Minnesota: Global Warming Winner According to scientists, which of the following are associated with global warming? A. Drought B. Floods C. Tornadoes D. All of the above. Answer: D. According to Weather Underground found Jeff Masters, “the 2011 Mississippi and Missouri River floods were higher than any other year, the 2011 Texas drought drier than...Read More
Favorite Post-Thanksgiving Chores No, this isn’t a post about needed Wall Street reform. Search “Goldman Sachs” in the upper right corner of this page if you want my thoughts on that subject. This post is literally about washing windows. In Minnesota. In winter (yes, it’s already arrived in this part of the country). Odd Timing?...Read More
Real Estate’s “Next Big Thing” — Really Electronic signatures are one of those developments that are supposed to be The Next Big Thing — every year for a decade running (see, “2012: Year of the Electronic Signature“). Yet anecdotally, I’d say that less than 5% of Realtors have made the switch to date. So, what’s holding...Read More
“Is That Like, ‘Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb?'” The above may seem like a trick question, but it’s really not. Especially given that Minnesota’s Spring housing market doesn’t really kick off in April or May, but early February (or whenever the subzero weather relents). So, do Fall sellers jump the gun as well? Avoiding Labor...Read More
Reviewing the Reviewers You can hardly fancy yourself a “serious social commentator” — and what self-respecting blogger doesn’t? — unless you take a crack at reviewing Jonathan Franzen’s epic new novel, “Freedom.” Which, of course, first requires that you actually read the almost-600 page thing — no small undertaking. Before getting to my review, though,...Read More
City Lakes Posts by Popularity The most popular post (by far) on this blog the last few days? “Realtor April Fool’s Jokes” (so much for my conceit that my Readers are all erudite, knowledge-seeking policy wonks). Runner-up? This post, which originally ran in late December: ‘Chinese Drywall in Minnesota? New Bank Disclaimer.’ The impetus...Read More
