I am the first to admit that I do not see most movies when in the theater, this was true for "The Blindside" with Sanrda Bullock.I did watch the movie and had an interesting discussion afterwards.  The movie was good and very touching, but more important was the simple message of change.  Change does not occur through big government programs to try and help make a difference ... there is little passion.  Change occurs when one person or family makes a consistent meaningful impact on another person or family.  Notice the use of the word consistent ... this does not mean each Thanksgiving you donate a meal ... it means each day you strive to change one person's life and keep striving with that person until they are able to be the mentor and not the mentee.

It is not the responsibility of the government ... it is your responsibility.  So volunteer for Big Brothers / Big Sisters and change one person's life.

On Monday July 21st the practice of using naked shorts will come to an end.  What is a naked short and why do we in real estate care?

A naked short is a manuver in which a speculator shorts a stock and does not have the stock in place to cover the short.  The speculator borrows the stock and then makes a contract to sell the stock at a lower price than it currently trades.  The abuse has been geared around speculators that do not have a trade lined-up that would allow them to purchase the stock that they are now suppose to sell.

I have recently moved and I for the first time used a moving company.  Prior to this move I have moved 14 times as an adult ... not including the 9 different moves while my father was in the Air Force.  So I know about moving.  I researched and got quotes from several movers, I did not go with the cheapest nor most expensive. 

Let's start with the beginning:

Salesperson makes promises that I have in writing about the cost ... I received a Binding Quote which means they could not charge me any more.

I packed all my lose items and the movers were to use pads for the furniture and load it on the truck.  This is the first place that the nickle and diming started ... although the pads were included in the price the "foreman" told me I had to pay for all the tape used to secure the pads ... here was the first call to the salesperson to get this cleared up.  They used 19 rolls of tape and wanted to charge me $4 per roll.

I do not have enough to fill an entire truck so I was to be put onto another truck and then shipped out, you would think that this would be arranged days in advance ... no the moving company will not give you a timeframe until all your items are on the truck and then they will tell you that someone will call in the next few days with a delivery range.  Seems that it would be pre-arranged through the scheduling department.

When all my items were on the truck my agreed upon price had a clause that said if I was under weight and volumn that I would be refunded up to $250 ... once they had my items that clause was "not valid" any more.  The "foreman" of the loading crew speaks poor English and makes it difficult to ask questions.  When I asked to supervisor I was told that if I didn't like the price he would unload my items on the dock and I could come and get them myself and find another way to move.

Upon delivery the driver said that the stairs were to many and that he would charge another fee for the stairs, this is not what the salesperson says.  All the items that I packed came through just fine ... the items the movers packed had several broken items ... know let's see how long it takes to get reimbursed from the moving company.

Why do moving companies have ... and deserve such a bad reputation:

1) BECAUSE THEY WILL PROMISE ANYTHING TO GET YOU TO SIGN A CONTRACT

2) BECAUSE ONCE THEY HAVE YOUR ITEMS YOU ARE AT THEIR MERCY

3) BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T GIVE IN TO THEM YOU WILL HAVE NO FURNITURE UNTIL THE ISSUE IS RESOLVED

Call me directly and I will tell you the name of the company I used.