Sitting on the banks of the Yellow River, along US 78 in Lilburn, GA is the Yellow River Game Ranch.

Rather than looking at exotic animals from afar, here the idea is up close and personal… occasionally VERY personal.  Here most of the animals wander the park with the visitors.  Of course the bears, bobcats, cougars, foxes and bison ARE separated from onlookers but deer, peacocks, chickens, rabbits and squirrels are quite happy to walk up and introduce themselves… especially for a cracker or a peanut.  In fact, they may remind you that they would REALLY like a peanut or cracker…

The Yellow River Game Ranch is also the home of the Southeast’s most famous weather prognosticator… General Beau Lee… our Groundhog.  I guess it is good work if you can get it… one day a year… celebrities… free food. While we were there today, General Lee certainly didn’t see his shadow, he was busy watching TV with his satellite dish.

So, wander through the pictures.  And, the next time you want to hang out in the shade and make some new furry friends, drop into the Yellow River Game Ranch.  Say hi to the General for me.

Feel free to check into the post here on LaneBailey.com for the rest of the pictures... there are more than 40.

I love racing, but there are a LOT of really cool videos of amazing things every once in a while, something grabs my attention... and if it grabs mine, it might catch yours too.  So, I tried A little biking insanity for Video Sunday.

Nothing makes me crazier than real estate agents that don't take their jobs seriously.  And one of the biggest jobs we have is marketing properties.  And one of the biggest parts of marketing a property is showing photographs...  So, Hold on just a minute there, Bub...

I want a Pontiac G8GT.  I like it...

And since I like to relate my life experiences with real estate, and I went to the dealer to look at one of these cool rides, Last night it was about the car...

Not a market to take lightly.  Seriously.  But there seem to be a lot of consumers and agents that are doing exactly that.  Tossing a property up on the market that they know is not priced to sell just doesn't seem right to me. 

I put this one up here as well... Like I didn't have enough to do...  I just keep taking it on. 

Obeo sent out the results of a recent survey about technology and real estate buyers.  Survey Says...  I thought it was pretty cool.  Obeoman deserves a shout-out, too.  The original link was busted, but even though Steve was on vacation, he got back to me right away and sent me the correct link.  That is service.

This was a comment...  I went here and saw this post, and decided that the answer was post worthy.

Amazing how the Democrat attack machine has fired up on Palin in such a big way. 

• She's inexperienced, and "only a heartbeat away from the Presidency." 
  

I guess it is better to get your inexperienced slot filled at the top of the ticket, where there isn't even a heartbeat seperating it from the President...  Oddly, she HAS actually run things... business, a city and a state.  Neither Obama nor Biden have run anything.  And Obama saying that he ran a campaign is layghable.  He has a campaign manager that runs the campaign... and still his campaign is not responsible for nearly what the Governor of Alaska is...

• She must be a bad mother to take all of this on...

Really.  The party of Equal Rights and Women's Rights says that a mom can't be in a high powered job?  Again, laughable.  Where is the mention that Joe Biden was a single father with young kids?  Where is the mention that he not only worked in DC, but commuted a couple of hours each day to that job... so he couldn't be there for his kids.  Where is the comparision to the Obamas who are both on the road and have foisted the kids off on granny... vs. the Palins where dad is staying home with the kids. 

• Obama continues to try to paint the McCain Presidency as a continuation of Bush...
  

And yet, while in the last year the voting record of McCain has been 90% with Bush... there is no mention that Obama voted 49% with the Administration.  And voted WITH the Administration on energy, while McCain was voting against.  So, does the 90% number indicate that McCain is a party hack?  Keep in mind that he has also had years where he only voted 60% with the Administration... and Obama is voting 95% with the Democrat line.  There is your party hack.

• They aren't uniters, and they are partisan...

Now you are really kidding me.  Refer to the 95% voting record with the Democrat line.  THE most liberal Senator, and the third most liberal Senator... Kennedy wasn't up to the run.  And the guy that is known to fight the GOP almost as much as the Democrats, paired with a woman that went after GOP corruption in her home state... Who is really the partisan ticket?

• She's only been a Governor for two years.

And Obama has only been a Senator for 2 years... except he has spent the entire time running for President.  She was busy running a state until last week. 

• But the last eight years...

