Beachless Summer

Can you ever imagine living less than 1 mile to the beach, less than a 10 minute bike ride, and not spending even 5 minutes of your summer on the clean sandy beaches of quaint Bay Head. With my wife working both weekend days I just couldn't find the energy or motivation to make the trek down Osborne Ave to the waiting Atlantic Ocean. Many times I found myself with towel in hand and bathing suit on and instead of hopping on the bike, I walked across the street to my sisters much more convenient in-ground pool. My next summers resolution is to spend at least 4 hours of every summer weekend soaking up rays and splashing around in the salty ocean waves of the Jersey Shore which I have taken for granted.

Phew! Summer has come to an end!!!

Wow! That had to be the fastest summer ever. From Memorial Day to Labor Day I worked an average of 67 hours a week and had exactly 2 days off, and those 2 days were spent rehabbing from a nasty gash on my shin and an ankle sprain that occurred while working through a thunderstorm and a power outage at the Parker House. Speaking of The Parker House, my stats this year were as follows: 10 highly intoxicated individuals personnaly escorted from the premises, 4 went like gentleman, 2 needed a little coaxing, and 4 I had to introduce their faces to our stone driveway before drunken common sense convinced them to be escorted out in an orderly fashion. The one I don't take any credit for, because I didn't have to lift a finger happened like this, a barback was pushing this drunk guy up the stairs screaming for him to get out, the guy was twice his size but this barback was pissed! I moved some people to clear a path for this ejection and began following them out, the drunk guy broke away from the barback and they both squared off, ready to fight. I stepped between them and asked what happened, the barback said the guy was an a-hole and had his thingy out in the bar. I then stepped next to the barback and said Eff him, lets drag him into the trees and kick the sh*t out of him. The drunk looked into our eyes and sprinted out of the parking lot with us half heartedly chasing behind him. I then asked the barback what really happened and he said he was ducking out from behind the bar and this guy had his thingy out and it hit him square in the forehead. It was then that I fully understood his anger and I vowed to remember the drunks face, but he never returned. When he later told this story to a few of his co-workers, the hazing began in earnest. Did this make the barback gay? What kind of sound did the object make when it hit his forehead, a thump or just a little slap? Was it really just his forehead or did it hit him square in the mouth? One guy actually brought in a fake one and was chasing the kid around with it! What fun behind the scenes of a popular local nightspot! More of my summer to come...

Kick-off to a Busy Summer

It's been a while since my last post. Busy, busy, busy!!! Started my new job this past Monday, office manager for the #1 office in the Point Pleasant area. I've already had more face to face time with the owner of the company in the last 4 days then I had in 5 yrs with my previous company. I'm settling into the job nicely, getting used to the fast pace, non-stop phones, and the abundance of weekly advertising the company does. Market is really picking up, showings are way up, and lots of deals are being written. Doing my best to stay away from the short sales, involved with one listing and believe me, it just isn't worth it. Spoke to quite a few former colleagues in the past 2 weeks. It seems the Real Estate Commission paid yet ANOTHER visit to the Beltris. Took a bunch of files, the floundering CEO of the company violating his own gag order and babbling to the Investigator about a seemingly "settled" lawsuit. One wonders when the web site will be updated to remove the $25,000 in hoc Pt. "training center" or the agentless "Lavallette Office" first there were two, then one, now none if my sources are correct. Good luck in your next venture Erin, you are now eligible to join the party come the end of June, date TBA. Check out the front of the Beltri web page. To the left of the big man's belly states that agents enjoy Free"High Qulaity" Internet Leads, any current or former agent would tell you this is utter BS and the typo isn't mine, it's an actual quote from the website. "When only the very best will do" strikes again! From my sources inside the company rumor has it that yet another lawsuit filed by a former agent has been settled. Once again the settlement contains the infamous Beltri "gag order". If only a gag order had been issued to the VP of Operations, the company might still be viable instead of the laughing stock it has become. Top 5% my a$$. I also see the roster still lists Al C as a currently active agent. Do the right thing and remove his name, he was too good a man and an agent to be associated with that fiasco in death. Finishing my shift as a fill in Security Specialist which gave me enough time to jot this little post. Hopefully this will be my last fill in shift, I've got to learn how to say NO! If you're at the Parker House on a Fri, Sat, or Sun nite, be sure to say hey, one last summer as a bouncer to the rich & beautiful, but you guys can come too. Just don't mention my name, I got no pull! Til next time...

