Happy Thanksgiving folks!!

Ahh... I love the classics. Thanksgiving is such a beautiful holiday, my sincere best wishes go out to you and yours (yeah Loyd, especially you).

What am I thankful for this year?? Well I'm thankful for the hacker that blew the lid off the Global Warming nonsense.

Veterans Day

In honor of those who have sacrificed for our freedom...



Thank you.

Well... it is that time

Hey folks, first I want to say what an honor it is for me that you have stopped by to read anything that is written here at MOCO. This blog is about three and a half years old now, and all throughout there have been changes. Today comes a bigger change.

You look at the top and you will see that the blog's title has changed. We are now MOCO Real Politics. The goals still remain the same though, honest opinion and relevant research of the pressing issues of the day. There will be no shortage of either as we move forward.

Some of you know that I am leaving the area that I have called home for nearly the last ten years. I can say that I don't often share my personal family information here at this blog, but in this case part of the reason I am making the change is to once again join my wife on a more permanent basis under one roof. We have lived apart for nearly two years. In many ways the experiences have been easier than expected... and we've certainly had fun (nothing like total control of the remote control... and Gail would say the very same thing).

But new opportunities have revealed themselves to both my wife and me and we are looking forward to new challenges in New Mexico. Now that is not to say that we are leaving behind this area in northwestern Arizona. In fact we both love it here and know that if we make good on our opportunities that it would allow us the choice to re-relocate back home. For the time being though, we will have to make due with frequent visits to Kingman.

Luckily for me, with all of the interest that I have in this great community, I'll only be an Internet connection away. This is why I am keeping this blog in existence, and I hope to grow it even though I won't be physically here.

I've asked a few people to help contribute to the blog. So if you don't recognize the writing style or even the format of a new post, be sure to look below the post for the actual author.

I'd like to have even more contributors so if you are interested in offering your information and opinion on the political happenings in the Mohave County area, please email me by clicking on the 'email Todd' button on the sidebar. I'll even open it up to folks that may not want to use their real name as a contributor, perhaps you'll feel more comfortable using an online moniker. But in order to do that, I will at least have to know who you are. We'll work that out via email an phone.

The goal is to get more conversations going about the important issues. It is about bringing more voices into the fold, more collaboration efforts to find pleasing solutions for a greater percentage of the friends and neighbors here in Kingman and beyond. Trust me, you can help and that is why I ask you to contribute.

As for residential real estate related data and the monthly reports I have offered up over the last three plus years... I plan on continuing the sales report that I produce ten or so days into the month that covers what took place the prior month. As I mentioned in the listings report a few days ago, I'm not as certain if I will keep that report going... it will just depend on time constraints. If I think that I cannot continue that report, I will announce that change.

I still have an active real estate license and am still a member of the local, state, and national association of Realtors. It is my intention to help anyone that needs real estate services in this area as best as I can. Even if that means coming back to the area to provide the real estate related services. If I am unable to provide that service, I certainly can point an interested person to the right direction of an agent or broker that can.

For the last few months I have been a part of a podcast called 'Mohave Real Talk' and the plan there is to continue those podcasts with my good friend and excellent real estate broker in Bullhead City, Evan Fuchs. I know some of you can't hardly wait for the next episode as they arrive, so I will be sure to announce when the new podcasts are available on this blog, and via Twitter and Facebook.

Perhaps it might seem like I never left. What a wonderful thing this here Internet doo-hickey is.

As for the title change of the blog, I simply feel there is not enough focus on political issues here in this area and this blog will do whatever it can to shed light on important community issues. There will be attempts to have email interviews with community leaders so that we can all have a chance to see what is on the minds of our leaders. And if possible, even video interviews to share.

Bottom line here, I urge you to get involved in the community and I can at least offer you a platform here at MOCO. Please feel compelled to use the comments if you do not want to publish your own contributions. Beyond MOCO though, attend a public meeting at either the county or the city. Speak in front of the governing bodies on an issue at those meetings. Watch the meetings on local access TV or via an Internet connection. Ask questions, demand answers of our local public servants that have the privilege of our votes.

The one key issue that I believe in strongly is the protection of private property rights. Those rights extend beyond real estate, please keep that in mind. I believe that these rights are being threatened by not only the local governments at times, but also by some folks that really have no concept of the rights until they too are faced with something that could threaten their own rights.

