As if that's much of a headline. I'm serving up a steaming load of update today...
MOM & DAD'S WASHINGTON HOMESTEAD
Just a couple of weeks ago, Mom and Dad were in town to look around at potential land for their next house. They want to be close to the soon-to-be grandchild, but also residing in the income tax haven that is the State of Washington - with sales tax-free shopping across the river in Oregon. It looks like they've narrowed their choice to a couple of properties:
A 40+ acre site near Kelso, Washington on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River and the lovely cities of Longview and Kelso, Washington.
A 5 acre site near Woodland, Washington also on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River, but with a better potential view than the other property.
At this point, it looks like they're leaning towards the 40+ acre site so that they can build a home on a larger lot and then sell off smaller lots (3-8 acres) to other people. So, it's really a commercial investment for them if it goes through. Looks like financing is working out so far, Dad just has to find an equity partner. The 5 acre site in Woodland (closer to Portland/Vancouver) is just big enough for a home.. it wouldn't be subdivided. I'll be working on due diligence for them at a bargain: only 5% of cashflow over the lifetime of development!
In the meantime, they've found an apartment in Vancouver, Washington to rent until they figure out what all they need to do. They should be moving in later this month.
MEETING ELLIE PHANT
Mom has a new travel companion: Ellie, a then 11-week-old hairless Chihuahua. She's a cute thing, and particularly hyper at night. Especially if she gets to chew on catnip for a spell. She kept Nino on the run, so that was something. I don't have pics yet transferred to the computer, but when I do I'll post. She has a couple of nice sweaters right now, which she definitely put to use while here, but she hasn't yet been outfitted with a rain slicker that fits. Again, photos will be posted when it happens.
TOM & KATE BATTLE THE OREGON BAR
While Mom and Dad were in town looking at property, Tom and Kate were at the Portland Airport Holiday Inn studying for and taking the Oregon Bar Exam. It lasted two days and after it was all over, they seemed to feel pretty good about it.. but neither would dare to say it was easy or they aced it for fear of a jinx. Here's hoping that they did just that, even though we will refrain from overconfident language here, also.
Upon return to Sacramento, Tom learned that he had leapfrogged a bunch of colleagues and was promoted to an assistant managerial position at ETrade due to his good performance and law degree. Congratulations!
But it doesn't look like there was much competition, does there?
ME-MA AND THE GIRLS VISIT
The following Sunday, Me-ma, Toni and Terran flew into Portland from Las Vegas for a visit and then they joined Mom in her honkin' huge Toyota dual-cab truck (with DVD player and in-flight service) for a drive up to Spokane/Idaho for a visit at Jim Ed and Andrea's. While they were here, we visited the Spaghetti Factory for plenty of messy fun, then that night they were entranced with slugs and earthworms. I'm pretty sure Gallup doesn't have the profusion of slugs that we so enjoy up here.
The girls got out their disposable cameras and snapped photo after photo of the slimy little buggers... here's a little bit of info.
On the way out, they apparently stopped at a bunch of waterfalls along the Columbia River Gorge on their way to Tri-Cities and then north.
THE DOWNSIDE OF PREGNANCY
Even though we're both as happy as can be about the new addition to the family, things lately have taken a pretty bad turn as Jill has battled a pretty severe pregnancy rash. I won't even begin to link a photo of what it looks like. Take my word for it, you wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy. So far, only Jill's cousin Cecilia Wachdorf, a Ph.D. midwife and nurse, has had a grasp of what Jill has and she's been an incredible resource for us.
Thank You, Cecilia!
Photo courtesy of Les Hardison - www.hardison.info
The one doctor that would bother to see Jill misdiagnosed it as a third trimester-type rash, while her former OB/GYN wouldn't even see her and told her to just dose up on Benadryl. Jill's done that in combination with other treatment recommended by Cecilia.. and the Benadryl hasn't even been good about helping Jill sleep.
So, we have the TV and VCR hooked up in the bedroom and when Jill can't sleep, she watches a videotape until it does the trick. If we had WebTV, she could simply read this website and that would certainly do it. But she is showing signs that its slowing down and getting better. Tomorrow, she finally gets in to a dermatologist, so we'll see how that goes. We all hope she gets better very soon.
JUDY MANAGES TO FIND A QUACK DOCTOR
After being told by a knowledgeable foot surgeon in Medford that her foot can be fixed when she's ready, but now in Portland, she visited a Portland MD and they guy told her that she had to have her foot fused as it was a lost cause. So, after grappling with the unnecessarily bad news, she's on the look-out for a second, informed opinion here in the Portland metro area. Updates will come as we hear something.
BETTY RICE AND FAMILY DOING WELL
Dad's sister Betty (formerly?) of Plain-Old, Texas wrote to say hello and congratulate us on the pregnancy. She finally found this website after Dad apparently gave her the address but was missing some address characters for some reason.
She wrote to say that she's getting along fine in the real estate businesses in Dallas (refurbishing condominiums and townhouses and reselling, as I recall) so that's great news. Jennifer is now at The Ohio State University in Columbus working on her Master's and likely Ph.D. in Geography (I think..). She apparently enjoys it over there, but Betty noted they had a mild winter. What, like only 50 below? Jennifer has a boyfriend in Austin, so she's doing the whole long-distance relationship thing. Here's hoping all works out for her.
Gary is apparently raking in the money working for a mobile home distributor. Betty says he gets to travel a lot and is quite happy, so that's great news, too. If either of you read this and want to elaborate yourself, email me (wer@johnson-gardner.com - click my address over in the left margin) and I'll be happy to do so!
BILL GETS A SECOND-HAND PDA!
This week, my boss bought himself a new Palm Pilot PDA, so he gave his old one to me. The little devil is lots of fun. Any time I want, I can organize my schedule, write memos, to-do-lists, send emails, do expense reports and I even downloaded a schedule for the MAX light rail Blue Line so that I know when I can catch a train anywhere to head home or to work. Now if I could get it to do my taxes, clean the house, install interior door panels and cook I'd be set.
NEW STOCK INVESTMENT
I'm documenting that today, I sold 8 shares of Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) and then purchased ten shares of Sanofi-Synthelabo (NYSE: SNY), a french pharmaceutical company. I do so because WaMu has slowed down in its price momentum AND it's too large a share of my portfolio. I need a foreign investment, so there you go.
Not only that, but they announced yesterday that their new test drug has had phenomenal success at helping to curb cravings for cigarettes AND help with weight loss AND reduce bad cholesterol AND the drug will likely be used to treat ANY addiction that has chemical mechanisms. By that, I mean that any addiction that releases endorphins (eating comfort foods, smoking, alcohol, drugs, etc.) will likely be successfully treated by this drug because it blocks the endorphin mechanism, thus killing the positive feedback loop that creates addictions in the first place. No rush or calm or general good feelings will be generated by smoking/drinking/insert addiction here with the use of this drug. So, I got in on it while it was early.
The price was right, too.. $34 and change per share, its P/E ratio is below 19 and it appreciated 33% in price last year without being overpriced as the P/E ratio I just quoted indicates. We'll see....
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