From the Record:
Juliette Kim sees the state of the economy in the drop in customers at her Ridgewood dry cleaning business.
A few doors down, Rick Breitstein sees it in the plummeting sales of his pricey cheeses, now so low that he expects to close up shop in October.
Business at Mufid Basna’s store, Joe’s Haircutting, is down 20 percent but would be even worse without the surge in jobless residents coming to spruce themselves up for interviews.
“If you don’t have a job, you have to look for one,” Basna said on a recent afternoon, and chuckled, “If you don’t have a haircut, no one will hire you.”
Last September, the collapse of Lehman Brothers started the cascade of Wall Street failures that would trigger heavy job losses and plunge us deeper into the worst recession in decades. A year later, the fallout is felt strongly in Ridgewood, where an estimated one in six workers are employed in financial services, where two dozen empty storefronts now dot a newly struggling downtown, and where growing evidence of an economic turnaround is still only a rumor.
Breitstein, owner of The Cheese Shop of Ridgewood, said his clientele, which heavily numbers bankers, bond traders, stockbrokers and other Wall Street workers, is down so much that he has told his landlord he will close in October.
He estimates his revenue has fallen 40 percent in the last two years. Some days, he says, he makes no more than $200.
…
And it’s not just the jobless who aren’t spending, Breitstein said. He recalled a still-employed senior JP Morgan executive, a regular at the store who he used to throw a party for 30 on July 4. This year he invited just three friends.Nearby on East Ridgewood Avenue, the town’s main retail strip, Kim, owner of Ridgewood Cleaners, said business is 30 percent lower than two years ago.
“Some customers don’t come at all,” and some have reduced their trips, she said. “People try to wear clothes more times.”
…
Kim’s shop is next door to the shuttered Dolce Café, one of at least half a dozen Ridgewood restaurants and cafés that have closed since the recession began. Another one, L’Aragosta, carried the hopes of South Jersey restaurateur Giancarlo Presta.He opened the Italian eatery in June 2008, attracted by the village’s affluence. The first six months were busy, he said, but then — as the recession kicked in — business fell off, and he closed in May.
“A lot of the customers worked on Wall Street,” he said. “The first thing they cut out is going to eat. They were spending less. I used to ask them, and they said they are cooking at home.”
…
The sweeping job cuts have helped push down New York-area house prices by 12 percent since June 2008, and more elsewhere. In Bergen County, the median home price has fallen from $515,000 to $430,000, or about 17 percent, according to figures from the Garden State Multiple Listing Service. Prices are down about 10 percent in Passaic County, to an average of $333,634, the figures show.The median sale price in Ridgewood fell from $685,000 in the first five months of 2008 to $593,200 in the same period this year, a decline of 13 percent. The number of houses sold fell from 71 in the 2008 period to less than half that a year later. And other data show how much the village has been hit by the recession.
…
Eighteen village residents filed for bankruptcy from January to August of this year, more than double in the same period in 2008, according to Westlaw, the legal data company. Eight properties have gone to foreclosure sale in the first nine months of this year — two more than in all of 2008 and two less than in 2007 — and the number is expected to continue going up.In May, the Citizens Community Bank — one of 20 in the village — became North Jersey’s first to close in the recession.
From Reuters:
New Jersey celebrity haunt is priciest US zip code
The priciest neighborhood in the United States is Alpine, New Jersey, home of hip hop stars such as Sean “Diddy” Combs, according to Forbes.com, which on Friday released a list of the most expensive zip codes.
Around 20 miles (30 km) from Manhattan, Alpine (zip code 07620) is a small community of sprawling mansions with a median asking price of $4.14 million, Forbes said on its web site, adding that stars drawn to the neighborhood include musician Stevie Wonder and comedian Chris Rock.
Atherton in California (zip code 94027) was the second most expensive, with a median asking price for homes of $3.85 million, followed by New York City’s West Village (zip code 10014) with a $3.5 million median asking price.
Even such pricey neighborhoods have not been immune to the economic downturn that has hammered real estate prices. Forbes said prices fell 23 percent in the past year in Alpine and Atherton, and by 24 percent in the West Village.
From the NY Times:
Savvy Buyers Seek the Shore
THE pace of residential sales in the shoreline counties of Ocean and Monmouth has wavered a bit this summer — cresting in June over the year before, then staying flat in July.
But if you look only at the subset of homes within view of the water, the cresting persisted through July and at least into early August, according to the latest data from the Otteau Valuation Group, which analyzes sales contract data for real estate companies.
“That might seem a little strange, since waterfront and water-view homes are obviously the most expensive, and we are in a recession,” said Jeffrey G. Otteau, who heads the analytical group. “But these buyers generally have higher incomes, and larger savings to draw upon.”
He continued: “And they tend to be savvy. Probably, they have owned several houses already, and they see a great opportunity now, at a time when prices have dropped and interest rates are low.”
In Monmouth County the median price of a home along the water is down 24 percent from last year; in Ocean County it is down 8.5 percent, according to the Otteau Group’s calculations.
Here in Avon-by-the-Sea, a shorefront community of 2,500, sandwiched between Bradley Beach and Belmar, a house listed last September for $1.6 million, and then reduced in June to $1.325 million, sold on Aug. 14 for $1.05 million, more than a third below the original asking price.
“We were able to get a nice price on a house close to the water, because we were able to wait,” said Mary Jane Dolan, who with her husband, Mark, bought the six-bedroom colonial on Lincoln Avenue. This summer, the Dolans sold a home in Spring Lake that they had spent several years renovating. They put it on the market 18 months ago, then took it off for six months after the real estate picture darkened, then relisted it.
Various shore-area brokers and real estate agents say they see bargain hunters like the Dolans emerging right now at the low end as well as the high — but at the middle, not as much.
No one will be spared.
No area, no street, no subdivision.
From previous thread
“This estimate excludes company bailouts and purchases of long-term assets as well as unrealized gains or losses on the Fed’s portfolio of mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries purchased as part of the $1.75 trillion asset purchase program”
In other words, “The toxic crapola that would have brought our country to its knees, had we not willingly accepted it as collateral, is not included in this total.”
Green shoots! We are in the hole for the potential loss of 1.75 trillion and so far we have made back 33 billion. Only the MSM could turn this into another green shoot
Bailout not equal to grant.no?
Greeeen Shoooots:
Bond Market Eyeing 10% Jobless Rate Rejects Recovery (Update2
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=andFYiJJuBvw
CNBC touting Becky/Amanda catfight at the top of the hour.
Shipping Rates Seen Falling 50% on China, Fleet Size (Update1)
Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) — Just as global trade starts to recover, the shipping market is crashing for the second time in a year as China reduces raw-material imports and record numbers of new vessels set sail.
