The New Codgers

Yep, Med & I are enjoying our (porcelain, not China, but made in China) Codger Collectible™ mugs of organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee—right here on my just redrawn back porch, complete with a borrowed from Boomer’s back porch Pruett’s Pig Powders thermometer securely fastened to the pillar (this is so I don’t have to take the steps necessary to upload a separate image)!

This is how I occupied my computer time on Saturday instead of posting to the ‘Rain, and the rest of that summer-like day was spent outside puttering around my little yard—in a mostly successful attempt to resist my AR addiction.

Redrawing my home became necessary when I unthinkingly deleted the original Word drawing—making updating to the drawing very difficult. I am displaying the porch today closely cropped, as my yard has not quite yet completely “leafed out”—close, but not quite spectacular yet. When ready, the yard will become the background for the full back porch graphic by combining a photo with the new graphic.

Switching topics here (I’m not known on AR for subtle-segues), this next graphic is for our Codger Melodrama (Chapter I & Chapter II) currently under way on this Blog. The homes portrayed in this graphic make up the Codger Corners 1960’s era subdivision: “Cyber-Wood.” There were only four versions of basically the same floor plan. The homes were built with no garages, on identical 75’x120’ lots, with a selling price of $13,500 to $14,500 (depending on roof & exterior style).

Today, their fair market value (unimproved—but with updated necessities like roof, furnace, etc.) ranges from $199,000 to $220,000. This is reflective of a real subdivision in the St. Paul area and what actual homes sold for then and what they sell for now.

Just to keep things simple, “Cyber-Wood” is where all the cyber estate activity will take place in our melodrama. Soon, we will present a map of Codger Corners (it’s a work in progress at the moment).

EDIT: These real homes were all built with full (and reasonably dry) basements. Stairs are shown between the living room and kitchen., In Minnesota, a "California Rambler" at that time had no basement and sold in the $9-10,000 range.

Comments? Please? Say something nice & encouraging! OR, say something really funny for me or Med to reply to.

Jay & Medford

Molly had just cleared our breakfast dishes from our table, you know, the one in front by the plate glass window, and I was placing my (porcelain, not China, but made in China) January Edition Codger Collectible™ Mug down after a sip of the organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee, helping my brain fire on all remaining synapses, when I heard a hearty:

“It’s a FINE morning here in Codger Corners!” The baritone voice belonged to Isaac Barrington Guudlender, president and owner of “Guudlender Bank & Trust,” Codger Corners’ only bank.

“Good morning to you, Trigg,” Carl boomed back, “what’s an old Swede like you doing up and out so early?”

“I’m about as much a ‘Swede,’ Carl McIntyre,” Trigg smiled, “as you are an Irishman—or is it Scots?”

“Scottish,” Carl answered, “and my ancestors earned that name the old fashioned way—they worked for it!”

 Carl

“Mine as well.”

“What does bring you in here so early?” Medford asked, stirring his usual pollutants of cream and sugar into his coffee.

“Rita Marie kicked me out,” Trigg answered smiling, “said I needed to go worry somewhere else and suggested I come here.”

Harold

 “So—what’s on you mind?” Harold, the now completely retired barber, asked.

“My aren’t we perceptive,” Guudlender answered, and then continued, “day before yesterday, a couple came to me wanting to take out a home equity loan.”

“Sounds pretty normal,” Medford said, “what of it?” 

“Well, I ran the numbers, and—well—they don’t have any equity in their home,” Guudlender began, “and their credit rating is—how may I say this?—well, in a word, crappy.”

“You must run across this fairly often,” Carl suggested, “with the local economy the way it is.”

“Yes I do, but this is a little different. When they left, after cussing me out for not writing the loan,” he explained, “not unusual, it happens, I saw them go next door to the Piranha brothers.”

“Surely, even they turned them down,” Harold said, “didn’t they?”

“Nope,” Trigg said, somewhat sadly, “Ira Piranha called me about an hour later and thanked me for the referral.”

And then he broke into song: “We got TROUBLE—RIGHT HERE IN Codger Corners…”

“Ummm, Trigg—this is a melodrama—not a musical—you need not break into song at inappropriate moments!” we said almost in unison.

In the Real World this fine Saint Paul Morning, Pruett’s Pig Powders replica thermometer informs me that it is 50ºF. Meanwhile, back at the Codger’s Corner “Cyber-Café Conversations” restaurant & coffee shop, the gang, besides enjoying their (porcelain, not China, but made in China) Codger Collectible™ mugs of organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee, are discussing the next installment of our little melodrama.

