The incandescent bulb ban hits in six months

Don’t worry though. Yeah, CFL bulbs don’t work and will pollute your home and landfills with mercury but there are new LED lights that do work, supposedly. Of course, they cost $50 per bulb, but that’s only a problem for those earning less than a half- million per year, eh?

I’ve been predicting for at least two years now that the real tea party revolution won’t hit until the light bulb ban takes effect. I wonder whether the Republicans are too stupid to get ahead of the wave by repealing the law or are they brilliant strategists, determined to let the ban come and then saddle the Democrats with the voters’ outrage?

Win lottery, keep on food stamps

With the state’s blessing. Michigan man wins $2mm and drives his new Audi to the grocery store with his food stamp swipe card, all with the approval of the welfare department. Perhaps their budget would be cut if they lost a person from the rolls. “If you’re trying to make me feel bad”, the lucky freeloader tells a reporter, “you can’t”.

Here’s a real price cut

40 N. Porchuck

I like this house (lousy picture) but clearly no one else does, at least at its June 20010 price of $5.950 million. So today the owner lopped $2 million off and is now asking $3.950. I’m not saying that’s going to do the trick, but it’s a good example of how to catch agents’ attention on the cluttered hot sheet of old inventory.

Yes, houses are selling, but often at prices that disappoint their owners

767 Lake Avenue is a house built by Coggins and sits on 2+ acres south of the Merritt. It sold for $4 million in 2003 (from an initial asking price of $5.195) and the new owners put a ton of money in it and then tried getting $5.175 in 2007. That didn’t work, and the price dropped repeatedly over the next four years until it hit $3.950 this year. Today it’s reported as having an accepted offer.

Nothing escapes the police

Stamford: man shot several times, beaten about the head with a baseball bat and generally has a bad night.

[Captain Ricard] Conklin said at first the man was unwilling to give his name to police. “We took that as a bad sign. That is not normal behavior for someone getting shot,” he said.

Oops there goes another one

School Superintendent Sid Freund quit this morning. That makes yet another short term tenure in our school administration and I wonder why? I don’t miss several of Dr. Freund’s predecessors but Freund seemed like a smart, capable guy. The Republicans in town are rapidly developing a reputation as the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. I’m tempted to blame Bush, but Peter Tesei is the more likely candidate for Sad Sack of the year.

UPDATE: Of course, judging from his resignation letter, Freund is a real crybaby who, not getting what he wanted, has picked up his toys and gone home. Here’s an idea: let’s privatize our schools – at $15,000 per pupil, surely we can attract a better bunch of educators.

Not everything is going swimmingly in the Greenwich market

9 Woodside Drive

This beautiful 1930 Deer Park house was purchased for $10.950 in 2008 – it’s back up for sale with a price cut yesterday to $9.450.

 

In Riverside, 63 Winthrop, a relocation sale asking $1.395 has fallen out of contract and is back on the market.

 

UPDATE: 9 Woodside was on today’s open house tour so I stopped by, mostly to cleanse my pallet of some disagreeable houses. This is an astonishingly beautiful home – one of the best I’ve ever seen. Perfectly proportioned (how come architects in 1930 could pull that off and so few can today?) great location and a terrific 2+ acre yard. If I had my way, I might lop off that addition on the left (north) side of the house, clearly added sometime between 1930 and now, but that’s a quibble. The house was completely modernized without screwing up the original beauty and, as is obvious, I really, really like it.

 

 

She wanted it sooo bad!

Yesterday, IMF honcho DSK’s lawyers claimed he had “an iron-clad alibi” to the rape charges: he checked out of the hotel at noon and at the time of the alleged attack he was having lunch with his daughter. That didn’t work out so well – records show that he checked out at 12: 28, just as an example, so late in the day they declared that alibi inoperative and switched to this one: she begged for the sexual attentions of this disgusting old man. I suspect that means that the DNA results are in and DSK can no longer deny that he had sexual contact with the woman. But two completely contradictory alibis in less than twelve hours? The man is in trouble.