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Goes good with Coffee or
Tea...
Next update: October,
2008 |
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Hi Friends,
Summer
vactions are almost over and the presidential
elections soon will be too. My,
my how time flies. I
won't recommend who to vote for, but I do ask you
to be sure to vote. These
words are worth pondering...
"A
government big enough to give you everything you want,
is big enough to take away everything you have." -
Thomas Jefferson
The
real estate market is saturated with REOs, which refers
to Real Estate Owned by a lending institution (that
has it for sale). Our new section Foreclosures, Short Sales,
REOs is a good
primer for understanding these non-traditional real
estate transactions, but that's not why you're in this
section now is it?
Taking
a break from your work and mine is what Coffee Break is
all about. For those of you new to Coffee Break it consists of a little
of this and a little of that. Hopefully all
of it interesting, informative and punched with
humor. If you have seen something you
think others should know about or read something
amusing and would like to contribute
it please send it to me on the form.
Make
September special, stay in touch, and hold
good thoughts,
Joanne
Your
San Francisco Bay Area Real Estate Broker... and coffee
lover.
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You heard it here...
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Tire Investigation ~ Thanks to Ms. Linda
Jo Bruton
For your safety
you need to know the age of the tires on your
car. If you are planning to buy tires make sure
you are buying tires that are safe. Watch this
short video from Dateline: Investigative story on
tires by ABC
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Is
Monosodium Glutamate harmful? ~ Mayo Clinic web
site
These reactions — known as MSG symptom
complex — may include:
- Headache, sometimes called MSG headache
- Flushing
- Sweating
- Sense of facial pressure or tightness
- Numbness, tingling or burning in or around the
mouth
- Rapid, fluttering heartbeats (heart palpitations)
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea
- Weakness
Symptoms are usually mild and don't require
treatment. However, some people report more severe
reactions. The only way to prevent a reaction is to
avoid foods containing MSG. More
info
The International Food Foundation Council helps to
address concerns about MSG - Monosodium
Glutamate and
has a printable booklet separating fact
from fiction.
Hydrolyzed
protein contains monsodium glutamate but the
FDA does not food require packaging to so
state.
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Golden Rays ~ Thanks to Ms. Barbara
Jones
Golden Rays
Migration off coast of Mexico measure up to 7 ft (2.1 meters) from wing-tip
to wing-tip. They are also more prosaically
known as Cow Nose Rays. They have long, pointed pectoral
fins that separate into two lobes in front of their
high-domed heads and give them a cow-like appearance.
Despite having poisonous stingers, they are known to be
shy and non-threatening when in large schools. The
population in the Gulf of Mexico migrates, in schools of
as many as 10,000 clockwise from western Florida to the
Yucatan.
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Words worth adopting
~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen
Become a better
you...
Watch your thoughts; they become
words.
Watch your words; they become
actions.
Watch your actions; they become
habits.
Watch your habits; they become
character.
Watch your character; it becomes your
destiny.
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Green
Tip:
Whenever you can, download your music,
instead of purchasing a CD. If you want to recycle your
CDs and DVDs, visit the Compact Disc Recycling Center
of America
or find the nearest
recycling center . The latter accepts your mailed CDs
and DVDs; you pay the postage.
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A person of
inspiration... |
 Anna Mary
Robertson started painting when she was in her 70s,
capturing scenes of rural celebrations and daily life in
upstate New York, where she lived most of her
life since her birth on September 7, 1860.
Anna loved to do needlework, but in her 70's her
fingers could no longer manipulate the large needle to
embroider due to advanced arthritis. The elderly woman
looked for something else that would keep her occupied
and found she could hold a small paintbrush much easier
than a needle.
She painted scenes of her farm and daily
life in upstate New York where she had lived most of her
life. They were good enough to show at the
Cambridge Fair, but she only won prizes for her jams and
canned fruit. There were no blue ribbons for her
art.
Then one day an art collector from New York City
was traveling through the village and noticed several of
her paintings for sale in a local drug store. When he
showed them to his friends in the art circles of
Manhattan, they were more than curious.
Soon, she gained an international reputation. Her
widely-collected works of art were featured on
calendars, greeting cards and in exhibitions in leading
galleries including the Modern Museum of Art in New
York.
President Harry S. Truman presented her with the
Women's National Press Club trophy award for outstanding
accomplishment in art in 1949, and in 1951 she appeared
on See It Now, a television program hosted by Edward R.
Murrow. In 1952 she published her autobiography entitled
Grandma Moses: My Life's History.
 On her 100th birthday in 1960,
New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller proclaimed the day
"Grandma Moses Day" in her honor.
Even more amazing, twenty-five percent of her 1,500
popular paintings were done after she was 100! She
died in 1961 at the age of 101.
In November 2006, her work Sugaring Off
(1943), became her highest selling work at US $1.2
million. The work was a clear example of the simple
rural scenes she became known for.
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 A chuckle or
two...
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| Old
man and his wife ~ Thanks to Mr. Richard
DeBiaso |
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The old man struggles to get up from the couch
then starts putting on his coat. His wife, seeing the
unexpected behavior, asks, "Where in the world are you
going?"
He replies, "I'm going to the doctor."
She says, "Why, are you sick?"
He says,
"Nope, I'm going to get me some of that Viagra stuff."
Immediately the wife starts working her
way out of her rocking chair, then begins to
put on her coat.
He says, "Where are you
going?"
She answers, "I'm going to the doctor,
too."
He says, "Why, what do you
need?"
She says, "If you're going to start using
that rusty old thing, I'm getting a tetanus shot."
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| Husky &
Polar Bear ~ Thanks to Ms.
Merrilee DeBiaso |
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This is
just plain
cute... it'll make you smile!
The interaction
between a polar bear and two husky dogs are unique and
well worth viewing on this short video clip.
