Jun
08
Posted under
General Real Estate,
Local News,
Miscellaneous Click the link for my original post about the real estate lead generator that sues a blogger.
When I wrote that post Vlad Zablotzkyy had not received any papers yet from Ben Behrouzi. Well, now he has. ePERKS went through with its threats of a lawsuit.
And the real estate 2.0 crowd is up in arms. There are many bloggers around the nation that are coming to aid Vlad in his defense. We don’t feel the lawsuit has merit but that’s just a part of it.
The lawsuit was filed in California and Vlad lives in New Jersey. Vlad has to hire lawyers to defend him and fly out to CA. Will it be a quick court appearance or multiple visits? No one is sure at this point.
Fellow real estate agents, mortgage brokers/loan officers, bloggers and anyone else that values our freedom of speech is asked to donate whatever you can for Vlad’s defense. It will all add up so don’t be embarrassed if you can only give a few bucks. Go to the Paypal button on the top right of the sidebar on this site that is under the CENSORED? eJERKS logo.
We’ve got to show this lead generating company that it should not bite the hands that feed it (and I hope the action of this company will cause its demise). Clicking the eJERKS logo top right of this page will bring you to the popular Bloodhound Blog which has all the information and links you’ll need to see just how this company is run.
May
07
Posted under
Events,
Local News,
Miscellaneous 
Are these guys cute or what? These squirrel monkeys, named Mono Titis, are becoming endangered as their homeland becomes more and more popular for new construction. Costa Rica is becoming a true hot spot for vacationing and building for ex pats.
I am part of a group that is sponsoring a raffle benefiting the Eco Preservation Society. Please purchase a raffle ticket (or four) to help these sweet animals.
Tickets are one for $35.00
Four for $100.00
Visit the Mono Titi Raffle Website to make your donation via Paypal.
The winner receives an awesome website package worth over $5,000. However, only a real estate agent can get the site. But please, if you love animals and nature consider donating even if you’re not an agent.
In fact, I will rebate your donation if you win as a trade for the website. Please go to the donation page now as the raffle ends June 1st.
Mono Titi
Photo originally uploaded by c.cobb
Feb
29
Posted under
Miscellaneous I’ve always been fascinated with Leap Year. How could we have one day on our calendar that only occurs every 4 years? Whose idea was this and why? And what about all the people born on leap year? When do they celebrate their birthdays on the year when their birthday doesn’t appear on the calendar?
So I did some digging. The reason for having a Leap Year is to keep our calendar in alignment with the earth’s revolutions around the sun. I knew it had something to do with the planet and the sun, after all, that is how we keep time and how the calendar works.
There are two different methods of calculations to determine which years will be leap years. The Gregorian calendar, which most modern countries utilize, uses the following criteria:
1. Every year that is divisible by four is a leap year;
2. of those years, if it can be divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless
3. the year is divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.
So, as an example, the years 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500 are NOT leap years, while year 2000 and 2400 are.
Before the Gregorian calendar had widespread use the Julian calendar was popular. It also had leap years but the math was a bit easier. Any year divisible by four was a leap year.
It’s interesting to note that no matter what, our calendar is not 100% spot on. Today’s calendars can be off by seconds or even days every year. In fact, new calculations will need to be introduced to keep calendars on track. When we say a year is 365 days that’s not quite true, it is actually closer to 365.242199 days in a year. OK, we’ll continue saying 365 days.
Some Famous People Born on Leap Year
* 1792 – Gioacchino Rossini, Italian composer (William Tell, The Barber of Seville) (d. 1868)
* 1916 – Dinah Shore, American singer (d. 1994)
* 1924 – Al Rosen, American baseball player
* 1960 – Richard Ramirez, American serial killer
* 1960 – Anthony (Tony) Robbins, American motivational speaker
* 1972 – Antonio Sabàto Jr, Italian-born actor
* 1976 – Ja Rule, American rapper and actor
* 1980 – Chris Conley, American musician and songwriter/composer
Some Famous Leap Year Events
* 1692 – First accusations began during the Salem witch trials. The trials occurred in Massachusetts in the United States, where more than 150 people were arrested and at least 25 people died by hanging, torture or during their prison stay.
* 1940 – Hattie McDaniel was the first African American actress to win an Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as “Mammy” in Gone with the Wind. The movie won eight Oscars.
* 1952 – The first “Walk/Don’t Walk” signs were installed in New York City.
* 1972 – The Carpenters received a gold record for the hit single Hurting Each Other. The Carpenters were a vocal and instrumental duo of siblings, Karen and Richard, who produced a softer style of music in an era when loud rock was in demand. They were one of the best-selling music artists in the 1970s.
The people and events listed above are just a sampling. I’m sure there are many more to add. In fact, there are an estimated 4 million people born on February 29th! I wonder if St. Petersburg, FL, holds a Leap Year birthday party because it was incorporated on February 29, 1892.
I’ve read differing stories of how people born on Leap Year celebrate birthdays. One gentleman stated that he only got a birthday party every four years, on his actual February 29th birth date. He admitted that as a child it was difficult to understand why he didn’t get a party every year, but he also explained that when there was a leap year he had a very big celebration. From my readings it seems that others celebrate every year on the last day of February.
There Used to be February 30th
In 1700 Sweden switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar but the year they picked to do so put them out of synch with both so they switched back in 1712. That year they two leap days and added February 30th and kept it until 1753, when they switched back to the Gregorian calendar.
The Soviet Union added a calendar in 1929 that included February 30th from 1930-1931. This calendar was really different having 5 day weeks with the extra days to every month being monthless holidays. In fact, they kept this secondary calendar (the Gregorian calendar wasn’t completely abolished - how confusing was that) until 1940.
So imagine that there are people alive today who were born on February 30th, a day never to be seen again! They never get a true birth day.