Unemployment was hovering around 4% when W took office.  9/11 and the Clinton Recession (remember, it started before Bush was even the front runner for the GOp, so that one wasn't his fault) pushed it up to 6.3% before the Bush Tax Cuts took effect... driving it back down to 4.4% until the Democrats took over the House and Senate... now it is 5.7%.  (You might also be interested to know that the rate hovered around 7% for Clinton, until the GOP took over the House and Senate in the '94 Revolution). 

Oil?  Went from $24/bbl when GWB took office to $50/bbl in Oct. 2006... and right after the elections, started to rise... Hit $126/bbl before GWB signed the Executive Order allowing expanded drilling (and will drop further if the Democrat controlled Congress would drop their ban).  So, in six years, oil doubled.  In 1.5 years, it went up 2.5 times...

McCain has been fighting spending his whole time in office.  The problem that we have with the federal budget is a spending problem.  That is why he has butted heads with the GOP... they wanted to spend like Democrats.  And I mean that sincerely.  Tax collections have skyrocketed since the Bush tax cuts took effect.  And those cuts reduced taxes at ALL income levels.  But, the GOP has been a bunch of weak knee'd slackers letting themselves be pushed into spending "just a little less" than what the Democrats wanted to spend. 

Obama and Biden have shown NO fiscal restraint.  Despite the fact that Obama has stated that he knows that increasing taxes on the "rich" won't increase revenues, he still preaches the mantra.  Despite complaining about GOP spending, he has introduced $1,000,000,000,000 in NEW programs. 

The bottom line is that the worst thing to happen in the last eight years was the election of a bunch more Democrats in 2006.  The didn't run on a bad economy then... because it wouldn't hold.  Now they have made one.  They ran on Iraq... and didn't help fix the problem (the surge is doing that).

Yeah... that's the ticket. 

It's going to be interesting to see these attacks on Palin play out.

But not for long...

I'm just back from a conference where International Property Sales were discussed, and while I knew that the weakening Dollar was making American real estate attractive to overseas buyers, I hadn't really quantified it for this property. So, I grabbed the values for a few par currencies, the Euro, British Pound and Canadian Dollar. I also pulled the historical trade values for 6 months ago, 1 year and 2 years ago, as well as the current data.

I added the historical data so that you could see that the Dollar was bouncing along at historical lows. So, while property is looking like a better investment for US residents because the market is bottoming, for those investing with foreign currencies, there is a double possibility. As the US Dollar starts rising again, the return for US real estate will be that much higher.  Just in the last month, an investor from Great Britain could have realized a $100,000 increase in the value... without the price moving i dollars AT ALL!  Imagine the gains as the dollar further increases and beat up values for the dollar correct.

Finally, in the interconnected world we live in, this is a great place to be. Coca-Cola, UPS, Home Depot, Delta Airlines, Georgia-Pacific, SunTrust Banks, Genuine Parts, Newell-Rubbermaid and scores of other companies. In fact, Atlanta ranks #3 in the US for headquarters of Fortune 500 companies, behind only New York City and Houston, and ahead of cities like Chicago, Minneapolis and Seattle.

Atlanta is also the home of Cox Enterprises, CNN and Turner Broadcasting, making it a media center.

One hundred years ago, the joke was that whether you were going to Heaven or Hell, you had to change trains in Atlanta. Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL) is the busiest airport in the world, with flight just about anywhere at almost any time of the day. In fact, there were almost 1,000,000 flights in 2007. Atlanta is a transportation hub to destinations throughout the world.

Georgia Tech, Georgia State and numerous other universities and colleges are located in the Atlanta area...

Via 9010 Brixham Court's Property website.

Yes and no... 

I knew this would happen.  Being in Orlando, this year, with me in Atlanta, it is only a short drive away (yes, I call 10 hours a short drive).  Also, being in Orlando, I was pretty sure that "I" would not be going... it would be "we."  Also, I knew that if "we" went, that "we" would be going to DisneyWorld.  In the last case, "we" meant "them." 

I got into real estate because I love being with my family.  I was in retail previously, and worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week... somewhere else.  Now, I would 7 days a week, and maybe even more hours each day, but I take breaks to go to the park with the family or to do other things I couldn't do with a fixed retail schedule. 

So, I knew that what would happen would be that the actual convention wouldn't have nearly as much interest as watching my older son (4) at the Magic Kingdom in the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, or watching my younger one (6 months) meet Mickey for the first time.  And I was right. 

But then I changed brokers... and Bloodhound announced an Unchained event.  Of course EVERY session at the NAR that interests me, that I didn't attend in Las Vegas, is on the same day as Bloodhound Unchained. 

