Odds and Ends

I was warned at one point that blogging would take over my life. I have been blogging now for more than two years - longer, according to some studies, than 95% of the blogs on the 'net - and although it has not taken over my life it is true that it has occasionally been an oppressive nagging at the back of my mind, especially when it's been a week or so since my last post.

Some stuff:

First off, rates are back on the rise. We've added .25% to the 30-year rate over the last three trading days, back to 6.25% or even 6.375%. Most of this move, practically all of it, is caused by angst over what the Fed is going to do, rather than the actual economic numbers themselves. The Fed Minutes - a record of what went on at the last Fed meeting - were released yesterday and they said, in part, that the Fed still believed that inflation was a problem, and that more rate hikes might be necessary. But that wasn't the scary part; that was expected after the insanity of the last two years of Fed commentary. What made me shake my head was the comment from one of the Fed members that the Fed needed to "remain vigilant" on inflation to "establish the Fed's inflation-fighting credentials". Never mind simply producing sound financial policy. Let's make sure nobody thinks we're soft. Sigh.

Secondly, the housing market continues to cool in places where it just couldn't get any hotter, like San Francisco, Las Vegas, and St. George. However, the market in central Utah and other places of particular importance to readers of this blog continues to be hot, if not quite as hot as it has been. The house around the corner has been for sale for two months now, and still hasn't sold. Of course, it's the only house for sale for three blocks in any direction, so I don't interpret this as a sign of a crash. Still, it appears that those of us in Lehi cannot expect to get 5-7% increases in the price of our homes every month for a while. But we'll revisit this topic in the spring. Housing always slows down in the winter.

Thirdly, another reminder of our Homebuyers' Workshop on November 9, at 6pm. You'll need to RSVP if you want to be there. Call Olivia at 787-2162. We're slowly running out of spots, so don't wait.

Other stuff:

The top ten quotes about the French.

Lots of my friends have expressed their satisfaction that the US Congress has passed a bill to have the US build a border fence with Mexico. I think they might want to re-think this, in light of the 14 years that it has taken to build just a 14-mile fence between San Diego and Tijuana. We're free-marketeers here, and that includes free markets in people. I will have nothing further to say about this subject on this blog. Ever.

The most creative take on naming rights (you know, stuff like Minute Maid Park) I've seen in a while.

Some say blogging is a waste of time. Hah. That's ridiculous. This post all by itself made the entire invention of the Internet worth it. How a 10th anniversary, a plane flight, and a poker game conspire to make a guy $10,000. Read the whole thing. Freakonomics was a great book, I've said that before, but the http://www.freakonomics.com/blog/ is just as good. It's like getting a new chapter every couple of days.

More later, but the kids are out of school for the rest of the week, so don't get antsy if it doesn't come soon.

And thank you, sincerely, for reading. It means a lot to me.