Juxtaposed: Religion

As far as Art goes, I quite like this....

5,084,000,000 people 5,360 pages 3,700 years 243 countries 7 books 1 shelf

San Francisco designers Mike and Maaike have created JUXTAPOSED:Religion the first in a series of Juxtaposed curated bookshelves for blankblank.
“For the first time, the world’s most influential religious texts are brought together and presented on the same level, their coexistence acknowledged and celebrated.”
(I don't agree with that emotional fluff, but I like the resulting art)The shelf is made of reclaimed hardwood and is offered in a limited edition of 50.

mikeandmaaike.com
blankblank.net

Is the bubble about to burst?

Real estate is an interesting thing.

I was lucky enough to buy my first place when I was 23 - it was a shitty 100 year old villa that took me 7 years to finish. I learned a lot about DIY and property by getting involved pretty early on.
At one point, I was pretty close to the wire and sold my car, so I was biking to work each day, and sometimes buying milk or bread with money that could only come out of the coin jar. Oddly enough, I look back at those times with some pretty fond memories because those are the times when it seems that strength of character and ambition was more important than financial security. Those sorts of conditions can bring out the best (or worse) in a person.

Anyway, in NZ we have experienced a bit of a property boom since about mid 2001 - virtually to the month that we sold the house and left NZ for our 2-3 year Overseas Experience...that is now into it's 6th year. According to the stats, property rises have averaged 20% p/a for the last 4-5 years in some parts of NZ, and 80-100% increase in home values are not that uncommon. It's a similar sotry in other parts of the world, maybe the dates are different.
My view is that there is a correction coming. For the last 100 years, property has averaged more like 4-7% p/a in various parts of the world, so you have to ask yourself what impact the last 5 years of boom is going to have on the market in the next few years, if we are going to maintain that 4-7% p/a average.

Fortunately for me, I bought my first place when some people were reducing prices to sell. Indeed, Real Estate was going down. (I'm only talking the early-mid 90s here!)
These days, there is a new breed of people (or just those who have short memories) that believe 15-20% p/a increases are completely sustainable for the rest of their lives. Many people believe that this 15-20% p/a gain is something magical, "it's just the market showing it's true value" etc etc, but in the last few years, I believe that perhaps these unrealistic gains have been fueled by greed.
There are plenty of people who see 'flipping' as a realistic way to get ahead. Basically buying a place with the intention of selling it pretty quickly to the next person for a profit. Ya know, almost like MLM or Pyramid Selling.
The problem is, many of these people believe in "can't lose" mentality that they them selves are not content to cash up and enjoy the profits of their flips, rather, they extend their debt even further, making sure they are maximizing any equity they had by borrowing to the limit.
There is no belief that interest rates could possibly hike, or that the bubble will burst. Anyway, I think you get the idea.

Here is an interesting blog. It is by a 24 year old budding "investor", who didn't know any better and took what we wanted to believe from various get rich quick seminars. His name is Casey Serin, and he bought 8 houses in 8 months with no money down, and lost. http://iamfacingforeclosure.com/1/why-i-am-facing-foreclosure/

Check out out some of the comments. Wow.

Why is Real Estate so interesting? Cos is can make smart people do dumb things, and dumb people do smart things.

Simplistic Theory #2: Units of Time

Being the simplistic fella that I am, I link to come up with theories that measure certain sides of life, and in doing so, try to work out the best way to learn from the past to get the most out of the future.

One simplistic theory I came up with maybe 20 years ago was the theory of People Categories. It's highly un-PC, but it's the science of categorising a complete stranger based on how they look and act and comparing that data to what you already know. Basically, it helps determine how to deal with that person, what they are likely to enjoy or dislike, whether they are more likely to be a dick or an asshole.....that sort of thing. But that is Simplistic Theory #1, which I will go into detail another day.

Simplistic Theory #2 is the Theory of Units of time. Having been fortunate enough to live and work in different countries, I have picked up on a very little observed phenomin, fenomin, phanomin thing. The unit of time you need to work to is determined by your lifestyle. Lemme explain....
In NZ for example, you can drive anywhere in most citys in about 20mins, you can generally park right out the front FOR FREE, Stores are generally deserted. What this means is you can do ANYTHING in a unit of time that is 30mins long. Sometimes you might need 2 units, say meeting a friend for coffee. 3 units for a nice meal, 4 units to go have a BBQ at the beach. You get the idea. In Singapore, the unit was closer to 1 hr. London it was 2 hrs, Here in Taiwan, it's closer to about 3hrs.
I think I have worked out the pattern here, and here is the formula:

The quality of a lifestyle is inversely proportional to the unit of time used to maintain it.

WTF? Well, I think it should be an aim in life to get your unit of time down to as small as possible. Why? Well, think about when you try to hook up with friends, how it sometimes seems impossible to get a slot that matches. If I need 1 unit of time to go and buy a magazine here in Taiwan, then fitting in a coffee is going to be another 1 unit of time, so 6 hrs total. That's a big chunk of a day man....no can do. Let's do coffee July 23, 2009 at 2pm.
In NZ, a buddy want's to meet for Fish and Chips at the Marina?..no problem, be there in half an hour. With the food. And Beers.

What is the main cause of this? Well different places have different factors, such as population, congestion, weather, language barriers, scooters everywhere, notoriously bad punctuality...blah, blah. It all contributes to the required unit of time of a given place, which can be improved on with personal innovation.

So, why should we try to get our units of time down? Well, you get more out of life, that's why.

categories: [living_][strange_][thoughts_]