The Hamlet At Olde Oyster Bay is a lovely townhouse community located in Plainview Long Island.  

 The Hamlet At Olde Oyster Bay in Plainview has 24 hour security at the entrance gatehouse.  You  can reach The Plainview Hamlet by The Long Island Expressway Exit 48N on the West Service Road.  The Hamlet at Olde Oyster Bay was built in 2001 and as you pass the gatehouse,  the community is surrounded by Sagamore Drive, Hamlet Drive, Bayville Drive, Cove Lane and Carriage Lane.  The clubhouse is surrounded by the lake and some units have lakeviews.  There are single family detached homes, lakeview villas and also upper and ground level carriage homes at The Hamlet in Plainview. This pet friendly community has amenities including the beautiful and active clubhouse, indoor and outdoor pools, fitness center, lighted tennis courts, teen lounge, putting green, card rooms, play area, restaurant and social gatherings.  There are garages, some units have basements,  and each residence has central air conditioning and gas heat.  A monthly common charge fee and monthly restaurant fee are manatory.  According to public records from January 2009 to November 23, 2009, units at the Hamlet At Olde Oyster Bay sold between $505,000 for a 2 bedroom 2 bath lower Avon unit to $1,270,000 for a detached Fairfield floor plan residence with 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths.

LARRY AND SHEILA Realtors with Charles Rutenberg Realty can sell you a residence at The Hamlet At Olde Oyster Bay in Plainview NY, or any other community on the North Shore of Long Island.  Perhaps you would like to sell your present residence and want to list it with Larry & Sheila.  We can feature your property on our popular websites, and if you are relocating to The North Shore of Long Island, we are Certified Relocation Specialists!  Please call us at 631-805-4400.

Data is complied through the multiple listing service public records.

Email: sheila@suffolkexperts.com

http://www.suffolkexperts.com

We are not affiliated with this community, but are independent Licensed  Realtors.

We do not have any management information or contact phone numbers.

All content text is the exclusive property of Suffolk Experts, and may not be used without the expressed written permission of Larry & Sheila.  All information is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed.

Part Two.

2003 – 2006

Plainview, TX & Amarillo, TX

Shortly after graduating high school, I cut my hair to shoulder length. I think this set the tone for a lot that followed.

WBU Dorm Room #1

I move to Plainview, TX, for my first semester of college at Wayland Baptist University in 2003. I have a roommate for one semester and then have the room to myself for 3 more. I have a Concepts of Fitness class and have exercised regularly since.

Things become a bit isolated for me and I never feel fully comfortable there. I read, write, listen to music, watch movies, and sketch when I’m alone. I never do my laundry at school and make the 2 1/2 hour drive back to Pampa every other weekend.

I declare myself as an art major and begin to feel more comfortable with things.

The summer I live in Amarillo, I go on what I consider my first date. Things seem to perk up from there for a while and I feel like I’ve got a great group of people to hang out with (and can’t fully understand my desire to leave).

Amarillo Apt #3

WBU Dorm Room #2

I get my first taste of Europe and later painfully un-invite my boyfriend to Paris . The desire for moving away from Texas more than creeps in. The summer after I graduate from WBU, I am rejected from the only Masters programme I apply for.

I decide to take classes at the University of North Texas to fill out my art degree (lacking in art history courses and figure drawing) and move to Denton in August of 2006.

Foreshadowing?

Maybe purchasing flowers for myself set the stage for moving to a new place where I didn’t know anyone.

And maybe I skipped the parts about moving into a former drug house with my cousin, becoming a vegetarian, attempting to teach myself to play the violin, and certain other people lost and gained (etc.), but this is a okay overview, nonetheless.

To be continued….

Every SRAM Shifter Dies, not every one lives.

Colleen and I headed out towards Palo Duro Canyon Thursday afternoon as soon as she got off work. What an adventure we were in for. Hardly 70 miles into our 1060 mile round trip journey, some Texas Pit BBQ was calling my name in Lampassas. With a tummy satisfied and a full cup of tea, we hit the road again, stopping in a few other small towns before reaching Abilene and taking I-20 45 more minutes west to our resting spot for the night, the Lake Sweetwater Municipal park. While searching for a good halfway point to camp at along the way, I happened to notice this small park on my Roads of Texas supermap. A google search revealed that they had some campsites for cheap, so we planned on staying here. After finally getting someone on the phone at the lake’s bait shop after trying all day to talk to someone about camping there all day, Colleen seemed to squeeze out enough of a response from the man to indeed confirm they had camping. We had no trouble finding the lake, but a helluva time finding the camping area. After 30 minutes of circling the water and wandering strange unlit backroads, we finally found the unmarked campground. Sadly, we had unknowingly passed right by it upon initial arrival at the fork in the FM road. There wasn’t a soul in sight, and it really didn’t feel like we were supposed to be camping there, but we were tired and setup camp quickly. Maybe an hour into our slumber, some drunk kids, from the hopping town of Sweetwater, no doubt, came tearing butt through the camp area in their mom’s minivan and felt compelled to drive right up to our tent with brights on and honk a few times. Boy did they get a kick out of that! After attempting a few more donuts in the field they peeled off and let us be for the rest of the night, but following this incident we didn’t exactly sleep soundly the rest of the night.

