SOLD

You may have noticed in a past blog that I was hoping to get an offer on my house in Dallas. Well, I finally did and I am thrilled. I am thrilled just to be getting rid of it. Overall, I am going to lose money on the whole deal, but I am glad that it will finally be off my plate. So I was thinking, "What have I learned from this entire experience?" It would be a shame for me to not share some of what I learned to any potential home buyer out there. So here are a few things things not to do when you are buying a home. If this is your first home, don't think that this is going to be your home for the rest of your life. Chances are your life is going to come to a fork in the road and you are going to take it. This is especially true for first time home buyers. Stop and think what your life might be in 10, 20, or even 30 years when you finally pay off that 30 year fixed interest note. It is going to change and you are going to want/need a different home. So when that happens, you are going to have to sell the house. Here are things you should avoid in a home that you know you will eventually sell.

By the way, my home in Dallas is a 2,500 SF Townhome in the Deep Ellum section of Dallas, and it is cool.

Don't buy a unique/cool/groovy/trendy home:Why? Because when you want to sell it, it is really hard to find someone that thinks your home is as unique/cool/groovy/trendy as you did when you bought it. Having something different also opens the floodgates of nit pickers. These are the people that don't see the home the same way you do. One of the funniest complaints I got about my house is that it is too bright, that too much sun comes in the house. What they didn't see on the other side of the glass were the most spectacular views of Downtown Dallas. Talk about looking through the glass from only one side.

Don't buy on a busy street:The street that my home is on is not a busy street, but the next one over is. In fact it's not a street, its a fricken Expressway, Central Expressway in Dallas, Texas, which means lots of traffic and noise. When I lived in the house, I go used to the sounds of traffic and I knew I would, try telling that to a potential buyer. I have friends that have lived next to railroad tracks and swear that after a while, they don't even hear the trains. Oh and the busy street is an instant turn off to anyone that has kids. Nobody with kids wants to live on a busy street.

Don't Have a Home Surrounded By Those That Don't:How do I put this kindly? Homeless people around your home make it very difficult to sell. There were a few homeless people around when I bought the home in 2001 and I just figured they were part of the neighborhood and were harmless. Turns out I was right, I never had a problem with any of them. Sadly, many of the victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita took refuge under the bridge of the expressway that I mentioned earlier. People that were new to the area immediately thought the homeless would be a problem, luckily for me, the man that is buying my house is from the neighborhood. In fact, he is currently living right down the street and is cool with the way the neighborhood is.

Finally....Price Sells:If you price your home low enough, it is amazing how people don't see everything mentioned above.

Yell TV

Man I wish I would have been on the debate team when I was in high school and college. Not only would the debate skills come in handy in many day to day situations, but it would be easy to get a job on TV. I swear, turn your TV on at any given hour and tune into any one of the thousand news, sports or entertainment shows and all you see are two people yelling at each other about everything from the war in Irag to the best way to make spaghetti sauce....and we wonder why this country is so devided?? It seems we are making a living yelling at each other. Don;t get me wrong, I am all for a healthy discussion but my lord we don't need it 24 hours a day 7 days a week. My suggestion is to think for yourself, these idiots on TV (Bill O'Reiley, Rosie O'Donnel, Keith Oberman, Skip Bayliss) don't give a rats patoot about the issues, and probably don't know really know the issues, they just care about their paycheck, and yelling at people gets them big paychecks. I seem to always catch the first segement of "The View" after we get off the air and I had a laugh this morning. Rosie was talking about something to do with "These rich people" and them writing open letters instead of calling. When she said, "These rich people" I had to laugh, this women makes close to 10 million dollars a year. SHE IS ONE OF THE RICH PEOPLE! Hey I have no problem with people making a nice living, but if you are one recognize it, don't act like you are common folk when you aint. I may be a little sensative to this because right now I am flat ass broke. The good news is I have two people that are very interested in buying my house in Dallas. For the love of Christ, I hope they buy it. I have something I want to do, I can't do it until the house sells