The rate for leasing capesize ships, boats three times the size of the Statue of Liberty, will drop about 50 percent from the current price of $37,865 a day to as low as $18,000 before the end of the year, according to the median in a Bloomberg survey of six analysts and fund managers. Forward freight agreements traded by brokers show the fourth-quarter average price will be 7 percent lower.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ax4RVuref7vQ
Wait for the herd to start questioning holding those financials and REITs into Q4:
“This type of scenario could easily reverse this fall as experienced stock and bond fund managers start to question why they own barely solvent financial companies at valuations that imply 4-5% real GDP growth over the next two years. Huge swathes of the financial sector are insolvent (the mark-to-market value of assets is less than liabilities), and the debate over mark-to-market accounting boils down to whether losses should be recognized up front or over long periods of time. The losses are not going away, and were baked in the cake as soon as the bubble-era loans were made.
Last fall’s panic was not really a “black swan” event; it was the realization that much of the banking system was insolvent and at the mercy of electronic bank runs. Last fall, I thought that at the very least, the authorities had a plan to wind down Lehman in a controlled manner. Instead, Lehman went into forced liquidation and took the “shadow” banking system down with it. Our Lehman puts were huge winners, but even I was surprised at how quickly Lehman stock went to zero.”
http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/reits-racing-to-bankruptcy/20199
Another gem from the above-referenced article:
“The issue facing REITs parallels that of the banks: an industry-wide solvency crisis. Only REITs lack access to enormous subsidies from the Federal Reserve, which include the manipulation of borrowing rates down to the range of 1%, resulting in a profitable spread on new lending.”
So rare to see some clear thinking instead of hopeium-induced psychosis.
OT, but the tragi-comedy that is Stuytown is completely fascinating. ZeroHedge has a post noting that the reserve fund is almost depleted and will likely be completely gone in Dec. with the possibility of defaults soon after.
Stuy Town going bust:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/stuyvesant-town-reserves-depleted-default-likely-come-december
tosh (11)-
I see we start the day with the same bitter brew.
I remember walking past Stuy Town every day wondering what the big deal was. I also remember when it was bought out. How did this company not realize they had a multi-million dollar shortfall every month? I mean, I’m bad with math but you have to be a special kind of suck not to be able to figure that kind of deficit out.
Tosh, Clot,(12)
Have I not been saying that it’s hard to collect rent out there? Unemployment just ran out is the number one reason I get. people have been getting by by working par time of the books and collecting unemplyment for thedifference.
Greenshots?
Well I am back, hope someone posted my Ted Kennedy “Crush Valor” classic while I was out!!
make (15)-
In Tishman-Speyer’s case, the rents were never there to collect. Their problem isn’t tenant delinquency, it’s their own unbridled bad borrowing.
#13 – Well, maybe not bitter so much as “schadenfreudastic”!
There were a lot of people who heralded that deal as one of the smartest moves in NYC history. The entire time it was being done I just kept thinking, “$5.4 billion? It’s sill on 14th and 1st, right? Maybe Tishman Speyer haven’t been there”.
I actually like Stuy-PCV, $3800 for a one bedroom there is just stupid though.
John (16)-
I submitted it to the PEN short story award panel.
I think enough time has passed that we can tastefully begin the dead Kennedy jokes.
#14 – lost – IIRC, New York Magazine had an article about some of the behind the scenes shenanigans of the Stuytown deal. The basics were this; they thought they would be able to convert the rent stabilized apts. to market rate quickly by forcing most of the rent stab’ed people out.
That didn’t work out so well.
The fallout is felt strongly in Ridgewood, where an estimated one in six workers are employed in financial services, where two dozen empty storefronts now dot a newly struggling downtown, and where growing evidence of an economic turnaround is still only a rumor.
Dear Sellers,
tick… tick… tick… tick…
I guess Graydon and Ellery have to experience an old fashioned birthday party in the basement with paper cups, a hot dog and cupcake per kid and a couple of folding chairs. No glossy, embossed invitations, no trendy and edgy locales, no face painting and DJ and no Disney characters in full garb. Don’t cry Graydon, the generic mustard from the 99 cent store tastes just the same as that one from Le Oui Vous’ on Ridgewood Avenue.
John,
Welcome back. How was D’jais?
Was this posted yet?
No. 1 on emailed stories from today’s WSJ:
Commercial Real Estate Lurks as Next Potential Mortgage Crisis
By LINGLING WEI and PETER GRANT
Federal Reserve and Treasury officials are scrambling to prevent the commercial-real-estate sector from delivering a roundhouse punch to the U.S. economy just as it struggles to get up off the mat.
Their efforts could be undermined by a surge in foreclosures of commercial property carrying mortgages that were packaged and sold by Wall Street as bonds.
[snip]
Now the $700 billion of commercial-mortgage-backed securities outstanding are being tested for the first time by a massive downturn, and the outcome so far hasn’t been pretty.
The CMBS sector is suffering two kinds of pain, which, according to credit rater Realpoint LLC, sent its delinquency rate to 3.14% in July, more than six times the level a year earlier. One is simply the result of bad underwriting. In the era of looser credit, Wall Street’s CMBS machine lent owners money on the assumption that occupancy and rents of their office buildings, hotels, stores or other commercial property would keep rising. In fact, the opposite has happened. The result is that a growing number of properties aren’t generating enough cash to make principal and interest payments.
The other kind of hurt is coming from the inability of property owners to refinance loans bundled into CMBS when these loans mature. By the end of 2012, some $153 billion in loans that make up CMBS are coming due, and close to $100 billion of that will face difficulty getting refinanced, according to Deutsche Bank. Even though the cash flows of these properties are enough to pay interest and principal on the debt, their values have fallen so far that borrowers won’t be able to extend existing mortgages or replace them with new debt. That means losses not only to the property owners but also to those who bought CMBS — including hedge funds, pension funds, mutual funds and other financial institutions — thus exacerbating the economic downturn.
[snip]
In a study for The Wall Street Journal, Realpoint found that 281 CMBS loans valued at $6.3 billion weren’t able to refinance when they matured in the past three month, even though 173 such loans worth $5.1 billion were throwing off more than enough cash to service their debt.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125167422962070925.html#printMode
John,
Re-post your Kennedy post?
Don’t remember it, though I’m sure it’s memorable!
21 Tosh
I remember when they were going to try to force the tenants out. What a bad deal this was all the way around.
did I win?
Cyclonic Action Vacuum says:
August 31, 2009 at 8:25 am
John (16)-
I submitted it to the PEN short story award panel.
House in Brick on the water down the street from my parents just listed for $5.2 mil. http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/843-South-Dr_Brick_NJ_08724_1111753978 Rumor is the owner got tired of living amongst the “Brickabillies”! There must be over 20 waterfront homes for sale on the 3 streets that make up that area of Brick.
John (28)-
Just the nomination is an honor. :)
pr (29)-
Who’s the owner, Tony Montana?
7.Cyclonic Action Vacuum says:
August 31, 2009 at 8:01 am
CNBC touting Becky/Amanda catfight at the top of the hour.
clot: They will gladly go down under with you.
31.Cyclonic Action Vacuum says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:12 am
pr (29)-
Who’s the owner, Tony Montana?
Isnt that the political prisoner from Cooba…
chi (32)-
That Amanda…what a pistol. She didn’t even know what she was saying.
Bullsh!t
I even wonder if it was scripted.
re #23 Jesus Gary! I am going to get fired if I keep laughing out loud like a Hyena this early in the morning! Keep up the good work.
