Angela Penkin

Be sure to check out the handmade zippered covers at the Craft Antique Co-op in Greece NY at only $19.90. The outside has a zippered pocket for the charger and inside is a firm backed piece with elastic in the corners to hold in your hand.

Judy Adams makes them, she started because she had a customer ask her to custom make one for her - Judy didn't know what a Kindle was. So, today she mentioned she hadn't sold any yet that were not custom orders, I said, Judy, you have to go where the Kindle users go! LOL. So I took the photos and uploaded it with a little blurb. She makes the water bottle straps that are really popular, cosmetic bags and other things as well. If you would like more information on them, let me know and I'll put you in touch with Judy.

I had a serious week here in the Rain, so I needed to do a little something for someone else. Hope this is OK. I belong to the Craft-Antique CO-OP, the largest in NYS (I believe) and have since it started in 1990.

There's been a lot this week about family, friends, people we love, and people we've lost. Good things and bad, hard times and uplifting times. So, I figured, I may as well get another one out on the table.

Earlier this week I wrote about football, and my younger son. My older son John played in high school too for 3 years, if you ask him about it, he'll tell you he played left bench. He was a better wrestler than football player. He is better at things that he is more independent at. But, alas, there were serious problems with the coach and suffice it to say that after a serious incident where several young men became ill and one had to be treated at a hospital - after the boys took it upon themselves to do something - a group of them resigned from the team together. Good boys, who had seen enough. Once that happened, once some of us parents really found out how miserable things were for the kids, he was taken to task. It took a while, and it was a fight, but he was finally after 6 months removed as coach.

It was very hard on a lot of the boys, for my son, wrestling was something he had been good at, that he liked and wanted to do - that he could participate in and be successful. A few years ago he decided to try another route. Natural body building - unbelievable amount of discipline, hard work and dedication.

His first season he participated in 3 competitions. And was very successful. After winning his novice class, then his weight class in a men's open and then finally, wining the overall of the different weight class winners. So, his next season he was then able to compete in a pro-qualifier. In that first competition he won the overall and his pro status to go with it as well as the award for the best posing routine. They do a 90 second routine to music. About 6 weeks ago he competed in his first pro competition - he took 4th place of his weight class and was a very happy guy. Next week he goes to NYC to compete again. If my boys can do, if they can overcome obstacles placed in their path, then so can I.

This past Saturday was my High School Reunion. We are the class of 1970 (you can figure the math!) I am so glad I attended. I have gone to all of the reunions they've had and have really been so glad.

Cardinal Mooney was a split co-ed school. Physically, it was a "V" shaped school - a mirror image on each side. From the front, the east wing was the boys school and the west wing the girls. Heaven help the poor soul who wandered onto the wrong side! So, for the most part the girls and boys only knew each other if your friends were dating a boy/girl in your group, otherwise zip!

It so happens my hubby Peter was in the class of 1969, but I never knew him until we met in 1977. We also married that year after a whirlwind 4 month romance. ;-) In 1980 we attended my 10th year reunion. A couple of the girls came up to me and said, we can't believe you married Peter Penkin!!! I was like oh, why. They were like - oh he was sooo cute in high school, everyone thought so. Hmmm, I didn't know that. And the years that people had children, divorced, passed away, very sad. It was really nice to reconnect again and Facebook has made it fun and easy.

So, sitting at dinner the group I was with were talking about how they were the kids that rode the "City Bus" and one of the guys mentioned, yeah, we were the city kids, ya know from Lyell and Glide, I grew up on Rockview Terrace. I said, really, I just sold a house this week at 123 Rockview Terrace. His jaw just dropped, he said that was where I grew up - I thought he was kidding, he was serious. When his Mom passed away, he sold it to the woman that was selling it now and my clients were the new buyers! Amazing! I told him how it was still really nice and the buyers were so excited.

Anyway, this photo is of the group of us that went to Our Lady of Mercy Elementary school too! Since 1st grade together! If you have a reunion coming up, think about attending. I was glad I did.

OK, Day 3! I was struggling again with a topic and then thought about all of the time I spent earlier today to prepare for a listing appointment tomorrow. The seller called me because I send just listed and just sold cards every opportunity to a neighborhood I have been very successful in for the past 32 months. 11 listings and sales, a new listing on Tuesday that is ready to be submitted and the possible listing tomorrow.

I have only had one expired in the neighborhood, a short sale that was already too far gone when I listed it and the saddest part of all, my seller was diagnosed shortly after listing, her attorney advised her to stay in the home and she passed away just 4 months later.

This particular neighborhood has a lot of activity the past several years - my potential sellers are trying to decide if they want to list now or wait until spring. So, my job is to try to interpret the market in terms of when will be the best time for them to list, not if. They are relocating for sure in 2011.

So, I have tracked the sales since Jan 2008 by season to see if they should list now or dare wait until Spring. It was a very interesting study and surprisingly a big shift in the past 3 years. I had never prepared my information quite this way and I believe it is going to be very effective in helping them to see that although they really don't want to move until next June(ish) based on the trend, they should list now and plan on interim housing if they sell faster than expected. I was fully prepared to advise them to wait until February and hope no one else zeroed in on them before then.

What also surprised me, that I really, truly did not know is that in this particular zip code and homes built since 2000, I have more than twice as much sales volume than the next agent on the list of 97 agents - and he is the licensed representative for a builder. I sat here grinning like a fool! So not only do I have the stats to support the strategy to sell their home, I have the stats to support me!

I think pointed is the way to go!

The Homebuyer Tax Credits are Making The News, Again . . . . Jobs, we need jobs!!

But, we need to MAKE things in America! My husband is a weldor fabricator - 35+ years experience. He is working 4 days a week at his company - that's what they did so everyone could stay working. Some weeks it's 3. He has worked on things that have gone into space, surgical tools, wrought iron fences, eyeglass hinges. boat props, you name it. Most of the jobs in the area for welders want to pay $12-14 / hour and there are quite a few postings - so there is work, but not much pay - and no one wants to do those jobs because it's hard work for the money. A skilled trade and you would think supply and demand would push wages, but it doesn't.

The dog groomer gets $40+, $60-$90/hour for an IT person to look at your computer - last time I did that was 8 years ago when I figured out I knew more than she did - she even asked me how I knew so much!

Electricians, plumbers, heating contractors, lawn and landscape people, nail techs, hair stylists, REALTORS, accountants, Cell Phone Service Providers - HUGE! We are all service people. But when no one can afford the services anymore, we will be done.

We worked at Eastman Kodak for years. They had digital before anyone - but noooo, they sold FILM! Who would want digital pictures when they could have 35MM prints on Kodak paper?? Do you know what their business is now? Every few years they bring in a batch of new presidents, CEO's, CFO's and whomever, give them 20+ years on the books, vacation out of their ears, options and golden parachutes. They restructure and re-organize (again). They put in a few years and then off they go to some other company. That is the only way the pension fund can get "raided" that's why no one has bought up Eastman Kodak to break it up. They can't get at the money!!

This is just one little example of the problems we are facing. People need to WORK. We need to stop GIVING people money and have them WORK for it instead. But, that is a whole other blog!