Without a doubt, the community will lose valuable property rights before we ever run out of water. I plan on researching more about the protection of private property rights and the things that we can do to ensure we always have them (just like we will always have water here). You can bet that I will share all of the pertinent information about property rights so you will stay in the know.

My next post will be published from New Mexico, but just so you know it won't be the first post that I published from New Mexico or Minnesota or Florida or Nevada or many other places. This will be the 1,030th post on MOCO... help me push this total over 2,000 posts in the next few years.

God bless you all, thanks again from the bottom of my heart for your visits to MOCO. I look forward to seeing you all back many more times as you will always be welcome. I also look forward to seeing many of you in person as I come back to Kingman for frequent visits.

Better days ahead!!

My weekend photos...

I sneaked out of town again this past weekend and headed to the high country of Durango Colorado. A nice visit with extended family ensued... plus I managed a few nice photos worth sharing...




... I'll probably write about water issues again this week, however I'm thinking about going a different direction. Basically if the water worry warts are right about the level of water remaining in Mohave County, shouldn't we be paying much more in fees for use of the water?? I mean if we are going to protect those last few remaining drops down there, somebody needs to pony up. Might as well be us because we are the only ones here and plus we are trying to protect that source for future generations.

A man, his iPod, and some trisodium phosphate...

Just looking a my brand new farmers sunburn and I'm reminded of this past weekend. No, not fun in the sun angling for fish on Lake Mead for me this time. Not some golf event for that matter either. Nope, instead I decided to tackle a few projects in my backyard over the holiday weekend.

The lawn needed to be aerated and had to do it manually, plus it was time to kick up the watering schedule a bit. Some of the rose bushes were already getting too large so I cut them back to size.

And then there was the outdoor teak wood furniture set that I have been trying to take care of practically since the day my wife and I bought the set back in 2002.

For the most part regular maintenance on the furniture included some sanding and then cleaning up with a solution of Simple Green and water, but there is a little more to the why of it all. You see, when we first bought this gorgeous furniture and put it all together we had this wild idea to head to the hardware store and buy some sort of oil finish. We should have never done that. Since that time we haven't really been as pleased with the kinda expensive set. Sure, we've used that furniture each and every time we've had folks over for cookouts and the like but sealing the teak wood, as we came to find out is what we did, messed things up.

Since that time a couple of times a year, or so, I've been sanding off the finish then washing it with a solution and walking away. Over time the more natural look has come back but it had left me without a better solution as to how to maintain the teak wood of the furniture.

So I hopped on the internetz to take a gander to see if anyone else had anything on how to care for teak wood. I sifted through mostly product information for the most part and prices on teak wood care products ranged all over the place from about $30 to $200. Well, I've been burned on a product before (the oil/sealant stuff from way back when) and didn't want to plunk down a bunch of dollars on something that would cause the same mess over again (can't blame me really). But eventually I came across a bit of information that said a solution of trisodium phosphate, regular bleach, and water would help do the trick. It didn't sound like a huge expense (but I didn't know what trisodium phosphate was) so I again headed to the hardware store to check it out. Found the stuff at the paint department and decided to pick up a small box of it in powder form for like $5 bucks. The results can be seen below...


I have to say that I didn't set up the chairs in true before and after succession. The chair on the left is the finished product of my labor. The color is as close to what it was the day we put the furniture together. I finished with a light sanding by hand.

On the far right is the condition of the chair before anything was done, just simply the elements of time and weather since the last time I sanded and cleaned. The chair in the middle is how the furniture has looked after a sanding and cleaning with the solution I mentioned at the beginning. For the most part I didn't mind the look of sanding and cleaning but that was before I saw the results of the trisodium phosphate/bleach solution.

All in all, once I started to use the new (to me) solution to clean the furniture time went by pretty quickly and compared to staining the furniture it was a snap timewise. The large table and the six chairs took most of Monday, but the weather was reasonable (I thought anyway) for this kind of activity and I had the iPod on random play for and reconnected with tunes I probably haven't played in more than 10 years or so. I think I may be looking forward to the fall season to perhaps give this sort of maintenance another go and hopefully will have a fully charged iPod for listening pleasure.

The point of this post is just to sort of pay it forward, so to speak. Maybe somebody else out there in the vast internetz is pondering the same sort of activity and hopefully the before and after photos will be of some help if they happen to land on this site after a search.

