Dogs and Real Estate-no rhyme, no reason.

So, we told our ‘Sanford & Son’-like neighbor that our new dogs were named Achilles and Milo. His response? “Awwww, how cute, he’s named after a tendon!” Ed, looking somewhat stunned, just kind of nodded and walked on. Not that you’d expect everyone to have read the Iliad, but even if they haven’t there are plenty of genres through which one could learn. For example, one only has to watch the movie Troy and one would come to find out that Achilles is actually Brad Pitt. Ha!

Anyway, the reason why we call our neighbor ‘Sanford & Son’-like is because his backyard, driveway and garage are prime real estate locations for his very own junkyard. Sometimes he shoves all the wheelbarrows, rusted tools and old appliances out the way just so he can back his stanky fishing boat into the driveway. Of course, he must use an old 3 foot tall tree stump to hold up the boat. It all looks very charming. Our neighbor lives for surfing and fishing at 5 a.m. and pretty much nothing else. We do find him very endearing though given he’s got a super soft spot for animals and is constantly rescuing dogs from the pound. His two dogs are the best behaved on the block.

That’s the weird thing about Southern California real estate. You can pay almost $1 million dollars for a house and end up living next to a dilapidated shack of a house. Many people around our neighborhood bought their homes for pennies in the 50s, 60s and 70s; I’m talking like around $10,000 - $20,000. These homes are now going for 30 to 50 times their original price!!! Most of these folks are elderly now and have paid off their homes years ago and now just live pretty. Or, as in our neighbor’s case, the original owners passed on the home to their kids mortgage free. Most people don’t undertake any upgrading of any sort because they then can’t afford the tremendous increase in property tax basis.

So what happens is that there are 40 and 50 year old homes that maybe get a fresh coat of paint if we’re lucky, but for the most part look like they are about to fall apart. In the meantime, those of us that have purchased homes in the past 10 years did so and then completely cleaned up, landscaped, painted, completed additions, you name it, so that our home can look fresh and new. Driving down the street you can tell right away which homes have new buyers and which homes are relics falling apart. The sad thing is that the relics are worth more than most new homes around here because of the LOCATION.

There are real estate agents who wait around like vultures for some of these old folks to die and then pounce on the sale of the home. I heard of a home that had been purchased for $18,000 after WWII. When the old lady died the house on the inside and outside was refinished/remodeled/upgraded and it then sold for $850,000. Nice pocket change for the little old lady’s children to inherit.

I completely got off track, didn’t I? Hee hee. All of a sudden I wanted to rant a bit about the housing market out here. I feel better now.

I took the boys for a walk by myself this morning. It was an adventure. Milo just HAS to pee on the exact same spot Achilles pees on. Sometimes Milo just can’t wait and it is almost simultaneous. Like this morning, Milo actually peed on Achilles’ tail. Excellent! Mighty Achilles was not very happy, and neither was mommy. I had to rinse him with cold water from the hose. Poor thing. We’ve got to work on that with the two of them.

They’ve discovered that they LOVE the dog park. I swear they are going to pass out from excitement one of these days. All we’ve got to do is say “walk”, be putting on our shoes and the two of them are by the front door jumping around, huffing, wagging, FREAKING OUT! We clip Milo’s collar on his neck, but he gets so excited that he tries to stick his head into Achille’s collar as well. It is virtual madness at the front door. We all come stumbling out of the front door like children spilling out for recess. It must look hilarious.

They’ve been soooo good at the dog park. They enjoy it so much and are so curious about the other dogs. Nick was grumpy and not a fan of other dogs, so this experience is new for us. It feels nice to take the boys to the park and hear people complimenting them and their behavior.

In other news, Anna got Moose the very same day we got Achilles and Milo. Anna also has an 18 month old, Zoe, so she is wondering what she has gotten herself into with a baby human AND a baby doggie. I think she’s going to be just fine and I can’t wait to see him once all his shots are up to date.

Val took Max Pooh Bear on his very first camping trip this past weekend. I can’t WAIT to hear about the hilarity that must have ensued with a 200+ pound mastiff that is afraid of his very own shadow! Val is a great storyteller so it will be worth the wait. Hopefully she’ll have pictures soon, but in the meantime here is a picture of Max Pooh Bear for your viewing pleasure....

Well, I think I'm going to have a California burrito for lunch. My sister is hanging out with Achilles and Milo today so I don't have to go home for lunch to check up on them. Hmmm, I'm starting to get a bit of sinus headache. Sucks.