So, here is how it is going to go down...

• On Friday, Nov. 7th, I'm planning on going to Bloodhound Unchained.
• On Saturday, Nov. 8th,  I'm planning on working the Expo floor for Diamond Dwellings Realty.. and visiting the other exhibitors at the Expo. 
  
• Whenever A|R decides on their party time and location, I plan on showing up... perhaps even with Mrs. GarageGuy in tow. 
  
• The rest of the time, I am going to visit with friends, hang out with the family and enjoy time "not working." 
  

If you are going to be at BU, let me know.  It is ALWAYS fun to meet more Rainers. 

If you can make it to the Expo on Saturday, find me.  I will be pretty easy to find most of the time.  Sure, we are looking for both agents and brokers that want to join the Diamond Dwellings family, but as most who know me will attest, I love meeting my A|R friends in person and hanging out.  We aren't selling TimeShares...  We're having fun. 

If you haven't been to an A|R party, you need to.  If you have, you already know that. 

IF you are going to be playing in Mouseland, maybe we can meet up for lunch.  There are already some A|R friends that I will be "meeting again for the first time" while down there. 

BTW, my wife has turned up some killer lodging deals if you are coming with your family...  Condos near WDW with 2 bedrooms for under $100/night.  We're happy to pass along some sources if you need them.

There is just no other way to say it. This thing makes an incredible sound. It idles like a fashion student ripping burlap, and then at full tilt, it makes magic. If I had a car that made that sound, EVERYONE could see me on the news... And there would be scores of angry police officers because I would HAVE to run with it...

And the cool thing is that it could certainly outrun the chopper, and almost outrun the radio. But then there is that sound. The only description that owould go out is "You'll know it when you hear it." It is #3

The other sound I like is more grating... annoying... but I still like it. It comes in #4.

Of course... the big question would be about #1 and #2. I'll never say which is which, but those are the sounds of my boys laughing... Any Dad can tell you that there is no sweeter sound.

It's that time...  The numbers for August are in, although they will certainly change over the next month.  The final numbers ARE in for July, and those are pretty solid.  Overall, they aren't bad, but not a super strong move to the positive.  After adjusting for seasonality, July looks good... not great.  August looks terrible, but the preliminary numbers usually do. 

I've been looking at this GPS unit, the Dash Express. 

It looks pretty cool.  It has internet connectivity through cellular and wifi networks.  So, instead of having a static list of restaurants or other area points of interest... it can search.  Maps can be automatically updated.  Traffic heat maps are on a whole new dimension. 

It also give three different route choices, their mileage and expected time.  That would be great for me, because I often like to go a slightly different way in order to accomplish something along the way (gotta combine those trips, you know!). 

But... using one is the best way to know about one...

Any users? 

And if you aren't, go wander around the site and see what you think.

I have been littering the political posts of A|R with comments about policies being proposed by either McCain or Obama.  In some cases I have alluded to other things I think they should be considering.  And in both cases I think that the parties and the candidates are missing the boat. 

Energy...

The Democrats are complaining that we can't drill our way out of this.  They are whining that it will take 20 years for drilling to have any effect...

• First, that is a lie.  It will be more like 3-5 years, but the effects would be felt immediately in the futures market.
• Second, 12 years ago, Clinton vetoed a bill from the GOP controlled Congress that owuld have opened up ANWR... that oil would be on the market right now. 
  

So, to fix the problem in the beginning, open up ANWR, the OCS (Outer Continental Shelf) and the FGS (Florida Gulf Coast) for drilling.  The 68m acres that the Democrat leadership is talking about are not productive areas... Drilling where the oil isn't is stupid... they know it.  70 of the people in the country want drilling and they want it NOW. 

Two things will be accomplished with this.  First, by NOT importing 4,000,000 barrels of oil each day, we won't be sending $400M - $600M each day to countries like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran.  Second, the royalty that the federal government gets from a barrel of oil is 18%.  So, they would increase their revenue by $72M - $106M each day. That means that by sourcing 4M barrels of in the US rather than elsewhere, the government would get between $25B and $40B each year. 

It is time to build nuke plants.  Even France generates 80% of it's electrical power from nuclear plants.  There is NO reason that we can't match that.  Free up the natural gas for transportation.

The next thing to do is put a man on the moon develop ground-breaking technologies to wean us off of oil for other purposes.  Transportation may be the toughest... but it is also not the biggest problem. 

