Randy Randolph ~ Uber Agent

First off, I Love Dogs. Have had dogs all of my life. They make me happy and reduce my stress.

I even used to own Three Dog Bakery in Seattle. It was a Bakery just for Dogs. I did that with my wife Bonnie for 10 years until we sold it in 2006. We miss the dogs that would come in and shop with us. Miss some of the people also, but mostly the dogs.

We have 3 dogs now:

Mocha 14 1/2 year old Chocolate Lab. Fantastic Dog. She likes to sit on my lap even though she weight 65 pounds. She has slowed down and has put up a good fight against cancer. She is my Brown Bomber.

DASH is 4 years old and a Seal Italian Greyhound. He is wild, fast and likes to cause trouble. He thinks he is such a tuff guy, but he isn't. He loves to lay on his back and look at you while you rub his belly. He is, how can I say this politely? um, FAT. He needs to lose about 4 pounds, which is about 30% of his total weight. What can I say? He eats like an Italian.

Lyra is my little girl. She makes my heart melt. Her big brown doe eyes. She is a 6 year old Red Italian Greyhound. Her favorite thing is chicken. Licking me all over when ever she sees me is a close 2nd. Even if I have just been at my desk and she has been by the fireplace. When I come over to her she goes crazy loven on me.

A week ago I went to tuck Lyra to bed. When I went to pick her up she started to cry in pain. Lyra NEVER cries when she is in pain. EVER. Torn ACL -- not a sound. Step on her tail -- not a sound. So, when she cried I knew something was very wrong.

I took her to the ER Vet in Lynnwood WA the next morning. They did a full exam and also a neurology exam. Took some x-rays. They thought she just had a pulled muscle. I didn't buy that, but I am not a vet, so. Took Lyra home with her meds and started bed rest.

She didn't improve.

Back to the ER Vet. Now they said that she likely has something wrong with her back. They want to do an MRI to see just what is going on. We can't get it scheduled until Wednesday morning, so more pain meds and bed rest at home.

She got worse. She would not walk or stand. She cried in pain. It broke my heart to see her hurting so much.

Back to the ER Vet today. They decided to admit her overnight, pump her full of fluids and do an IV drip with stronger pain meds. Then first thing in the morning she will have her MRI.

From everything that we have heard and learned about what could be causing the pain and immobility it sounds like she has a ruptured disc in her back. The MRI will give us the answer. If it is her disc, then she will have back surgery tomorrow. 3-4 weeks of bed rest and rehab.

I am glad that we live where we have access to this type of medical expertise. Lyra means so much to me I would do what ever it takes to keep her healthy, happy, pain free.

She is my little girl. Please get better soon.

Abraham Lincoln Didn't Quit

Author Unknown

Probably the greatest example of persistence is Abraham Lincoln. If you want to learn about somebody who didn't quit, look no further.

Born into poverty, Lincoln was faced with defeat throughout his life. He lost eight elections, twice failed in business and suffered a nervous breakdown.

He could have quit many times - but he didn't and because he didn't quit, he became one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country.

Lincoln was a champion and he never gave up. Here is a sketch of Lincoln's road to the White House:

1816 His family was forced out of their home. He had to work to support them.

1818 His mother died.

1831 Failed in business.

1832 Ran for state legislature - lost.

1832 Also lost his job - wanted to go to law school but couldn’t get in.

1833 Borrowed some money from a friend to begin a business and by the end of the year he was bankrupt. He spent the next 17 years of his life paying off this debt.

1834 Ran for state legislature again - won. 1835 Was engaged to be married, sweetheart died and his heart was broken.

1836 Had a total nervous breakdown and was in bed for six months.

1838 Sought to become speaker of the state legislature - defeated.

1840 Sought to become elector - defeated.

1843 Ran for Congress - lost.

1846 Ran for Congress again - this time he won - went to Washington and did a good job. 1848 Ran for re-election to Congress - lost.

1849 Sought the job of land officer in his home state - rejected.

1854 Ran for Senate of the United States - lost.

1856 Sought the Vice-Presidential nomination at his party’s national convention - get less than 100 votes.

1858 Ran for U.S. Senate again - again he lost.

1860 Elected president of the United States.

Saw this on the web it made my mouth drool!!! it made my arteries clog!!! You can find the complete Recipe and Instructions here: BBQ Addicts ~ Bacon Explosion Had to share it and if anyone makes it ~ let me know how it turns out!!!

