Today I learned...

#51
#51
I looked for a character list for Thomas Pynchon's V. There really wasn't anything online so I'm trying to keep up with about 30 characters in this fever dream of a novel.
 
#54
#54
kiddiedoc said:
Duolingo and Coffee Break Spanish podcast. Language Transfer is another fantastic option, kind of a different approach. All are free
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I have an 835 day streak going on Duolingo. Spanish of course, I live in TX. I'm pretty decent reading and listening (if I really concentrate), but I still feel uncomfortable with anything beyond simple conversations. I need more face to face practice.

Coffee Break Spanish was a lot of fun. I need to dive back into that
 
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#56
#56
burntorangeVOLffle said:
I tried selling my house by owner once. It was a pain in the arse. I think most buyers are hesitant to negotiate directly with the owner. Not all... but most.

Took the house off the market. Year later used an agent and let him handle all the BS. We did negotiate a better commission with him since he was also our buyers agent and the house we bought was one of his listings. So he made plenty of money.
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I’m a realtor. Will say this for what it’s worth. From the outside looking in, it seems like easy money. As a buyers agent, pretty standard commission is 3%. Of that, the brokerage takes their cut. You pay for your signs, cell phone , business cards and all other expense. MLS fees are around $500 a year, and another $500 to the board of realtors. Lockbox access $30 per month. Continuing education classes every 2 years and license renewal fees. Your first $2000 in earnings pretty much covers your annual expenses. My brokerage also has administrative help and that costs another $35 per month.

What does a realtor provide? Running comps is a big one. We have access to sales data. You may think zillow can value your home, but that is what we used to call in my engineering days a “brown number”. Haggling through offers and counter offers isn’t easy, but for me, getting a buyer through the inspection process and getting repairs done before close is difficult. With a lender, like FHA or VA, those inspectors can require certain repairs or they won’t lend the money. Also- with the comps, houses must appraise. Hard to get a sucker on a real estate deal when a lender is involved. Many people have an inflated opinion of what their house is worth. I will walk away from someone trying to list their house too high because “my dad thinks that the house down the street sold for ____ and I know my house is better than that. Pricing a house too high is a recipe for disaster between an agent and their client.

Another perceived problem is when a house sells too fast. Seller thinks, dang I could have gotten more. If it’s priced in line with the comps, it should move. And the agent that sells one quickly gets a bad rap for doing his job right. It’s tough some days.
 
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#57
#57
VolNExile said:
We started online Spanish lessons too! Which are you using? We're doing Rocket Spanish. And due to an accidental mis-click, I appear to be doing online German as well.
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We use Rosetta Stone for my kids. Its was a little pricey but I like the immersion method. My eight year old zips through it. Although he isn’t confident enough to try and speak it yet.

6 year old gets frustrated too quickly when he gets wrong answers. I try to reassure him that its ok to get it wrong. We can always go back and try again.
 
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#58
#58
burntorangeVOLffle said:
We use Rosetta Stone for my kids. Its was a little pricey but I like the immersion method. My eight year old zips through it. Although he isn’t confident enough to try and speak it yet.

6 year old gets frustrated too quickly when he gets wrong answers. I try to reassure him that its ok to get it wrong. We can always go back and try again.
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Language Transfer is similar and FREE!
 
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#59
#59
burntorangeVOLffle said:
We use Rosetta Stone for my kids. Its was a little pricey but I like the immersion method. My eight year old zips through it. Although he isn’t confident enough to try and speak it yet.

6 year old gets frustrated too quickly when he gets wrong answers. I try to reassure him that its ok to get it wrong. We can always go back and try again.
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In the end, no matter what method you use, you simply have to go to a country or location where the language you’re trying to learn is the common tongue, and you are forced to use it exclusively, no English. It is going to take a few days of OMG-I-have-no-freaking-idea-what-is-going-on-here before your brain clicks over and gets it.

And if nothing else, here is one phrase you might want to learn: “Your English is (100) (1,000) (one million) times better than my (insert other language here.)” And you know what, for most of us, this is absolutely true. The guys who built our back yard fence were bilingual. We were obviously not. Who were the more educated people here? Certainly not us, in terms of multiple-language ability.

I have never encountered any rudeness or contempt by anyone at my attempts to speak their language, other than by the French, and that’s my most fluent language. Instead, I have found that most people are fascinated by foreigners, including Americans, and that they are cheerfully supportive of our floundering attempts to express ourselves. (Our most recent trip was to Cuba, and boy did we flounder, but they were cheerful and gracious.) The people that you are trying to talk to are much more kind and less judgmental than your French II teacher.

Maybe have your kids talk to someone at the local tienda, or the folks who clean your house or work on your yard. Again, I have never received anything but delight from Spanish-speakers who kindly see me flopping around like a fish on the bottom of a boat. 🤪 If you don’t mind being rescued by peeps from another culture, it’s an excellent way to integrate a new language.
 
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#64
#64
BigOrangeMojo said:
I learned this is a great background to have in home office while on video calls with UGA fans
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I learned today I shouldnt have the Old Time pictures (those where you and spouse are dressed up in old time gear holding a gun and a Jack bottle) in the background of video conference calls
 
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#69
#69
Today I learned there was going to be a Daredevil cartoon in the early 80s until this cover hit the stands and scared off the network execs...
 

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#73
#73
burntorangeVOLffle said:
Today I learned there was going to be a Daredevil cartoon in the early 80s until this cover hit the stands and scared off the network execs...
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Classic Frank Miller Daredevil. His stories have been the genesis for a lot of our recent comic book Sci Fi entertainment. 300, Sin City, the Daredevil/Electra storyline, Batman (The Dark knight), Batman vs. Superman and a lot of the best Wolverine background was all from Miller's stories in the comics.
 
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