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LITTLE ACTION AT FORECLOSURE AUCTION

AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – As the number of foreclosed homes climbs rapidly, the possibilities for investors to buy homes at auction at reduced prices also climbs. But Travis County’s final foreclosure auction for the year saw few buyers.

Of the 124 homes posted for auction Tuesday, only 15 were purchased. The rest were sent back to lenders.

Investors who buy foreclosed properties must pay cash up front, and tight credit markets make borrowing money tough, even for them.

Investors are also exhibiting caution in their purchases because of the uncertain housing market. They are watching to see if the trends will continue to point downward.

Clean Sweep 2009 will be Saturday, April 4th.

Each year thousands of volunteers come together during Clean Sweep to remove TONS of trash from our beautiful city.  Last year 30 TONS of trash was removed in just two hours!

We need cleanup leaders and project locations for 2009! Want to lead a project? This is the perfect opportunity to clean your neighborhood, street, or local creek.  As always, KAB will help you recruit and register volunteers, provide cleanup supplies, arrange for collection of the full trash bags (and may even be able to provide a roll-off for a few projects, if needed)!

We’re still in the planning stages of this event and there’s definitely time to sort out all of the details, but we’d love to get some project leaders and potential locations in place before the holidays!

Early registration is OPEN if you are ready to sign-up as a leader for Clean Sweep 2009!

Visit www.keepaustinbeautiful.org/cleansweep for more information!

Here is a snapshot of Jennifer applying a first coat of finish to one of the drawer sides.

I am ready to go back to Montana for another hike up the glacier!

Here is what SmartMoney.com said about Austin, TX:

Austin-Round Rock, Texas

The capital of Texas may be best known for cultivating the live music scene, but it’s also proving to be fertile ground for tech companies. IBM, as well as electronic components firms Applied Materials, Flextronics and Samsung Austin Semiconductor have offices there, and collectively employ more than 13,000 residents, says DeVol. Many of these employees are picked up after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, says Greg Garrison, president of Startup Staffing Group, a finance, HR and recruiting company. Overall, this metropolitan area registered the fourth largest job growth — 2.89% — between March 2007 and March 2008 of all the cities Milken surveyed.

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/105783/Five-Best-Cities-for-Job-Hunting

Great news. Way to go and lets hope Austin keeps attracting more employers.
rk

rk

At Flathead Lake.

Here are some of the improvements My buddy Andy and I made.  Along with my old roommate todd who did the floors with me a year or too ago. All the plumbing is brand new except the pipes in the wall.  I was ready for that this time.  Because the 3rd day I owned my house on a Sunday night at 11pm. I was change the guts on a toilet and the water hose broke.  And then the water shut off lost compression and we had a slow leak!!!  Fun stuff. Enjoy the pics.  still have some painting and doors to do.  but i love the new sink and faucet.  Thanks Andy for being a curtious plumber and showing any crack!

My Grandma is under major water restrictions.  No flushing toilets, no doing dishes, no showers, no laundry.  Water is only for cooking and drinking.  My parents would have an adventure just to get to her as most of the roads are closed.  The University of Iowa Hospital is basically on emergency only right now as my mom will not be going to work this upcoming week.

My sister and her husband have had sump pump problems all spring due to the large amounts of snow this winter.  It prepaired them for this.  As they have 3 sump pumps and are masters of sucking up water in their basement with the shop vac.  -It seams like just yesterday my dad were installing those new cabinets in her basement over Christmas vacation.

Lucky for my parents they live up high.

One of the greatest losses is the loss of the Suttliff bridge.  the over 100 year old bridge is one of my favorite things to show people in Iowa.  Part of it along with several bridges washed away.  http://www.sutliffbridge.com/main/

In 1993 the water was so hi.  It is 14 feet higher than it was then.  When all of downtown Cedar rapids is under water it is just amazing.

–Miss you guys In Iowa and wish i could fill some sand bags for you.

You can check out the rest of her blog: http://www.kinagrannis.com/blog/

Kimber:

• 3 months as of 06-07-08
• docked tail
• dew claws removed
• spayed
• crate training (going well)
• learning manners (going well)
• Great disposition
• likes rawhides
• loves people
• not scared of shop vac
• sits well with treat
• learning off
• is happy to drink water (in bowl or out of pool)
• loves to eat
• loves to lay on the dog bed
• loves squeeky toys
• likes fur on tennis ball
• wants to be with you ever second she can, inside or out
• is an excellent retriever with her toys
• drops / gives toys easy

-Save the Cheerleader Save the world! (Jennifer you better be Claire!)

Laser 2 Sailboat For Sale $1000 (Still for Sale as of May 13th)

This is a 1980s Laser 2 that’s solid and extremely fast and fun. It’s has one set of sails (main/jib). It has a trailer. This boat really is a wild ride in strong winds. It is a great boat to learn to sail on or play around with during the summer.

