Think back to what are now the good old days. Back to when you were a kid. Remember the crazy old man on your street? Every block had one. He was the guy always yelling at the children to keep quiet. And when you did have a discussion with him, he would dominate the conversation. You would never be able to get a word in and when you tried, he’d constantly interrupt you.

The crazy old man on my block lived on the corner. His specialty was screaming when children ran onto his grass. Yes, he was that ‘keep of my lawn’ dude.

All the neighborhood kids knew about this. We were used to his ravings. My episode with the crazy old man occurred when I went to pick up a ball that landed on his lawn. I received his usual rant which was then followed by an antisemitic slur.

We didn’t see much of the crazy old man after that. He laid low and kept his mouth shut after my father has a visit with him. It must have been some visit. Plus, we moved out of the neighborhood soon afterward and that ended our relationship.

Lately, I’ve wondered what happened to that crazy guy? I went on a search. I finally found him. He moved to Washington D.C. He lives in a white home on Pennsylvania Avenue. Yes, that crazy old man is Donald Trump.

I can go back many years to find incidents that would confirm my theory, but why do that when you can look at how the last week went? Let’s start at the debate with former Vice-President Joe Biden. It was billed as a back and forth discussion of topics that were important to our country and its citizens. Yeah, right!! Trump interrupted both Biden and moderator Chris Wallace more than one hundred and fifty times in the ninety-minute debate. You read that right…ONE HUNDRED FIFTY TIMES!!!

That’s some kind of CRAZY OLD MAN behavior!!

Later in the week, rumors came out that Covid-19 had hit the White House. It started with his close aide Hope Hicks. From there it spread like a California wildfire. Most sane people would immediately quarantine themselves. Trump went to his Bedminster Golf Club for a fundraising event. He put the members of the club at risk. Who does something like that? Most of us would call that depraved, but there’s a fine line between depravity and being a CRAZY OLD MAN.

On Friday, word came out that Trump and his wife Melania had tested positive for Covid-19. By Friday afternoon, he wasn’t feeling so well and needed to head to the hospital. Most people don’t make a spectacle of themselves when they need to be admitted to a hospital. Donald Trump isn’t most people. He was dressed in his best suit and tie and then waved goodbye to whoever was watching while he entered the helicopter. Definitely the behavior of a CRAZY OLD MAN!!

On Saturday, he wanted to show the American public that he was feeling okay and was able to work while fighting the virus. He had a picture taken of him sitting behind a desk, pretending to write on a blank sheet of white paper. Who does this kind of thing? Only a CRAZY OLD MAN!

I know your thinking enough already! You’ve proved your point. That’s true, but there’s still more….much more. SIGH!!

Sunday, Don became a little antsy. That’s understandable. No one likes to be in a hospital. He decided it was time to escape. Donald Trump had the secret service take him on a ride. It makes perfect sense because when things are looking their worst, what do most people do….ROAD TRIP!! The problem is he was still contagious and risked the health of everyone he came into contact with, especially his secret service drivers.

Say it with me….CRAZY OLD MAN!!!

Monday, he pesters his doctors into letting him go home. They probably had enough of him so they agreed. The helicopter takes him to the White House. Don enters and heads up to the balcony. With the cameras on him, he rips off his mask and poses like a dictator. Of course, he’s still highly contagious and with his mask off he’s polluting the air with the virus and again risking the health of anyone who is near him.

Now is that the behavior of a psychopath or just a CRAZY OLD MAN!! Again, there’s that fine line.

Finally…and I promise this is the last one…we come to yesterday. While most normal folks were still asleep, he typed out eighteen nonsensical tweets. All of them were in capital letters. Later in the day, he announced that he wasn’t going to approve another Covid-19 stimulus bill until after he was reelected. That tanked the stock market. I guessed he changed his mind because he followed up with how he was ready to approve another $1,200 stimulus check and would also give money to the airlines. He finished up his day with a tweetstorm of forty-one tweets in a three hour period.

Bored or crazy? You can’t get any more CRAZY OLD MAN than that…well except for Monday or Sunday or etc, etc, etc. As bad as it to have this man living in the White House, it could be worse. He could be living in the corner house on your block. If you’re unlucky enough to have that happen to start in January, make sure you keep off his lawn.

