, Illinois... and then you know.

Tinkertoys were created in 1914... in part in response to the introduction, one year earlier of the Erector Set. Tinkertoy was a direct response to the metal erector set, with simpler materials. Designed after seeing children playing with pencils and empty thread spools, Charles H. Pajean and Robert Pettit of Evanston decided to market a toy that would challenge children's imaginations.

The cornerstone, if you will, of the Tinker Toy, was a wooden spool, about 2 inches across with holes drilled in the edges approximately every 45 degrees, and one hole all the way through the center of the flat part.

Believe it or not, the set was originally designed based on the Pythagorean theorem of the progressive right triangle. (and you thought math was silly).

Tinker toys were highly successful, and by 1915 had sold 900,000 set of the colored sticks and eight-holed spools in a cylinder. Tinker Toys success did not go unnoticed.

Two short years later, John Lloyd Wright (yes, Frank's son) invented Lincoln Logs, and began manufacturing those in Chicago... so in a very short period of time, we had the Erector Set, Tinker Toys, and Lincoln Logs... all toys to encourage the young "builder / architect" in us. Amazing that we all didn't become architects.... no?

There have been some significant confusion over the First-Time Homebuyer's Tax Credit, as modified in February...

Even seasoned real estate agents have been somewhat confuzzled on the particulars. So as a public service, I'm printing out this chart, which we've received from our Local PHH Mortgage Loan Officer, Greg Schneider.

It clearly spells out the OLD system (middle column), and compares it to the NEW program (far right column)

(I hope this chart is legible for everyone)

Key points:

• $8,000 tax credit (10% of the value of the house with a maximum of $8,000

• The borrowers have to be first time homebuyers... (ie: cannot have lived in or purchased a home in the lasts 3 years).

• Maximum income limits for the borrowers are $75,000 adjusted gross income for an individual... $150,000 adjusted gross.. on a joint return.... There is SOME benefit... up to $95,000 and $170,000... but it totally phases out after that.

• Does NOT need to be repaid... UNLESS home is sold within three years, and then entire amount is recaptured at close.

• Benefits are effective on homes purchase as of January 1, 2009.

• Program ends 12/1/2009

For many of us, here in the U.S. and Canada at 2:00 tomorrow morning (Sunday 3/8) it will be time to set your clock an hour ahead (Spring Forward).

Contrary to the belief of many, not everyone participates in Daylight Saving Time. Most of North America plays along, as does the bulk of Europe and Russia (see map).

Daylight saving time has been controversial as typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour at the beginning of Spring and adjusted one hour backward in the fall (fall back).... or is it starve a cold and feed a fever... I can never remember.

Daylight saving time was first proposed in 1907 by an English builder in order to take advantage of more daylight building hours. Since then many countries have adopted it's use, since adding daylight to waking hours benefits retail, sports and other activities that need sunlight after working hours... it causes problems, however, for farming and entertainment and other occupations that are tied to the sun.

Traffic fatalities are reduced when there is extra daylight in the afternoon, but it's impact on health and crime is unclear. DST was also designed to reduce costs of electricity for incandescent lighting, heating and cooling. Savings have not been shown in that area.

The complicated system of timekeeping can be disruptive for meetings, travel, billing, record keeping, electronic medical devices and more. Most computer-based systems are able to adjust their clocks automatically, but it can be limited and error prone.

I know that my car is typically about 2 weeks behind schedule on the time change. Sheesh!

My wife is a pre-school teacher. She works at Warren W. Cherry Preschool, a developmental pre-school right here in Evanston. She's got a great job.

Not only does she get to play with kids all day, they sing songs, play games, run on the playground... all good stuff, right? But today, she got to go to work in her Pajamas. That's right... today was Pajama Day. All the kids will be arriving in their sleepwear, and the teachers are no different.

Okay, she had to go buy a new pair of Pajamas for today... can't be seen in last season's sleepwear, can we?... and we can't risk torn or thinning pajamas... can we? ... but still Pajama Day!

And not just in one classroom. All of the teachers, school-wide, will be arriving in their finest sleepwear.

No fun-police at Cherry Preschool. This should be fun for everyone. I'm sure the kids will enjoy it.

Tonight, I returned to my home from the office, here in Evanston, IL, as the sun was getting low in the western sky. As I rounded the corner, to my street, I was greeted by two medium sized dogs loping across the lawns, and crossed the street in front of my car... causing me to touch the brakes lightly.

As I looked closer at the two, clearly young animals, I noticed that neither of them was wearing a collar, and they appeared to be feral. In fact, as I started at them (and they stared back)... I realized they were coyotes. Young healthy coyotes.

For some of you, who live in Alaska, or Montana or some less urban areas than mine, this may not be such a strange occurrence. But I live in a suburb of one of the largest centers of human population in the contiguous united states of America. This is not a daily happenstance.

While I did have my camera in the car, my reaction time was not swift enough to capture a shot of either of them, so this generic photo (from Wikipedia) will have to suffice. It was nice to see them in the area... (and I went inside quickly to make sure that my little Gus-gus... my 11 pound Havanese "coyotes-consider-him-a-snack-dog"... was still alive and in the house.... he was!).

We have a full yard fence around the yard, but it's only 4 feet high on the sides... and I'm sure a coyote could jump that in a simple bound. I'll have to keep a close eye on little Gus-Gus.