depressing

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

   Well, I just gave our realtor the OK to lower the price on our house in WI another $5K.  A year and a half ago, it would have sold in a heartbeat for our original asking price.  We have come down more than $30K now on our price and not a single offer.  My arrogant realtor here just thinks they're not marketing it aggressively enough (seriously, she is out of touch with what is going on real estate wise in the rest  of the country.)  It will take an act of God for us not to have to bring money to the closing at this rate.  We are already losing money on it as it is.     I feel about halfway sick when I think about it.  The realtor there has even gone and planted mums in the front flower bed trying to dress it up a bit and make someone come buy it.   

I don't want to move back.   I really don't.

[glenn kangiser]

Not a chance on the renting it ?

[desdawg]

It is a sad state of affairs. I just received my first batch of property tax bills. Apparently the news hasn't reached the assessors office. Here in AZ assessments are two years behind. We are being taxed on 2006 valuations. In this modern world of cell phones, faxes, e-mails and point and click technology does that make any sense. 

[southernsis]

I am a real estate broker and closed by business up for awhile. It isn't worth the hazzle to try to sell anything now. A lot of buyers come in thinking they can offer a very low price and the sellers will take it. All that happens is everyone gets mad and I get yelled at for presenting the offer or the potential buyer think I haven't worked magic on the sellers. I decided to keep my license, but doubt I will do anything for a year or so. It is a terrible time to try to sell anything.
I should open a hotdog cart, everyone has to eat. 

[John_C]

Des,

I feel your pain ......  no I mean I really feel it.

In my county assessed valuations went up about 100% this year.  One of me neighbors properties went from $50k  to  $450k  even though it's been on the market for 2+ years at $125K with no offers.

Now the Board of Commissioners wants a 36% increase in the millage rate.  All in all I think it's good that they went so far overboard.  It's way past time for the natives to get restless.  A small increase would provoke some grumbling but maybe now the taxpayers will actually demand a change.

  Ya Right   

[glenn kangiser]

I am a real estate broker and closed by business up for awhile. It isn't worth the hazzle to try to sell anything now. A lot of buyers come in thinking they can offer a very low price and the sellers will take it. All that happens is everyone gets mad and I get yelled at for presenting the offer or the potential buyer think I haven't worked magic on the sellers. I decided to keep my license, but doubt I will do anything for a year or so. It is a terrible time to try to sell anything.
I should open a hotdog cart, everyone has to eat. 

You can bet someone will choke on a hotdog and an ambulance chaaser will be there to collect.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Naw, Glenn, she could get out of that with one of the idiot warning signs that say things like "Hotdogs pose a choking hazard.  Please chew hotdog thoroughly before trying to swallow.  Not liable for accidents or injuries from this product."

Our realtor was holding another brokers' open house today for WI brokers (she already had one for IL brokers because her office is actually in IL.)  I haven't gotten any feedback yet.  The market is projected to just keep plummeting up there for at least the rest of the year.  If we rent the house out, we lose the benefit of having DH's company pay the realtor's commission if/when we do sell it, and in addition, we still have to pay for maintainence and management because we're so far away, and all the while run the risk of someone totally destroying it.  We don't have any desire to own a house in Wisconsin at this point in time, so I really hope it will just sell.  DH's company has fulfilled all their obligations to us for temp housing, so they could drop us at any moment and we'd be up a creek.  I don't think they'd do that because they're really happy with hiring DH, and they've gone out of their way to try to accomodate us, and so far they're still paying temp housing.  However, it's making us all a little crazy living in the city and we'd sure be glad to sell and get out of here.

Sigh.  Maybe today I'll hear something good.  I sure hope so.  Trying to keep from being too depressed about it.

[ScottA]

Hang in there HG. Things have a way of working out.

[glenn kangiser]

Those signs really work? hmm

Hope things work out Homey.  The whole US and world is going to be rough for everybody for a while I think.  Soon it will just have to get better.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Yep, it's going to be rough for a while.  The realtor changed the open house to today apparently, so she emailed me that she'd either call or email me with feedback afterwards.  Just really hope that there's some good news.  I am sick with some sort of a really awful cold, so that probably isn't helping me much, either. 

