The Moment You Realize You are Wearing Your Underwear Inside Out

There comes a time in a day, when I'm tired or down and I find myself realizing something that I have done, I replay it in my mind and I find myself laughing...before I know it I feel way better! It's good when you like yourself. I am quite hard on myself sometimes, but most of time it's balanced with my stand up routine in my head...I'm the audience too. Today it was when I went to the ladies room and realized I was wearing my underwear inside out. This lead me to the other time...very similar a few years ago...hence the comedy routine....one act leads to another and wa la my moment of self pity is turned around 180!
I was walking into Starbucks and feeling quite flirty and confident. A European guy sitting at a nearby table...interrupted my "me" party to ask me a few questions. I thought oh he's flirting with me...and he's foreign (I felt flattered). He was a very small and wiry man...not my type...but for some reason it was still a compliment that a foreign man flirted with me...(probably happens to other women as well)...
So every compliment and comment I take with a grain of salt but I devour them never the less! I proceed into the shop to get my daily I.V. of cafe de latte. On the way out he continues to try to have a conversation, so I oblige by stopping and chatting for a few minutes. I think, "oh this is great to meet people who are nice in this town"...as the conversation continues I realize that this guy is a slick talker (but with a great accent) that is like every other parasite in this lovely city, so I excuse myself nicely and continue on to my car. As I get in and do a quick check "me" out in the mirror to congratulate myself on seeing through this person's attempt at being genuine. I notice something weird about my sweater...I then open the mirror on the visor to see myself a little bit better...
My Sweater Was Inside Out!! with the tag and seam hanging out...I know it doesn't sound all that bad...and believe me it wasn't, it was just hilarious in my head...it was just one of those moments where humility, confidence and comedy all had a party in my head...I can only laugh every time something like this happens.

The Sharpest Tool in the Shed...

The old saying is, "he's not the sharpest tool in the shed". We know what it means, but how about this...

If the sharpest tool in the shed never hits the pavement and it sits in the shed, never doing hard work...is it worth more than the dull edged tool that gets used in overtime, because it gets the job done in spite of short comings? I liken that to the intellectuals and elitists that make policy and run this country in between their vacations in Martha's Vineyard and their special interest group parties.

If your not willing to get dirty, work hard in the trenches and eat the same food as the troops once in a while...well you're not a leader...you're a dictator and your supporters will eventually grow to resent you and your arrogance will soon become your Achilles' heel.

Home Building in Las Vegas

OK...I worked for a Home Builder in Las Vegas, as a Land Development Manager...what that means is...I oversaw the management of getting all the streets and utilities in so that the housing side of the business could build the homes....

Here's what I saw that was unbelievable...

Land had been purchased at about $10 to $20 K per lot prior to about 5 years ago...maybe even before that...
To improve the lot...build streets and put in the utilities and pay all the fees...that was about $60 to $80 K per lot...
Then the house costs about $50 a square foot to build....(1200 SF House = $60K, more for a bigger house)
So they were building homes for about $150K and with overhead and margin they could sell the home for $210K and make a decent profit.

They started increasing the sale price to what the market would bare...$300K plus...they made a ton of money, gave out unimaginable bonuses....and then hired more people who didn't know this whole thing was temporary...those new people didn't know the basics of this area...

Median income only allowed the average family to purchase in the area of $300K...and that was a stretch, when it went beyond that it was too expensive for the average family...so people did interest only or some other loan deal that allowed a temporary ability to afford the more expensive home.

The Home Builders started purchasing land for upwards or $80 to 100K per lot. They paid more for improvements to the land, because the land they purchased was ridden with issues that were costly to improve around, ie...flood channels or lengthy utility tie ins...they paid more for the haste by which they delivered the homes in general. It was greed that caught them in this pickle and the smart ones got out early and left the ship to sink like the titanic with all the unknowing poor souls left to go down with the ship including the purchasers.

I saw and so did everyone in the business that the market had reached its limit 3 years ago this spring. No one really wanted to report the numbers, because they didn't want to believe that the ride was over. But it was.

The math should tell you that if you can buy a 1200 SF home for under $200K, that the Home Builders cant build a home for less even if the land was free and we know its not. As an investor or a Home Builder, if you can pick up finished lots for less than $50K, and you know you can build the home for about $60 to 100K (depending on the size of the house), that you can make a profit. Homes will not rise to the prices of 3 to 4 years ago, until the median income rises...that's just a fact of economics.

Everyone seems to be missing this simple math equation.

The Basic Secret to My Success

The basic secret to my success in life is hidden behind the blonde stereotype. Basically I work in a male dominated industry. Then again, come to think of it....I exist in a male dominated world. That's not to say that women don't hold all the power in their hands...they do, they just don't know it or if they do know it, they flaunt it and squander it. Very few women understand this power and usually only at an older age. But back on track for the subject on hand...

Success and blonde stereotypes....the key...listening. I know feminists would raise their fists at me...but it's true. I found at a young age that men young and old alike love to talk of their successes and even secrets to that success if they don't think the listeners are a threat. They especially love to talk to attractive and confident women who find them interesting. Because I am very interested in most topics and because I find the male "species" fascinating, my interests are sincere. I have learned more by keeping my mouth shut and my big blue eyes open with amazement when people have something to say. I'm a sponge and I just ask questions like a 5 year old and because I can ask simple but poignant questions, it keeps the information flowing. I make mental notes for googling later...another great tool. I would guess that I'm quite the street smart female...its one of my tools for surviving in this world. I don't pretend to be able to compete with anyone, especially a man in categories that I'm not equipped to compete in. But if I know I can compete, I will and most won't know what hit them, until it's too late.

Because I've learned that my feminine powers should only be used for good and not evil, my competitors often are not bitter when I have gotten the best of them. It's as if going toe to toe with someone and getting one up on them, earns their respect.

And that's another key to my success...it's far better that everyone leave a winner and strong minded counterpart needs to maintain their ego. I am a very grounded and humble person, so I'm able to keep my ego in check when need be. Winning is not always about everyone knowing that you won...it's about getting what you came for and getting out before anyone has to get their ego damaged. There's no sense in rubbing someone's nose in a loss. I may even chalk up my win as a fluke so that they don't gear up for the next round.

I have made a living and based my success on the fact that I am average in intelligence and I have a tool box full of abilities...I know what I'm good at and who I'm more likely to place higher in achievement while up against. I choose my mentors and my competitors alike...I suppose you could say its manipulation...I call it survival. I have found that success is easier gained amongst competitors that are average or even below average. I realize this is a lazy way of approaching success but it is a main ingredient in the wild...forage where success can be found in abundance not where scarcity exists.

Mainly don't ever take anything or anyone for granted.

Another key component is to try to understand the male counterpart. I have learned to appreciate their ability to be unemotional and detached from personal issues while in the heat of "a hunt". I should define "a hunt"...it's anything that the male has his mind set on acquiring, of course. Men are so fascinating in this capacity. Their ability to focus and maintain a level of commitment to that one thing that they are centered on, no matter what. I am a very emotional person and for the longest time when I was younger I was ashamed that I could not approach things with the same ability of the male counterpart. I later learned to incorporate the male ability while dealing with my emotions. I learned a different way of approaching challenges and I embraced my emotional and sensitive side...I developed an equation that works for me...that left me feminine but yet successful. I can approach challenges with non-personal and pragmatic solutions, but maintain a compassionate and sensitive component that is sometimes the missing aspect of my competitors.

I suppose the next blog should be what represents success....