For the Stytown haters, this blog has it all.
http://stuytownluxliving.com/2009/01/margarita-madness-at-oval-lounge.html
Penn Sta
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=akUMpH65x.fs
Sean [37],
And every kid is going to wear a Mets cap while holding a can of Pathmark grape soda for the Polaroid photo shoot.
[16] John
I submitted it to Forum.
Busy Lobbying to keep the casino open.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=agFM_w6e2i00
chi (36)-
You’re right. Don’t know why I made the lapse of thinking CNBC had scruples and an interest in actually broadcasting market news.
One good thing about the downturn is that I don’t hear the constant drone of gas-powered leaf blowers all over my neighborhood. The recession means more folks ditched their lawn care services this year, meaning less noise from riding mowers and those ridiculously loud leaf blower backpacks.
Just the blissful, muted sounds of Briggs and Stratton engines as homeowners cut their own lawns, reminding us of our childhoods (and how much we hated cutting lawns back then).
Bloomberg:
Bond Market Eyeing 10% Jobless Rate Rejects Recovery
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601009&sid=andFYiJJuBvw&refer=bonds
“The bond market isn’t buying all the optimism over the end of the global recession.
While the International Monetary Fund said last week the economic recovery will be faster than it forecast in July, investors pushed yields on government debt to the lowest level since April…”
[23] gary
Is there really a store in Ridgewood called Le Oui Vous?
Grim,
The more interesting view of Ridgewood is the amount of small office space that seems to be available. I noticed a few more long term signs disappearing from the offices around E Ridgewood and N Maple. I guess the bond traders don’t need the CPA to run Turbo Tax for them any more.
[20] CAV
Begin dead kennedy jokes? That presumes one stopped in the first place.
The article title is just priceless…
Baker Hughes to buy BJ Services in $5.5B deal.
plume (45)-
Yes. It’s right next door to Putain de Bordel de Merde.
I cut lawns all through high school and into college. This was when Rock and Roll was still cool, America was great, the Mets actually won a Series and Ronald Reagan was President, way before Mexico invaded the lawn service business.
Made a decent wage, paid for many college credits and bought my first car with the money I made cutting lawns, planting trees, building decks and stone patios in Upper haughtvilles like Ridgewood, Alpine and Upper Saddle River.
I wonder if Graydon and Ellery will have to work with their hands when they grow up?
…well atleast the ice cream store [VanDykes] is still solvent. Then again, the ice cream there is awesome.
sl
1st East Windsor, NJ home to hit the market under $300 K (3 bedroom / 2 bath). Taxes are high $9,500+ (.47 acre). Slowly moving in the right direction….
#43 Nom –
Arghh, those leaf-blower backpacks. It’s almost as if they were scientifically designed for maximum acoustic obnoxiousness.
When my mom was alive, all she wanted was to hire a neighborhood kid to come mow the lawn when it needed it. But no kids were interested. The lawn services wanted $$$ a month, whether the lawn was growing or drought-stricken. Someone gave her the name of a hard-working poor guy from Trenton who was willing to mow as-needed, and that worked well.
This was in Lawrenceville, back during the boom. Now I’ll bet you could hire the kids out-of-work financial execs… or the execs themselves…
Cyc (or is it cynic ;)
you and tosh are not alone.
ZH and coffee, perfect together.
sl
sean (50)-
Graydon and Ellery will be pseudo-intellectual layabouts, living at home until they’re 30 and milking the largesse of our newly-minted soci@list system.
We’re going to get European soci@l programs, Japanese macroeconomics and Argentinian violence.
The best of all possible worlds.
#50 Re” Lawncare
I cut many a Monmouth County lawn in the 80’s and also bought my own car with the money I made. It’s amazing how much of that industry has been taken over by the Mexicans. Back in the day, it was rare to see full Mexican crews, let alone ones with their own equipment and truck like you see now.
So what you’re saying Clot is that you think we’re turning Eurargenese.
You should trademark this right now.
“Eurargenese”
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/weird-things-people-do-to-money.aspx?GT1=33002&slide-number=8
Coming soon to a toilet near you?
sl
My mom recently thanked the “kid across the street” (who’s always lived there)for shoveling her walk, and realized the guy is over 50! She felt like she was in a time warp!
Her yard is so small no “crew” wanted to do it and since there are are no real kids, she found 60 year old teacher who swings by once in a while. She leaves the cash in the mailbox.
That’s America!
Why is AIG down today? That’s just wrong. I have not seen a better run 80% gov’t owned insurance co in my lifetime. It deserves a market cap 10x that of gs.
traders :29
That house is huge…..9,684 sq ft according to the tax man. That’ll set you back $33,501 in taxes per annum.
Consider that no other house on that waterfront block is even listed at more than $2.4M…..my guess is they’ll be waiting a good long while for a buyer. This is probably the kind of house that sits empty every winter, summer residence only.
Bricktucky, indeed !!
On the lawn mowing tip. I started mowing lawns at 12 years old. By the time I was 15, I had two other kids mowing my properties and I would just take a cut and would make the same amount of money as I formerly made. I did let my friends use my Honda mower, but neither were of Latino decent. Since I didn’t receive allowance, I had to be entrepreneurial to make up for it. I also sold the hyper kid (I’m sure today he would be diagnosed as mildly autistic) my can of soda everyday from my lunch for a dollar. When my mom found this out, she nearly killed me.
#56 – I cut many a Monmouth County lawn in the 80’s and also bought my own car with the money I made
I know a lot of people who did the same thing in HS. It was also an industry with incredibly lax hiring standards, allowing those with unconventional personalities or a liberal attitude towards recreational pharmaceuticals access to cash.
What do the young ‘dazed and confused’ types do for work and money nowadays?
My “Newspaper Boy” is in his 50’s. Parents also don’t let kids deliver papers anymore but then again no kid wants to do it anyhow.
BeachBum says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:50 am
My mom recently thanked the “kid across the street” (who’s always lived there)for shoveling her walk, and realized the guy is over 50! She felt like she was in a time warp!
Her yard is so small no “crew” wanted to do it and since there are are no real kids, she found 60 year old teacher who swings by once in a while. She leaves the cash in the mailbox.
That’s America!
“What do the young ‘dazed and confused’ types do for work and money nowadays?”
They ask mommy for it.
re #63 -Stu I had a lawn service business after school, an early morning paper route and I bussed tables at a county club on Fri and Sat night when I was 14. I wasn’t allowed to legally work, but how they hell was I going to get any money otherwise?
Child labor laws need to be changed, kids who want to work should be allowed to do so tax free.
Why We Won’t Avoid a Double-Dip Recession
We’ve arrived at this particular economic moment in time by the choices we’ve made, which now leave us with choices in our future that will be neither easy, nor convenient, nor comfortable. Sometimes there are just no good choices, only less-bad ones. In this week’s letter, we look at what some of those choices might be, and ponder their possible consequences. Are we headed for a double-dip recession? Read on.