Glenn,  on the stupid warning labels, my brother-in-law's car in Korea ( a Korean-made car, at that) had a warning IN ENGLISH on the back doors to look for traffic before opening the doors!  I wondered if they'd been sued by some dumb American consumer and were required to put that kind of a warning on them, or if they'd just heard about us and how litigation happy we are. 

[glenn kangiser]

It wouldn't even surprise me.  We are plagued with an abundance of lawyers.

That's what I liked about Mexico.  If you fell off the four foot high sidewalk with no handrails and broke your leg it was your fault for not being smart enough to stay away from the edge.  Why can't we take responsibility for our actions here? hmm

[fishing_guy]

Why can't we take responsibility for our actions here? hmm

Glenn,
That's what most people here in Minnesota think the Government is for

[John_C]

Why can't we take responsibility for our actions here? hmm

Ahh  the perfect segue
Stella Awards

It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico where she purchased the coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right?

That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S . You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy.

Here are the Stella's for the past year:

Ok as per Don's post below I checked the ones I posted and they were ALL bogus.  My bad.. but here are the actual Stella winners from 2007

#3: Sentry Insurance Company. The company provided worker's compensation insurance for a Wisconsin "Meals on Wheels" program. Delivering a meal, a MoW volunteer (who was allegedly not even wearing boots) slipped and fell on a participant's driveway that had been cleared of snow, and Sentry had to pay to care for her resulting injuries. Sentry wanted its money back, so it sued the 81-year-old homeowner getting the Meals on Wheels service. It could have simply filed for "subrogation" from her homeowner's insurance company, but by naming her in the action, it dragged an old lady into court, reinforcing the image of insurance companies as concerned only about the bottom line, not "protecting" policyholders from loss.

#2: The family of Robert Hornbeck. Hornbeck volunteered for the Army and served a stint in Iraq. After getting home, he got drunk, wandered into a hotel's service area (passing "DANGER" warning signs), crawled into an air conditioning unit, and was severely cut when the machinery activated. Unable to care for himself due to his drunkenness, he bled to death. A tragedy, to be sure, but one solely caused by a supposedly responsible adult with military training. Despite his irresponsible behavior -- and his perhaps criminal trespassing -- Hornbeck's family sued the hotel for $10 million, as if it's reasonably foreseeable that some drunk fool would ignore warning signs and climb into its heavy duty machinery to sleep off his bender.

But those pale compared to...

The winner of the 2007 True Stella Award: Roy L. Pearson Jr. The 57-year-old Administrative Law Judge from Washington DC claims that a dry cleaner lost a pair of his pants, so he sued the mom-and-pop business for $65,462,500. That's right: more than $65 million for one pair of pants. Representing himself, Judge Pearson cried in court over the loss of his pants, whining that there certainly isn't a more compelling case in the District archives. But the Superior Court judge wasn't moved: he called the case "vexatious litigation", scolded Judge Pearson for his "bad faith", and awarded damages to the dry cleaners. But Pearson didn't take no for an answer: he's appealing the decision. And he has plenty of time on his hands, since he was dismissed from his job. Last we heard, Pearson's appeal is still pending.

[MountainDon]

Those are depressing John. But are they all actually true??  Because I've heard the Winnebago story before, but with a male in place of the female.   

[glenn kangiser]

This is a good portion of why people with common sense want to see the system destroyed.  The system is mainly for stupid people.  

Not meaning to offend anyone in particular.  Maybe just everyone in general - either because they are stupid enough to want to benefit by a lawsuit like this or because they can't understand how anyone could.

No matter -- I'm hoping that the next Winnebago on cruise control as the driver makes a sandwich is also filled with lawyers in the back.  Why the hell didn't it kill her.

[John_C]

I didn't check them.  Something to do this evening, I guess.  True or not they aren't out of line with today's judicial system.