New Beginnings

As I write this I am greatly anticipating giving my security company 3 weeks notice next Friday. I am now just 4 short weeks away from starting my full time job with RE/MAX Bay Point REALTORS on June 8th. Not that I'm hating on the security job, it definately filled a void, helped pay our living expenses(barely), and gave me a mental break from the all consuming job of a real estate broker. Well now I'm mentally refreshed, devoid of all negative energy, and raring to begin my new career. It's funny how some things come about, my last post about the Beltri's was on April 17th, and, as most of them are, it had a lot of negative energy associated with it. Since Al Crincolis death I have not given the Beltris a second thought. In the meantime I received an acceptable offer on one of my listings, my sellers are negotiating buying a new build, and I just came out of attorney review with one of my other buyers. The short sale listing that I have has 4 offers on it and the bank is just now starting to cooperate with me to get a deal done. All of this happened since I stopped fighting other peoples battles and started concentrating on getting my own ship in order. Negative energy out= the good stuff is attracted to you, kind of like The Secret stuff. Don't get me wrong, when someone purposely screws up and hurts a friend of mine I'm still going to write about it, but I'm not going to dwell on it. My new way of thinking has got me in a groove, real estate market is picking up, shoulder rehab is going great, Sunday hoops is getting me back in shape and my mind is minus the clutter. Good stuff!!! Happy Mothers Day and lets hope for a huge improvement in the weather...

Nitpicky Observations

Used to buy the NY Post every day just for the Page Six celebrity gossip, you could stop reading right there because the sports section was yesterdays news, always a day behind. A few weeks ago I checked out www.nypost.com and lo and behold, all the gossip news and pics I'd been yearning for, and for free! Which brings me to my first observation, what is up with Matthew Brodericks sideburns??? If you haven't seen them, it's a must.
As most of you know, The Ocean Star is my bible. I read every article word for word, with the exception of anything writted by that Adam guy, but it's getting harder and harder for me to get through the paper without balling it up and tossing it into the recycle bin (think green)! I enjoy reading an article from beginning to end, whoever is laying out the copy for this newspaper has some stories jumping through 3 different sections and pages. I understand a full in-depth story can't be entirely placed on the front page, but come on, 3 different sections!!! I'm definately going to have to write my first ever letter to the editor. It's been along time since my names been in the paper, I'll have to put this on my list of things to do.
This next one isn't too nitpicky. Local politicians, in most instances you have to love them. They give freely of their time, are often put in no win situations and in 95% of the cases they are honestly doing what they think is in the best interest of the town. I laugh when local politicians consider themselves staunch republicans or democrats, leave that nonsense at the state and national levels and just do what's right by your neighbors. We have a local comcast channel that is supposed to broadcast community events and town meetings and such. Why are the council meetings of Pt Beach & Pt Boro not broadcast on this channel? It doesn't have to be a live event, broadcast it the next day, just don't edit it. Boro councilwoman Susan Rodgers is holding these public meetings boasting that she is reaching out to the people. Let's get these meetings televised and I'll bet the turnout for council meetings would triple and the letters to the editor would do the same. I've been reading with interest the public pissing contest that's been taking place between Ms. Rodgers and the PBA. Ms. Rodgers, I can guarentee you if you asked me informally to take a 5 day furlough from my job to help balance your budget, I would scream NO WAY! It would be anyones typical reaction. To go public with the accusations you made against the PBA was irresponsible. A simple apology would go along way to mending fences and making progress in future negotiations. Your refusal to do so has me and many others questioning your character. Working nights, damned economy, has kept me away from town meetings and getting them televised would make me a much more educated citizen and would make for some captivating t.v.
Expanding on the character issue, the Beach voters got exactly what they bargained for when they pulled the levers in the past election. You elected to Mayor a very educated man who thinks the one who shouts the loudest wins the debate. His tunnel vision on raising revenue for the town has cost the council valuable time which should have been spent cutting expenses and searching for grants. As any longtime resident will tell you, the parking problem is here to stay. Under Mayor Pasolas and Mayor Vogels leadership along with Chief Depolo's outstanding police force, quality of life has never been better east of the tracks. The proposals put on the table regarding the police budget is a huge step in the wrong direction. Asking the boardwalk owners to do any more is just plain unfair, they took the risk opening their businesses, now they're to be blamed for the towns fiscal irresponsibility. What are you going to do the next time you need a new ambulance or a place to hold yet another political fundraiser. The boardwalk owners may not be there during your next financial crisis.
Lastly, the youngest member of the Beach Town Council seems to have some very serious character flaws, chief among them is forgetfulness. Honesty and integrity are two of the prerequisites for holding an elected office. After asking around I discovered some serious inconsistencies in this young mans character. Did anyone on the screening committee for candidates check out his resume? Or was that swept under the table in the name of special interest groups? How did this young man secure his job and progress so nicely in the salary department? Friends in high places I suppose, but at the taxpayers expense. As Coach Don Fioretti always said, "There's only 1 rule on this team, do the right thing and you can't go wrong." Our High School coaches taught us alot but this is the one I live by, do you???