“Ok, so we have an idea for the next act,” I said, looking out the plate glass window at the Codger’s Corner still empty street, “what’s next?”

“What do we know about Mr. Guudlender?” asked Medford.

“We know his name.” Harold added helpfully.

“We know a little of his lending philosophy,” Carl said.

“Here’s what you wrote in an earlier post, Jay” Harold looking up from his laptop (what, no paper?), “ Mr. Guudlender: An old-fashioned lender, and Cyber-Bank owner, who never joined the chorus of relaxing loan-qualification standards. A kindly old fellow, he would try very hard to help applicants—but often he could not. His strong, old fashioned lending ethics are very popular with I. M. Piranha—many of those who didn’t qualify through Guudlender’s—marched right over to him!”

“Not enough,” Medford said, “we need more information!”

Alas, Gentle Readers, it’s true. These are some things we don’t know, Please help us out:

1. Mr. Guudlender’s 1^st name.
2. Can he, and would he, in certain cases deal in the sub-prime market without sacrificing his “old fashioned lending ethics?”
3. What’s favorite color?

OK, that last one REALLY doesn’t matter! But as for the rest, what are your suggestions? Tell us about him!

Jay & Med 

Editor’s Notes: In the Real World of Saint Paul, the current temperature is a seasonal 52ºF and the sky is clear. In the Cyber world, as always, it is a computer-controlled 72ºF, it is partly cloudy, and the humidity a comfortable 50%. So let’s go there for today’s installment.

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of pure fiction & fantasy. The characters presented here are not based on any real person, any resemblance to any real person is coincidental, NOT INTENTIONAL.

 Molly had just cleared our breakfast dishes from our table, you know, the one in front by the plate glass window, and I was placing my (porcelain, not China, but made in China) January Edition Codger Collectible™ Mug down after a sip of the organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee, that helps what remaining brain synapses synapting, when I heard a bit of a commotion at the front door of our little cyber-café.

“Good morning gents!” loudly announced a rather strange looking fellow dressed in a top hat, black frock coat, striped trousers, and sporting the most magnificent handlebar moustache, “My name is Piranha, Ira M. Piranha, and this is my brother Ignatz Rudolph! We just opened our little shop at the end of the block.”

“Ummm, good morning Ira,” Carl said, turning a bit in his chair to face Piranha, and his similarly dressed brother, “didn’t you own that used car lot across town?”

“Still do!” Ira replied, “providing low cost, reliable transportation for the common folk!”

“That’s not what I’ve heard,” muttered Boomer, not loud enough for Piranha to hear.

“So, what kinda business are you in now?” Medford asked, stirring his cream & sugar pollutants into his otherwise fine coffee.”

“Why we’re providing the cyber-dream of home ownership,” bragged Ignatz, “to hard-working citizens here in Codger’s Corner, who just have minor little problems and have been turned away by that old fuddy-duddy, Guudlender.”

“Ignatz is an appraiser and home inspector,” Ira said, “and I am a licensed mortgage broker. We’re about to change the way business is done around here!”

“Home ownership is now no longer limited to the aristocracy!” Ignatz chimed in, and with a flourish they left.

“I think we got trouble,” Fred announced, putting down his ever-present morning edition of the Cyber Press.

“I think you’re right, Fred,” Boomer concluded, “Maybe you should talk to Guudlender about this.”

“What does he mean—aristocracy?”

TO BE CONTINUED... 

Submitted by Codger™ Productions©

I used my desk top only as a place to keep my computer monitor—there was little room of anything else. A year or so ago I purchased a flat-screen LCD monitor. I removed the humongous old monitor, exposing a vast prairie of empty desk-top—even after installing the new monitor—acres of clear desk-top were exposed. Wow! Acres & acres of clear desk-top!

Before placing the new monitor on the desk, I thoroughly dusted and polished the antique desk. Then I carefully placed the new monitor—just so—in the perfect location on that vast empty space for easy viewing, and very cagily routed the necessary cables so they were nearly invisible.

Of course, with all this space, I could now add the necessary accoutrements of comfort—the China, not stoneware mug & coaster (don’t want no coffee-rings on my pretty, clean and polished desk top), my little radio (so I can listen to NPR if so moved), and a lovely old oversized stoneware mug to keep my pens & pencils in easy reach. Everything was placed just right—I shoulda taken a picture of it—in case Schiller ever held a “Carnival of Desk top Staging”.