Good day.

Bowling at the national tourney in Vegas

I spent Sunday and Monday in Las Vegas bowling in the USBC National tournament. Had a great time but didn't actually score very well. Actually it was rather humbling. Lane conditions were tough for me and I simply was not up to the challenge. So I won't be posting scores because frankly I've already done a great job at forgetting the rather forgettable scores.



The motley crew above represented Kingman (and Flagstaff)... and I think most all were all too happy to see this event come to an end for us. Maybe next year!!

"That ball is outta here!!"

This is to the Philadelphia Fan To Laud your passion as best I can
Your loyalty is unsurpassed Be the Fightins in first or last
We come to the park each day Looking forward to another fray
Because we know you'll be there We know you really care
You give the opposing pitcher fits Because as one loyalist shouts, "Everybody hits"
To be sure in Philly, there might be some boos Because you passionate fans, like the manager, hate to lose
Your reaction to the action on the field that you impart Spurs us as broadcasters to call the game with enthusiasm and heart
We feel your passion through and through
Philadelphia fans, I love you.

“Swing and a long drive, there it is, number 500! The career 500th home run for Michael Jack Schmidt!”

"65,000 plus on their feet here at Veterans Stadium. The Tugger needs one more...Swing and a miss! Yes, he struck him out! Yes, they did it! The Phillies are world champions! World champions of baseball! It's pandemonium at Veterans Stadium! All of the fans are on their feet. This city has come together behind a baseball team!...Phillies are world champions! This city knows it! This city loves it!"

"One strike away; nothing-and-two, the count to Hinske. Fans on the their feet; rally towels are being waved. Brad Lidge stretches. The 0-2 pitch — swing and a miss, struck him out! The Philadelphia Phillies are 2008 World Champions of baseball! Brad Lidge does it again, and stays perfect for the 2008 season! 48-for-48 in save opportunities, and watch the city celebrate! Don't let the 48-hour wait diminish the euphoria of this moment, and the celebration. And it has been 28 years since the Phillies have enjoyed a World Championship; 25 years in this city with a team that has enjoyed a World Championship, and the fans are ready to celebrate. What a night!"

Phillies Phorever!!

Still on the road...

Stopped by this monument today and snapped this photo...



... always with Arizona on my mind.

Was also here...



... the world famous Corn Palace folks. Kingman represents at the Corn Palace!!

I'm back...

After AAR's Winter Conference I headed out to eastern New Mexico to spend a few days with my wife and the grandkids. Just didn't feel like blogging, or staying current on local issues for that matter. Seeing the kids smile and laugh was enough for me.

Have been trying to catch up and am about half way through my emails (yep, didn't check those either)... hopefully there will be time for some updates throughout the day.

Glad to be back though... and who do I thank for the great weather??

Oh... and on the econ development front from the location I was at was this...

Part of the city’s economic achievements include more than 1,000 jobs created in the past few years and more than 1,200 homes sold in the last two years. And new industries attracted to the city particularly because of the industrial park, (Clovis Mayor Gayla Brumfield) said.

“Even with the state of the national economy and the loss of capital markets, our economic development efforts have been very successful,” she said.

And it is too bad that the local newspaper, for whatever reason, doesn't include their Sunday edition online as there was a great article on the success of their local real estate market.

Polar Plunge time again...

When I say 'again', I don't mean again for me... as I'm not all that fond of icy cold water in subfreezing weather. However once again it is my wife, Gail, that is raising money for charity in the Minnesota area and this coming Saturday she takes the plunge again.

See this post from last year.

Looking at the weather forecast here and while it only goes to Friday (as of today), I doubt seriously that a warming trend of any significance is in the offing for Saturday. Should be much colder than last year.

If you would like donate this year to help the cause please do. I know that financial times are tough this year and maybe you are left with less than you normally are for charitable donations. To entice you though this year Gail will be raffling off a trip to Cabo. Details below.

Here is the link to the Frontier Team website, there you can scroll down to find Plunger Gail Tarson. Please help if you can.

Thank you for visiting my web page to support Special Olympics! This is my second year taking the plunge and you can imagine my excitement to freeze my bum off again. In all seriousness though, it is well worth the temporary sting of the bitter cold. It's a small sacrifice for a GREAT organization.