This boat is a roller coaster if you have a person that can hike out on the trapeze and another one that has some tiller control. You can have it riding on its side.

My friends are no longer the acrobatic types to sail this boat any more. And my girlfriend WILL NOT be hit in the head with the boom.

It is also great to learn the fundamentals of sailing on. Every Sailer at some point Sails a Laser or a laser II. (Laser 2)

There boat doesnt need any major work. Not everything on the boat is in great condition. But we could sail it this weekend. It is an 1981. The Trailer is fine. I bought it in Iowa where I grew up. And it was the first boat my dad and I did not own together. I have had it 9 years. I knew the previous owner. A Friend of my dads.
It needs:
1. one boat trailer tire goes flat after a week – Currant one will get you to the lake, I bring the bike pump.
2. one baton comes out of the main
3. and needs some lines/ropes replaced as sailed
4. plus 2 bodies to sail her

Photos are not of my boat but are exactly what it looks like. Mine has purple multi colored sails.

As you may know or can see he was a great artist.  I would like to paint the picture of some of the fun things I remember about my Grandpa. 

• I remember cubs games. Trips at 4am with the children from 4Oaks. 
• I remember seeing plaster hands in his office. It was the office of an artist with sketches and hands pinned to the wall. 
• I remember getting to go have coffee in downtown cedar rapids with him and meet his friends. 
• I remember fishing trips to Potato Lake Minnesota with my sister and Kenny and June to cabins without TVs.  Where we would fish by day and cook and play Gin Rummy and scrabble at night.
• Everyone remembers the 4^th of July at the Kucera’s.   Get togethers in grandma and grandpa’s backyard off the Cedar River, we celebrated our independence and our family.  I learned how to play badmitton and croquet.  We would walk to Ellis Park and watch the fire works explode.  Clearly it was a blast.
• When I stayed at Grandmas and Grandpas it was similar to a night at the museum of Americana.  He had a whole wall of comics with Roy Rogers in space, Blondie and many more.  He had a telephone with no numbers. You just picked up the ear piece and spoke to the operator through the Mic on the wall. 
• His dog Denny would fetch the ball and bring it back to you and put it inside the circular donut.  How did Grandpa teach his dog that?  All amazing.  And as a kid a blast to be around. 
• I would ride my 7up bike and skateboard up and down his driveway 100 times. 
• I would look at his workshop behind the garage.  Grandpa had a house he parked his boat in above the river, a just for martins house 20 ft in the air.  Things only a grandpa could have.  Like a BBQ Grill made of stone in the outdoor patio and garden above the river and a train track to pull the boat up out of the water into the house. 
• Who here has any of these things?  Grandpa did. 
• Grandpa loved to draw comics or look at my sister and I’s art work.  He always told us how good it was.  And encouraged us to do more.
• Grandpa and I fished for croppies in Lake McBride, Walleyes in Minnisota, and “BIG Mouth Carp” in the Cedar River.  With a ball of Dough.  Known as a Big Mouth because when I would catch one I was hoping it was a large mouth bass.  I remember him giving me a brand new fishing pole and casting it out at lake Daeling in southern Iowa.  60 seconds later it was pulled out of the boat by a fish while I was baiting my second pole.  My dad was pissed.  I was pissed.  When I look out at the lake there goes my pole floating across the lake, it was my first pole with a floating handle.  We pulled up the anchors to the boat and pursued the pole.  I grabbed the pole to find a fish attached to it.  We reeled it in only to have the fish break the line the last second before we landed it because we did not have a fishing net.  –My dad and I thought Grandpa was never going to believe this. 
• In college I was able to travel to New York City and visit to the Intrepid museum on the Hudson River.  This was actually the air craft carrier Grandpa Kucera flew his hell diver planes off of. 

 I remember packing up Grandpas tools when he and grandma moved into their condo only to have my dad steal them from me. 

I remember telling him about the graphic design and web design I did on the computer.  As he was amazed because he used to have to draw it or block out the type for printing. 

I remember my sister walking over and visiting with Grandpa at their neighboring condos and her always having a funny story of something Grandpa had said to her. 

After I moved to Austin and had been single for over a year or even two Grandpa would ask me the same thing I talked about with my buddies, do you have a girlfriend yet?  He asked it every time I talked to him.  So I always called him if I had had a good date or was excited about a girl.  

I remember talking to him about my fantasy football league and him being shocked about how computers and the internet did all that.   He hoped for a better Bears season.  Only to find out my fantasy football team never included any Bears. 

I remember he always cared for us his family and especially grandma.  If his family was a painting it would be the master piece he is as an artist is the most proud of.