Related Post: Donald Trump takes off his mask as more than 210,000 Americans have died

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Niko and Hero are a pair of adorable, sweet and fun nine-month-old, male smooth coat guinea pig brothers looking for a loving guardian together.

These boys were purchased at a pet store, but the children in the family soon lost interest and they were relinquished to the Friends of Petraits Rescue.

Guinea pigs are happiest in pairs, and Niko and Hero are best friends and have been together since they were babies.

Guinea pigs eat a diet of unlimited Timothy and Orchard hays. They are currently eating just a handful of guinea pig pellets, and a lot of fresh vegetables including romaine, red leaf and green leaf lettuces, cilantro, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, etc. Guinea pigs, just like humans, can’t manufacture their own vitamin C, so they need to supplement with red pepper and many other vitamin C-rich foods.

Please read up on guinea pig care and diet before adopting by visiting this excellent web site http://www.guinealynx.info/.

The boys would love a home with people who will handle them daily, keep them well fed, and keep their habitat nice and clean.

If you’re interested in meeting and possibly adopting Niko and Hero, please fill out an adoption application at http://www.friendsofpetraits.com.

They are being fostered in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood.

Their adoption fee of $70 as a pair benefits the Friends of Petraits Rescue. For an additional $100, we’ll include a package of absolutely everything you need to care for them including a large cage, pellets, hay, hidey huts, toys and water bottle.

And, yes … Friends of Petraits is handling masked, minimum contact, socially distant adoptions.

In the past two days my emotions have run the gamut. I’ve tried hard to keep them in check; to not allow myself to get worked up. But after the President’s behavior in the last few days, I have had enough. And enough is enough.

Here are a few words that I feel best describe the man: Vile. Selfish. Narcissistic. Manipulative. Pathological. Sociopathic. And that’s just for starters. I’ve never written publicly about how I feel about the man – didn’t want the headaches and quite frankly still don’t. However, free speech. I am entitled to voice my opinion and for those of you who don’t like it? Don’t read it. STOP RIGHT HERE. I have absolutely nothing to say to anyone who at this point in time will cast a vote for someone who does not possess a soul. If you comment on this post in any way that defends him, save your time and effort. I will not hear a thing you say. I will not justify anything with a response.

Many people actually hoped that he would contract the Coronavirus. Once and if he did, many hoped he would suffer a serious case. It was thought that if he did, it would be a wake up call to the many months of downplaying he has done. To his resistance to playing by the rules; to encouraging people to go back to operating as if there were no virus; after all it’s just the flu.

He spews incorrect information and made up statistics. He knows the serious nature of this and refuses – STILL – to acknowledge the havoc it has created on the lives of the Americans he swore to protect and serve. The man only serves the man – he does NOT serve the people.

“Don’t be afraid of the coronavirus; don’t let it dominate your life”. Hard to fathom that with the 210,000 people that have died and the families that are grappling with their grief that he uttered those words. But those are the words of a man with no soul, no conscience. A man that would rather sit back and watch hundreds of thousands more people die than admit he was wrong.

So much has happened in the past 10 days it’s frightening. The SCOTUS nomination. The debate that was an embarrassment to our country. His refusal to denounce white supremacists. His claims that the election will be rigged. His rallies held when he knew he’s been exposed to the virus. His fundraiser in New Jersey knowing he could be infected. His announcement and downplay of his illness. His misleading Doctors. His drive by stunt that could infect the secret service agents that drove with him. His demands to leave the hospital and his defiant show of not caring a bit about the American people by removing his mask upon return to The White House. And now the disease is widespread in his circle.

Amanda Kloots, widow of the Broadway star Nick Cordero who died as a result of a 95 day battle from Covid, expressed her outrage at the President’s words:

“To all the over 208,000 Americans who lost loved ones to this virus — I stand by you, with you, holding your hand. Unfortunately it did dominate our lives didn’t it? It dominated Nick’s family’s lives and my family’s lives. I guess we “let it” — like it was our choice?? Unfortunately not everyone is lucky enough to spend two days in the hospital. I cried next to my husband for 95 days watching what COVID did to the person I love. It IS something to be afraid of. After you see the person you love the most die from this disease you would never say what this tweet says. There is no empathy to all the lives lost. He is bragging instead. It is sad. It is hurtful. It is disgraceful.”