Come sunrise, we packed up and got the hell out of there in search of breakfast. Sweetwater claims to be the wind energy capital of the US, and adjacent map dot Roscoe supposedly has the largest wind farm in the world,  but strangely, we couldn’t find any good places to eat in either town that time of day. Luckily, we found breakfast taco salvation in Snyder, the next town up Hwy 84. That would keep us going for the uneventful drive up to Plainview (so named for the vast treeless plain surrounding the post office) for lunch at a supermarket, and then on to Palo Duro. We settled in at a friend’s campsite, pre-rode part of the course, had dinner, and went to bed early at 7pm. 12 hours of beautiful sleep later, we awoke to a chilly, moist morning in the canyon. We mosied over to Juniper Canyon campground to register and setup for the race after a nice Caveman breakfast.

Photo by Rebecca Holcomb

The race started at 10am. I signed up for the open category and lined up with 7 others at the front. It was a mass start with all remaining age group racers behind us. I wasn’t feeling particularly strong this day, but I was able to secure the hole shot and held the lead for about a ½ mile, at which point I decided I was winded and didn’t want to be there anymore, so I let a group of  7 go by when the trail widened enough. I caught my breath and proceeded to set a fast tempo that I hoped to hold for 45 more miles. I was never much of a go getter at the beginning of a race anyhow; I like coming from behind and digging deep in the 9^th inning when everyone else starts to tire to make my surge. The first two laps went pretty smooth, and while I conceded time to the top 4 racers (3 of which hold a pro license), I had passed two others to move back into 6^th and wasn’t too far from 5^th. I was noticeably fatigued going into lap 3, but could sense the gap shrinking on the next rider up. Big Tex was really eating the course up and I was having a blast barreling down some of the more technical descents and carving the twisties with ease. Just when I started to think how nice it was that I hadn’t had a mechanical yet, my rear shifter pod stopped downshifting about 3 miles into the 16 mile lap. With the front still working on my 2×9 drivetrain, I was thus relegated to 2 gears: medium and high. Luckily, the rear cog was set in the middle of the cassette when the shifter broke, so it was manageable gearing with a 26t and 40t up front. I was prepared to finish the race this way and walk any steep uphills that I had to.

Unfortunately, the upshift function still worked and occasionally a knuckle would accidentally tap it to shift into a harder gear. The first time it happened, it wasn’t a huge deal. I had caught 5^th by this point and although it hurt like a dog, pushing a bigger gear than I really wanted was helping me to get a gap on him. But then it happened again, and again, and before I knew it, I was in my 11t on the rear cassette. The lowest gearing I now had was a 26-11, or a 2.37 to 1 ratio. Normally, when singlespeeding a 29er on a course like thise, you want around a 34-19, or a 1.8 to 1 ratio. That gear was absolutely killing me, and I just couldn’t push it anymore, so I was forced to stop and turn the outer limit screw all the way in on the derailleur to push it back on the 3^rd cog, or about a 15t gear. Still a little bigger than I wanted, but much more manageable than the 11t! I dropped back to 6^th, but now sensing 7^th closing in on me, I pushed through some pretty serious pain, cramping, dehydration, and energy depletion (I had a hard time eating and drinking during this race since the pace was so high and there were few good places on the course to do so) to finish the final 5 miles or so an maintain my position by less than 20 seconds.

Even at 6^th place, the payout was good enough to cover my entry fee (major kudos to the promoter and sponsors!) Although completely drained and hurting bad afterwards, it was one of the better marathon races I’ve competed in. Trail was in great shape, was a lot of fun, competition was good, and the weather was decent too. A total of 101 men entered the full marathon, so even though 6 of 7 in the open category didn’t look great on paper, 6 of 101 was a bit more respectable.

A nice little hike with my lovely fiancé before sunset followed by a super awesome caveman dinner consisting of salad, avocado, Cornish game hen spit cooked over campfire, and little cocoa beverage sweetened with agave nectar rounded out the evening’s festivities before a hard night’s sleep and a very long drive back home to Austin. No races for me until possibly Thanksgiving weekend, when there are some cross races up in Dallas and I’ll be up that way to visit family anyways. In the meantime, the break will be a nice opportunity to rest and work on the ‘new’ website. Thanks for reading.
Greg

As for the opening quote of the story, my old SRAM X.O shifter lived a good life. It began its duties on the Turner Flux in 2005 and 2006, before being transferred to Proud Mary for 2007 and 2008. This year it was put on Big Tex and had some awesome races before finally giving out in Palo Duro. It will be missed, but not forgotten. A formal changing of the guard shall commence as soon as I find a new one… and get around to cleaning the bike… RIP shifter.

Homes For Sale In Plainview, New York – Real Estate Market Statistics – 11/16/09

The above Homes For Sale in Plainview – Real Estate Market Statistics chart shows a 5 month supply of inventory with 25 properties being sold in the month of October. There are currently 50 properties Under Contract in Plainview and 126 Homes For Sale that were available as of November 16, 2009.

The October 26, 2009 – Real Estate Market Statistics for Homes For Sale in Plainview showed a 6 month supply of inventory with 23 properties being sold in the month of September. There were also 59 houses Under Contract in Plainview and 125 Homes For Sale on October 26, 2009.

Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD Market Statistics

The Average Days On Market of the Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD has been increasing for several years.

The Average Days On Market of Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD have increased by 33 market days.

This represents a 45% increase in the Average Days On Market of Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD.

The number of Closed Sales of Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD has been steadily decreasing over the past several years.

The decrease in the number of Closed Sales of Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD is 28 closed sales.

This represents a 13.7% drop in the number of Closed Sales of Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD.

The Average Sales Price of Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD has been declining for many years.

The decline in the Average Sales Price of Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD is $80,284.00.

This represents a 13.7% decline in the Average Sales Price of Homes For Sale In Plainview – October 2006-2009 YTD.

Hello!  Yesterday I posted a poem and invited all brave spirits to echo/add their own lines to my words.  Big, HUMONGOUS Thanks to 

 Danielle, Doraz, Ichabod, Jaymie, Kokot, Otto, and Tacy 

Below is a  colour-coded list of everyone’s names (they kind of match their flowers) , so You can see who wrote what.  A couple of different dogpiles of words formed and Kokot did a mad solo!  I wanted to leave everything as written because, for me, it tells a story of an AMAZING dance and three phases of a relationship!  

Bliss•Ichabod•Otto•Kokot•Danielle•Jaymie•Doraz•Tacy

•   •   •

circle of us

1. infatuation

I want to touch your face with my heart
I yearn to reach inside your thought
you say I already do
more than you have given me
More than I can give to you

I was going to sit here and list all of the ways I want to connect with you
I have only been allowed partial access
to your heart, to your heart.

but I realize
Accepting that

after writing the first sentence
after I have been so bold to ask
after I asked you…

and hearing your soft answer
and feeling your hesitation
it burned me, it fooled me…

that this list’s equivalent would be
I fear I will be denied
We all do, I think.

requesting the sky be expansive
the true and beautiful world you live in
the sky is like your heart, bright

and at times gloriously blue
which I wish to embrace with you
even though your words aren’t true

the ocean to be wet
With endless possibilities
It scares me, it excites me

and
also
also

desperately wanting
anxiously being patient
it makes me fall closer to you

eagles to fly
to soar into the sky
and when I saw them
I cried.

2. disillusionment

I want to touch your face with my heart
although surgically can’t be done

you say I already do
ecoing ing ing ing…..

I was going to sit here and list all of the ways I want to connect with you
Facebook?. everyones on face book.

but I realize
First i need a computer. damn!!!!!

after writing the first sentence
Of a deadly montage of verse

and hearing your soft answer
An hearing you hintful yawn

that this list’s equivalent would be
Alone again by the sea

requesting the sky be expansive
A major overdraft

and at times gloriously blue
Please just in the green

the ocean to be wet
Like the floor of my new apartment

and
or

desperately wanting
Can’t watch the tv

eagles to fly
hope, hey look, pigs can fly

3. surrender

I want to touch your face with my heart
i yearn to touch your soul
I am the living streak, a spirit come to meet you
a shard of light through a keyhole
the smoke from ever fire
wrapped around you like a cloak

you say I already do
you say i do
and I do, I do without regret
give this light to you
matching it with a strength
to greet midnight echoes

I was going to sit here and list all of the ways I want to connect with you
i wondered how my spirit could connect
cloud-to-cloud, I spy you on a luminous shore
And find myself beside you, now
but you’ve known this since birth
as a seed hugs the soil

but I realize
and realized
then realizing
I am sure now
it is already known
breath upon breath

after writing the first sentence
after looking into your eyes
after many moments of thought
or perhaps, no thought at all
wandering empty city and country
will bring no more certain reply

and hearing your soft answer
hearing your whispers
listening to your coaxing voice
or was it mine?
perhaps the wind carried both
no matter, same result

that this list’s equivalent would be
i knew
we were one
we are one
spirit and
soul

requesting the sky be expansive
our love was greater than the universe
in a cold, wheeling universe
in a hot ember bath
where universe loses meaning
and hours do not exist

and at times gloriously blue
two spirits dancing in the sky
without mortal chain
without form
in that vital glimpse
promising eternity

the ocean to be wet
our souls skimmed ocean’s waters
only untroubled calm on a blue-eyed pond
or perhaps just your blue eyes?
glancing the forever sky
reflecting all possibilities

and
and
and
dare I say it?
is there even
need?

desperately wanting
our love desires
this contract between us
between earth and sky
heart and mind
body and soul

eagles to fly
eagle’s flight
this eagle’s envy
of wingless flight
flying free
as one

thank you
muchas gracias
keeps us whole
makes us one
let it be
now

 •  •  •

Thank You All more than I can say for playing!  This absolutely rocks!!!

Thank You for stopping by!  kNOW You Are An Exquisite Work Of Art.  Namaste!

We are going to attempt to keep our readers updated on current projects. Starting with this weeks Plainview home.

Front of house before we wrapped it

Front of house after we wrapped it

Authors and Husband-and-wife sociologists Patrick J. Carr (Rutgers University at New Brunswick) and Maria J. Kefalas (Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia) have written a new book on the Hollowing Out of the Middle: the Rural Brain Drain and What It Means For America, due out next month.  They’ve written an article in the Chronicle Review summarizing their results and providing tips for how to stop this from happening.