Your kindness and generosity in supporting me and the Special Olympics is inspiring and a great blessing. Last year, with your help (my family, friends and business colleagues), I was the TOP on-line fund raiser for this event. You all made it happen! Thank you! Let's do it again this year!!!

To support our fund raising efforts, my husband Todd and I have donated our Condo for 1 week (7 days, 7 nights) in Cabo San Lucas. Every person who donates to my fund raising effort with a minimum of $20 will be entered into a raffle drawing to WIN!

$20 1-ticket

$40 3-tickets

$60 5-tickets

$100 10-tickets

Drawing will be held and winner announced Monday, March 2nd, 2009.

Note: Winner is responsible for airfare and must have a passport. The raffle is for the condo only. Check out the resort at http://www.loscabosguide.com/hotels/vdpalmar.htm (Valued at over $1,200)

If by some chance donations come in and total over $5,000, Gail will wear a swimsuit at the event and I'll post photos here on this blog and on my social networks. She at least needs to make her goal of $1,000 in order for me to publish photos of the event.

Help if you can, thank you.

No...

Enough with the nanny state bull-crap. I know for a fact that accidents happened on the roads and freeways of this state before the invention of the cell phone ever occurred.

Personally, I don't care if you talk on the phone, fix your lipstick, chow down on a cheeseburger, adjust the radio, read a book, or whatever when you are behind the wheel. I just ask that you be responsible for your actions, nothing more -- nothing less. It is the same thing I offer the other motorists on the roads as a bare minimum. Accidents happen for many reasons, sometimes for no reason at all other than the occurrence of an accidental happenstance.

Maybe the government should outlaw accidents, instead of going after silly things like this.

The cell phone ban itself is not what bugs me. I might use my phone for about 1% of the total driving time I'm in my vehicle. If this is passed into law, it won't have a dramatic affect on my life... but I am troubled about the threats to my liberty. Enough is enough.

Blogging was light...

Blogging was a bit slow this week as I took my annual trip down to Phoenix for the Realtor Professional Standards Committee workshop on Wednesday and attended one of the many Executive Committee meetings for the Arizona Association of Realtors in my role as Region 1 VP the following day.

My schedule remained busy on Friday as calls came in from potential buyers and I followed up on a listing that I've been working on.

Hopefully that kind of business activity continues.

Not as I had hoped...

Happy for the fans of the Cardinals for their effort in the NFC title game yesterday, but I am obviously not thrilled by the outcome (as an Eagles fan).

No excuses either, the better team won that game. Executed a great game in the first half and did enough in the final minutes to earn the victory.

I will be rooting for the Cardinals in the big game. I think it is great to see the state of Arizona have another shot at a pro sports league title. I still remember game 7 of World Series back in 2001 when an AZ team won it all. There was an NFL football game played that afternoon in Phoenix as I was in attendance (still remember the B-2 bomber flying over the sky before the baseball game started as I began the drive back to Kingman), and I would have preferred the same outcome between those two teams yesterday however.

Eagles fly into Arizona...

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb celebrates Sunday, as does Cardinals QB Kurt Warner on Saturday. They'll meet next Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009, in Glendale.


As you might imagine, the Eagles fan that I am, I snooped around for tickets to the big game coming up this Sunday here in Arizona. No avail. Tickets are going for much more than face value and I'm sorta tapped out on the entertainment budget at this time (after spending money for Eagles game tickets in Minnesota).

I'm obviously thrilled to have had the opportunity to see the Eagles begin their playoff march in the NFC a couple of weeks ago, and certainly it is surprising that the match up this week ends up being between these two teams (lower seeds usually don't make it this far).

But here they are and here I am in Arizona and while I'm happy to see the fans in Arizona come alive for their team after decades of less than stellar performance, I'll be cheering on the team in midnight green (of course).

I've hoped for success from the Arizona sports teams since I moved to this state. It normally takes some success to establish a loyal fan base, that and perhaps a generation of folks that grow up with a home town team.

Each year I try to catch a Diamondbacks game when the Phillies come to Phoenix for a regular season series... and I always see a decent amount of Phillies fans there. Same can be said anytime I've made the trip to Phoenix to watch the Eagles visit... many fans cheering on the Eagles. The worst is heading to a NHL Coyotes game when the Red Wings from Detroit visit, half the stadium -- at least -- has a rooting interest for the out of town team.

