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greekfire
ParticipantYeah, these jack balls clutter well-intentioned sites with their see-alice and Pamela and-her-son’s breasts crap. I did not spell out the trade names as I fear it might actually help their cause.
These losers hit my site for a while before I decided to limit all posts to only those with “supervisor” privileges. My site runs on Joomla, I don’t know how Drupal handles it. Brooke, if you have any advice on how to work around this, I’d love to hear it!
ParticipantWould it be too forward to ask for some more specifics such as addresses, MLS #s, etc?…something that we can get our hands around and verify for ourselves. Thanks in advance!
ParticipantWould it be too forward to ask for some more specifics such as addresses, MLS #s, etc?…something that we can get our hands around and verify for ourselves. Thanks in advance!
ParticipantThe stock markets are said to rise and fall based on data from a variety of reports. Have there been any studies on the effects of emotion and people’s general “feelings” on the markets and how the markets are affected by them? It seems that at various times the market does not move based on data – either in whole or in part. It moves, rather, based on well, I don’t know.
The different papers and websites seem to substantiate a rise, fall, or stagnation on what seem to be non-factor reasons. An analogy of this would be a typical write-up on Yahoo Finance which writes that while a recent GDP report gives bad news for stocks, the markets continue to push into record territory because there are rumors that company ABC might be consider acquiring company XYZ. It’s like they are just searching for reasons to explain why the market does what it does.
I am sure there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes and in the trenches that many of us don’t come across on a regular basis or don’t have access to. Who really moves the markets? Is it the institutional investors such as mutual funds and investment banks, individual investors, a combination of both, or something else? Is there any resource out there that breaks down the volume of trades on a given day based on who traded? Example: 2 million shares traded today, 70% by institutional investors, 25% by individuals, and 5% by others?
ParticipantThe stock markets are said to rise and fall based on data from a variety of reports. Have there been any studies on the effects of emotion and people’s general “feelings” on the markets and how the markets are affected by them? It seems that at various times the market does not move based on data – either in whole or in part. It moves, rather, based on well, I don’t know.
The different papers and websites seem to substantiate a rise, fall, or stagnation on what seem to be non-factor reasons. An analogy of this would be a typical write-up on Yahoo Finance which writes that while a recent GDP report gives bad news for stocks, the markets continue to push into record territory because there are rumors that company ABC might be consider acquiring company XYZ. It’s like they are just searching for reasons to explain why the market does what it does.
I am sure there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes and in the trenches that many of us don’t come across on a regular basis or don’t have access to. Who really moves the markets? Is it the institutional investors such as mutual funds and investment banks, individual investors, a combination of both, or something else? Is there any resource out there that breaks down the volume of trades on a given day based on who traded? Example: 2 million shares traded today, 70% by institutional investors, 25% by individuals, and 5% by others?
ParticipantUsing Craigslist, the UT (signonsandiego.com), Rentslicer.com, and others it not lazy, it’s smart. Judging by your post, I would estimate that you are already somewhat familiar with the area that you want to rent in and have a feel for its various idiosyncrasies. The time frame you are looking to rent will have an effect on how the intangibles (traffic, noise, good school proximity) play a role in your decision-making process. Buying the property would be a different story altogether, assuming you were going to stay put long-term.
As a renter of a home myself, I would recommend that you scan the readily-available sources out there, such as Craiglist, Rentslicer, etc. And that you cross-reference them with other sites like Zillow. You are basically going to look for those owners that have purchased before the most recent housing bubble…the owners that don’t have to charge a higher rent in order to achieve profitability.
ParticipantUsing Craigslist, the UT (signonsandiego.com), Rentslicer.com, and others it not lazy, it’s smart. Judging by your post, I would estimate that you are already somewhat familiar with the area that you want to rent in and have a feel for its various idiosyncrasies. The time frame you are looking to rent will have an effect on how the intangibles (traffic, noise, good school proximity) play a role in your decision-making process. Buying the property would be a different story altogether, assuming you were going to stay put long-term.