While this article is about the States, it applies to any North American small town, many that are at risk to rolling away.  

First of all, I hadn’t realized how important it was NOT to push people to go far away from their homes to succeed.  We’re always telling kids who have the knack for college to move far away and go to college and fly—become more than their small town roots.  It seems so logical to get the talented, creative, smart ones out of the “rut” and the “lack of opportunity” of a small town.  But the unintended message that those who stay receive is that their lives are smaller, more secondary, second-class.  In fact, however, if small towns are to survive, Carr and Kefalas suggest we boost our opportunities to those who will stay.  Rather than settling with the idea that the small town has no opportunity, Carr and Kefalas suggest we provide local links to opportunity and think ahead for the town.  In some ways, they seem to be thinking about the town first, and the individual second— but definitely using the creative energy produced by the town to create a better town.  It’s not unlike exporting Americans to foreign countries.  If we constantly say our country is declining—Johnny, you go over to France where you’ll do better, then we’re creating an immigration that will doom small town America.  

I like their ideas.  I love small towns–I grew up in them: Braymer, Caruthersville, Bledsoe, Plainview, Edmonson, and all their surrounding towns.  And I want to save small towns.  I think Carr and Kefalas have a lot to offer. Here’s a bit of that article, and afterwards, a place for you to read the whole thing.  This is the end section though, so if you want how they came to these tips, you need to read the beginning:

What can be done to plug the brain drain?

Though the problem is daunting, we believe that it is not intractable, but that any set of solutions must combine changes at micro and macro levels.

Small towns need to equalize their investments across different groups of young people. While it would be impractical, and downright wrong, to abort students’ ambitions, there must be a radical rethinking of the goals of high-school education. The single-minded focus on pushing the most motivated students into four-year colleges must be balanced by efforts to match young people not headed for bachelor’s degrees with training, vocational, and assorted associate-degree programs. Those programs fill the needs of a postindustrial economy but acknowledge that not every student wants to, or will, pursue a more traditional college path.

Also, school officials, parents, educators, and students must resist the temptation to think the noncollege bound will just get a job if a degree is not in the cards. Gone are the days of plentiful, well-paying blue-collar factory jobs that provided a 19-year-old with a living wage. Thinking that working the line at John Deere or Winnebago will vault you into the middle class makes about as much sense as buying eight-track tapes in the iPod age. All the planning and investments have been geared to collegebound students, while the reality is that students not earning a college degree need as much, if not more, intensive preparation for today’s labor market.

The next step is to build better links between high-school and postsecondary education, and map existing opportunities onto regional economic goals. Most of the job growth within Iowa is expected to come from computer, biotech, wind energy, and health care. Matching high-school students not headed for university with vocational or community-college programs, nurturing their interests while in high school through internships and training, will prepare them for the new economic growth areas. Such partnerships require close collaborations among business and civic leaders, elected officials, and secondary and community-college administrators who are accustomed to working in their own bureaucracies. Moreover, the growing distance-learning technology should not cater only to older, returning students. If students are interested in wind technology or nursing, rather than making them take social studies senior year, how about connecting them with a distance-learning class at Iowa Lakes Community College in Introduction to Computers?

Third, small towns should seek to embrace immigration whenever possible. The phenomenon of Hispanic boomtowns, a common occurrence in the Midwest, has the potential to transform moribund local economies. Such transformations will be possible only if there is careful planning to ensure that immigrants are integrated into the community in such as way as to increase contact between natives and immigrants and with attendant labor-law reform that curbs abuses and ensures sufficient wages and benefits for workers in agribusiness and manufacturing. Ph.D.’s from India or China and less-skilled immigrants from Mexico or Central America should all be recruited and supported in an effort to make the heartland an immigrant enterprise zone. The region is in critical need of professional-class workers, and bringing in Hispanic workers for the food industry will not be enough to rejuvenate the region.

And the article keeps going here, The Rural Brain Drain, in the Chronicle Review.

As Summer breathes his last, hot, dying breath, I see where I AM, and realize that I am long overdue for a reckoning with where I WAS but a short time ago.

Last May found me finishing up my tenth year at Lockney High School, home of the mighty fighting Longhorns of Lockney, Texas.  Great place to work.  Wonderful, blessed community.

And I was in the depths of a despondency of my own design.  It wasn’t where I was supposed to be any more.  And I was faced with a decision: leave the comfort, security, and familiarity I had grown into for the last 14 years of my life, OR stay and continue to spiral downward.

Believing that God had called me to do so, I chose to resign my position in late May.

Some would call what I and my family did “stepping out on faith,” and would use reverent tones in doing so, like we were saints.  In all honesty, we did what we have always done (to one degree or another): we put all trust for our future in the hands of an almighty, omnipotent God who has never yet proven us foolish for having done so.

And we waited.

I sent out multiple job applications in a variety of public and private fields.  And heard nothing.

And we waited.

I had a fantastic couple of interviews with McLean I.S.D., and remarked to my wife, “If they DON’T offer me this job, it HAS to be God.”  And they were silent, and evasive for weeks.

And we waited.

I had another fantastic interview at Caprock High School in Amarillo.  Again, I felt reasonably sure that THIS must be the perfect place.  And I never heard from them again.

And we waited.