But all this occurred before I joined Active Rain—alas—no photo! So now, as I look at my desk top for inspiration, I’m, well, overwhelmed by inspiration. There is a small bottle of “Elmer’s Carpenter’s Wood Glue” (one just never knows when that may become necessary), a wire basket (used to place “stuff” all together, it’s now quite full and can hold no more “stuff”), my cell-phone charging station, that oversized mug, filled with pens (most don’t work anymore), a couple of tiny artist’s paint brushes, a pair of heavy-duty scissors, and who knows what else is hiding at the bottom) and stacks of paper—mostly things I’ve printed and never used. Oh—and OF COURSE—my (porcelain, not China, but made in China) January Edition Codger Collectible™ Mug of organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee, resting on top of its matching coaster tile (still don’t want no coffee-rings on my magnificent desk top!).

Way too much stuff here to decide—WAIT, IT’S THE MONITOR, STUPID—it’s the monitor that inspires me—and sort of keeps me sane. It’s my portal to: all the people living in my computer who I’ve come to know—Gentle Readers here on AR—Genealogy research colleagues—photos—my ancestors even still live within this computer—and without this monitor I would have no visible access to all that! Maybe I'll clean the desk top, maybe.

Jay

OK—so I had a little too much time on my hands after completing my Sunday “Codger™-Do” list (as opposed to “Honeydo” list).

Before I continue, the current temperature in Old Saint Paul is 60ºF with light, and much needed rain. It’s nearly 6:00pm CDT, so I am not enjoying my (porcelain, not China, but made in China) April Edition Codger Collectible™ Mug of organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee, but instead just finished a tasty bottle of Summit Brewery’s “Great Northern Porter” (if you like beer—try and get this stuff—and support my local brewery). I am SUCH a beer-o-holic! A six-pack lasts me a mere week!

But I digress, more or less on purpose mind you. You may have noticed the “neato-keen” banner at the top of this post—if not—LOOK AT IT—thank you!

Downtown Codger’s Corner, from left to right: Cyber-Café-Conversations, Harold’s Barber Shop, Merton, Boardman, Ambrose & Company, Cyber Estate Sales, Guudlender’s Bank & Trust,  & Piranha Brothers Loans, Mortgages & Cyber Estate Buildings. The New Cyber-Strip was created to support our planned Codger™Melodrama.

Close-up of Cyber Café Conversations-check out the bus-bench!

 
Close-up of Cyber-Estate Sales office.

The background of these graphics is a view of St. Paul’s Cherokee Heights viewed looking south from near my home. Photo courtesy of the vast photo-library of Boardman (who we have learned just purchased the domain names “boardmanrealty.com” & “boardmanrealty.net”—why, we wonder?).

The last graphic is a Codger™ Graphic of Broker-Realtor® Teresa’s now somewhat famous bus bench—those who wish to vandalize it—help yourself ;-).

As I said at the start: this IS an outrageously dumb post—but if you got this far….

Jay

In the Real World, this Saint Paul morning according to Pruett’s, is a seasonable temperature of 51ºF, and according to the “Weather Channel,” a predicted high of 66ºF & sunny!

Here at our “Cyber Estate Sales Office,” it is a pleasant 72ºF with a light breeze, providing us as always, a virtually perfect morning!

This morning we are seeking technical advice on the lending aspect of real estate. Keeping in mind that our upcoming “Codger Melodrama” series will be dealing with very good, very bad and nothing in between (melodramas don’t concern themselves with the “in between”), we are asking for sort of a “Dummy’s Guide to Lending.” The worst practices of our sub-prime villain: I. M. Piranha, and the best of our hero: Mr. Guudlender, in an easy to understand lesson. Piranha owns a storefront operation from where he plots his nefarious misdeeds, and Guudlender is president of “Guudlender’s Cyber-Bank & Trust”

So—Gentle Readers, the organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee’s hot & fresh & the (porcelain, not China, but made in China) April Edition Codger Collectible™ Mug’s are all ready to be filled with that delicious liquid jump-start fluid! We also have cold water from our local 400’ deep artesian well, and cyber diet cola on tap. Stop on by, and if you are able—dispense with the technical advice. If not, then, well—you know what to do—you betcha—comment anyway!

[NOTE: this was originally written as an addendum to Sunday’s post, and appeared Monday AM—we removed it from the Sunday post and republished it this morning.]

We TOLD you we weren’t disappearing forever! The organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee’s hot & fresh & the (porcelain, not China, but made in China) April Edition Codger Collectible™ Mug’s are all ready to be filled with that delicious liquid jump-start fluid!

In the Real World, this pre-dawn Saint Paul morning according to Pruett’s, is a seasonable temperature of 35ºF, with (for the second day in a row) a predicted high of 62ºF & sunny!

