Good with Coffee...  June 23, 2009 Next update about August 6th

Summertime and the living is... interesting to say the least! At this time last year our patio was all set up, the grill was going and steaks were sizzling.  This year a layer of dust covers everything and the grill, well, let's just say it looks like it's been crying.  I give it a nod and rush off to the sizzling real estate market and grab something to whoof down between appointments, that is until the other day when I discovered a fabulous little Italian place. If you haven't bought a home yet, get going.  These low prices are just not going to last.  The median home prices have increased last month and the month before.  The lowest of low priced properties are climbing.  If you already own a home, then buy an investment property to rent out while the market does its thing.  Then in a few years sell it and reap a nice profit.  How do I know this?  Because the real estate market goes in cycles.  I have been through several cycles since 1965 when I made my first sale to a lovely couple in Castro Valley.  Yes, this is a different kind of market and the recovery in terms of employment will be different but it is begining.  Now about that great little Italian restaurant. If you get to the east bay give yourself a treat by dining at Campanella, modern Italian cuisine. It is located at 34903 Newark Blvd. in Newark.  The friendly and talented couple who own Campanella pour their hearts into it every day.  The husband is the chef and the wife greets and serves patrons along with their wait staff.  Lunch is served from 11 to 2 and dinner from 5 until 9 or 9:30.  Normally they are closed Sunday, except for special events.   Every dish at Campanella is made from scratch and is absolutely wonderful. We had some of their daily specials, a cup of their potato soup, a salad to die for, the best ravioli I've ever eaten in my life, and for dessert we split a slice of spumoni ice cream cake and nearly went to heaven.  Here's how good it was: we returned for dinner there that night. And it knocked my socks off again.  The next day my son and his wife joined me there for lunch. For those of you who don't know me personally, I am half Italian as is my daughter-in-law, a Chicago transplant. My son who happens to look more Italian than I do lived in Italy for a while as did my daughter in law, though they didn't meet until five years later at a reunion in San Francisco.  They have such affection for it that they named their youngest daughter Roma.  I just know they are going to love Campanella.  Hope to see you there. Share Coffee Break with your friends. C  opy and paste this link into an email: http://www.joannegardiner.com/CoffeeBreak.html I invite you to  so you don't miss out on the latest news from the real estate trenches, Coffee Break updates, etc. If you would like to explore buying or selling bay area real estate, email or call me.  I hope to hear from you soon. Take care, Joanne Your San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate Broker... and coffee lover.

You heard it here...

Look Who's in Charge of Our Economic Future ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen Elizabeth Coleman, Inspector General of the Federal Reserve, explains where all our money is going: http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2009/05/look_whos_in_ch.html

Einstein the parrot ~ Thanks to Ms. Nancy Grenard This is really a great site!  See today’s newspaper front pages instantly http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/ Over 700 newspapers from 70 countries -- at your fingertips! A fascinating site! When the website comes up, put your mouse on a city anywhere in the world and the front page of that city's newspaper pops up. Double click and the page gets larger, then you can either read the pdf version or click through to the paper's website in the upper right corner. This site changes every day with the publication of new editions. Enjoy!

Put your car keys beside your bed at night ~ Thanks to Ms. Pat Campbell If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.  This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator.  Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It's a security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway or garage. If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break in your house, odds are the burglar/rapist won't stick around... after a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough the criminal won't want that!

The Animal Odd Couple ~ Thanks to Ms. Uzma Husaini Adjust your volume  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4696315n

How Dirty is Your Handbag? ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen  Have you ever noticed girls who set their handbags on public toilet floors, then go directly to their dining tables and set it on the table? Happens a lot!  It's not always the restaurant food that causes stomach distress. Sometimes what you don't know will hurt you. Mom got so upset when guests came in the door and plopped their handbags down on the counter where she was cooking or setting up food. She always said that handbags are really dirty, because of where they have been. It's something just about every woman carries with them. While we may know what's inside our handbags, do you have any idea what's on the outside?  Women carry handbags everywhere; from the office to public toilets to the floor of the car. Most women won't be caught without their handbags, but did you ever stop to think about where your handbag goes during the day. "I drive a school bus, so my handbag has been on the floor of the bus a lot," says one woman. "On! The floor of my car, and in toilets."   "I put my handbag in grocery shopping carts and on the floor of the toilet," says another woman "and of course in my home which should be clean." We decided to find out if handbags harbour a lot of bacteria. We learned how to test them at Nelson Laboratories in Salt Lake, and then we set out to test the average woman's handbag. Most women told us they didn't stop to think about what was on the bottom of their handbag. Most said at home they usually set their handbags on top of kitchen tables and counters where food is prepared. Most of the ladies we talked to told us they wouldn't be surprised if their handbags were at least a little bit dirty. It turns out handbags are so surprisingly dirty, even the microbiologist who tested them was shocked. Microbiologist Amy Karen of Nelson Labs says nearly all of the handbags tested were not only high in bacteria, but high in harmful kinds of bacteria. Pseudomonas can cause eye infections, staphylococcus aurous can cause serious skin infections, and salmonella and e-coli found on the handbags could make people very sick. In one sampling, four of five handbags tested positive for salmonella, and that's not the worst of it. "There is faecal contamination on the handbags" says Amy. Leather or vinyl handbags tended to be cleaner than cloth handbags, and lifestyle seemed to play a role. People with kids tended to have dirtier handbags than those without, with one exception. The handbag of one single woman who frequented nightclubs had one of the worst contaminations of all. "Some type of feces, or possibly vomit' says Amy." So the moral of this story is that your handbag won't kill you, but it does have the potential to make you very sick if you keep it on places where you eat. Use hooks to hang your handbag at home and in toilets, and don't put it on your desk, a restaurant table, or on your kitchen countertop. Experts say you should think of your handbag the same way you would a pair of shoes. "If you think about putting a pair of shoes on your countertops, that's the same thing you're doing when you put your handbag on the countertops."  Your handbag has gone where individuals before you have walked, sat, sneezed, coughed, spat, urinated, emptied bowels, etc!  Do you really want to bring that home with you?  The microbiologists at Nelson also said cleaning a handbag will help. Wash cloth handbags and use leather cleaner to clean the bottom of leather handbags.