One day saw me interviewing at Hedley I.S.D. in the morning, where they promptly offered me a job… on the spot.  They were hungry to fill a spot, and I could sense that.  I almost said YES.  That afternoon, I interviewed at Borger High School.  Having come from a job offer, I may have exuded a bit more confidence than any of my other interviews… I don’t think I did, but who really knows?  It was a good conversation — I met and spoke with principal Tony McCarthy, and his enthusiasm for the changes being wrought in the school and community of Borger, Texas, was very contagious.

And we waited.  A few days.

I was offered the job in Borger, and called to accept the following day.

We had roughly a month to sell our house, find and buy a new one, and pack/transport/unpack all our stuff before the school year began.

Then we saw God, who had watched US wait on him, begin to MOVE.

We listed our house the next Monday, and sold it in two days…

We shopped houses in Borger on Friday, and made an offer on Saturday… which was accepted, after a few negotiations, in a few days.

We packed up our house, and closed on it in a further two and a half weeks.

Now, we sit on the eve of closing on our new house in Borger, and four days before classes begin at the high school.  I’m teaching IPC (Integrated Physics and Chemistry,) a course new to me, and a challenge that I eagerly look to meeting.  I am in a room which is (to put it kindly) unfinished, but which reeks of potential.  I have a list of roughly 110 students who I will be meeting for the first time soon (and many of their parents in just about half an hour.)

And we have the birth of our new son, Samuel Journey, to look forward to on the 2nd of October.

Ask me whether I prefer the calm or the storm, and I’ll likely point to the Captain of our ship, who is steadfast in either, and still hasn’t let us down.

They were both Guadalupe,

Named for the virgin of Mexico,

With 9 children,

One a citizen,

The other 80 and finally ready

To vote after 40 years

on the Seneca Canning line

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

I water this garden in the coolness

The dew heavy on vines and stems

Martha also walks outside in the coolness,

Though she trudges after ten hours

Inside the canning plant

Turning green silky stalks into tin cans

Bearing full-color portraits

Of green silky stalks.

Monitoring daily the progress of each,

This one throwing out seeds – cut it back

This one thriving – thin out around it

Here’s one shriveling – water it and mound the soil

There a runt – rip it out by the roots and replant something

Tasting the air, noting the dew

On her walk home to her cramped mobile home

Here in Plainview

Hoping beyond hope that the cold northern wind

Will blow late this year,

Will hold its frost until mid-October

So she can buy new clothes for her kids

Coming into the classroom a month late

A flock of turkeys flew in last night,

And as if clipping their beards,

Each one snipped the tops of our green bean plants

Taking fruit and plant alike

But when it comes, as frost always will,

Martha gathers her things

Works the last shift until the corn

Coming in is mealy, not for resale.

Her eyes turn south, steeling up

For the long stretch until the sun awakens

This land once again

Calling her back to its lakes and its plenty

In the morning, expecting growth and green

And finding toppled stalks, knocked-down vines,

Ruined work -

What is there to do but shore up what is left

Of roots, stems, sprouts, shoots,

And tie white plastic bags on string

to keep out the turkeys next time?

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

In Brownsville, hurricanes;

In Owatonna, tornadoes.

This year droughts in south Texas,

Floods in Fargo.

Life’s margins shaving closer and closer

So that weeds won’t even grow anymore,

The rocks are all picked,

The machines are faster and better and smarter,

The vegetables ripen faster and are done in a week,

Always our work in our second home shrinking

like the Life-giving Rio Grande in our other

Sheridan Ct.
Plainview, NY 11803
$498,000

Rooms: 8
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 2.5
Year Built: 1955
School District: Plainview/Old Bethpage
Taxes: $12,261
Lot Size: 64 x 110
Fully Finished Basement

This Property Is Subject To Third Property Approval. Great Property In A Private Cul-De-Sac. Split Level Nice Size Yard And Much More.

 
Cesar Garcia/Simon Lee
         (718) 362-5453

Yogurt is great. Healthy and low fat varieties. Lately, I’ve been freezing Yoplait Whips, it’s a nice treat.

Kesso Foods recalled of the Greek Thick Yogurt, the latest casualty of Plainview dried milk products with potential Salmonella, it reminded me of the food trade show in Boston, MA last fall. In the main entry way was a company that was touting their new Greek Yogurt. I had never tried Greek Yogurt. I had a sample. It would not have made my top ten list of favorite foods, not even close. Perhaps it was the flavor, but it made its’ way into the trash quickly.

I have seen Greek Yogurt at my local grocery with exotic names and have passed them by to get to Chocolate Underground or Key Lime Pie Yogurt. One day I’ll muster the courage to try Greek Yogurt again. But not in the to distant future.

Food recall below:

KESSO FOODS

Low fat All Natural Plain 2% Greek Thick Yogurt, white plastic container 8 oz

Sell by: Up to and including August 10, 2009

UPC: 669541537767

Low fat All Natural Plain 2% Greek Thick Yogurt, white plastic container 16 oz

Sell by: Up to and including August 10, 2009

UPC: 669541537774

According to an Associated Press article, the products listed below have been recalled due to the ongoing investigation of Plainview Milk Products Cooperative of Minnesota which is recalling products made over the past two years due to the possible Salmonella contamination.

Best-if-used-by dates: of June 30, 2009 to Oct. 28, 2010.