Here at the Lodge, it is a pleasant 72ºF with a light breeze off virtual Lake Superior, providing us a virtually perfect morning!

So what exactly have you done with your days away from posting, Codger? Fair question—considering most of our Gentle Readers have had to start their day without us.

I found some film photos of Lake Superior’s Minnesota North Shore to share with you:

These make me anxious to get back up there—it is so peaceful and beautiful—and only three hours away!

 
While scanning these two photos, an idea occurred in my age-addled brain—why not incorporate the sky and lake of the lower photo into the Lodge graphic? Why not, indeed! So I disassembled (ungrouped) the Word lodge drawing, deleted the sky, clouds and lake, and reassembled the graphic (grouped). Then I cropped the Lake Superior photo to make a sky & lake only photo. I opened a MS Publisher document and pasted 1^st the cropped jpeg of lake & sky, and 2^nd pasted the Word graphic on top of the photo. I manipulated the two to my satisfaction and combined them (grouped). Printed the Publisher document to Acrobat Distiller, and created a new jpeg. I finished the new graphic in Photoshop. The finished product is at the top of this post. Waddaya think?

Thus we end our “Sunday Post.” Grab a mug, and tell us what’s on your mind! Oh—a little teaser—we will likely add to this post with a Monday update (yes—this IS a blatant attempt to get you to return tomorrow).

Good Thursday morning, Gentle Readers. According to Boomer’s replica Pruett’s Pig Powders (25 cents/doz.) thermometer it is an unseasonably cool 30ºF with a very light breeze making it feel like 30ºF. But here at the Lodge, it is a comfortable 72ºF

As I am enjoying my (porcelain, not China, but made in China) April Edition Codger Collectible™ Mug of organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee, along with my sidekicks, Medford, Boomer, and Daisy, the long-legged Beagle...oh wait..

I suppose I should explain that eye-catching post headline—before any Gentle Reader slips into cardiac arrest or something.

We are no longer going to post daily. We WILL post once or twice a week—it has become difficult to maintain a daily post pace, especially with our other projects—“Cross-Blog Adventures”—and our new “Codger Melodrama” series. Not to mention our real world activities.

We also believe the time has come to improve our “Comments Made” to Comments Received” ratio—so you may expect to see more slightly irreverent comments to your posts ;-).

And finally, we reached a personal goal: as of last night, and still this early morning, we have achieved a position as “Featured Real Estate – Other” in the #2 position in Minnesota!

Because it Won't Last Long ;-)

As always, you are welcome to stop by for your daily coffee, diet coke, artesian-well water, and conversation—you just may not have a fresh post to comment on.

Jay & Med 

On this fine, but still cool +25ºF Saint Paul morning, we have chosen to gather in front our brand new Cyber Estate Sales office—just down the (heavily reconstructed) block from our Cyber Café Conversations establishment, where the climate is a computer-controlled 72ºF & sunny.

Med & I had just grabbed our porcelain (porcelain, not China, but made in China) April Edition Codger Collectible™ Mug of organically & shade-grown, Fair Trade, Guatemalan Roast coffee, from the cyber café, and were making our way down the sidewalk towards our new “Cyber Estate Sales” building when we heard:

“HURRY UP Y’OLD GEEKS!” it was Molly, whose voice is far larger than her rather diminutive form, “WE’VE BEEN WAITIN’ FOR YA!”

“G’mornin’ Molly, fellas,” Medford greeted as we ambled up to our friends, “gonna warm up a bit today.”

“Might take my new ‘ride’ as the in folks say,” I said, “and my camera, and get a few more city shots—it’s supposed to be sunny today.”

“Not greened up enough, Jay,” Carl admonished, and changing topics on a dime (not uncommon for us!), went on, “got a forward from my little brother Jessup yesterday—I hate these forwards almost as much as I hate spam!”

“What was this one about?” asked Harold.

“It had some pictures of a space shuttle blowing up in space,” Carl answered, “supposedly taken from an ‘Israeli spy satellite,’ but it really wasn’t.”

“So, did you pass it forward, or delete it?” asked Fred, his ever-present St. Paul Cyber-Press newspaper folded under his arm.

“No, not this time,” Carl said, his face enveloped by a truly massive smile, “I ‘replied all’ with a message chastising the sender, who claimed it was true and some kind of conspiracy, that the photos are actually stills take from the movie ‘Armageddon,’ and a link to snopes, exposing the hoax.”

“Don’t you just wonder how folks can be taken in by that kinda crap” Medford asked.