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/recession-housing-mortgage-deficit/index/a/24299
The kids in my highschool loved to sell stolen car radios and hubcabs. They did not actually steal anything but “bought” “used” hubcabs and radios from the kids in NYC where they were too busy with murders to worry about petty crime. One day I went to work at Roosvelt Raceway Flee Market with some kids older brother as he was short handed and I needed the bucks, I never will forget some guy who looked like an absent minded professor had one of those early 70’s Mercedes where the Hubcaps matched the car color, his was a particularly pukey green color and his hubcabs were just stolen two nights earlier in Queens. Guess what we had them in inventory and sold him a set for 40 bucks. This guy made a killing as supply always equaled demand.
toshiro_mifune says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:53 am
#56 – I cut many a Monmouth County lawn in the 80’s and also bought my own car with the money I made
I know a lot of people who did the same thing in HS. It was also an industry with incredibly lax hiring standards, allowing those with unconventional personalities or a liberal attitude towards recreational pharmaceuticals access to cash.
What do the young ‘dazed and confused’ types do for work and money nowadays?
#2 – Grim – Savy Buyers at the Shore
Any way of getting the listings behind the 2 sales cited in that NYT article? Just curious. As far as I can tell, pricing still needs to come down quite a bit for there to be any real “push” on many houses!
Sean,
I tried delivering papers. It really wasn’t worth the scratch. Especially the Sunday morning headache. I think when all was said and done, I made about $2 an hour. Although I did rig up some interesting paper carrying devices to my bicycle.
#69 – The kids in my highschool loved to sell stolen car radios and hubcabs.
More opportunities for current gen stoners lost. You don’t get wheel covers on anything other than the most base ‘stripper’ model cars now. If yours do get stolen/lost plastic replacements are super cheap.
Likewise, I think the heyday of stolen car stereos ended with the demise of DIN standard head units in the mid-90s.
Do the burnouts need and bailout?
John (69): Did you intend to obtain post 69?
“Guess what we had them in inventory and sold him a set for 40 bucks.”
They were probably his to begin with.
“He opened the Italian eatery in June 2008, attracted by the village’s affluence. The first six months were busy, he said, but then — as the recession kicked in — business fell off, and he closed in May.”
in all likelihood, this has nothing to do with the recession. This describes the predominant arc of a vast majority of new restaurants. The first six months are the novelty of residents checking out the “new” place in town. The subsequent failure is the lack of anything compelling to drive repeat business. Another Italian eatery? How many ways to use red sauce? 25 different kinds of pasta? Did he mail offers to the credit card addresses of all his customers from the first six months of “great” business? Or was the marketing plan “we’re doing great”.
There’s a place in my town that does pizza, casual Italian, and an upscale side. The upscale side is, with a few exceptions, the same menu selections (though not the same menu, nach) as the casual side, padded by 20-25% for the “ambiance”. Blech. If they weren’t one block from the train, I wouldn’t even buy their pizza.
beach bum :70
beach bum :70
The Dolan’s address in Spring Lake sale was 214 South Blvd….nice house. Bought it for $765K in 2002, major upgrade in 2005, sold for $1,299,999 on 8/14/09.
The purchase in Avon was 339 Lincoln Ave. Probably start a renovation project next week !!
Sorry for the delay.
i was vacationing at beautiful ortley beach nj.
Updated ‘Veto That’ ‘Kettle1’ Charts…
http://tinyurl.com/mt6pva
I have had run ins with way too many Benz and Jaguar drivers with Florida plates for the last few weeks, most driving too slow in the fast lane while chatting on their cellphones sans headsets.
Now I know why, seems a bunch of these guys are moving to town looking for work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/fashion/30genb.html?_r=2&hpw
Fiddy, well then maybe 340 Woodland at 839,9 is a good deal?
But are jobs safe enough at the kinds of salaries people need to make these buys? Don’t forget not only lay offs but salary cuts to keep your job and dwindling returns on partnerships. You seem to know the shore – what do you think?
I live in the NY Metro Area. I have had run-ins with way too many Benz and Jaguar drivers with Florida plates for the last few weeks, most driving too slow in the fast lane while chatting on their cellphones sans headsets.
Now I know why, seems a bunch of these guys are moving to town looking for work.
My advise to this guy would be to leave town. NYC is no place for the old and unemployable.
Of course they were. The matching color mercedes hubcaps back in the late 70s were $120 a set at the dealer but only $40 at the flea market, huge difference. Mercedes in their stupidity had a feature where you did not need a screwdriver to get the hubcap off, you just ran your finger around and found the quick release thing and off they came. Guy at flea market bought then for five bucks each. Every kid who saw a benz on street even if it was broad daylight would jump out and take a set. Also the 70’s Caddilac had a emblem on the hood of car that was springloaded, you just grab that pull straight up and most times it cam out in one piece with spring, they were bought for five bucks a pop and sold for ten, after a while people gave up and drove around with no hubcaps or the missing caddie emblem. It was amazing how many times people would buy hot hubcaps after their hubcaps were stolen. What a crazy circle of life. Even kookier there was a guy in school who had a perfect scam he sold stolen radios and told you they were stolen, $200 hundred dollar radios for $20. The catch was the next week he would steal them back and you could not call police and say your stolen radio was stolen. My favorite was for an extra ten bucks he would put them in for you which made it easier for him to get them back out.
Stu says:
August 31, 2009 at 10:14 am
John (69): Did you intend to obtain post 69?
“Guess what we had them in inventory and sold him a set for 40 bucks.”
They were probably his to begin with.
I have a feeling they aren’t hurting for cash flow. Based on the mortgage history for that renovation project, and also on the neighborhoods they’re playing in….it appears to be their hobby to buy and re-furb these seashore colonials.
There is a big restaurant in Spring Lake called Dolan’s….I wonder if they’re related ??
78 Sean
That guy is probably the reason I can’t re-finance my student loans.
I honestly thought this was John until I saw it was Stu.
Stu says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:52 am
I started mowing lawns at 12 years old.
toshiro_mifune says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:53 am
What do the young ‘dazed and confused’ types do for work and money nowadays?
tosh: They go to college….
Fiddy, I was wondering that myself – home of countless proms and weddings…
I was shaving, dating and hotwiring cars by the time I was 12.
chicagofinance says:
August 31, 2009 at 10:58 am
I honestly thought this was John until I saw it was Stu.
Stu says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:52 am
I started mowing lawns at 12 years old.
John says:
August 31, 2009 at 10:52 am
It was amazing how many times people would buy hot hubcaps after their hubcaps were stolen. What a crazy circle of life. Even kookier there was a guy in school who had a perfect scam he sold stolen radios and told you they were stolen, $200 hundred dollar radios for $20. The catch was the next week he would steal them back and you could not call police and say your stolen radio was stolen. My favorite was for an extra ten bucks he would put them in for you which made it easier for him to get them back out.
JJ: The same scams exist today, except that the new parts are airbags and the special headlights.
moose (74)-
If virtually every Italian restaurant in NJ closed, I’d call it progress.
If I want a plate of flour for dinner, I can make it myself. And do it without making my whole house smell like burnt garlic and rancid fryolator oil.
