Kicking things up a notch

In an effort to jump-start our home-selling experience, we’ve knocked a little off the top of our Great Raleigh Home. Kelly and I (and a friend in the biz) talked it over and decided we weren’t doing ourselves any favors by being the most expensive house on the market in our neighborhood. We pulled our initial asking price out of thin air, so perhaps we weren’t being realistic.

We’ll see if any of those close-but-no-cigar folks now turn into winners.

Update: Scratch that. We’re holding off on the price change. We may … may have found a buyer!

The real story about “Client #9”

So squeaky-clean former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer got caught in some hanky panky. Spitzer, his squeaky-clean image now, uh, less than squeaky clean, did the right thing: he owned up to it, and stepped down.

Politicians and sex. Same old story, right? But what I find to be the big story here is the way Spitzer and others were caught: with financial tracking software, some of it possibly made by Cary’s SAS Institute.
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Downtown Raleigh: sleepy no more

I got called back into the office last night when it appeared the work I had done on our company’s firewall had taken down our network in Germany. It turned out to be a power failure rather than something I did, but I did appreciate a peek at what the area around my office is like at night.

Wow, was I amazed. The streets were full of people! Some waiting to get into a club that by day is a sleepy storefront. Others enjoyed drinks at sidewalk tables in front of The Raleigh Times. Bicycle taxis drove people from one end of Fayetteville Street to the other.

In spite of all the activity, I still managed to snag a street parking space right in front of my building. Before I could even log into my computer, I got the call about the cause being a power failure, sending me home again.

I remember my first visit to Raleigh in the fall of 1987. A friend had started at N.C. State and he took me on a tour of the city. On a Friday night downtown were deserted! I had to smile last night when I considered the contrast.

My, how things change.

UCLUG talk on Zenoss

The talk last night at UCLUG about Zenoss went well, with the exception of finding the place a little after the meeting had already started. Fortunately I was the second act, so nobody noticed.

I was fired up about speaking and it showed. I was funny and engaging and improvised a few clever wisecracks here and there. It didn’t hurt that there was a familiar face in the crowd: my former Raritan coworker Wes Yates, a wisecracker himself.

I’ve got to find more speaking gigs, or join one of the Toastmasters groups here. Speaking to groups (and especially interacting with them) is a heck of a lot of fun.

Take me out the ball game, again?

I’ve become intrigued by the knowledge that Raleigh used to have its own baseball team: the Raleigh Senators. I read somewhere (can’t remember now) the Senators once played at a park near Wade Avenue and Capital Boulevard, now home to the garbage trucks of Raleigh’s Solid Waste Services.

I am gathering more info on this missing ball park and hope to bring it back to life through the magic of the Internets.

Another one gets away

My optimism over yesterday’s showing got the best of me. Close, but no cigar. Here’s the feedback we received:

My buyers liked the sitting area in the master bedroom and the smooth ceilings. They loved the gas stove and huge backyard. They were disappointed about seeing the train tracks in the rear. They felt this house did not have enough storage and that the cabinets needed refinishing. Thanks for allowing us the opportunity to tour this very nice property.

Hrmph. “Very nice property.” Like kissing your sister, isn’t it?

I suppose I should post the house ad on local train forums. Maybe I could post a sign at the next New Hope Valley Railroad riding day!

On another note, I have no way of really knowing who did what yesterday: whether the Bookmarker was our prospect or someone else. Or the Slow-Roller for that matter. We’ll just have to see. Kelly tells me we’ve had a dozen showings so far, which really ain’t too shabby. Eventually we’ll find The One.