Cub Foods Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Diamond Crystal Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Fastco Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Flavorite Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Foodland Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Good ‘n Hearty Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Hearty Traditions Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Hy-Top Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

IGA Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Mom’s Best Natural Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Megaroons Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Millville Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Our Family Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Richfood Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Shop ‘n Save Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Smart Menu Maple & Brown Sugar Instant Oatmeal

Update: Plainview’s side of the latest recall

After speaking with Plainview’s Public Relations agency on July 1, 2009 US Food Safety has learned the following information:

Plainview milk has approximately 29 distributors in the United States

The distributors have been informed by phone and fax or the recall

The Plainview facility has never tested positively for Salmonella. Editor’s note: Today’s Stop & Shop recall references Plainview as the source

The product that tested positive for Salmonella was out of Plainview’s control.

When asked by US Food Safety about why the other 8 – 9 products weren’t tested, the agency representative replied he didn’t know and FDA’s response to him was they he wouldn’t know about investigation in other plants.

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Here we go again, as if no one learned their lesson from Setton Farm Pistachio Recall and Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) peanut recalls. Another company, Plainview Milk Products Co-operative of Plainview, Minnesota has tainted our food supply with possible Salmonella.

The company makes a deal with the government while we hold our breath. Why? Because recalls are voluntary.

According to the press release, Plainview voluntarily recalled instant nonfat dried milk, whey protein, fruit stabilizers and gums (thickening agents) that it has manufactured over the past two years, because of possible Salmonella contamination, sounds like another Peanut Corporation of America. There are no public available sales figures for Plainview Milk as there were with Setton Farm. The impact could be catastrophic.

Dunkin Brands, (Dunkin Donuts) was effected by this recall. US Food Safety’s  phone call was promptly returned. The spokesperson at Dunkin Brands  told US Food Safety that they were the largest company impacted, and the products were removed from all stores. Go ahead and eat a donut and have some coffee ( I think it’s a value #1).

Is Dunkin Brands the only company effected by this recall? We don’t know. Plainview Milk on the phone referred us to Martin-Williams and their representative who has not returned US Food Safety’s  call as of this posting.

In a little Minnesota town of 3,000, more than 100 people gathered on a Friday evening for Migrant Fest.  Hosted by the Incarnation Church, this local festival in Plainview has been running for several years now to welcome the migrant farmworkers back to their summer home.  They come to work for Lakeside Foods, by far the largest employer in this small rural hamlet in southeastern Minnesota.

I had the privilege to man an information booth for legal services, speaking with immigrant families about everything from employment and immigration to domestic violence and housing questions.  Being a legal assistant, I couldn’t give them legal advice, but I was able to chat it up in Spanish, set appointments, and hand out alertas which provided them with more information.  Although it was difficult to keep los ninos from taking all my candy and “colors” (the border word for crayons), it was great to speak with families who had traveled all the way from Mission, Pharr, and Brownsville just this week.

The Plainview Migrant Fest boasted numerous other immigrant agencies.  Some were Migrant Health Services, AAA (Aging), Mayo Clinic Diversity Research Unit, Olmsted County Medical Center, San Joachim Church, MET, Tri-Valley Action Council, and Three Rivers Community Action Center. I learned right alongside the immigrant families, as I hadn’t known about many of these organizations previously.  I look forward to working with them to help aid and protect these migrant farmworkers in their vulnerable position as transient denizens of Minnesota.

While we were disseminating information to the migrant families, Latino reggaeton and rancheros were playing in the background, courtesy of DJ Armando.  It was refreshing to hear the children laughing and running around with musical chairs and sack races.  I even got the chance to run in the sack race, though I lost to Christina Gonzalez, the representative from Mayo Clinic Diversity Research Unit, a program designed to increase minority participation in research so as to increase the data’s accuracy.

At this festival, I learned that many of these families are in a bad way this summer.  A nearby meat processing plant in Chatfield burned down on April 17 (NPR.org), and many of those workers came to Plainview looking for work while the plant rebuilds.  As a result, the migrant farmworkers’ awaited jobs have dwindled, and several of the families don’t have the money to return to Texas, even if there was the promise of work there.  This year particularly, farmworkers are going to struggle to find work for a living wage.

Leaving Plainview with the taste of a taco still in my mouth and Latino pop songs ringing in my ears, the Lakeside Foods plant stands just a hundred yards from the road, a beacon which has drawn whole families more than 1000 miles north for a four-month stint.  Though it doesn’t look like much, some of these families’ savings from their work this summer will have to last them until the next.

Bored and clicking around, clicking on bookmarks I haven’t checked in awhile, I came across this viral video clip. I wanted to share it with everyone, and was afraid that if I saved it for an “official” VVW post, I’d forget (Like a LOT of bookmarked vids). Check it:

.

Now, the person who made this video clip has boldly named it 100 BEST MOVIE LINES” but, as I watched it, I could think of better lines for the movies shown than the ones they featured, and other movies or lines that are completely neglected. It reminds me of the arguments over the 1001 books list.

Okay, of all the Wayne’s World quotes they coulda gone with, “Spew into this?” Really? Not “Ass sphincter says what?” “What?” “Exactly.” or “She will be mine. Oh, yes! She WILL be mine.”  “Spew into this” just doesn’t even rank on the top 10 of that movie.