89 Clot
Amen. And I second that for SI.
beach –
I was just looking at the listing for 340 Woodland…nice. Is there a view of the lake from that spot ?? It’s a legal 2-family, with 2 kitchens. Is that to your liking? There’s a prior listing at $999K back in ’07.
Where does Avon send their kids to high school?? Not into Neptune, I hope.
I think they send maybe to Asbury? That’s why alot of the kids take the train to RBC. I don’t know too much about the taxes in Avon, though. Belmar MUCH less than Bradley. Don’t know about lake views but since it is a corner house, you just might.
Did you follow that house I mentioned on Evergreen in Bradley – the bank sold it for 535K – the owners are doing a nice upgrad – views of the lake and 2 blocks to the beach.
I’m in the price range that was mentioned in the NYT article. I don’t want to tie up my money over 600K but don’t want a piece of trash either – since it’s a summer place would like not more than 0.3 mi to the beach.
Do you know anything about Belmar?
BELMAR, NJ 07719
$659,000
7 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms
Listing # 20912401
From the outside looks like a bit of a mess, chimeny has cracks, etc. Been empty for a while.
That house in Avon, transplanted to Belmar and 100K less – that’s what I’m looking for!!
Does anyone have first have knowledge of the Pennington school district? We are looking at a long term rental that would be in the borough elementary school.
Thanks!
have=hand
Clot, lostinny I find with Italian food it is either good or a pile of slop in the NY Metro area. Other places italian food isn’t bad, it just isn’t good. Surprisingly I find that most italian restaurants in NY are just as bad if not worse, same slop fancier presentation(Multiple course dinner means $$$$).
re Stuy Town – coworker just had to abandon her apt there for a week because it was infested with bed bugs and needed to be fumigated…sounds like a place worth $3800/month to me. Ew!
Homeward bound shortly. Have a great day everyone.
Listing # 20912401 411 6th Ave.
I get a little nervous when the listing says :
“House & Garage being sold AS IS, CO responsibility of buyer. Third floor has no heat”
You’d want to get a full inspection, including all big ticket items (at least it’s gas heat).
I remember you were talking about that house on Evergreen….absentee owner right ?? I wonder how much they are putting into the renov ?
I think in any of those towns between Asbury and Spring Lake, you’d want to know who your neighbors are. You’re living shoulder to shoulder and if the house next door turns into Animal House in the summer…..that could ruin your vacation paradise.
renter, pennington is great community. toll gate gets rave reviews. do it.
OT ALERT
THE END IS TRULY NIGH . . . .
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/reiss_pieces/2009/08/welcome_to_gill_47.html
A lot of dads in New England wanted their boys to be like Tom Brady, but probably an equal number, if not more, wanted their sons to be like Tedy Bruschi.
I hope he shows up at every home game to prowl the sidelines and, as Peter King put it, get in his (former) teammate’s grills.
I will have to wear my Bruschi jersey in New England this weekend in tribute.
Yup, absentee owner and no kitchen, no furnace, etc, big bathroom leak and mold. Would love to know who is doing the renovations and how much they’re putting in. Maybe they’ll flip it!
Agree about the neighbors, especially in changing times, when suddenly people NEED to rent…but generally north Belmar and south Bradley and most of Avon are good.
But the comps are all over the place. I drove by a place in Avon – 675 on Marine place – and believe me you’d be living in the road with no back yard and far from the beach – don’t get the outrageous price, unless they need to show their bankers that they’re trying to sell it…
94 renter, son went to tollgate for 4th and 5th (moved out of Ewing) we rent as well…not looking to buy at this point in time, rent in town as well.
great livestyle for a 13 yr. old…walk to friends…no driving all over the place, save. Toll gate is close to private school in terms of size and ratios. So far good experience at the middle school.
meant Safe…
rentals on the other hand…depends on who you rent from.
jcer (96)-
Call me a snob, but after one trip to Milan, Florence, Siena, Udine, Bologna, Turin and Alba, I cannot abide anything called Italian food anywhere in the US.
Saying US red-lead gutbombs are “Italian food” is the equivalent of calling Chop Suey authentic Chinese.
There are a lot of good places in the US where the pizza is as good as in Napoli, though.
House Hunter
Thank you. I think another rental makes sense for us. I doubt we will ever buy at this point.
Thanks for the information
Sure, this mess will all be sorted out shortly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/nyregion/31judge.html?hpw
relo (109)-
Sure, it’s all fun and games, and this guy is a prince for the downtrodden.
Take a look at the capital leaving the US- never to return- and then somebody should tell us how noble this guy is.
I’m sorry, I have friends who live in Stuy Town, $4400 a month for something that looks like Jersey City Public housing is ridiculous.
good luck renter…we should have a local njrereport GTG!
[110] clot,
Any attorney will tell you that there are judges appointed or elected to support their benefactors, which are either voters or the party machinery. The idea of impartial judges at the local level is a joke. So the environment hasn’t and won’t change that much.
Rather, it is likely that, since the conversion of the judiciary results in a new cost to doing business, new mortgages will have higher costs in order to deal with judges such as this, who advocate for litigants that aren’t even present (thus destroying the idea of an impartial judiciary), and new terms that shift litigation costs to the loser in tougher terms than exist now (and if the latter is deemed illegal, then the former just gets more onerous).
The reason capital won’t flee is because this judicial redistribution is like a tax—it affects all of the participants equally so it is not anticompetitive to pass along the costs. So returns are not diminished and there is no incentive for capital to flee the system.
When I did evictions in a poor area of Mass., there were some judges that were going to protect tenants at the expense of landlords. Sure, one could fight and win at the appeals level, but it was easier to advise landlords to change their tactics and business methods. And to get around the tenants that would hold out and not pay, thus getting free rent, I advocated attachments of salaries and bank accounts, the latter of which did not go over well with these pro-tenant judges. So, at the end of the day, the tenants who had their pro-tenant judges also had higher rents, more restrictive terms, and attorneys that were much more aggressive about hunting them down for their money.
Seen outside Wrigley over the weekend….
http://blogs.nypost.com/sports/mets/archives/2009/08/met_fans_castin.html
Clot [110]:
Agreed. I read an article about the machine gun foreclosure hearings in Florida. IF the debtor showed up to court they were asked two questions: (1) Where do you live? (in the house under foreclosure); (2) do youhave cancelled checks for the mortgage payments? (No). Foreclosure approved – NEXT.
This pains me as an attorney, but I think the problem is the cost and delay of foreclosure. How much value is lost to EVERYONE becuase a house sits vacant and rots for a year, exposed to elements, squatters neglect. Not even a deadbeat borrower gets the benefit of free rent at that point. The faster tha tthe houses are put in the hands of those who can afford to own them, the better off we are collectively.
Foreclosure should be made easier, not harder.