Healthcare...

Despite the noise from the left, no other country can match the access to healthcare available in the US.  Don't tell me about how healthcare is useless unless you can afford it.  Every time there is a story about someone not being able to get healthcare because of a lack of insurance, there is a story about people going to jail and companies being fined many times the cost of care.  You CAN NOT be legally turned away from a facility because of a lack of ability to pay.

And yet, all... ALL... ALL of the countries that are pointed to as examples have healthcare rationed and people DIE waiting in line to be treated.  So, for those that say it doesn't matter if you can't aford it, I say All of the affordability in the world doesn't matter if you can't get treated.

So, what can we do to reign in prices, especially for the uninsured? 

• First, healthcare providers need to publish EVERY price for EVERY procedure, service or product they provide.  It needs to be public and it needs to be widely available.  They already have codes that are standardized throughout the industry for every concievable aspect of care.  They should make it available on their website and in print form for the cost of the print.
• Second, and this is important, each provider can only have ONE price for a service, procedure or product.  If you are paying cash, you pay the same as the biggest insurance company.  No negotiated fees.  A hospital can't charge the Bailey's $12,000 for delivering a baby, or charge the insurance company $4,000 for the exactlsame baby. 
  

Would people go to compare the costs and reputations of every provider while they are in the ambulance after an auto accident?  No.  But I can guarantee that there will be scores of companies that will do just that and the information about how good a given provider is v. their cost will be ubiquitous. 

And most of the people that are uninsured are uninsured by choice.  I have employed too many people that could pay $400/mo. for a car and $100/mo. for a phone, but couldn't manage $150/mo. for the employee portion of their healthcare.  I know it is WAY more expensive for us.  I could buy a rental home with what my family pays for our policy.  But limiting competition and putting the least efficient provider in charge is NOT the solution. 

And it could be implemented in weeks. 

Taxes and the Economy...

They are inextricably linked.  As is housing and transportation.  Again, despite the whining from the Democrats in the House and Senate about "the last eight years", the damage has mostly been in the last two years.  In the previous six years, the Clinton Recession was turned around, despite terrorist attacks that hurt the economy in addition to killing thousands of Americans on our own soil.

Look at what we had going two years ago in regards to unemployment, inflation, oil, the value of the dollar.  Also keep in mind that the Democrats couldn't get traction on the economy during the mid-term elections... they ran on the war.  Now, with two years of "leadership" from Democrats in the House and Senate... it REALLY is starting to suck.  So, these are the folks with a roadmap?

It is time to really shake things up.  FairTax.  Dismantle the IRS.  Make the US the biggest coporate tax haven on the planet.  After the FairTax is adopted, people would have to hide under a rock to avoid a job.  We have among the highest corporate taxes in the world.  And we wonder why companies want to be headquartered elsewhere?  US companies have to pay taxes on international profits... foreign companies don't have to pay taxes in their home country on earnings here.  And we wonder why companies want to be headquartered elsewhere?  We can fix that, simplify life for business owners and non-business owners alike.  We can end the intrusion of the government into people banks accounts and life.  We can tax the underground economies.  And we can surtax illegal residents... all in one fell swoop. 

So, there you go...

You want to race what?  Seriously, there are a couple of real air race videos for this video Sunday... and one NOT serious, but hilarious. 

Jon Washburn here has been tracking a pile of RE blogs for a few months.  I have scraped my way up to #54.  But, I'm Going to break into the Top 50! at some point soon... I hope. 

I have been using Plugoo on my site as an IM chat client for several months.  It was a great solution.  And then I got a connection request from a consumer on my site and Plugoo cut it off and told me I needed to upgrade.  You know... that ticked me off.  There had never been anything saying that there was a limit on connections for Plugoo... and so THAT night I changed to Meebo.  I think it is better.  And to change everything, I needed to do some Boring housecleaning... and add a cool video. 

Have you been to the Ranch?  Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, near Stone Mountain is a cool place to hang out for a couple of hours with the kids.  The animals are friendly. 

Most of the time it is NOT good to have the iTeam focus their cameras on you or anything you are involved with...  Update of the Fox 5 iTeam at my listing... Wow.  You HAVE to see these.  And I hope you don't stop at the first two.  The third is better. 

Almost Ready with Lilburn Dwellings... And posting on Gwinnett Dwellings...  And I talked about it on my blog.