Another busy weekend as I fill in with food truck stops and other beer events. Only Child Brewing is celebrating its fifth anniversary in Gurnee, and there’s another Black is Beautiful release.

I am also trying to keep up with restaurant closing and reopening due to COVID. I’ll pass it along on my Facebook page.

Friday, August 21

Saturday, August 22

Sunday, August 23

Last night, Kamala Harris accepted the Democrat’s nomination for Vice-President of the United States. It was a historic evening as she’s the first woman of color to run on the national ticket.

Between her nomination and speeches given by Gabby Giffords, Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton, the Democrats showed they are the party of women.

But, not according to Donald Trump. In a tweet from last week, and damn if everything with Trump is a tweet, Don claims that no one has done more for women than him. Take a peek:

“I have done more for WOMEN than just about any President in HISTORY! As we celebrate the 100th Anniversary of women’s voting rights, we should build a BEAUTIFUL STATUE in Washington D.C. to honor the many brave women who made this possible for our GREAT COUNTRY. Congress should send me H.R.473 ASAP and make this happen! It will INSPIRE all women to continue being bold and brave in achieving their DREAMS!”

All right, then. I did some research and it’s true, Don, your actions have had an effect on the lives of women….even more than you think. Here’s some of them:

. You helped keep Stormy Daniels afloat by giving her $140,000. I know you deny that, but it was very generous of you.

. You bought a teenage beauty pageant. It was nice of you to take an interest in the youth of America, even while they’re getting dressed backstage.

. You’ve spent almost four years trying to defund Planned Parenthood. Yes, it’s a place that provides health care for more women in the United States than anywhere else, but I know you are only trying to get them in to see better doctors at better clinics, right?

. New York Magazine quoted you as saying “Women, you have to treat them like shit.” Misquoted, weren’t you?

. You like to give women politicians nicknames such as “Crooked Hillary”, “Nervous Nancy” and “Pocahontas.” Donald, those are said with love and endearment, right? They aren’t at all misogynistic and racist, right?

. When Ghislaine Maxwell was arrested, you sent her a message of encouragement, “I wish you well.” Such a lovely sentiment.

. Finally, you helped Nancy O’Dell try to buy some furniture. I’m sure she appreciates that.
“I moved on her, and I failed. I’ll admit it.
I did try and fuck her. She was married. And I moved on her very heavily. In fact, I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture. I said, “I’ll show you where they have some nice furniture.” I took her out furniture—I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look.”

And then you followed up with this. What a compliment to Arianne Zucker.
“I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”

So, Don, I guess you’re right. So many things you’ve done to women and we all know there’s many more that I don’t have the space to list. But that’s okay, I’m sure we’ll hear more of your actions in the future. I look forward to the statue of Ivanka.

Related Post: Sorry Michele Obama, when they go low, I can’t go high

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College football programs thrive on structure.

“These kids are so used to that we’re able to give them 12-month calendars,” Southern Illinois head coach Nick Hill said Tuesday in a media conference call. “Here’s your days off. Here’s when you get to go home for a break.”

But amid the COVID-19 pandemic and rampant uncertainty in college athletics, schedules are now based on many factors out of athletes’ and coaches’ control.

One thing Hill said that is in his – and his players’ – control is how the Salukis react to the loss of their fall season and the lingering worries about what a spring Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule will look like.

“You’ve got to find the positives in everything or you sit around and keep complaining,” Hill said. “All of this stuff is out of our hands. Change is inevitable and growth is optional. Right now, we have to choose that we’re going to grow and get better. I know that’s where my mindset is. I believe there are going to be opportunities in this.”

For Hill and many of his coaching colleagues, having a fall away from the field is extraordinarily unique. It’s a challenge he readily accepts.

“I bet there’s a lot of coaches around the country that are looking forward to doing something in the fall that they’ve never been able to do,” he said. “There’s got to be life outside of football. We’re all getting hit with that.”

For Hill, that reality has turned his focus to the outdoors.

“I’m a big deer hunter, but I’ve found myself talking about deer hunting way more than I ever do it,” he said. “I’m looking forward to sitting in a deer stand a lot more than I ever have in the fall.”

