Hamantashsen. I’ve got handmade raspberry and apricot filled hamantashen, bottom-dipped in semisweet and milk chocolate. Because they are handmade, no 2 look exactly alike. This is a seasonal item and will only be available for a short time.
UFO Abduction Insurance. There actually are a number of companies, mostly in England, that sell UFO Abduction Insurance. There is also a company in Florida that sells UFO Abduction Insurance, but in order to collect on their policy, you have to have the space creature that kidnapped you sign a notarized statement acknowledging the abduction. I think that could be hard to get. If you become pregnant as a result of your alien abduction, the insurance policy pays double. However – I digress.
To get erroneous information out of your credit report, go to www.annualcreditreport.com and print out your credit report. This service is free. Be careful typing in the name of this web site. Other companies have similar names but charge for credit reports. Highlight any information that is wrong and e-mail or write to the credit bureau with your side of the story. Include copies of documents that back up your case. Credit bureaus will respond to letters like this and make corrections. They don’t want to get sued for giving out erroneous information, and credit bureaus have to compete with each other. If a credit bureau develops a reputation for having a lot of inaccurate information in their reports, they will lose business, so they do have an incentive to make sure that their reports are accurate.
In November, 2014; Berkeley became the first city in the U.S. to pass a soft drink tax. The tax is 1 cent an ounce, a high rate as a percent of the wholesale price of the product The Berkeley soda tax is collected in an unusual way. It is not paid like sales tax. Instead, the tax is paid by wholesale soft drink distributors. I think that method of collecting this tax will become a problem for Berkeley.
Costco. A lot of stores and restaurants in Berkeley were already buying their soft drinks at Costco even before this tax was passed. Now, more of them are driving to Costco for their soft drinks. Costco does not and will not pay the Berkeley soft drink tax because they are not located in Berkeley.
Dollar Tree. Other stores in Berkeley have just stop selling soft drinks. Dollar Tree stores in Berkeley used to sell a lot of soft drinks. Now as a result of this tax, Dollar Tree has stopped selling soft drinks. They are not alone. A number of other stores in Berkeley have also stopped selling soft drinks. This soft drink tax was supposed to raise money for the city of Berkeley, but if enough retailers decide to stop selling soft drinks, the city could wind up with a net loss of revenue instead.
The University. However, the big question is this – will the university pay the tax? U.C. Berkeley is, by far, the largest vendor of soft drinks in Berkeley. There are over 200 soft drink vending machines on campus, plus there are self-serve soft drink dispensers in nearly all the dining halls, and bottled soft drinks are sold in stores around campus. The university says that according to the state constitution, a city cannot force a state agency to pay a city tax and that the university will not pay the Berkeley soda tax. The people who wrote this law claim that the city can make the university pay the tax. I don’t know how that will play out, but in the past, whenever the city of Berkeley tried to tax the university, the city of Berkeley lost in court.
The latest toy that rich dot-comers are buying these days is big houses in ritzy neighborhoods in San Francisco. The price of these houses is going up astonishingly fast. A house in Pacific Heights just sold for $39 million, the highest priced house listed on the MLS in the U.S. This house sold for $27 million just 3 years ago, which shows just how rapidly high-end houses in San Francisco are appreciating. There are several other houses for sale in Pacific Heights and on Russian Hill for $30 million or more. The property tax in San Francisco on a $39 million house is about $1 million a year. To see what $39 million gets you in San Francisco, go to: $39 Million House.
Madame de Florian was a wealthy French socialite in the 1930s. She lived in a large and lavish apartment in the fashionable Opera Garnier district of Paris. In 1942, Madame de Florian moved from Paris, which was under Nazi occupation, to the south of France, which was not under occupation, but she continued to pay the rent on her Paris apartment. Madame de Florian intended to return to her Paris apartment after the war was over, but she never did. She liked life on the French Riviera. Madame de Florian died in 2010. After her death, an auctioneer hired by her heirs entered her Paris apartment. It was the first time that anyone had entered the apartment since 1942. When the auctioneer unlocked the door to the apartment, he was astonished. He found a perfectly preserved time capsule of what life was like for the French aristocracy in the 1920s and 1930s. The apartment was full of treasures. It took weeks to catalog everything. Some items in Madame de Florian’s apartment have already been sold, including a framed portrait of Madame de Florian herself by Giovanni Boldini. The painting sold for over 2 million Euros. Many other valuables in the apartment are still awaiting sale.
If you would like to serve chocolate fondue at your next party, come and see me. I will lend you my chocolate fondue pots and forks and give you the fondue chocolate. All you will need is cream and stuff to dip in the fondue, like strawberries and bananas.