Only success and a new generation of fans will change that. The D-Backs won a world series in 2001 and I think that has helped them hold a majority of fans for those games (unless the Yankees or Cubs come to town). And I say this with all sincerity, the Cardinals just need a title to finally establish the needed following...

... but, man alive, NOT AT THIS TIME.

I know that I'll be a loyal fan of my original home area sports teams the rest of my life, that won't change. I may be being a bit selfish right now coming off the Phillies World Series title... but a Superbowl win at this time would be real nice for this Eagle fan.

Win or lose though, I wish the Cardinals and their fans well. And if by chance they best the Eagles, I will be hoping that they bring home the trophy... but not this week... not for this game.

While I may not be able to attend the game in person, it looks like many Iggles fans will be making the trip this way. Birds fans travel well. Hide the women and children.

Eagles win...

Fans in attendance. Had a great time. Luckily this game was played indoors.

More photos of the game shared on Facebook.

Merry Christmas...

For all the MOCO readers, please be safe and enjoy your holiday season. Thanks again for your time while visiting. I wish nothing but the best for you and your family... so be of good cheer!!

I'm giving thanks...

It is the season after all. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so very much for stopping by on occasion to read MOCO Real.

I sincerely hope that you have time for friends and family this year, to share a hug with those that you love, to smile and laugh a little extra for this Thanksgiving holiday.

For me, I'm thankful that my home is full of cherished company for the long weekend. Our family tradition is changing somewhat this year due to the loss of a loved one who always found time to spoil us with her Thanksgiving feast. I might do some sort of live-blogging of my attempt at preparing both the turkey (already in the brine as I type) and the ham... could be good a few laughs.

Together we face serious challenges that we may not have seen before in our lives. It is always my intention to wish for good fortune for all and I continue to do just that for you. But the 'news' reports indicate that times may be restrictive to one degree or another. If there is a silver lining there, it might just be that we will truly appreciate the other things we have always been thankful for on this holiday. Only you know what those are, and I wish you all peace, prosperity, opportunity, health, and love.

Thank you readers, you make my day everyday. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Phillies!! (one last time)

Done deal!! As a fan, I really am thrilled. Today though, I actually find myself more pleased for the players than for me. This team is filled with great guys who were playing together on the same page throughout the playoffs. It was great to see, and even better because it was my team.

The Rays, Dodgers, and Brewers were all very good teams as well and it just makes the accomplishments of the Phillies team that much better in my opinion. No team was a pushover.

So I enjoy this as long as I can... and wish that it won't take another twenty some odd years before any of my teams win a title again.

Thanks for the life long memories Phillies!!

Phillies!! (again)

Come on... one more dudes!! (hey, it worked last time).

World Series prediction...

Look... first of all I still cannot believe that my beloved Phillies are still playing meaningful baseball so late in October, yet here they are.

Of course my prediction is that my favorite team will win. But don't take that to the sports book window or anything... I've seen many a Philly team make it fairly close to a league title and come away empty handed. To give you some scope... last time (and only time) the Phillies won it all was when I was toiling away in the third grade. The last time any of my former home town teams won a league title was in '83 when Moses Malone, Dr. J, and my favorite all time hoopster Andrew Toney won it all.

Seen plenty of choke jobs since then. All four of my favorite teams have come up short in the finals since. The Flyers played like Stanley Cup champs a couple of times in the 80's but ran into probably the greatest NHL hockey team ever (and lost once again in the finals in '97 to the current dynasty of that league). The Sixers were overwhelmed by the Shaq and Kobe Laker team 7 or 8 years ago. The NFL football Eagles ran into the Patriots dynasty a few years back (what is it with dynasties and Philly teams anyway??). And of course the Phillies watched a Series clinching home run off the bat of Joe Carter in 1993 (Phillies also lost the Series in 83).

No doubt it has been great for this fan watching the Phillies on their current run. They've over-performed in my opinion, met all the expectations I had at the beginning of the season to get to this point. But as a fan, I've been to this point many times before. So I ask the gods of sporting event fans to go easy on me this time around... and to help find a way to get these great dudes a way to win four of the next seven games. It is NOT too much to ask for.

Good luck to both teams, but may fortune find the Phillies this time around.

Play ball!!