Barney Frank is joining Ron paul is auditing the Fed. Did I read this right?
http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE57T01E20090830?feedType=
Clot, there are very few places in the US where the food is authentically Italian. Same goes for Chinese, that being said it doesn’t mean that the food isn’t flavorful or enjoyable.
chi (114)-
There are other reasons involved, but the Mets are one of the top five reasons I have come to hate baseball.
jcer says:
August 31, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Clot, there are very few places in the US where the food is authentically Italian. Same goes for Chinese, that being said it doesn’t mean that the food isn’t flavorful or enjoyable.
j: you know clot is a chef?
there are very few places in the US where the food is authentically Italian. Same goes for Chinese, that being said it doesn’t mean that the food isn’t flavorful or enjoyable.
Some dishes are even better here then in the motherland.
I agree with Clot, it’s definitively impossible to have an authentic Italian cuisine without the influence of teh West or South America for that matter as we all know who works in these kitchens.
moose (115)-
I think the only way to make the foreclosure process shorter and better is to use non-judicial solutions, such as short sales.
IMO, nothing else will work.
Clotpoll says:
August 31, 2009 at 1:57 pm
chi (114)- There are other reasons involved, but the Mets are one of the top five reasons I have come to hate baseball.
clot: Wrigley bleachers circa 1997 with Butch Huskey in right field performing Sammy Sosa immitations and I am six beers in…..utter nirvana….I am sold for life…
Unfortunately, the short sale process forces banks to recognize and write down losses.
And, we all know that the current national charade of denial is meant to put a floor under the illusory valuations of both RE and the underlying mortgage securities.
make (120)-
I have no problem with local adaptations and influences from other cuisines in Italian food. More than any other cuisine, Italian is a mindset more than it is a body of standard dishes and recipes.
What I object to is taking a catcher’s mitt-sized chunk of “veal” that resembles cadaver flesh, pounding it into submission with a meat hammer, coating it in a gluey armor of stale bread, flour and eggs, incinerating it in old grease heated to the same temperature required to recap tires…then, taking this scorched scab of rubber, coating it with a layer of plasticine cheese, then further incinerating it under a 700-degree salamander.
Oh, and don’t let me forget the delightful finish of some red sauce that’s been simmering away for four days in a scorched aluminum pot.
And the waiter serving it to you in a polyester tux that hasn’t seen a cleaners since last June.
chi (122)-
Did one of Huskey’s imitations involve Sosa injecting himself in the ass with a hypodermic needle?
Everybody must get stoned.
Hi, I just found this blog! What a great resource.
I am looking for a house in the North Jersey area. It has to have at least 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms (I refuse to share), and excellent schools (because I have smart children who would not succeed in a less than excellent school district), updated appliances and bathrooms (my hands are allergic to old fixtures. Old = older than 5 years). Oh, and I don’t want to pay a dime above $300,000. Oh and most importantly, it has to be a hop skip and a jump away from the train station, but not close enough to the train where I can hear it or see it. Which towns fit that criteria? Oh and I need a huge backyard to do nothing with.
Sorry, I don’t know what got into me. For a second I thought I was a homebuyer in my thirties. Ugh.
TBW,
You forgot to insist on granite countertops.
#116 make money,
Why wouldn’t Frank want an audit? After all, he doesn’t care if people making $25k can afford a half million dollar house so long as they can get the mortgage by strongarming banks to make more loans to lower-income and higher credit risk people. He also wants any group that has more power to control money other than him and his pals to leave either in shame or quietly.
Reminds me of all the blonde haired Italian American girls I used to date. The drapes rarely matched the curtains.
chicagofinance says:
August 31, 2009 at 1:57 pm
jcer says:
August 31, 2009 at 1:54 pm
Clot, there are very few places in the US where the food is authentically Italian. Same goes for Chinese, that being said it doesn’t mean that the food isn’t flavorful or enjoyable.
j: you know clot is a chef?
I think we can agree that a lot of “Italian” food is basically deep fried meat in red sauce with some processed cheese on it. That is pretty bad stuff, if you were to make those dishes, fresh bread crumb, quality meat, pan cooked in EVOO, nice fresh mozzarella, and good red sauce you’d have a pretty tasty dish. I’ve also worked the kitchens of some “Upscale restaurants” when I was younger and cook recreationally and am a food snob. I’d say 20% of restaurants I visit make the grade and less than half warrant a return visit.
Clot my feeling on NYC/Metro restaurants are that the sheer volume of restaurants means that a large number are either sub-par or horrible, there is little middle ground.
Also around here a lot of “Fancy” places are nothing more than bad food and nice decor.
Less than half the 20% warrant a return visit, that is.
It’s 2:30, time to buy!
A little Mish, served BC-style:
“Consumers and banks both are suffering from a massive hangover. Their willingness and ability to drink is gone. No matter how many pints of whiskey Bernanke sets in front of someone passed out on the floor, liquor sales will not rise.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/08/spending-collapses-in-all-generation.html
In a debt-based economy, it is extremely difficult to produce inflation if consumers will not participate. And as noted above, demographics and attitudes strongly suggest consumers have had enough of debt and spending sprees.
Those pointing to flawed measures of money supply as proof of inflation just don’t get it, and likely never will.”
John (131)-
I am disturbed that I actually understand what you are saying.
My point is authentic is not something that is necessarily easy to get, most food is inspired by some ethnic cuisine and adjusted for regional preferences. That being said even non-authentic food can be enjoyable, it starts with very fresh good ingredients(often non-authentic because we don’t have access to the same vegetables) and ends with a recipe that meshes good complementary flavors and textures.
I’m done with my food ranting for now.
I don’t care about authentic. Just give me something that doesn’t taste like shit.
re #116 make money -Barney is not doing anyone a solid he is simply playing the political game, Ron Paul’s bill has enough co-sponsors to have a direct vote and bypass the committee all together, that is if the Crypt Keeper allows it.
The Senate and Obama will be tougher to crack on the Fed Audit.
Food rant off here, too.
“I’m done with my food ranting for now.”
Might I suggest you sample the Burrito Supreme at Taco Bell?
Please don’t spoil my fantasy of a citizen army breaking the ramparts and rushing the Fed building.
OK I’ll refrain from chiming in on crappy Italian food.
First of all you guys don’t even know what authentic Italian food is. First remember Marco Polo went to China and brought back the noodles/pasta. Also Italians thought tomatoes were posionous for a long time.
True authentic Italian food does not include any form of pasta or tomatoes in the receipe. One of my old girlfriends grandmother used to cook old school italian and with salad, meat and veggies I was always like badda bing where is my red sauce and spaghetti, course never said it as she would slap me upside the head.
ok,
I grew up in south jersey. Every other corner was a tomato sauce slop house. Italian American food is NOTHING like authentic Italian. I grew up next door to an actual Italian family, they immigrated from Milan. They had a lot of class and new how to live, garden and cook. All the other “italians” in the neighborhood would make fun of them because they dressed “funny” (ie, with taste).
I’m always amazed at how every stip mall has the overpriced pizza/pasta joint that serves up the same ragu and boxed asta you can make at home and yet is still in business.
These days I mostly eat out so that I can meet up with friends at some halfway point. I always end up thinking how much healthier and fresher I could have tried to make the same meal myself at home. This makes it kind of frustrating to eat out. And I am not a fantastic cook but I am convinced that anyone with the time, patience, and motivation can eat very well at home.