 

Since one of the major road blocks to our economic recovery the housing meltdown. Would you consider supporting an Invest in American Real Estate Recovery Plan?

• 3% Down Payment

• 3% Fixed Interest for 30 years

• $30,000 Additional Tax Deduction over 3 years

• Plan would last 18-36 months

• Could be used to purchase up to 3 properties

The idea behind this solution is to decrease Supply while increasing Demand. This would give a solid bottom to the decline in housing prices. The sooner that we get the housing prices stabilized the sooner that the banks that hold the mortgages on these assets will see them stop falling and as a result help stabilize the banking system.

The ARERP (American Real Estate Recovery Plan) would help create jobs, quickly. Jobs in several different sectors of the economy:

• Manufacturing (Appliances, Furniture, Flooring, Cabinets) • Labor (Painters, Plumbers, Floor Installers, Roofers)

• Professional (Realtors, Inspectors, Accountants, Bankers)

• Retail (Home Improvement, Lumber Yards, Big Box Stores, Small Business Specialty Stores)

It would also encourage holding real estate as part of a long term Investment Portfolio. Historically, real estate has been one of the best investments holding over a 10 year period. Real estate has been the cornerstone of American’s wealth building since the inception of the United States.

There also needs to be a way to help people that are facing foreclosure. A Foreclosure Assistance Plan could be the answer.

Home owners that are currently behind on their mortgages and facing foreclosure could enter into an agreement to transfer ownership to a federally backed holding company.

The home owner would be able to rent the property back from the holding company at a reduced rate, based on income.

The home owners would have up to 3 years to re-purchase the property from the holding company at the market value at the time of transfer.

If the home owner does exercise their option to re-purchase the property, the money that had been paid as rent would be applied to the balance of the mortgage and the mortgage would reset to the market value at the time of the original transfer to the holding company.

At the time of the re-purchase the terms of the mortgage would be restructured.

The mortgage balance would be reduced to the market value of the property at the time that it was transferred into the holding company.

The interest rate would be reset to the 30 year fixed interest rate available at the time the home owner re-purchased the property.

The money paid as rent would be applied to the new mortgage amount.

The home owner would have to qualify for the new loan with a debt to income ratio of not more than 33%.

It would be possible for the home owner vacate the property and give up all claims at which time the holding company could dispose of it.

If the home owner does not re-purchase the property the holding company would then be able to sell it for fair market value.

At the time of the transfer from the home owner to the holding company the mortgage holder would also transfer the loan to the holding company, which would help remove the bad loans from the lien holders’ portfolio.

The holding company would then be able to write down the mortgages when the property is sold back to the home owner or sold for fair market value after 3 years.

For the home owners that re-purchase their properties this will have prevented foreclosures and kept people in their homes, which would be the best possible outcome to the foreclosure nightmare that we find ourselves in.

Don't listen to the news about massive at Microsoft layoffs - 1400 people yesterday out of over 90,000! And the whole announced layoff of 5000 over 18 months is Worldwide, plus they have announced that they will hire 2000-3000 people for certain teams, which means the net loss is more along the 1400 from yesterday.

This is smaller than layoffs from many of the other large companies with their Worldwide Headquarters in Western Washington. It won’t increase the Washington State unemployment rate. By the way why don’t we start reporting the employment rate which is now at about 93%!

Certainly, if you are one of the unfortunate who did get laid off from Microsoft, it is bad. What will those 1400 people end up doing? Hopefully some of them will be able to find another position on a different team at Microsoft. More likely, some of them will be signing up to work at Google’s new Kirkland campus, others will find positions with other smaller companies (like where Microsoft was 20 years ago).

The best scenario would be new businesses will be created. The number of Microsofties that have started new start ups is likely in the 1000’s. Some of the talented people that have lost their job this week will follow their dream of developing their own business. Those people will be the ones who help us recover from this downturn the fastest.


Focus on the Positive!
Randy Randolph
Uber Realtor®


Über: To have ultimate skills; to outdo or overcome challenges that others cannot even face. Being able to take on obstacles without much effort; having abilities that are only found among a chosen few.