Hey! Do I Have Tomato On My Face?Last night was my favorite social event of the year,The Great Tomato Festival I know I should have blogged about this yesterday but it was a busy day and they sold out of tickets last week anyhow. As far as I'm concerned this is the BIGGEST snob social event of the year. Every year I volunteer to set tables and do what I can before all the people come. From time to time I donate items for the silent auction and I always do my part to bid up items on the auction (hoping I don't get stuck with them). Anyhow, it's a good cause:This year’s proceeds will go to the Minot Symphony Orchestra, Minot Public Library, Taube Museum of Art and the Lewis & Clark Ft. Mandan Foundation.Some records were set this year including attendance and money raised. It's a lot of f... 08/13/2015

Come And Bring Your Appetite!Timmothy (Red shirt) and I spent part of our morning this morning helping set up the big tent for New Member Sunday. Part of the celebration is the church picnic at 12:30. Everybody is welcome. Hey, notice the dunking booth in the background. I may even volunteer to sit in it if you come.I see someone in there... did they get packed away with the tent last year?That post on the right must be the one Bob Timm put up.  08/08/2015

A Fun "Local Boy" ConcertA young man who grew up in our church returns a couple of times a year (to see Mom and Dad) and always gives a free concert at our church each time.NATHAN (NATE) HANCEIs an accomplished pianist and song writer who now lives in the Denver area. While I know you would enjoy his work, he does everything from Beethoven to "Roll Over Beethoven", I thought you might enjoy this short little nonsense piece he calls piano trick shots. Nate has several pieces on Youtube and has CDs available.  08/07/2015

 A TIME TO KILL   Ecclesiastes 3:3  Last night I decided to tackle one of those chores that the Broker/Owner of a small Real Estate Firm often does, repair yard signs. First I repaired a plastic frame that failed to hold up against at 40 to 60 MPH wind. Then I broke out my little welder to repair an open house sign.I set up my little welder out the overhead garage door that leads to the alley and everything went amazingly well... until clean up. I took a couple of tools into the garage and all of a sudden the little basterd hit me 3 to 4 times in the belly even before I saw him. Now I'm pretty fast, I used to work out doing traditional boxing exercises and I raised my left to fight him off and he hit me right in the wrist, again before I even saw him. He was fast.When I finally saw my a... 07/28/2015

1-2-3 Days To Go Til The ND State FairEven at the "mature" age of 61 I love the ND State Fair and can't wait to spend an entire day there. Friday is the 1st day (of 8 days) and Saturday is kind of the big kick-off starting with a 4 hour parade leading from Downtown Minot out to the Fair Grounds.For 1st time parade goers I'd suggest you find your place on the parade route prior to 8AM as there are crazies, like myself, who set up the night before or by 6AM.For this years entertainment line-up check out the ND State Fair website here. There are many FREE stages with top quality entertainers and there are tons of commercial booths as well as the livestock shows. Come! Have a day or 8 of fun!  07/13/2015

The Closest FREE Campsite To Minot NDWhen you have a pull behind camper and an under powered vehicle to pull it you look for camp sites close to home just in case your vehicle says "heck with this" and dies.My 1987 Honda Odyssey with 173,000 miles on it has been a real trooper but I'm sure the day will come when it says "enough".Our maiden voyage to the campgrounds for 2015 started with a Google search. I typed in Free Camp Grounds. Wouldn't you know it, there is even a website called free camp grounds... or something like that. It showed us Buffalo Lodge Lake Camp Ground just 30 miles East of Minot. Off we went. Here are a few pics.Me and the Goddess who puts up with me.Our camper is the little white dot next to the trees.Boat Ramp, fishing dock, and swimming area.I should have include... 07/12/2015

Sometimes A Name Just Doesn't Fit!I was going to make this a rant but after watching some You tube videos I'm not as sure as I was about this company being the dendrolatry Satan I suspected it to be. I'm talking about a large multi-state firm called Wright Tree Service. I wish to avoid being as sophmoric as calling them Wrong Tree Service or Wright Tree disService but I can't help it when I think of the total distruction they weilded on my street and many others in Minot ND.We once had a beautiful tree lined street like the one pictured below.Then they turned it into this...  and then they came back and left nothing at all! Granted, we have power lines. However I sure would rather look at trees, even the butched ones above, then nothing at all. Also I think something would be better tha... 06/30/2015