How can anyone not feel her pain and anguish? Multiply that by the other 210,000 families that have suffered as well. Yesterday I spent the afternoon with one of my dearest friends. She lost her precious husband in early April to the virus. She has six children – two of which had the illness and gratefully recovered. Coronavirus is currently dominating her life. She is afraid of what it has done to her; her husband was a Rabbi, a man of God. What sense was there in his death? She struggles everyday to understand. As do all the other families affected.

Throughout this pandemic I have been afraid. I am 62, a two time cancer survivor and I am not interested in letting something else potentially kill me. Or my loved ones. I want to see my kids have kids. I want to grow old with my husband. All of the mounting dead wanted to live longer lives as well. Amanda Kloots wanted to have her beautiful husband to share their life together; to raise their son together. She was robbed as so many others have been.

4 weeks from now I believe the most important presidential election in our modern history will take place. The future of our country and our loved ones depends on the outcome. And that can’t be anything other than the current President being voted out. Anyone who believes he is good for the country will get a wake up call in the future that they made an egregious mistake.

THE MAN ONLY CARES ABOUT THE MAN. And if you disagree, so be it. Someday you’ll ask yourself why you did.

Filed under:
Coronavirus, Covid-19, Election Day, Elections, Politics, Presidential election, Real Problems, Uncategorized

Tags:
Amanda Kloots, Coronavirus, Covid Deaths, Election, Presidential Election, Trump, Trump Tweets, Vote

(Special thanks to Matt Mead of SPR Consulting for his time and insight)

Many full-time workers and freelancers are adjusting to remote work in the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic. However, many companies have had to rapidly shift towards remote work policies with varying results. Given Chicago’s thriving technology and business communities, we wanted to examine how local companies have successfully adopted remote work policies and how those policies may progress in the future months. We spoke with Matt Mead, Chief Technology Officer at SPR Consulting, about trends and predictions around remote work in Chicago.

Can you provide an overview of how the Chicago technology & business scenes are adjusting to remote work models in light of COVID-19?

Fortunately, many tech companies and groups with companies that are tech-heavy were not strangers to remote work technologies— even before COVID. As a result, the transition to working remotely has been less impactful than most assumed. While working with our clients on various technology initiatives, we’ve had no significant issues moving previously onsite engagements into the virtual realm.

However, working remotely does take more effort to keep all necessary stakeholders and team members up to speed. Fortunately, there are almost ubiquitously adopted tools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Slack that make the transition easier and keep all people in the loop by leveraging features that allow synchronous virtual meetings mixed with asynchronous threaded communication.

What are the challenges that are being faced by the tech/business community in the wake of COVID-19?

There are two primary challenges facing the tech and business communities in the wake of COVID-19:

• With a now-remote workforce, the many cultural differences between different tech companies, such as free lunches, on-site gyms, etc. aren’t as important. As a result, COVID is starting to level the playing field between employers.
• At the same time amid COVID, we’re actually seeing technology workers continue to change jobs. Entering the pandemic, we assumed most tech workers would stay put and value the inherent job security of a tighter labor market, but that hasn’t been the case. What’s most surprising is that the required networking and interviewing is being done almost exclusively virtually and it is proving to be effective.

How has the pandemic impacted hiring patterns and processes? (For example, have employers increased their geographic reach in trying to find candidates?)

We’re starting to see technology workers look at wider geography for their next jobs, as most companies are working remotely for the foreseeable future.

By being able to apply now for more jobs that are now remote,  tech workers still expect to be able to drive up their salary as they compete for jobs in higher-paying markets. However, employers think they can drive down their salaries and costs by competing for employees in markets that pay lower. From what we’ve seen so far, it seems the workers are winning, as they are able to work anywhere and are demanding higher salaries in more expensive markets. This ultimately has the ripple effect of raising salaries in all markets, given that everyone is fishing in the same pond for this pool of potential employees.

