The Power of Christ Compels You – To Get the F*$% Out of My Way!

Last night I was heading back from a quick post-workday trip to run some errands. This was somewhere around 5:15. Exciting stuff. I had to hit up the locksmith to get a copy of the laundry room key. And I desperately needed to pick up some toilet paper.

Like I said, action packed.

Anyway, keys and TP in hand, we headed back to my apartment in Ocean Park, taking the Colorado to Main St. route through south Santa Monica. This is the very northernmost part that goes in front of the city hall and the municipal courthouse. It was just around the start of rush hour.

We were waiting to turn left behind a half-dozen cars at the intersection of Main Street and Colorado Avenue. Right when the light turned green I heard what sounded like a little honk come from behind me. I glanced in the rearview and saw a little A3 back there. I wasn’t holding them up and, not having anywhere to go, I just proceeded through the intersection with the rest of the traffic.

I always closely match the speed limit through that part of Main Street, mostly because it sits right in front of the Department of Public Safety, which is the closest thing to a police station we have in the city, but also because there is one of those DIY radar guns sitting across from city hall. If one were to get pulled over, the I-didn’t-realize-how-fast-I-was-going excuse goes right out the window.

Apparently, that was not nearly speedy enough for the woman in the car to my rear. I normally don’t even like bumper stickers that close. Right as we started passing in front of RAND the honking restarts. I’m treated to the added bonus of flashing high beams. Like we’re on the autobahn and she’s going to pass me at twice my speed. The posted speed limit through here is 30 mph. I might have been going 3 mph slower than that.

At this point, I’m thrilled to let this woman pass me. I pull into the center turning lane (as if I were going to turn left into a driveway) and she zooms past me. Zoom zoom zoom. Around the corner and four-hundred feet away. All the way to the limit line at the next intersection. Where the light has turned red.

I pulled up next to her. She’d pulled the sun visor down and to the left to partially block her face. I tried my best to establish communication, but it was useless. She was not having it. I did get the opportunity to appreciate the nice crucifix she had dangling from her rear view mirror. It appeared to be made of wood and humble.

Westside Rental Market – Where Have all the Renters Gone?

We’re starting to see signs of deflationary pressures in the westside housing rental market.

A quick tour of some notable westside rental markets over the last week, including the LA neighborhoods of Venice, Mar Vista, and Palms, as well as regions of Culver City, has illustrated to me how different things are from even twelve months ago. This isn’t based on methodical metrics. This is just the gut feeling of a guy who has had to go looking for apartments three times in the last five years because his landlord decided to convert his apartment building into condos.

So cruising the craigslistings for one and two bedrooms in these areas has been a bittersweet experience these past few weeks. On the one hand, it’s been great seeing how much purchasing power we renters are getting. It really has become quite the renters market these past few months. As far as I can remember, this is the best time since 2003 to look for a place.

Yesterday, we looked at a 2 plus 2 in Mar Vista. Its rent was listed at $1600. This is over by the 99 Cent Store. We went by it – in a decent enough neighborhood – and checked it out. Two tandem parking spots (one covered), gated entry, upper level unit with an uncommon windows-on-three-sides. I immediately had a good feeling about it when we walked in the door. It also appeared that the owner may have intended to perform *gasp* a condo conversion. The kitchen was in the midst of a minor touch up and the molding had been pulled up to make way for the new wood-like flooring.

So, there’s that.

And then next door there was another building with another sign showing another 2 + 2 for rent. And across the street. And two doors down. And eventually I got overwhelmed and stopped counting.

There is definitely a surplus in the rental market right now.

Water Damage to ATT 8925

I was just asked how you can tell if one of the AT&T smartphones/PDAs has experienced water damage. I’m not sure about what it looks like on the 8925, but there is a sticker on the 8525 that looks like the one in the above photo. It’s the small white sticker next to the camera flash “bulb.” It says VOID in red letters through the middle. This simply indicates that the manufacturer’s warranty will be void if the sticker is removed. If the phone has been submerged in water this sticker will change color from white to red.

From what I can tell on the 8925 it looks as if the sticker is rectangular and located by the sticker with the serial number and the IMEI.