FREE TV IN MINOT NORTH DAKOTAIf you are like me you like FREE things. Free food would top the list but this post is about FREE TV in Minot ND.We do not pay for TV in our home because there is just to much crap out there on pay TV that we do not wish to expose ourselves or our kids to.We do not pay for TV because we do not need 100 or 200 or 1,000 excuses (some call them channels) to sit on our butts, get fat, and polute our minds with images, language, and thoughts that run contrary to our Christian beliefs.The good news for people like us is you can still receive plenty of HD and standard programing via your good old fashion antenna or rabbit ears.Here in Minot there are 13 channels you can receive on FREE TV. They are:Channels06-1, PBS06-2 World Channel06-3 Minesota Channel06-4 Lifelo... 06/22/2015

DADFEST 2015 Minot NDPlease accept my apology for not posting this before the event instead of after. I knew this event was coming for at least two weeks and I had already decided that I and my family would attend. I hope you will put it on your calendar for 2016.Dadfest is the brainchild and labor of love of one of the local churches. It is open to anyone who has/had a dad, is a dad, or what ever. Obviously it is a festival to celebrate dad and honor our Father in heaven. That being said it is not a religious event.There were 8 to 10 food booths, all FREE! Food ranging from delicious ribs, (I know I had a plate of them) Taco in a bag, burgers and hot dogs, and on and on... all FREE!There were hey rides, a classic car show, a burn-out contest that included a semi truck, live music, boun... 06/21/2015

Can A Realtor Work With A For Sale By Owner?Many home buyers today are confused as to how to deal with a For Sale By Owner, also known as a FSBO.Will working with the home owner directly save me money?Can I have my Realtor contact the home owner and continue to work for me?There are a thousand answers to those two questions ranging from a flat out YES to each of them to a more abstract "Heck No" to both questions.Let's cover some very basic ground on each question starting with Will working with the home owner directly save me money?It might if: The home owner is not up to date on the current market like a professional is and the home owner has undervalued their home. This does happen but it is rare. As a rule most listing offices (a listing office is the office that has a contract with... 06/19/2015

Minot Real Estate 101, What Are Dead Loops?When driving in the Valley area you will see the Mouse River but there are other bodies of water that look like a river but are actually "Dead Loops".After the historic flooding of the Mouse River in 1969 many steps were taken to prevent such a flood from happening again (regretfully none of which helped to stop the great devastation of the flood of 2011). Along with building dikes and dams along the river the Corp Of Engineers redirected the river so that it would flow smoother and faster. Redirecting the river created the "Dead Loops".A little speculation on my part is that they kept the "Dead Loops" for further flood control so they could control run-off after a heavy rain.The Dead Loops have been the subject of many discussions over the yea... 06/16/2015

Shirley Bicentennial Park AKAScandinavian Heritage Park, Minot NDThis Minot ND Park is an oasis in the midsection of Minot's main street, Broadway. Now I don't mean it's in the middle of the street, I mean it's at the heart of town, just South of Downtown. You will see from the pictures why it is a favorite of many.There are many statues like this commemorating famous Scandinavian persons in history. (Longefellow)There are several tributes to skiing and skiers.There are several buildings honoring Scandinavian architecture. This is the Stave Church which can be rented for weddings and the such.This globe is made out of granite and weighs several tons yet it floats and spins in the water. Regretfully it is getting pretty scratched up by vandals.The Visit Minot, Visitors Center. You can le... 06/14/2015

Military Day @ Roosevelt Park Zoo In Minot ND 06/26/2015Military Day at the Roosevelt Park Zoo has been set for June 26th this year. Sponsored by the Minot Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee there will be FREE admission to the Zoo as well as the Roosevelt Park Swimming Pool. There will also be FREE food from 11:00 to 2:00. For more info call John at 701-852-6000.  06/12/2015