As a renter of a home myself, I would recommend that you scan the readily-available sources out there, such as Craiglist, Rentslicer, etc. And that you cross-reference them with other sites like Zillow. You are basically going to look for those owners that have purchased before the most recent housing bubble…the owners that don’t have to charge a higher rent in order to achieve profitability.
ParticipantThis is yet ANOTHER REASON why we need to have a single, objective, and open-to-the-public real estate database. Our current system is like trying to construct the Tower of Babel.
ParticipantThis is yet ANOTHER REASON why we need to have a single, objective, and open-to-the-public real estate database. Our current system is like trying to construct the Tower of Babel.
ParticipantJuice,
Personally, I would take the outline of the key tasks that you have in Word and copy/paste them into MS Project. MS Project can be a bit quirky for a new user. If you are not very familiar with it, use it as a means to produce a workable schedule (Gantt chart) that is acceptable to your client and that can be reasonably adhered to by your staff.
Your next obstacle will be to manage the day-to-day tasks that are a part of your project. If you are familiar with MS Project, there are a number of tools that you can use (too numerous to list here). If you are not, and I am guessing you aren’t since you are using Word, you might find success in using an Excel spreadsheet to produce an initial (as well as a forecasted) plan of attack.
Break your project down by phases (Phase 1: Invitations, Phase 2: Logistics, Phase 3: Media Relations, etc.). Next, identify the tasks that will need to be performed for each phase (e.g., Phase 1: Project Kick-off; Phase 2: Transportation Bid/Procurement; Phase 3: Public Outreach; etc.) and assign a START DATE and a TIMEFRAME for each. The Public Outreach task in Phase 3 may begin on July 17 (a Tuesday) and last a total of 4 hours.
If you are using MS Project, you will want to set up dependencies – i.e., Phase 2 will start after the end of Phase 1; Phase 3 will start 4 weeks (lag) after the start of Phase 2, etc.). If you don’t use MS Project, I recommend that you use Excel instead of Word. You can utilize similar organizational tools in Excel that you can in Word (e.g., bullets); however Excel gives you the ability to calculate hours and costs.
I could go on and on. The main thing to focus on when you have a very big project at hand is to try to break it down into logical parts and sub-parts, and then assign a time and cost metric to each. Think of the old Buddhist saying that “a thousand mile journey begins with a single step”. Be sure to break the project down in a fashion that both you and the client can understand. If the project has already been won, you don’t have to worry about satisfying the client as much as you do about making sure your staff has a workable game plan that will produce a high-quality product with as much profit to the company as possible.
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Aside from the software mentioned above, a more recent trend has been to utilize blogs for anything ranging from managing projects to customer service. A blog might be useful if you anticipate copious feedback or questions from staff or clients. The benefits of a blog, if it works in your particular situation, are numerous.
Project management blogs allow for open communication from all levels of the production chain, they are accessible from any PC that has an internet connection, and they can be searched, categorized, and dated. Yet, they can be implemented so that different users are set up with different access rights/privileges (password protection) and they can only see/add so much to the blog.
Finally, there are many blogs that are based on open-source code and are free! Examples are PHPBB, Joomla, Drupal (what Piggington uses), WordPress, and many others. Implementing a “Feedback Blog” for your staff and clients might be one of the most proactive and innovative things that you can do for your project. Perhaps the coolest thing of all is that you can set up a different blog for each project and save them…so when you want to go back and see how a project went (I mean really see how it went ;-P, you can access the blog entries and review it.
If you want more info shoot me an email at mathuff at vanderhawk dot net.
I wish you the best of luck.
ParticipantJuice,
Personally, I would take the outline of the key tasks that you have in Word and copy/paste them into MS Project. MS Project can be a bit quirky for a new user. If you are not very familiar with it, use it as a means to produce a workable schedule (Gantt chart) that is acceptable to your client and that can be reasonably adhered to by your staff.
