Archive for the ‘Truth’ tag
Dilbert is Funny Because It Is Truthful [financeambition.com]
There is a great post on Dilbert’s blog, called Time Management. Below is an excerpt for your enjoyment. It is a great illustration of all the commitments we must address or face the consequences. Enjoy, it sure hit close to home for me.
One time management strategy is to be independently wealthy, freeing up eight hours a day. But that option isn’t available to many. And apparently it isn’t fulfilling because most rich people continue to work full schedules.
Another strategy is to ignore the fact that you are slowly killing yourself by not sleeping and exercising enough. That frees up several hours a day. The only downside is that you get fat and die.
A third path is to work less than you could, live economically, enjoy each day as it comes, and try not to think about living on cat food when you retire.
Which strategy have you picked?
Your Home is Dangerous [St. Paul Real Estate]
Sellers, I am afraid I have some very bad news for you. Your home is one big safety hazard with dangers everywhere. Maybe I am exaggerating just a little but but there are hazards in every home.
This information is always a shock to the sellers who have lived in their homes for many years and have maintained and improved them. Sellers find out about the catastrophe they call a home when the city comes to do a Truth in housing inspection (Tish) or when a buyer makes an offer and has an inspection. Often when they find out that their home is a disaster area they take it personally, they sometimes get angry at the inspector and the buyer. Heck some of them even get ticked at me for giving them the bad news.
Sellers are caught off guard and sometimes even offended or insulted when they learn how dangerous and sometimes toxic the home that they have lived in for so many years is. Some raised children in those homes too.
Which brings up another point. I did a horrible job with my own children. When they were infants I put blankets on them, and they often went to sleep on their stomachs in their cribs which had bumpers in them, that matched the blankets. Mothers today are told how dangerous blankets and bumpers are and that the child should be placed on his or her back. No blankets allowed for infants they could smother in them.
It is even more horrific when I look at my own childhood. My parents were not required to get a car seat before they brought me home from the hospital, in fact I never had one at all. Cars were not as safe then as they are today either. To make matters worse my brother and I both slept in cribs that would never be built or sold today because the bars are too far apart and a child could get his or her head stuck between them.
For sellers who have learned that their homes are filled with hazards and dangers they should keep in mind that standards and codes have changed over the years. Many of us lived with hazards like lead based paint, radon, asbestos mold and formaldehyde, before the dangers to the human body were known or understood.
No home is as safe as it used to be. Homes that are safe today will not be so tomorrow. Don’t take it personally. For people who are concerned about the safety of their homes they can always have an inspection done. Visit the Minnesota department of health’s “Healthy Homes” page for more information about hazards in your home.