Things on My Mind

As many of you know my mom died a little over a year ago and her birthday would have been 04/27, to remember her my step father Bob is taking the family out to dinner and I'm really hoping it won't get too awkward. One of my mom's wishes was that my sister publish her journals as a way to help others fighting ALS or Lou Gehrigs Disease as it is more commonly known. Last night I was feeling kind of down thinking about Al Crincolis struggle with illness and his passing, when I decided to reread my sisters entries. I actually got myself all worked up and published a comment that had my sister balling to me on the phone tonight. We agreed that a good cry now and then was beneficial and nothing to be ashamed about, even if you scare your 8 year old son. You can check out her journal at http://support4als.blogspot.com I encourage all to do so because it's not an easy disease to diagnose and death comes slow and painful.

Glad to see most of the school budgets passed. All the complaining and whining in Pt Beach makes me chuckle, take any house in PPB and move it to the Boro and watch the taxes rise by at least 33%. People in Pt Beach don't know how good they have it.

I've probably read about 100 books over the last six months and the one I'm currently reading, The Cuckoo's Nest by Cliff Stoll, is taking me forever to get through. It's about one of the first computer hackers ever hunted down in the 1970's and what got him caught was a .75 cent billing miscalculation on a computer spread sheet. The book is about 350 pages long with really tiny print and it's written by an astronomer/programmer and he leaves no detail undocumented. A year ago I would have tossed this book aside after 30 pages, but a scientist lent it to me and now it's my lifes work to plow through the last 150 pages and have an intelligent conversation with this gentleman.

It's very frustrating working when everyone else is home. My son arrived home on Tuesday from a weeks visit to Arizona and I wont be able to see his face until 8 AM Saturday morning when we have our weekly battle over his watching MTV. Growing up the wildest thing on MTV was a Madonna video, now it sex to the nth degree, provacative outfits, and grind,grind, grind. Alot like dancing with a girl from TR!

Played hoops Sunday morning for the first time since my surgery in February. Ran about 7 full court games and my shoulder came out fine. My calves on the other hand are still barking on Wed night. It's time to drop some lbs. and go from rehab to fitness mode.

Real Estate market is finally picking up. I saw an actual contract on one of my listings and I'm showing 4 or 5 houses on Sat and doing an open house in Brick on Sunday. 236 18th Ave, 4 BR 2 Ba house with a full bsmt, attached garage, 75x100 lot on a hilltop setting. Drop by from 1-3 to say hello. Goodbye for now...

Some Sad News

Our good friend, Al Crincoli, passed away this morning after a long illness. I remember the first time I met Al in the conference room at Beltri Realtors. He and The Bloated One had worked together at Crossroads years before and when Crossroads tried to screw him on a customer issue, Al C immediately resigned and brought his license to Beltri. While the 3 of us sat in the conference room going over the contract, Al asked me how we were going to handle his BPO business. Dumbfounded, I asked him how Crossroads had handled it, he told us and TBO said Al C could keep 100% of his business. ( Can you imagine that generosity today?) The conversation continued until I finally interrupted and asked, What the heck is a BPO? Al C chuckled and explained what a Brokers Price Opinion was and how you were compensated for one. I can only imagine what he was thinking about the fact that his new manager had no idea what a BPO was. After our first meeting Al C and I became fast friends. Al C was always good for 4 or 5 deals a year and his paperwork was always impeccable. I wouldn't hear from him for a couple of weeks and then he'ld pop in and hand me a fat check and a HUD statement and I'ld thank him profusely. When Al C popped in it meant a cup of coffee and a good 45 minutes of great stories from his business past. He was also famous for his huge Holiday mailings, every Dec 10th or so Al would come in with about 700 mailers that would have to be sealed and stamped, my processor hated it but I never had the heart to tell him the agents were supposed to complete the entire mailing process themselves. Al C was old school and I respected him immensly so over a 2 or 3 day period Joni and I would seal and stamp until we completed the job, it usually cost me a lunch or 2 but it was well worth it to keep a man like Al C motivated and content. The office was always thanked at Christmas with a bottle of wine and a box of nice chocolates with liquor inside. Whether it was his business background or his garden and pond stories, Al C was the one guy I always took time out to sit and shoot the breeze with. Al C was a family man, a battler, highly ethical and classy. He will be missed by all that knew him. God Bless!