Your next obstacle will be to manage the day-to-day tasks that are a part of your project. If you are familiar with MS Project, there are a number of tools that you can use (too numerous to list here). If you are not, and I am guessing you aren’t since you are using Word, you might find success in using an Excel spreadsheet to produce an initial (as well as a forecasted) plan of attack.
Break your project down by phases (Phase 1: Invitations, Phase 2: Logistics, Phase 3: Media Relations, etc.). Next, identify the tasks that will need to be performed for each phase (e.g., Phase 1: Project Kick-off; Phase 2: Transportation Bid/Procurement; Phase 3: Public Outreach; etc.) and assign a START DATE and a TIMEFRAME for each. The Public Outreach task in Phase 3 may begin on July 17 (a Tuesday) and last a total of 4 hours.
If you are using MS Project, you will want to set up dependencies – i.e., Phase 2 will start after the end of Phase 1; Phase 3 will start 4 weeks (lag) after the start of Phase 2, etc.). If you don’t use MS Project, I recommend that you use Excel instead of Word. You can utilize similar organizational tools in Excel that you can in Word (e.g., bullets); however Excel gives you the ability to calculate hours and costs.
I could go on and on. The main thing to focus on when you have a very big project at hand is to try to break it down into logical parts and sub-parts, and then assign a time and cost metric to each. Think of the old Buddhist saying that “a thousand mile journey begins with a single step”. Be sure to break the project down in a fashion that both you and the client can understand. If the project has already been won, you don’t have to worry about satisfying the client as much as you do about making sure your staff has a workable game plan that will produce a high-quality product with as much profit to the company as possible.
———————————-
Aside from the software mentioned above, a more recent trend has been to utilize blogs for anything ranging from managing projects to customer service. A blog might be useful if you anticipate copious feedback or questions from staff or clients. The benefits of a blog, if it works in your particular situation, are numerous.
Project management blogs allow for open communication from all levels of the production chain, they are accessible from any PC that has an internet connection, and they can be searched, categorized, and dated. Yet, they can be implemented so that different users are set up with different access rights/privileges (password protection) and they can only see/add so much to the blog.
Finally, there are many blogs that are based on open-source code and are free! Examples are PHPBB, Joomla, Drupal (what Piggington uses), WordPress, and many others. Implementing a “Feedback Blog” for your staff and clients might be one of the most proactive and innovative things that you can do for your project. Perhaps the coolest thing of all is that you can set up a different blog for each project and save them…so when you want to go back and see how a project went (I mean really see how it went ;-P, you can access the blog entries and review it.
If you want more info shoot me an email at mathuff at vanderhawk dot net.
I wish you the best of luck.
ParticipantAlex,
In one breath you infer that other poster’s statements are completely lacking in data and based on a “crystal ball”. Yet, in the next breath, you make the following statement,“The fact is there is a lot of rich people that moved here over the last couple years.”
And you provide absolutely no data whatsoever to substantiate this claim. How’s that old saying go? Oh yeah, when you point your finger at someone you have three fingers pointing back at you.
ParticipantObtaining price/square foot on other comps could be answered better by those on this site that have ready access to such information (SD Realtor, sdrealtor, etc.). I am not saying to buy or not, but rather to do as much research as you can in the time frame that you are given. Then, no matter what decision you make, you’ll be able to more easily sleep at night knowing that you did all that you could in the best interests of your family.
ParticipantHere’s a summary of getting over a woman based on my life experiences (and advice I got from others):
1) Living well is the best revenge (this is the most essential rule!)
2) Woman are like cars on the freeway, as soon as one passes by there’s another one to take its place.
3) Stay busy (with healthy activities)
4) Re-affirm the good reasons for breaking up (she’s not family-oriented, she’s a smoker, she’s a ho, etc.:^))
5) Thank God that you didn’t come to this conclusion about her after 5 years of marriage and 2 kids.Best of luck, friend. As someone once told me after I was fired from one of my jobs. He said, “You are going to look back at this years from now and realize it was the best thing that could’ve happened to you.”
He was right.
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