Rollercoaster Week

Have you ever had one of those weeks? One of those weeks that is just an emotionally draining? Man I had one this week, at it has taken alot out of me. If you listened to the radio show this morning (Friday, May 11th) you noticed that JB was not on the air with us. JB's Granmother passed away Wednesday morning and he left this morning to attend her funeral on Thursday. That same morning my phone rang at 5:45 with bad news. A good friend of mine had been taken to the hospital by ambulance at around 11:45 the night before. He had lost of lot of blood and was in critical condition. I won't get in to all the details, but my buddy was sick, very very sick and he needed blood. Thank God there are people out there that give blood on a regular basis so there was blood available for him. I encouraged our listeners to give blood at some point in the next 7 days. I have yet to go and feel guilty for not being the first in line. But, I fully intend to give blood in the next few days. My friend is now out of ICU and in a normal room and may be discharged this weekend. Thanks to everyone who has given blood in the past and if you never have check out www.bloodandtissue.org While I was looking up that website I made an appointment on line to give blood on Monday, May 13th at 12:00 Noon. Very Easy. Ah, I feel better.

Have a great weekend.

Another Rib Off Victory

I now have three signatures on my chefs hat. I got each of them for someone that I defeated in a one on one Rib cook off. My latest victory came Saturday night over my best friend Brock Purslow. His ribs were good, mine were better. I would love to tell everyone how I do my ribs, but at this point in my career I can't give away my secrets. I am considering taking my show on the road. Hitting some of the smaller county fairs around this great state of ours. All along the way picking up Blue Ribbon after Blue Ribbon. I will sustain myself on a consistant diet of roasted corn, turkey legs and funnel cakes. Being a rib man is like being a drug dealer...never use your own stash. I may pull a few of my own teeth out so I look like I belong. People have asked my if I do brisket. I always say, "Did people ask Mozart if he could paint? Or, did anyone ask Neil Armstrong if he was a great diver?" The answer is no, I believe in staying with your strengths, and my strength is the rib. I am a rib guy. When people think of me I hope they think of ribs. This is the one thing I will pass on to my son (if I ever have one) All good dads should pass on one thing, mine will be the rib. For reasons I do not wish to discuss, I would not share my rib secrets with a daughter. I would share something else with her, but not ribs. Hopefully, she would have enough brains to marry a man that can make good ribs. Go ahead call me a sexist pig. I am one, we all are, I am just willing to admit it. Its a mans job to prepare the ribs for the family. The best part of doing the ribs, or anything else on the grill is that you get ALL the credit for the meal. Sure someone else may have prepared everything else for the meal, but it is the person that takes the meat off the grill/smoker that gets all the credit, as it should be.

Sandy

Easy Fish

Well, I really don't feel like finishing my thoughts on leadership right now, but I would love to tell you about a great, easy way to cook fish. If you are anything like me, you cruise by the butcher counter at HEB and see all the beautiful fish they have. I have caught myself just standing there looking at what used to be creatures of the sea and would soon be food in my stomoach. The biggest problem is, how the hell do you cook it. Alot of people love grilled fish, I am one of them, but it can be such a pain in the ass. It always stick to the grill and you never end up with a good looking piece, it always comes off the grill in chuncks and if your are the chef, that is embarassing. I have found something that has solved the problem. Cedar Plank. Chances are you have seen Cedar Plank Smoked Salmon at some fancy resturant. Well, there is nothing fanchy about it. A friend of mine gave me a pack of three cedar planks that she got at HEB. I have had them forever and to be honest, I have been a little intimidated by them. Finally, with the excitement of my catch from Port Aransas (see previous blog) I decided to give them a shot. It was so easy. THe planks are about 18" long and 10" wide, you soak them in water for 20 minutes, then set your fish on them and put it on the grill. You can use a gas grill (I never would) or real charcoal. Cover the fish for 20 minutes and you are done. Of course you will want to season the fish before cooking, I use Tony Chacheres Original Creole Seasoning, but you can also use, Maple Syrup and Brown sugar, Lemon Pepper, Salt and Pepper, Red Pepper or all of the above. Just go crazy, you can't mess this up. Enjoy!

Sandy