We have a trial going on right now in GA.  The Brian Nichols case.  The female deputy survived. No question he did it or that we have the right guy.  The state has spent over $3 million on his defense and the trial has just started.  If he gets the death penalty there will be years of appeals.  The state has also paid $10 million to the families of those killed during his escape.

From Wikipedia:
"After a 51-year old female sheriff's deputy, 5'2" Cynthia Hall, removed his handcuffs so that he could change into civilian clothes in preparation for a court appearance, Nichols attacked the deputy and took her side arm, weapon magazines and keys. According to hospital sources, the deputy suffered bruising to her brain and some fractures around her face. After the attack, her condition was reported as critical, but she survived. Deputy Hall's injuries were so severe that the ER Doctor initially believed she sustained a gunshot wound to the face.

Nichols then crossed over to the old courthouse via a skybridge, where he entered the private chambers of Judge Rowland W. Barnes. While there, he encountered Sgt. Grantley White and also took his weapon. Nichols then entered Barnes' courtroom from a door behind the judge's bench, where Barnes was presiding over motions in a civil trial, and shot him in the back of the head. Nichols then shot Julie Brandau, the court reporter, and as he made his escape from the courthouse he shot Sgt. Hoyt Teasley, a pursuing deputy. Barnes and the court reporter died at the scene and the deputy was pronounced DOA at Grady Memorial Hospital"

[glenn kangiser]

$3 million where there is no question of murder and guilt.

Let's see - $3million  versus let's say $25 for a box of 30.06 shells in case the first 24 or so shots weren't fatal immediately. 

No wonder the system needs to be destroyed.

...and people here think the Arabs are cruel for cutting off a hand for stealing.  We are really messed up...

[John_C]

$3 mil is what has been paid.  They are already claiming at least another $1.8 million.  This thing is going to go $5 - $6 million and may end in a mistrial/do-over.

[MountainDon]

It's surprising that they haven't tried to drag the firearm manufacturer into it claiming they has some sort of responsibility.


The McDonald's coffee case took place here in NM. There is more to it than what is usually reported. As well, many reports leave out details.

1. It was not the first time someone was burned my McDonald's coffee. During the discovery process McDonald's produced documents that showed they had over 700 similar cases between 1982 and 1992. They settled most out of court. All? Not sure. That's the corporation, not the individual restaurant.
2. The woman was a passenger, not driving. But yes she placed the cup between her legs, trying to remove the lid.
3. McDonald's did maintain their coffee between 180 and 190 degrees on the advice of a coffee expert. It is true that coffee made at 190 degrees tastes better. I have a commercial coffee brewer; it produces coffee at 190.
4. It is known medically that liquids at 180 degrees will produce third degree burns. Actually ant food or drink at 140 or above can produce burns.
5. McDonald's quality assurance manager testified that he/they knew of the dangers, but would not consider lowering the temperature.
6. During the trial McDonalds asserted that customers buy coffee on their way to work or home, intending to consume it there. However, the company's own research showed that customers intend to consume the coffee immediately while driving.
7. The woman would have settled with McDonald's for $20,000 but they refused, so she went to court.


So there was more to that story than many reports state.

Source of my information...
http://www.caoc.com/CA/index.cfm?event=showPage&pg=facts

[MountainDon]

Note: the following link reveals that those legal stories (listed above) were fabricated...

http://www.caoc.com/CA/index.cfm?event=showPage&pg=isstort

I also found info on snopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp

Snopes was interesting in that they list some legal cases that were brought to trial and failed. They were just about as far fetched as the cases John brought to us. So although they were fabrications there are real life, honest to goodness cases out there that indeed do confirm that something is awry in our legal system.

But it may not be as bad as it seems some folks like to make out.

From snopes..

In 1994, a student at the University of Idaho unsuccessfully sued that
institution over his fall from a third-floor dorm window. He'd been
mooning other students when the window gave way. It was contended the
University failed to provide a safe environment for students or to
properly warn them of the dangers inherent to upper-story windows.

There's a few more examples there but snopes makes it difficult to copy their pages.