And “Royale with cheese” was the best they could do for Pulp Fiction?  Honestly, it doesn’t even rank in the memorable lines category.  “Le Big Mac” is better than that.  Jules’s line, “Say ‘what’ again. Say ‘what’ again, I dare you, I double dare you” was really cool.  So is “Mmm-mmmm. That is a tasty burger.” and “You mind if I have some of your tasty beverage to wash this down?”  And Butch’s line, “Zed is dead, baby.” just said it all.

And of course Mia’s line “Don’t you just love it when you come back from the bathroom and find your food waiting for you?” comes to mind whenever we eat out.

Ash saying “Groovy” in Army of Darkness is acceptable, then again… most of Ash’s lines make great sound clips.  It was a cool movie.  And “My Precious” is definitely priceless.  Everything HAL said was creepy and makes great clips, and “Heeeeeeeere’s JOHNNY!” from Jack Nicholson in The Shining will outlive the man himself, just like “No Wire HANGERS!” and “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!” have outlived their original speakers.

I totally agree “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” is one of the best movie lines ever, and I recently watched There Will Be Blood, not surprisingly based on an Upton Sinclair book, and the whole milkshake bit sold Plainview as a demented baddie…  Sanity done left the mansion.

But now, where are the best quotes EVER?  like, where’s Gunny Sgt Hartman’s lines?  Granted, they are a bit… ooh, vulgar?  But it WAS Marine boot camp, after all.  Really, drop “Love means not having to say you’re sorry” (the most annoying and BS line in history) and give me “Sound off like you got a pair!” Or I could live without “I get older, they stay the same age.” (#24, I don’t even know the movie) and gimme Gunny saying “I didn’t know they could stack shit that high!” 

And what about BOONDOCK SAINTS?  Really!  Murphy’s line “We’re sorta like 7-Eleven. We’re not always doing business, but we’re always open.” is one of the best lines.  I’ll allow that the prayer couldn’t be included as it’s 100 best lines in 200 seconds.  I really need to buy the DVD… then I won’t have to keep making Netflix send it to me.

So which movie lines in this vid are your favorite? Which lines should have been included? Which ones should’ve been left out?

Every year for decades, migrant families have boarded up their houses, told friends to check their mail, taken final exams a few weeks early, packed up their cars, and headed north to weed, tend, harvest, and process the foods we buy in the produce section of our local grocery stores.  Many families pay for the journey with their income tax return, arriving with scant assets and little more than a hope of a good growing season.  Migrant workers fall into one of three categories.  Some are recruited by a corporate employer, such as a processing or canning company.  They receive written contracts, sometimes are granted free housing in a labor camp, and are guaranteed work.  Others have a longstanding relationship with a particular farmer.  While the agreement might not be oral, some of these relationships extend back to a handshake between grandfathers.  This form of migrant work is more tenuous, however, than the corporate employer, as it hinges on good weather – if a drought or infestation should occur, the migrants could be 2000 miles from home with no money and no work.  Finally, some migrant families head North with only a hope of work – no contract, no contact, no housing, no plan other than to find a farm and pitch their services.

Migrant farmworkers are not immigrants; instead, they are either legal visitors with temporary work permits, legal permanent residents or citizens migrating internally within the United States.

This summer looks to be a difficult one for migrant families. Fargo remains inundated after the Red River flooding, and is months behind its agricultural calendar.  Other areas of the country are struggling with drought or other natural difficulties.  More importantly, however, is the economic depression. Farmers that once employed workers are either hiring less or none at all, in hopes of saving even just a few dollars.  Some farmers are using more pesticides or herbicides this year, in order to save money on paying migrant workers to weed or tend the rows.  Other farms have filed bankruptcy. Many farmers that have hired migrant workers for decades have called to tell them they will not be needing their services this year.

While the migrant families working for corporate employers or specific farmers will surely find this year a difficult one, the workers who just leave their hometowns in the Rio Grand Valley for the possibility of work in the Midwest could face a devastating summer.  Unable to find work and with little resources to return home, they will be easy prey for less-than-ethical employers. (Druley, Laurel. “Life on the Bottom Rung: No Place for Migrants”)

This summer, I will be working with the Migrant Farmworkers unit of Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc. Under my supervisor Ana Maria Gomez-Gomez, I will primarily be working in Rochester, Owatonna, Plainview, and Elysian, though I will be covering cases in Dakota, Steele, Olmsted, Le Seur, and Waseca counties.  My work will focus on assisting migrant farmworkers with their adjustment to life in Minnesota, with any housing claims, employment wage claims, immigration questions, and any other legal questions that come up in the course of the summer.

I so look forward to working with migrant families from the Rio Grande Valley as they make their temporary homes here in southeastern Minnesota.  Having made that same journey myself, from Brownsville, TX, to Rochester, MN, I hope to be able to offer them some meaningful support and aid.  I wonder if any of the students to whom I gave early exams will be coming up with their families this season… Regardless, I hope to be able to help them get at least a minimum wage, secure decent housing, receive their security deposits at the end of the summer (something I have yet to ever receive myself), work in safe conditions, receive any public benefits to which they are entitled and require, renew or apply for new immigration status, and generally become adjusted to a new community.  It’s going to be a busy summer, but certainly one filled with meaning.