Polar Bear Playing
with Husky Dogs
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| Silver Metal Fillings ~ Thanks to Ms.
Florence Pierson |
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I
am so glad someone finally figured it out!
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| Computer
problems ~ Thanks to Ms. Barbara
Jones |
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I
was having trouble with my computer. So I called
Richard, the 11 year old next door whose bedroom looks
like Mission Control, and asked him to come
over.
Richard clicked a couple of
buttons and solved the problem.
As he was
walking away, I called after him, "So, what was
wrong?"
He replied, "It was an ID ten T
error."
I didn't want to appear stupid, but
nonetheless inquired, "An, ID ten T error? What's
that? In case I need to fix it
again."
Richard grinned. "Haven't you
ever heard of an ID ten T error before?'"
No, "I replied."
"Write it down," he said, "and I think you'll figure
it out."
So I wrote down: I D 1 0
T
I used to like the little shit.
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Light at the End of the Tunnel ~ Thanks to Mr. Richard
DeBiaso |
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No
matter what situations life throws at you...
No matter how
long and treacherous your journey may seem...
Remember, there
is a light at the end of the tunnel!
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| Gymnastics ~ Thanks to Mr. Jim
Knudsen |
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Watch the hilarious 1988 gymnastics
performance of Paulette Huntinova to honor the 2008
Olympics.
Watch "Paulette"
perform
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| Women who know their
place... ~ Thanks to Ms. Barbara
Jones |
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A point of view...
Barbara Walters of television's 20/20 did
a story on gender roles
in Kabul, Afghanistan several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that
women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.
She recently
returned to Kabul and observed that women still
walk behind their
husbands. From Miss Walters' vantage point, despite the overthrow of the
oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind
their husbands, and are happy to maintain the old custom.
Miss Walters
approached one of the Afghani women and asked,
"Why do you now seem
happy with an old custom that you once tried so
desperately to
change?"
The woman looked
Miss Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said, "Land
Mines." |
| Color test
~ Thanks to Mr. Jim Knudsen |
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Can you get 100% right on the first
try?
It takes an average of 5 tries to get to
100%.
Follow the directions. It's harder than
it seems, as it should be!
See how you do with the colors! Have
fun!
The
Color Test
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| Nine
Months ~ Thanks to Ms. Florence
Pierson |
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Ron decided to go skiing with his buddy, Jim. So they
loaded up Ron's truck and headed north. After driving
for a few hours, they got caught in a terrible blizzard.
So they pulled into a nearby farm and asked the
attractive lady who answered the door if they could
spend the night.
"I realize it's terrible weather
out there and I have this huge house all to myself, but
I'm recently widowed," she explained. "I'm afraid the
neighbors will talk if I let you stay in my
house."
"Don't worry," Ron said. "we'll be happy
to sleep in the barn and if the weather breaks, we'll be
gone at first light."
The lady agreed, and the
two men found their way to the barn and settled in for
the night. Come morning, the weather had cleared, and
they got on their way.
They enjoyed a great
weekend of skiing.
But about nine months later,
Ron got an unexpected letter from an attorney. It took
him a few minutes to figure it out, but he finally
determined that it was from the attorney of that
attractive widow he had met on the ski
weekend.
He dropped in on his friend Jim and
asked, "Jim, do you remember that good-looking widow
from the farm we stayed at on our ski holiday up north
about 9 months ago?"
"Yes, I do," said
Jim.
"Did you, uh, happen to get up in the middle
of the night, go up to the House and pay her a
visit?"
"Well, um, yes!" Jim said, a little
embarrassed about being found out, "I have to admit that
I did."
"And did you happen to give her my name
instead of telling her your name?"
Jim's face
turned beet red and he said, "Yeah, look, I'm sorry,
buddy. I'm afraid I did. Why do you ask?"
"She
just died and left me everything."
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Worth a thousand
words... |
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Featured Picture ~ Thanks to Mr.
Jim Knudsen...
Click image for larger
view
The Sombrero
Galaxy in Infrared
Credit:
R.
Kennicutt (Steward
Obs.) et
al., SSC,
JPL,
Caltech,
NASA
Explanation: This floating ring is the
size of a galaxy. In fact, it is part of the photogenic
Sombrero Galaxy, one of the largest galaxies in the nearby
Virgo Cluster of
Galaxies. The dark
band of dust that
obscures the mid-section of the Sombrero Galaxy in optical light actually glows brightly in
infrared light. The
above image
shows the infrared
glow, recently recorded by the orbiting Spitzer Space Telescope, superposed in false-color on an
existing image taken by NASA's Hubble Space
Telescope in optical
light. The Sombrero Galaxy,
also known as M104, spans about 50,000 light years across and lies 28 million light years away.
M104 can be seen with a small telescope in the direction
of the constellation
Virgo.
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Before you go,
remember your comments, suggestions, and
contributions are always 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.
Tell your friends about
Coffee Break, and explore the other sections of our
web site.
I leave you to
ponder these golden 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."
For information on buying
or selling east bay homes, please contact me
at 510-429-4800 or send me a note on the form.
Thank you,
Joanne
P.S. Be sure to add us to your
favorite places.
~
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
web site: http://www.joannegardiner.com
 Our primary realty
service areas in the San
Francisco Bay Area: Hayward, Castro
Valley, Fremont, Newark, Niles, San
Leandro, San Lorenzo, San Ramon, Sunol,
Oakland, Foster City, Burlingame, and San
Mateo.
The
types of real estate in which we specialize
are: single family homes, detached homes, attached
homes, duets, condominiums, townhomes, garden
homes, PUDs, manufactured homes, mobile
homes, income property, investment property,
tri-plexes, four-plexes, apartment
property, and special use properties such as
churches for sale.
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