He also has found a new toy to clear heavy brush around his home.

“I went out and bought a new Kubota tractor,” he said. “I’ve been bush hogging everything I can find, making trails.”

Though this season will look different, SIU head coach Nick Hill said it offers players a chance to become “a better version of themselves.” (Photo via SIUSalukis.com)

While he takes on two new fall hobbies, Hill said he expects the same of his players.

“These kids get more time to become a better version of themselves,” he said. “Not just on the football field. If you’re not able to adjust and adapt and have a good attitude while you’re doing that, it’s hard to operate in life. … As a coach, I’m looking forward to this fall – slowing down, teaching, coaching.”

One thing Hill said he won’t accept is any of the nearly 130 players, coaches and support staff around the SIU program frequently expressing negative thoughts.

“Everybody’s world and what we’re used to has been flipped upside down,” he said. “We can’t sit here and be doom and gloom. I’m not buying in on the doom and gloom. If I hear a conversation start going down into complaining or, ‘Can you believe this?’, I’m done with that.”

Hill said he understands that people in the program are going through a variety of emotions, and he wants to acknowledge those emotions and help everyone move forward.

“Perspective is a great word in life, and we all need to have great perspective during this time,” he said.

Saluki side notes

Hill said senior safety Qua Brown, who entered the transfer portal this week, will graduate this fall from SIU. He added that after conversations with every Saluki player, no others expressed an interest in transferring. “Everybody is on board with pursuing the spring season,” he said. … Though NFL scouts are not allowed in team facilities right now and many are not traveling to campuses in their assigned regions, Hill said SIU will set up Zoom calls with pro prospects and NFL personnel. … SIU and others who are not playing games this fall are awaiting guidance from the NCAA on the number of hours players can spend on football during this unique time. In the off-season, he said eight hours a week of conditioning and workouts are allowed. During the season, coaches and players can spend 20 hours a week together on team activities. “We’re kind of in a holding pattern,” he said. “It could be a blended version at 12 hours.” … Of nearly 400 COVID-19 tests given to players, Hill said SIU has had one positive. “We need to continue to err on the side of caution and safety.”

About a year ago I looked at the best time to buy or sell a home in Chicago from a supply and demand perspective. Theoretically, looking at the market that way should get you the best price for a home sale or purchase. However, what does the data actually tell us? Well, I’ve done this before – a long time ago and it’s time for an update.

The Case Shiller index folks produce two sets of home price indices for the Chicago area. The un-adjusted indices are what I report on every month. It’s just the regular indices that show price levels as they are without any seasonal adjustments. When you look at my graphs you can clearly see a seasonal pattern in the data. That’s why the Case Shiller folks also produce a seasonally adjusted set of indices, designed to remove seasonal effects. I compare the two to determine how much of a seasonal impact they think exists and we can look at that to figure out when prices generally peak or bottom out during the year.

They get their adjustment factors by feeding their un-adjusted indices into a software program maintained by the US Census Bureau – the X-12-ARIMA seasonal adjustment program. Sounds sexy, right? I have no idea how it works and my guess is that nobody else knows either, other than the people who built it. But we’ll trust it anyway. Here is how those seasonal factors have varied over time.

Chicago area home prices have a significant amount of seasonality that has varied over time

I have no idea why the seasonality would vary over time but I guess it’s possible. The people who created the black box that spit out these values would probably tell us that it’s just the way it is.

The most recent peak value occurred in August 2019 at 1.7% and the lowest point occurred in February at -1.8%, which is a 3.5% total swing. Also, keep in mind that the Case Shiller index is a 3 month average so the August number is more like July and the February number is more like January. Also, keep in mind that this is based on what closed at those points in time so the contracts were written 30 – 60 days prior and if you want to get a contract in one month you probably need to be on the market a month before that.

So, based on this data, I would say that to get the highest price when selling your home you want to hit the market in May and to get the lowest price when buying a home you want to start looking in November. Both of those time frames are shifted a little later in the year than my analysis last year would suggest.

#HomeSelling #HomeBuying #ChicagoRealEstate

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.