Hey ChiFi, I wouldn’t be suprised to know clot is a chef, afterall he isn’t making much money at real estate so he better have a back up plan.
new = knew.
asta = pasta
oysh
Italians thought tomatoes were posionous for a long time.
Love apples, they were called ‘love apples’.
re# 145 – The tomato originated in Peru where it grew wild like a weed and did not make it to Italy until the 16th Century.
Stu, I’m not to good for Taco Bell, KFC, or White Castle on occasion. Sometime bad is good.
Until the arrival of pasta, the italian diet consisted mostly of cabbage and cabbage by-products.
Of the 3, the only thing I can stomach is the White Castle (believe it or not). Taco Bell is a complete waste of time unless your idea of a meal is shredded iceberg with imitation cheese mixed in. I really think all chicken is tasteless, especially fried. All you taste is the sauce. Grab a sack of murder burgers and it’s steam fried beef and onion taste and I’m in heaven.
Funny thing about what we eat. When I was a vegetarian in a prior life, I used to order a vegewhopper at BK on occasion, which is a whopper without the meat. Crazy thing about it is, it tastes exactly (and I shiznit you not) like a whopper with the meat. Don’t believe me? Try it some time. Pathetic part of it is that it costs the same as a meaty whopper, yet ask them to put extra pickles on it and they would zap you for an extra nickel or dime. And no John, I was never a pro animal rights kind of guy. My cholesterol was at 255 when I was 18 so I gave up meat. Dropped to 130 without any medicine. Today I’m around a healthy 150 since I still eat mostly vegetarian.
#137 jcer
“most food is inspired by some ethnic cuisine and adjusted for regional preferences”
You should try Chinese food in Italy.
http://www.housingwire.com/2009/08/31/fdic-informs-consumers-of-new-federal-mortgage-policy/
FDIC says “you must change your lie now that everyone has cought up on it”
Great stuff Sheila.
Clot,
Joe Natale has a small place on Route 202 in Bridgewater called “Cafe Emilia” whose chef is an Albani friend and his pasta and overall food is no match for anyone in that area.
do you know the place?
[154] stu
Good thing you didn’t take cheese on that burger!
Why does everyone here think all Italians food is the same? Just because an Italian you know makes the food one way doesn’t generalize the cooking for the entire Country.
My mother is from Central Italian Mountains (Caramanico). The food that comes from her area is nothing like the southern Italian food (Sicily) and nothing like the Northern French/Swiss border food.
Hi I just found this site, what a great resource.
I am 50 or so and have made some really smart investments in real estate. My primary residence is in a top school district, and thanks to a cheap home equity loan all 4500 sf has been entirely renovated. The result is a 250% increase in the value of the house. I consider this a fair reward for the foresight and taste I displayed in telling the contractor to install cherry wood floors, granite and marble for the baths. It is at the end of a cul de sac miles from public transport, which keeps things quiet. It is 4500 sf, which provides plenty of space. We have eight AC units and 4 heating zones. The property taxes are below average for our neighborhood coming in at just under $28,000 per year.
My neighbor sold his house in 2006 for $1.8 million. Now I know the market is down, so I would sell this for a steal at $1.5 million.
We are planning on retiring to Vermont on the proceeds of this sale, so we are looking for a quick close.
Stu, can I buy life insurance on you if you let me buy you free burger king food for life?
did I just hear the saliva collectively hit the floor? Be nice!
“Stu, can I buy life insurance on you if you let me buy you free burger king food for life?”
That’s a pretty good offer. You realize, I would have to pretty much set up shop at the Home of the Whopper for this to pay off for both of us. I think I’ll pass.
Only thing I know about Bridgewater is I knew a guy who lived there who always said the commute was terrible. Went to Hershey Penn once and drove what seemed like a million miles and after we stopped for gas and food drove another million miles and then saw the exit for Bridgewater. JC that is the middle of nowhere who cares what food they have there, you might as well be talking about a good italian place in the artic circle.
make money says:
August 31, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Clot,
Joe Natale has a small place on Route 202 in Bridgewater called “Cafe Emilia” whose chef is an Albani friend and his pasta and overall food is no match for anyone in that area.
do you know the place?
Stu after I supersize you, you bet your ass you will pass.
Stu says:
August 31, 2009 at 4:11 pm
“Stu, can I buy life insurance on you if you let me buy you free burger king food for life?”
That’s a pretty good offer. You realize, I would have to pretty much set up shop at the Home of the Whopper for this to pay off for both of us. I think I’ll pass.
John, what happens when unexpectedly BK starts offering lots of heathy food. I’d bet your investment becomes a liability.
Thats when I do a leveraged buy-out, I say we reuse the fat from the burgers to fry the french fries then re-use that fat to soak the salad leaves in case anyone pulls a fast one and tries to eat healthy. Plus little things like no mats when it rains and grease on mens room floor should help.
jcer says:
August 31, 2009 at 4:43 pm
John, what happens when unexpectedly BK starts offering lots of heathy food. I’d bet your investment becomes a liability.
I understand that each region/city in Italy has its own style of food, but for my goon purposes, it was always Northern Italian versus Southern Italian. The pedestrian Jersey-garbage on every corner is simply Southern-inspired. The more interesting less carbo-loaded stuff is Northern inspired….is that wrong? Essentially what everyone considers “Italian Food” is the southern slop. I have seen some people really make an effort to make a Southern Style that isnt crap.
Notable in clot tour-da-boot was that he was all central and northern I think…no surprise…
Spaghetti and meatballs is pure USA….
I will say that Venetian squid-in-ink is fcuking vulgar….
The pedestrian Jersey-garbage on every corner is simply Southern-inspired.
You got a f’n problem with gabagool?
(Coming from someone who grew up thinking Pirogi and Ravioli were the same thing)
All I know is Wednesday is Prince spaghetti day.
grim [170],
LOL!!
Wow, go figure.
Forgot to hit “submit” on my post this morning.
Went peach picking at Melick’s in Califon.
Stopped for pizza at some joint next to a convenience store (next strip mall over from an A&P.
Pizza – edible.
Eggplant parm? Chef boy ar Dee at best. I can’t get over how bad it was.
Then had to listen to some lame-brained rude cashier at the Pick-your-own-Peaches place blather on about stupid people who “buy farms up here and don’t know farming at all” — because clearly she is the end-all–be-all know.it.all about farms….. of course, hands us her advertising card. I guess the cashier’s job is her “hobby” job.
I’m thinking of donating a Dale Carnegie book to her library.
/rant off.
disclaimer: I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and my tolerance for ignorance is at an all-time low.
sl
I mentioned this once before, here is authentic Italian: Figs picked off the tree in the yard, sliced in half, stuffed with crushed walnuts, a few fennel seeds and grated orange peel, pressed together and baked in the oven until it turns into candy. Try getting that in a restaurant around here. That’s what my grandmother used to make and my mother in law makes today. My MIL does it basically the same way. I’ve got 3 dozen dishes that will make you say “wow”.