My work with SMRLS this summer comes at a dynamic time in immigration law, with Obama pledging to make progress towards comprehensive immigration reform in his first year of presidency. It comes less than a month after the first anniversary of the first large-scale ICE raid in Postville, IA, just a few hours south of here.  The work begins in a time when local law enforcement officers through 287(g) are attempting to enforce federal immigration laws in many of our nation’s cities and towns, resulting in racial profiling, arbitrary searches and arrests, and a terrified immigrant community unwilling to cooperate with the law enforcement they need and that needs them. (Moffett, Dan. “Cops aren’t Border Patrol”).  My role as Summer Advocate with SMRLS also comes at a time when Ms. Sonia Sotomayor, a Latina woman from the Bronx, has been put forth as Obama’s candidate to replace Justice Souter on the Supreme Court.  It also comes at a time that xenophobic individuals are seeking to place the blame of Wall Street on immigrants who don’t even own a bank account, when states and municipalities are balancing their budgets by cutting public welfare and other services to the indigent (in New York state, for example, elderly, disabled and blind legal residents will now get half of what they had previously received after the ruling in Khrapunskiy v. Robert Doar). But, my summer advocate role also coincides with bipartisan legislation like AgJobs, a bill supported by both the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and Farmworker Justice which seeks to relieve labor shortages while securing rights for migrant workers and discouraging agriculture’s exploitation of unauthorized workers (purportedly some 75% of the workforce by some estimates). (“Farms and Immigrants.” New York Times).

As I scan the cucumbers, corn, sugar, beets, potatoes, onions, asparagus, garlic, peppers, and tomatoes, I think of the migrant families making the drive to Minnesota and other states in the Midwest right now.  I look forward to learning from them and advocating for them, starting next week.

Did you know? Mortgage interest rates are at an All time low!
Did you know? Owning a home. You pay towards the principal on your loan each month increases the % of your home that you own. In effect, you’re paying yourself
Did you know?If you itemize deductions, you can deduct the interest you pay on your mortgage.
* You leverage your investment by buying the home with (mostly) the bank’s money. You might put only 10% down, but your whole house (all 100%) of it appreciates every year. If you put $10k down on a $100k house, the whole $100k appreciates, not just the $10k you put down.
Did you know? Rent gets more expensive each year with inflation
Did you know? 1st time Home Buyers who have not owned a home in 4 years.
Did you know? The 1st time Home Buyer credit does not have to be repaid if you close on a home before 12/1/2009.
Did you know? The seller can pay your closing costs.
Did you know? FHA is 3/5 % down payment
Did you know? Va is 100% financing.
Did you know? This is a great time to BUY!
Did you know? Flower Mound Texas,Coppell Texas,Highland Village Tx, Carrollton Texas, Lantana Texas. Offer many 1st time home choices.

REMAX DFW
Suzy Britz
www.myhomedfw.com
www.myhomedfw.net
Cell 214-448-2888
www.twitter.com/realestateladie

http://remaxtexas.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/1st-time-home-buyers-8000-credit-information/
http://remaxtexas.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/homebuyer-tax-credit/

SInce 1/1/2009 below town and cities are showing 1349 sale pending/sold homes priced up to $300,000
Denton County: Flower Mound,Lewisville,Highland Village,Denton,Corinth,Lake Dallas, Trophy Club,The colony

From $300,000-$1million only 256 sale pending and sold homes

Tarrant County: below towns and cities showing 3747 sale pendings/sold homes priced up to $300,000
Southlake,Grapevine,Keller,Fort Worth,Hurst, Euless,Bedford,Haltom City

From $300,000-$1Million 475 sale pending/sold homes

Dallas County: below towns and cities showing 1070 sale pendings/sold homes priced from $300,000-$1million
4090 sale pending/sold homes up to $300,000
Dallas,Plano,Allen,Coppell,Irving

People are buying real estate.
They maybe buying more conservative. Downsizing, Buying smaller when Relocating,
1st time home buyers are on the rise! If you have not owned a home in 4 years you qualify as a 1st time home buyer.
Rates are great! $8000 1st time home buyer credit is not a loan to pay back as in 2008.

Data on pending and sold home information provided by the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems “DFW MLS”

Facts and Figures

Number of Transactions Closed in 2008

3.5 Transactions – The average number closed of the 1.2 million NAR members
5.0 Transactions – The average closed in MLS from the 25,000 NTREIS members in North Texas
14.5 Transactions – the average closed per agent at RE/MAX DFW Associates (includes all licensees: licensed assistants, managers and agents)

Average Volume per Agent

$1.2 million – average of NAR members nationwide
$1.4 million – average of NTREIS members
$4.1 million – average of RE/MAX DFW Associates agents

Average Age of Realtor

Age 54 – NAR members
Age 55 – Texas members
Age 48 – RE/MAX DFW Associates agents

Ethnicity of Agents

88% White – NAR members
72% White – RE/MAX DFW Associates agents

Internet Inquires for 2008

4 Inquiries in 2008 – NAR members
37 Inquiries in 2008 – RE/MAX DFW Associates agents

(Source: NAR website, Dallas Mornings News, Thursday, May 14, 2009, RE/MAX DFW Associates internal figures)

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