Chocolate fondue is very easy to make. You just put chocolate and cream in an electric fondue pot and turn the thermostat on ‘low’. When the chocolate is melted, stir it up, and you’re done. It’s as simple as that. This isn’t a simplified recipe. This is the way dessert professionals make it. Chocolate fondue is great for parties! And it is easy and fun to do!
Do you have renters insurance? I always advise tenants to buy renters insurance, both verbally and in writing in the lease itself. I would like to put a clause in my lease form requiring tenants to buy renters insurance as a condition of the lease, but I am not sure such a provision would be enforceable or even legal.
Tenants invariably tell me that they are going to buy renters insurance, but sadly, most of them put it off until they have suffered a loss, and then it’s too late. Renter’s insurance costs between $150 and $200 a year, a small price for a lot of coverage.
First, you get personal property insurance. This means that you can get reimbursed if somebody steals you bicycle, your computer, or your grandmother’s glockenspiel. Renters insurance doesn’t just protect your stuff inside your apartment. It protects your stuff wherever it is. Several years ago, my sister Bonnie was visiting the San Francisco bay area from Seattle where she was living. While Bonnie was in Marin County, her camera and jewelry were stolen. Bonnie had renters insurance, so, even though her apartment was 1,000 miles from San Francisco, Bonnie’s insurance company paid for her loss.
Second, renters insurance insures you from personal liability. That protects you in case somebody slips on your porch or trips over an extension cord. It also provides you with insurance for many other kinds of losses, like smoke and fire damage. Tenants sometimes ask me if I have fire insurance. Well, Yes I do have fire insurance on my buildings, but my insurance protects me, not you. My insurance only covers my buildings and the personal property inside that belongs to me, like the stoves and refrigerators. It doesn’t protect your stuff from fire damage.
Don’t put off buying renters insurance until your stuff is gone. Do it now! If you don’t know where to get renters insurance, just go to Google, and type in ‘renters insurance’ and the name of the city and state where you live, and you’ll get lots of results. Renters insurance is not hard to find.
Cookies track your web searches. Cookies let an airline or travel web site know when you make a return visit to their site, which is an indication that you may have past the search stage and are now ready to buy a ticket, and they jack up the price. To get the lower price that you saw on your first visit to the site, use a different browser when you are ready to buy your ticket. The cookies are fooled into thinking this is your first visit to the site. For example, if you used Firefox on your first search, try Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Safari to get your ticket at the lower price.
Cookies on a web site are not a treat, like a package from Mrs. Fields. Cookies on a web site are never good for you. They are strictly for the benefit of people trying to sell you things at the highest possible price.
Jelly Belly is generous with free samples. Although this tour costs nothing, I would put the Jelly Belly factory tour very high on my list of places to take kids visiting the bay area.
Mildew is not dirt. It is a living organism. It produces stains on walls and has an unpleasant musty odor. Mildew is unhealthy, as mildew gets into the air we breathe. There are 3 conditions that promote the growth of mildew and mold: humidity, heat, and stagnant air. To reduce or eliminate these conditions:1. Let in fresh air, particularly in high humidity areas, especially the bathroom. Keep a window ajar or use the exhaust fan, if there is one, to allow air to circulate.
2. Let in sunlight. Don’t keep window shades closed all the time. There are many micro-organisms that thrive in dark rooms that are killed by sunlight. I have tenants who keep the window shades in their bedrooms closed all the time. Sunlight never gets in. I tell them that this is very unhealthy, but I can’t make them open their shades. It is illegal in California under the state health code to use a room as a bedroom that does not have a window or skylight to let in natural sunlight. When was the last time you opened the window shades in your bedroom to let in sunlight?
3. Don’t overheat the house. Contrary to a widely held misconception, furnaces do not put out more heat the higher the thermostat is set. All a thermostat does is turn the furnace on and off. It does not regulate or control the height or size of the flame.
4. Don’t let damp clothes or towels sit on the floor or piled up. A house full of clutter is far more likely to have mildew and mold than a clean, tidy house.
Mildew Removal. There are many mildew removal products sold in supermarkets. Read the label before use. Some of these products cannot be used on walls, only tile.
Bleach. It is a myth that the most effective way to remove mildew is with laundry bleach. While bleach will remove mildew, it is much less effective in removing mildew or preventing its return than Tilex or Lysol Mildew Remover. They sell these products at Walgreen’s and Safeway. A big bottle costs around $5.
Remember, mildew is not only unattractive and smelly, it is also a health hazard, one that you can easily and cheaply control!