Gary let me get some of those figs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2eh6f5Go0
just cuz I needed this laugh.
sl
john (164)-
Natale sold that place a while back.
He will not be needing it when he enters federal prison.
John (148)-
Wrong again. Having my best year since ’99. Not doing it the easy way, though.
chi (168)-
Nah. I’ve done the Rome-Napoli-Apulia-Palermo thing, too. All that smokes NJ ginny food, too.
173 – never, ever, ever buy anything in Califon. there is no competition since its so remote everything is low quality and or high price. gas is 20 cents higher than clinton and the A&P, I’m not kidding, smells like they clean it with a 2 week dead raccoon.
go to Donaldsons in Mansfield for pick your own and Woolfs in Franklin for corn (and the Woolf’s market keeper–she’s pure Warren County).
we drive an hour south to Palermos in Mercer/ Burlington for tomato pie. better than Delorenzos.
Hi fiveee
180 in mod. maybe cuz of the ded racoon?
#170 grim
“(Coming from someone who grew up thinking Pirogi and Ravioli were the same thing)”
Pirogi is that Polish for Ravioli? …. :*)
I went to a party over the weekend catered by Corrados of Clifton. Their best dish was the Roast Pork with Dirty Rice. Enough said.
That said they have a Copper Balsamic Kettle for sale in their wine store that would go nicely with a fig tree in the garden.
PGC,183
I just finished frying eggplant for eggplant parmagiana… with homemade gravy/sauce. Used the giant sized San Marzano canned romas from Corrados…
we have 2 fig trees…been slow growing this year, one full of ’em (just not ripe yet) and the other almost none.
with a Polish/Irish FIL and a Polish/Italian MIL, this Austrian cooks a freaking wide array of foods. Favorite food to cook though is Southeast Asian. Hence many trips to Kam-Man in East Hanover.
:)
sl
#131,
Having dated several Italian girls over the last twenty years, those drapes were usually long and dark. :>)
SL
I await my fig invitation. :)
Do you like fig and goat cheese together? I like it in with beets in a salad but I especially love fig and goat cheese pizza!
lost,
figs, cheese (any!) drizzled with honey…sprinkled with nuts…. sigh…
welcome to have eggplant parmagiana with us for lunch tomorrow if you like. :)
sl
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSPEK36146520090831
BEIJING, Aug 31 (Reuters) – A weekend report that Chinese state-owned companies will be allowed to default on commodity derivative contracts provoked anger and dismay among investment banks on Monday as they feared a damaging precedent.
yee, i like eggplant.
SAS
what recession?
“Philly Fed State Coincident Indicators: Still a Widespread Recession in July”
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/08/philly-fed-state-coincident-indicators.html
SAS
interesting,i hav e to see the data.
but still, it wouldn’t surprize me.
“The electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phone towers and cellphones can pose a threat to honey bees, a study published in India has concluded”
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Cellular/9417.html
SAS
SAS, You’re invited too… (Can you bring some canning jars with you?)
sl
Main Line teardown
http://hardwareaisle.thisoldhouse.com/2009/08/now-this-is-ridiculous-.html
Sean says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:32 am
I cut lawns all through high school and into college. This was when Rock and Roll was still cool, America was great, the Mets actually won a Series and Ronald Reagan was President, way before Mexico invaded the lawn service business.
one good thing i like about our part of Bucks … the lawn guys are all white dudes. same for the guys who pave driveways, cut hedges, etc.
“Can you bring some canning jars with you?”
i don’t have many left. Juanita might have a load at her place.
Speaking of canning, my little stockpile is looking good. I still have a few odds & ends to deal with.
You blokes out there want investment advice, hear ye, and listein:
great investment:
-family (who else will take care of when your in diapers)
-stockpiling items
-health
-bartering
-build a garden
-learn a trait (skip the sap univ degree).
SAS
185.Bystander says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:24 pm
#131, Having dated several Italian girls over the last twenty years, those drapes were usually long and dark. :>)
Didn’t they always pull the ripcord on the inflatable raft at about 27-28 y.o.?
“sap univ”
I’d put Tuck on that list. When I was there, i taught a class. but, they showed me the door, cause I had a fling with one of the students in the class.
ha ha.. what can I say? I love smooth skin.
SAS
184.still_looking says:
August 31, 2009 at 9:10 pm
with a Polish/Irish FIL
and a Polish/Italian
Polish/irish…really small kielbasa that gets soft when cooked in alcohol…
Polish/Italian…really large spicy kielbasa that you have no clue how to use…..
:)
sl
fire (188)-
Looks like we’ve taught the Chinese well.
Nationalize, then repudiate.
All this is going to end happily, happily ever after.
Wow..how about Northern Italian/German/Scots
A bunch of blue-eyed, freaky yelling stocky people who have no idea who ate all their sausage.
I’m trying to think of something that will sum up, then end today’s Italian theme once and for all, but everything I come up with involves Mussolini, fixing soccer matches and inappropriate body hair on women.
Much like Italy itself, it all goes nowhere.
Me = Welsh/French (Huguenot)
Depressive, contemplative and too consumed with suppressed rage to worry about some goddam sausage.
Well, my older sister told me to go talk to a counselor today. She’s washing her hands of me, and will no longer repeatedly tell me to go get the happy pill from the Doctor. For five years, my problem has been that I’m not on any medication.
We argued over whether or not there was anything wrong with a 13-year old getting her hair dyed.
Her final response was, “Well, we disagree on this, so there’s no further need to discuss it.”
I detest when a close family member tries to win an argument like that.
Does she automatically win?
202.Cyclonic Action Vacuum says:
August 31, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Me = Welsh/French (Huguenot)
Depressive, contemplative and too consumed with suppressed rage to worry about some goddam sausage.
What about the narcissistic delusions?
203.Pat says:
August 31, 2009 at 10:51 pm
We argued over whether or not there was anything wrong with a 13-year old getting her hair dyed.
Pat: one of my best friends in 7th grade shaved off the hair on the left side; grew out the hair on the other side an dyed the tips blue. The guys in 9th grade started asking her out 2 weeks later. She was a sweetie and super-smart.
201.Cyclonic Action Vacuum says:
August 31, 2009 at 10:29 pm
Mussolini’s troops blew up my father’s church in Albania with the priest inside. My dad was 6 years old and one of the guys stopped and said to my father (paraphrasing) “sorry kid, at least we didn’t rape your mom”.
I don’t mind the punk phase statement stuff. I fully support the rad do.
I was arguing against the glamour puff stuff. So, of course, I made the fatal mistake of lapsing into the whole being on an eating disorder track and why doesn’t she think she’s beautiful just the way she is and why do you think some Beauty-School-Dropout salon girl can make a prettier color than nature, etc….
So, I lost.
Re: 199,
Clot,
I think China will be another leg down. When their stimulus runs out and nobody else can buy their stuff, it might end up quite ugly.
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Cellular/9417.html
The electromagnetic waves emitted by mobile phone towers and cellphones can pose a threat to honey bees, a study published in India has concluded.
Nom,
Note for you :)
Find a nompound without any cell phone coverage ^)