Leslie Bloss, Seattle Real Estate Professional

I was over to help babysit one of my grandsons yesterday while the other was being taken to the doctor by his Dad.

I noticed his voter's ballot on the window sill and asked if it was ready to go. He said "no he hadn't really studied the issues or the people." I have been busy telephoning for both the King County Executive and Mayoral campaigns, and found this disapointing. I will talk to him today--not to persuade but to encourage him to become part of the process.

We in this State have had first hand experience of how important each vote can be. I often think of countries that are dealing with voter fraud and the people that they cannot get elected because of it. Maybe another thing that drives me harder in this is that it took so long for women to get the vote.

On the Washington Women’s History Consortium’s website it says In 1867 the Washington Territorial Legislature passed a law giving the right to vote 'to all white citizens above the age of 21." This law became the rallying point for early women's suffrage advocates who cited the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in conjunction with the law which defined "citizen" as being "all persons born or naturalized in the United States."

This election will be determined by you. You must return your ballot before 8pm to any King County Elections Drop Box across King County or, with postage, mail by the last drop at the Post Office.

You can get a copy of your voter's guide.

Please ask your family members, friends and neighbors to return their ballot. And forward this message to remind others to vote!

P.S. My son-in-law took his ballot to work with him.

For help with your Seattle/Everett/Bellevue/Kent real estate needs: LuvSeattle.com

I just heard it on the radio. The info. from The Boeing Company: Get info here

This could mean many things to the Seattle area. Real Estate may become even more affordable--and houses may be even more difficult to sell. I worked for The Boeing Company for 23 years and many things are just swirling through my mind.

I have been to Charleston, South Carolina and it is a wonderful place.

For help with your Seattle/Everett/Bellevue/Kent real estate needs: LuvSeattle.com

I just read Bob Stewart's post "Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf - Do the right thing (Or Do Something....and QUICK)." It was about an employee of Wells Fargo really screwing up and that Bob was advising the CEO to do something soon so that Wells Fargo could keep it's credibility.

As of this writing Bob has received 146 comments. Well, I have an even bigger story. I have been reading Culture of Corruption, by Michelle Malkin and it discusses the "tax cheats, crooks and cronies" that are in very high ranking positions of our government.

I will tell you that she is a conservative columnist and she was quite active right here writing in Seattle. Some of her biography from her website says "Michelle Malkin began her career in newspaper journalism with the Los Angeles Daily News, where she worked as an editorial writer and weekly columnist from 1992-94. In 1995, Michelle Malkin was named Warren Brookes Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. In 1996, Michelle Malkin joined the editorial board of the Seattle Times, where Michelle Malkin penned editorials and weekly columns for three and a half years. Today, Michelle Malkin's syndicated column appears in over 100 papers nationwide. Michelle Malkin's work has been cited in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Reader's Digest and U.S. News and World Report. Michelle Malkin's freelance work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Weekly Standard and Reason magazine. Michelle Malkin has appeared on "The O'Reilly Factor," "Hannity and Colmes," "The McLaughlin Group" and "20/20," and is currently a Fox News commentator."

But before you delete this--take the time to do a little reading and see where the entanglements are. This is important to all of us. Some of the book is too heated for me but the threads that weave back and forth that lead to big money and promotions of people that really have done wrong is quite scary.

I am just tired of corruption--where ever it is. There seem to be several foxes guarding hen houses. And this too, Mr. Stewart, should have some examination and quickly.

My home scanner was giving me fits and I wanted to send my clients forms from the MLS that I had pre-printed and filled out. He told me about Cute PDF Writer and walked me through it. It is FREE and works well.

I saved my completed mls forms on my computer. Then I downloaded the writer. You then go to your printer and make Cute PDF Writer you default printer. You then go to the pages you have saved and click print and it will open up Cute PDF Writer and you can save it as a PDF. It will then be an attachment that you can email to your clients.

The copies are so much cleaner than faxes.

For your real estate needs in Seattle/Eastside and Kent www.LuvSeattle.com

I have a client from out-of-state that is coming here for a home inspection. The property they are buying is 1 1/2 acres with many trees. They wanted to have an arborist check on the health of the trees. This is the first time this has come up for me and I didn't know where to look for one. I asked some people in the office and they didn't know either.

I had very good luck with a resource because I had taken my youngest grandson to a playfield in Fremont and there were two ladies working in the park gardens. I mentioned my clients need for an arborist and one of them said to go to "ISA" on the internet and find a ISA certified consultant for the properties. ISA "The International Society of Arboriculture is a worldwide professional organization dedicated to fostering a greater appreciation for trees and to promoting research, technology, and the professional practice of arboriculture."

ISA has an excellent website. Their link to "Consumer Education" goes to a site called "Trees Are Good" at http://www.treesaregood.org/ This site has a button "find a tree care service" where you can find a tree care service or check to see if someone has an ISA Certification. There are also buttons called "Frequently Asked Questions" and "Fun Facts."

You may have wondered why a picture of a buck. Well, the property is in Issaquah and wild life is often in the area.

For your real estate needs in Seattle/Eastside and Kent www.LuvSeattle.com