Marvelous, Brisk Fresh Air!

I’m a big supporter of the Bend Bulletin. It’s a great paper with a proud history. But lately they’ve run some stories I think are inappropriate. All that discussion of Columbia Aircraft, for example. Excuse me, but who cares? I think we could do without stories of layoffs and buyouts and upheaval. It’s not useful to the community. What should be covered are all the great new jobs that are coming to Bend, because that’s what’s important. And all the great new people and houses that are showing up every day! Bend is a growth story, after all. Anything that goes against that just confuses people. Is it a newspaper’s job to confuse people?

There are also stories about poor people, homeless people, etc. No one wants to read that. And please, there are no poor people in Bend! We keep our poor people in Redmond and LaPine. They have their own poor-people communities there and I’m sure they’re very happy. It’s a marvelous system we have in Central Oregon.

Of course there are the people who come from Redmond and LaPine to work in Bend, but I don’t think many of them are genuinely poor. The other day at Newport Market my cashier was a young lad who looked remarkably like a picture of John Jacob Astor I’ve seen. The boy is probably worth millions. Likely, he’s working his way up through all sorts of jobs so he can run a large retail chain. I’ve known rich families that do that–they send their scions off into the real world to learn how everything works. Think about it. If he were poor, why would he be in Bend? It just doesn’t make any sense.

I’d like to get to know more people from LaPine and Redmond. I’m sure there are nice ones.

I did get to talk on the phone with a Realtor from Redmond the other day. I should invite her up to see my new paving stones in the side yard. She told me that she had been quoted in the paper a couple weeks ago. She had said that prices couldn’t go down much more. What a ridiculous thing to say. Prices haven’t gone down at all. Well, maybe in Redmond, but not in Bend. Silly Redmond–what can you expect when you base your economy around a “Super” Wal-Mart? Has anyone in the whole country EVER even been inside a Wal-Mart?

Anyway, she was upset that some people were razzing her about the Bulletin story. But it’s not what you think. See, these people teasing her think that houses could go down by as much as 5%. Some people think maybe even more!

Isn’t that silly? What sad lives these people must have, full of self-deception. “Pam, honey,” I said, “I’ve never heard anything quite so funny. Next, they’ll be saying that summer comes in the winter in New Zealand! It makes no sense! Don’t you worry about them!”

We’re lucky to live in such a marvelous city, where the only thing to worry about is a few backward people with goof ball ideas who spend their time on the Internet making up pseudo-scientific reasons that this or that “has” to happen! They don’t know anything. They’re rabble-rousers.

Oh, I can get myself so worked up! But it’s a lovely evening. No worries, Sally, no worries at all! I’ve opened the study window. The air is brisk and marvelous, and I can almost see the mountains. If only I could get that damned neighbor’s tree to finally die. Oh well, a project for another day.

Bob’s supposed to pick out some wine on his way home so we can have a romantic evening. I hope he gets something expensive!

Tags: bubble, real estate