Photo by Gordon Dymowski

Finally, as many companies adopt technology and digital tools to enhance collaboration and communication, how do you see this adoption impacting how companies function during – and potentially after – this pandemic?

We can expect most tech companies to continue to present more remote work opportunities than pre-COVID, mostly due to companies having positive experiences managing their remote workforces. As a result, CFOs are now questioning whether the cost of their lease and/or real estate is worth it.

However, this is not the death of the physical office. We also expect that most companies will continue to have a physical space, but their in-office requirements will be less stringent than pre-COVID, as some workers will continue to operate remotely.

Thanks again to Matt Mead of SPR for sharing his time and thoughts. If you have questions or comments, please leave them below or join the conversation on our Facebook page. If you want to contact us privately, please use this email form. As always, thanks for reading!

Are you absolving the hard left of guilt for their destructive and murdering rampages in the past few months?

You minimize the violence committed in the name of black Americans against many black Americans by saying “only a tiny faction of demonstrations have had any violence at all.”

Right, and only a “tiny faction” in the 1970s committed the same kind of violence: Bombings, arson, destruction of property and murders. Ms. Obama, you are on the wrong side of history. The Weathermen, the “Days of Rage” and other “protestors” dragged America through a period of unmatched violence that took innocent lives.

The violence and the rhetoric that supported it caused a historic backlash that ignited support for the kind of people that you hate–conservatives and Republicans and the Americans who dumped your agenda on the trash heap for years to come.

By the way, when you say that “research backs it up” that “only a tiny fraction of demonstrations” were violent, what’s the research? I don’t mean to be cynical, but the claim is the usual foliage that liberals hid behind when they are expressing a controversial opinion.

Nobody is saying that peaceful protests should be banned. Obama is creating a straw man by planting the idea that conservatives or Trump supporters would end peaceful protests because some result in violence.

And the truth is that some do result in violence. Or intimidation or denial of civil rights. The mob that assaulted–yes, assaulted–the St. Louis couple who defended their home against threats of a mob that was trespassing on private property is a prime example. The mob broke down a gate to trespass on private property and shouted threats at the couple. That, Ms. Obama, is not “peaceful.” It is a crime.

But from your quarter, we won’t hear any criticism. And that’s the problem about your amoral failure to condemn the violence in the terms that are required.

Filed under:
Elections

Tags:
Michelle Obama, riots

She should have been thinking about trimming the city workforce six months ago. No, actually she should have been cutting city workers six months ago.

That sounds harsh, but consider, so many government workers have been getting full pay for months, while private sector workers have been laid off, suffered from reduced hours and generally have been on the receiving end of the full brunt force of the Covid-19 panic.

Of course, the city union’s will have to approve any cuts, and so far, they don’t expect that to be on the table. Saith Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter:

Oh, joy. There’s another call for finding the “root causes” of urban violence.

This one comes from Democrats from both chambers of the Illinois Legislature during a joint committee hearing on focusing  “on efforts to reduce violence and help those affected by it.”

Ruled out, of course, are safer streets. State Senator Robert Peters (D-Chicago), chair of the Senate Special Committee on Public Safety. explained, sort of:

The “tough on crime” policies that have existed for decades simply do not work and prove that the only way for us to truly win real safety and justice in our communities is to expand violence prevention funding. It must be rooted in relationship building, trauma processing, and most importantly, healing, along with communities that have quality goods and services. This is the only way for us to root out systemic injustices and to make our state whole. Rural and suburban areas, and cities desperately need us to reimagine community in the 21st century.

Um, what also hasn’t worked is the agenda that the Democrats who have controlled the city of Chicago since the 1930s. Obviously, the Republicans are to blame for not coughing up every last cent to fund the assorted “programs” that spring full blown out of college sociology classes.

To use favorite progressive lingo, why is ending the violence a “binary” choice? Seems to me that polls show that the people who are victims of the violence aren’t in favor of defunding the police. The police–not social workers–are the only force standing between the gangs and the people who just want to live their lives.

Please, Americans, be not afraid. Don’t lose faith; don’t descend into the darkness of depression and hopelessness because of Covid-19. Listen:

No, President Donald Trump is no paragon of virtue, but he’s right when he encourages Americans to not let the coronavirus pandemic take over their lives. The Lord is with you. We are with you, Americans and people of the world.  Be not afraid.