Green Tips...

Leaky faucets Leaky faucets that drip at the rate of one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water each year. Not sure if you have a leak? Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, you probably have a leak.

A chuckle or two or even a gasp...

The Story of Four Horse ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen A man asked an American Indian what was his wife's name. He replied, "She called Four Horse".  The man said, "That's an unusual name for your wife. What does it mean?" The Old Indian answered, "It old Indian Name. It mean, NAG, NAG, NAG, NAG!"

Stavros Flatly ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen Stavros Flatly - Greek Irish Dancers - Britains Got Talent 2009  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gHvATmUsSg&feature=related

Einstein the parrot ~ Thanks to Ms. Barbara Jones  Watch this short YouTube video of Einstein the parrot.

Red Skelton ~ Thanks to Mr. Richard DeBiaso "If some day you're not feeling well, you should remember some little thing I have said or done and if it brings a smile to your face or a chuckle to your heart then my purpose as a clown has been fulfilled."-Red Skelton Read more: "Red Skelton biography -  http://www.clown-ministry.com/index_1.php/articles/biography_of_red_skelton_americas_favorite_clown_good_night_and_god_bless/#ixzz0FM4Vp5ZF&A

Ole and Sven ~ Thanks to Ms. Florence Pierson Two Norwegian Farmers fromMinnesota, Ole and Sven, were looking at a Sears catalog and admiring the models. Sven says to Ole, "Haf you seen DA beautiful girls in dis catalog?" Ole replies, "Ya, dere very beautiful. And look at DA price!" Sven says, "Wow, dey ain't very expensive. At this price, I'm buying one." Ole smiles and pats him on the back. "Good idea!  Order vun and if she's as beautiful as she is in DA catalog, I'll get me vun too." Three weeks later, Ole asks his friend, "Did ya ever git da girl you ordered from the Sears catalog?' Sven replies "No, but it shouldn't be long now. I got her clothes yesterday!"

Discrimination. Is There No End? ~ Thanks to Mr. Richard DeBiaso Once again discrimination rears its ugly head... Will it never end?

Political Disclosure  ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen Members of Congress should be compelled to wear uniforms just like NASCAR drivers, so we could identify their corporate sponsors.

Holiday ~ Thanks to Mr. John Lopez Following is a little known fact that has touched an entire nation of people...  Respect is due here... Please remove your hats, gentlemen, and everyone please put your right hand over your heart w/bowed head. Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England.  In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after it's stop in New York.  This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico.  But as we know...the great ship did not make it to New York... The ship hit an iceberg and sank. The cargo was lost forever. The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise and were eagerly awaiting it's delivery, were disconsolate at the loss.  Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning which they still observe to this day. The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th..and is known, of course, as... Sinko de Mayo

Redneck fire alarm ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen Available at most local grocery stores and Wal-Mart.

Cured ~ Thanks to Ms. Florence Pierson A woman went to her doctor's office. She was seen by one of the new doctors, but after about 4 minutes in the examination room, she burst out screaming and ran down the hall. An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was, and she explained. He had her sit down and relax in another room. The older doctor marched back to the first and demanded, "What's the matter with you? Mrs. Terry is 63 years old, she has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?" The new doctor smiled smugly as he continued to write on his clipboard. "Cured her hiccups though, didn't it?"

Optical Illusion? ~ Thanks to Ms. Claudia Norman This is - without question - the best optical illusion I've ever seen... If you stare at the image long enough, you should see a giraffe...

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Before we say so long...

Before you go, remember your comments, suggestions, and contributions are welcome. When you come across something funny or informative and in good taste, please send it along.  I would love to include it with your name and our thanks.  Be sure to tell your friends about Coffee Break. And if you have time, explore the other sections of our web site.  I leave you to ponder these words a good friend shared with me:  "The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything that comes along their way." Carry that thought with you as you tackle the rest of your week.  For information on buying or selling in the bay area, please call me at 510-429-4800 or send me a note on the  form. ~ Joanne Joanne L. Gardiner, Broker, e-PRO Realtor Advantage Realty 3205 Whipple Road - Union City, California 94587 (510) 429-4800 San Francisco Bay Area  San Francisco East Bay Real Estate