There is a lot of confusion among both Buyers and Sellers in the Minot North Dakota Real Estate market. Those who do not follow the news closely or are getting their information from non-traditional sources are getting bits and pieces of news, some true, some myth.In a nutshell the truth is that despite the slowdown in the oil field oil is not dead or dying. There is a natural transition going on and the job field in the oil market is changing. Yes some jobs have been lost but at the same time other oil field related jobs are growing.North Dakota is still growing and Western North Dakota is still leading the way. Each key City in Western North Dakota is still growing at a rate that is the envy of the rest of the United States.The Minot North Dakota housing market has changed substantial... 06/09/2015

Mentally Defective Person Alert! I realize not everybody reads the paper or watches the news at night so I think this news story needs to be told anywhere people may read it.Over the last two days there have been reports of a mentally defective person getting their jollies out of firing a rifle (I assume high powered) at random homes, buildings, and vehicles in Minot ND.Two of the reported shootings have been near my home and an undisclosed source has stated that there was a third one near my home where shots were fired into a kindergarten classroom. All together I'm aware of 5 shootings including the kindergarten incident.Fortunately this mental midget has yet to hurt anyone but it's only a matter of time if they don't catch the idiot soon. Being no one has seen or heard this defective... 06/04/2015

  The Time To Wait Is Over!      They Are Off To The Races I was about a month off on my prediction that the market would explode in the spring but the EXPLOSION is here now.For those of you who were wondering if I lost interest in blogging this month, because of my inconsistant posting, the answer is no, this ol' dog has been running like I've never run before!Even though the number of listings are nearly double in number of what they were at the beginning of the year, sales have been so rapid we are even seeing old inventory fly off the shelf.Some of this may be attributed to prices dropping with the slow down in the oil field  but mostly it's just the "Spring Fever" we see every year as school lets out.With this kind of buying frenzy we may see prices bounce back up as well so if you... 05/31/2015

Minot Real Estate 101, Downtown I remember back in the 1960's when something new was being built on the edge of town. Something BIG, something Fargo/Moorhead had never had before. Everyone was excited. This was HUGE! Fargo was about to get it's first Shopping Mall! Brookdale Shopping Center on the South edge of Moorhead MN was going to have a Post Store as the anchor on one end and a Red Owl Store on the other with at least a dozen stores in between! WOW!! It's going to be AWESOME!Well that was the 60's and that was Fargo/Moorhead but all over the country Downtown shopping areas have struggled and become banking centers instead of hubs of retail commerce.From what I've seen over the years in many towns/cities the first to come back and occupy the spaces once held by retail giants were d... 05/21/2015

Going To The BallDads Bragging AgainOn Saturday my little girl went to the Ball, a Military Ball put on by her Jr ROTC class.Overly concerned dad that I am I was excited for her and not even the least bit worried as I'm very comfortable with her and her class mates in the Jr ROTC program.On Friday we attended the years end Jr ROTC Awards Ceremony in which Tina received more awards than any other Freshman in her class.         Again, sorry for bragging but it was another proud Dad moment.I also want to take a monment to endorse the Minot Jr ROTC program. We are NOT a military family but Tina loves the program. This program is great for both Young Men and Women. Tina entered the program because she is aware of the benefits and opportunities that the ROTC program opens to young people such... 05/19/2015

GREEN IS TURNING WHITEAnd I Don't Like It!That's Snow!It's May 18th and last night about 6PM it started to snow in Minot ND. That's when the picture above was snapped and believe me it got a lot worse. We even have winter driving alerts posted for this morning (Monday May 19th). Yuck! I'm definately thinking of moving to Death Valley for my retirement.  05/17/2015

12 Days Of/To FreedomJust 12 more school days to go in the Minot North Dakota Public School System for this school year.12 days of freedom for me to come home at lunch, listen to what I want on the radio, read a little love note from my Bride telling me what is in the fridge for lunch and to grab a 10 to 15 minute snooze before returning to work.12 days til freedom for my Bride who teaches and also for my Kids who attend school before their summer vacation. 12 days til the best of both worlds when I will get a hot lunch with real kisses and my son will serenade me with his piano skills instead of Rush with his ranting skills. My daughter will ask if I want to kiss my grand pigs (her two Guinea pigs) and will ask if we can go camping this weekend.12 days and the world will change. God gr... 05/17/2015