Clarkson Energy Homes

I just read an article in my local newspaper (sorry there links seem to expire). It seems American Cowboy Magazine has named 20 cities which are most favorable to the Cowboy lifestyle. “Stephenville has been named one of the best places to live in the west,” according to the newspaper. I’m kind of bucking the trend or maybe there is a shift as we completely leave manufacturing and embark on a the true information age. I moved from the city to the country. I grew up in a suburb of New Orleans where it is difficult to tell when you move across a political line. I moved around the North East and wound up in Dallas, TX. Now I live outside of Stephenville, TX. Population 15,000. Give or take a hundred or so. If I need to get to the bank across town and I hit every light, it will take about 20 minutes and I’ll barely go over 40mph. I love it here! I can understand why cowboys like it here too.

Here’s an excerpt of a dialog I am having with someone in my local newspaper that I thought was of interest. (I cleaned up a few typos.) Creed wrote:

If we treat drug addiction as a disease, yet legalize drugs, are we not offering up the disease to even more weak-willed persons?

Yes. But protecting weak-willed persons from their own self-destructive behaviors is not a legitimate use of government. I’m addicted to those Little Debbie Swiss Rolls. I know I shouldn’t eat them. They’re little rolls of sugary goodness, but they are detrimental to my health. I don’t think anyone would seriously make the case that making them illegal is a legitimate use of government. BTW, I just ate a whole box of HEB Swiss Rolls while I was writing this reply. [Don't say it. Don't say it.] (more…)

Oh, I just had the worst meeting and I can only blame myself. More than a year ago, I made a big mistake and I am paying for it now. You see, I own a small mobile home park in Stephenville, TX. I live right in the middle of it. I lease my improved land to mobile home owners. I do not own any home other than my own.

Just about a year ago I was not feeling well and a two homes in the park were purchased while I was shut in my house. When I was notified of the sale, I should have immediately informed the buyers who were the current residents that they had no lease and that they needed to move out of the park immediately. As you can probably guess, I didn’t do that.

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In real estate investing propaganda I often see terms like “50 cents on the dollar” or “buy property for half off.” This is bull shit, folks. Any product sold is worth exactly what the purchaser paid for it. A house which sells for $50,000 is not worth more than $50,000. We know that because it sold for $50,000, not for more than that.

Is is possible for a person to buy a house in the morning and sell it immediately for a profit. With a double closing I could do it in one trip to the closing company. Though it is a rare deal, it might be possible to buy a property for $50,000 and immediately turn around and sell it for $100,000 in one transaction.

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A few pages of the Erath county, Texas 2006-2007 fiscal budget have been entered into the spreadsheet. There is a large Approval stamp across each budget page which confuses my OCR software and makes automatic processing difficult. As soon as I write the code to translate the spreadsheet to a web page, I’ll create a page for it on this site. Still no word on the missing page 20 or on the spending reports I requested form the County Auditor for previous years actual spending.

I went down to the Erath County courthouse late last month and got a copy of the 2006 – 2007 fiscal budget. It is 56 pages long and page 20 is missing. I am not sure why. I also have a request out for the most recent completed spending reports for the county. I hope to have the budget up soon. Watch this category for updates.