You shall cross the barrenn desert
But you shall not die of thirst
You shall wander far in safety
Though you do not know the way
You shall speak your words to foreign men
And they will understand
You shall see the face of God and live

Be not afraid
I go before you always
Come, follow me and I will give you rest

After telling you for 3 straight months that the Chicago real estate market should be seeing a significant increase in home sales it finally happened. The really strong contract activity of the last 3 months finally flowed through a little bit in August home sales but September jumped 31.6% over last year. If you look at the graph below (all September values flagged in red and a 12 month moving average in green) you’ll also see that this was the highest September in 14 years.

When the Illinois Association of Realtors reports the numbers in about 2 weeks they will show it as only a 28.2% increase because of the squirrely way they do their calculation.

As you can see the moving average is trying to return to its recent trend but hasn’t quite made it. I can tell you that right now the last 12 months have been running about 5.6% below the previous year’s level. That’s better than I expected and it means we might actually be able to end the year at least as well as last year.

Chicago home sales have been declining now for several years but the Coronavirus really tanked the market in May and June. The market returned to more normal levels starting in July.

Chicago Home Contract Activity

Speaking of contract activity…take a look at the graph below. September was another record month of contracts written in Chicago – 25.8% higher than last year – as the Chicago real estate market plays catch up. That’s 4 straight months of double digit percentage increases which finally got reflected in September closings. As you can see the moving average line has basically returned to normal. In fact, it’s only 0.1% below where it was last year. So that’s why I’m saying that closings for the year might end up at least flat to last year. In addition, given this strong level of contract activity, I would expect October closings to also be way above last year.

Chicago home sale contract activity hit another record high for this time of year after plummeting to record lows because of Coronavirus issues.

Pending Home Sales

The backlog of written contracts that haven’t yet closed gets reflected in pending home sales. As you can see in the graph below we just hit another 7 year high which was 825 units higher than last year. So that’s going to feed closings over the next month or two.

After hitting historic lows the backlog of homes likely to close in the next 1 – 2 months has reached the highest levels in 7 years.

Distressed Home Sales

The percentage of home sales that are distressed in Chicago has been on the decline for 10 years now. As it got closer to the bottom I assumed it would start bottoming out. Perhaps that’s what would have happened had it not been for the pandemic which resulted in a moratorium on foreclosures. Without new foreclosures you would expect a significant decline in distressed home sales. September had only 2.8% distressed sales vs. 6.0% last year.

Since the housing crisis the percentage of home sales that are distressed has steadily declined, even during the pandemic

Chicago Home Inventory

The Chicago real estate market is so strange this year that I found the standard home inventory reports to be misleading. To avoid boring you to death I’ll just tell you that both inventory and sales got shifted out and when you look at that in the standard reports it exaggerates how high some of the inventory is. On an absolute basis inventory is high but it’s being absorbed almost as quickly as it’s coming on the market. That’s why I’m calculating months of supply based on current month contracts in the graph below.

In that graph you will see a marked divergence between detached homes, which are dropping, and attached homes, which are rising. Detached homes did hit a record low of a mere 2.0 months of supply but attached homes, with a 6.2 month supply, simply ended up matching last year’s level. No big deal and it doesn’t exactly support the narrative that people are bailing on condos. But if you look at the standard reports it appears that attached inventory is skyrocketing.

After a big Coronavirus induced spike in April the inventory of homes for sale dropped back down. Detached inventory hit a record low in August while attached inventory returned to normal levels.

Chicago Home Sale Market Times

As further evidence that the Chicago condo market isn’t doing too poorly…the time it took to sell a Chicago condo/ townhome that closed in September actually fell from 77 days last year to 61 days this year. That would not be happening if the condo market was all verkacken. Meanwhile detached homes also fell slightly from 78 days to 73 days. So both markets seem to be doing OK now despite he pandemic induced disruptions earlier in the year.

When the pandemic first hit Chicago market times rose but now they are close to being where they were last year.

Our Web site also has some additional Chicago real estate market data which you should check out.

#RealEstate #ChicagoRealEstate #Coronavirus

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.