Disaster One had a seminar in the TAA classroom today and they had a little coffee left over. They put it on my desk hoping it would get me through lunch, but I'm thinking it's not enough.
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It's official: I love Jimmy John's. We order from them quite a lot at our office and they always do a great job. This morning they stopped by and dropped off some free sandwiches to show their appreciation. I say again: I l-o-v-e Jimmy John's.
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Not surprising, unfortunately.
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If you live in an area that’s experiencing a drought you really should
consider hiring me to take a business trip to your area. I truly have
a gift for bringing wet weather with me. Today I’m bringing the
remnants of a hurricane with me to Atlanta. In November. In June I
brought a flash flood with me. To Vegas.

Put it this way: if I was an astronaut they’d find water if they sent
me to the moon or Mars.

• CNN Report Has Me Wondering if We Need to Wear Bike Helmets for Everything
  I'm telling you if they don't stop doing medical research we're not going to have anything left to do that can't somehow kill you or at least bring you serious harm:

  "For decades, doctors described cases of a rare neurological condition that usually occurred in patients over age 50. Neurologists noted that patients knew their identities, but couldn't retain recent memory, where they were and how they got there. They showed no other symptoms.

  Sex is one of the major triggers for the baffling medical condition called transient global amnesia in which patients lose their ability to retain immediate memory."

  (tags: weird interesting)

• Yes! Weekly: Faith and Politics
  Keith Barber pens an article that looks at the intersection of faith and politics in Winston-Salem.
  (tags: winston-salem politics religion)

• Winston-Salem Construction Costs per Square Foot Lowest in Survey
  In this Reed Construction Data survey of 25 cities Winston-Salem had the lowest construction costs per square foot in four categories (hospitals 2-3 stories, hospitals 4-8 stories, nursing homes, apartments 8-24 stories). Honestly I'm trying to figure out where the apartment buildings over 8 stories are in the city.
  (tags: winston-salem commercialrealestate)

• Interesting Info from Donor's Choose Challenge
  For three years Fred Wilson has done a great job of raising money through the Donor's Choose Bloggers challenge. In this post he shared data on how much money was raised each year and from how many people. What I find interesting is that the amount of money is relatively flat from year to year ($18,538 in 2007, $17,029 in 2008, and $18,824 this year), but the number of donors increased dramatically this year (92 in 2007, 80 in 2008, and 205 this year). While it would be great to see the amount-per-donor at the same level as 2007 with the higher number of donors in 2009 I think that's unrealistic in this economy. In the long run I think that having the higher number of donors will be a positive because when next year rolls around there will probably be more donors coming back and if times are better then the dollars-per-donor average will go up and it's a long-term win for Donor's Choose. I'm wondering if the same trend is happening with other non-profits?
  (tags: nonprofit)

• AVC: Throw the Bums out
  I'm in general agreement with Fred Wilson:

  "It is not a positive to be an incumbent right now. And that's a good thing because the track record of our government sucks. I hope the anti incumbent mood continues to be honest. We could use a good house cleaning throughout our government."

  (tags: politics government)

• CNN Report Has Me Wondering if We Need to Wear Bike Helmets for Everything
  I'm telling you if they don't stop doing medical research we're not going to have anything left to do that can't somehow kill you or at least bring you serious harm:

  "For decades, doctors described cases of a rare neurological condition that usually occurred in patients over age 50. Neurologists noted that patients knew their identities, but couldn't retain recent memory, where they were and how they got there. They showed no other symptoms.

  Sex is one of the major triggers for the baffling medical condition called transient global amnesia in which patients lose their ability to retain immediate memory."

  (tags: weird interesting)

• Yes! Weekly: Faith and Politics
  Keith Barber pens an article that looks at the intersection of faith and politics in Winston-Salem.
  (tags: winston-salem politics religion)

• Winston-Salem Construction Costs per Square Foot Lowest in Survey
  In this Reed Construction Data survey of 25 cities Winston-Salem had the lowest construction costs per square foot in four categories (hospitals 2-3 stories, hospitals 4-8 stories, nursing homes, apartments 8-24 stories). Honestly I'm trying to figure out where the apartment buildings over 8 stories are in the city.
  (tags: winston-salem commercialrealestate)

• Interesting Info from Donor's Choose Challenge
  For three years Fred Wilson has done a great job of raising money through the Donor's Choose Bloggers challenge. In this post he shared data on how much money was raised each year and from how many people. What I find interesting is that the amount of money is relatively flat from year to year ($18,538 in 2007, $17,029 in 2008, and $18,824 this year), but the number of donors increased dramatically this year (92 in 2007, 80 in 2008, and 205 this year). While it would be great to see the amount-per-donor at the same level as 2007 with the higher number of donors in 2009 I think that's unrealistic in this economy. In the long run I think that having the higher number of donors will be a positive because when next year rolls around there will probably be more donors coming back and if times are better then the dollars-per-donor average will go up and it's a long-term win for Donor's Choose. I'm wondering if the same trend is happening with other non-profits?
  (tags: nonprofit)

• AVC: Throw the Bums out
  I'm in general agreement with Fred Wilson:

  "It is not a positive to be an incumbent right now. And that's a good thing because the track record of our government sucks. I hope the anti incumbent mood continues to be honest. We could use a good house cleaning throughout our government."

  (tags: politics government)

• CNN Report Has Me Wondering if We Need to Wear Bike Helmets for Everything
  I'm telling you if they don't stop doing medical research we're not going to have anything left to do that can't somehow kill you or at least bring you serious harm:

  "For decades, doctors described cases of a rare neurological condition that usually occurred in patients over age 50. Neurologists noted that patients knew their identities, but couldn't retain recent memory, where they were and how they got there. They showed no other symptoms.

  Sex is one of the major triggers for the baffling medical condition called transient global amnesia in which patients lose their ability to retain immediate memory."

  (tags: weird interesting)

• Yes! Weekly: Faith and Politics
  Keith Barber pens an article that looks at the intersection of faith and politics in Winston-Salem.
  (tags: winston-salem politics religion)

• Winston-Salem Construction Costs per Square Foot Lowest in Survey
  In this Reed Construction Data survey of 25 cities Winston-Salem had the lowest construction costs per square foot in four categories (hospitals 2-3 stories, hospitals 4-8 stories, nursing homes, apartments 8-24 stories). Honestly I'm trying to figure out where the apartment buildings over 8 stories are in the city.
  (tags: winston-salem commercialrealestate)

• Interesting Info from Donor's Choose Challenge
  For three years Fred Wilson has done a great job of raising money through the Donor's Choose Bloggers challenge. In this post he shared data on how much money was raised each year and from how many people. What I find interesting is that the amount of money is relatively flat from year to year ($18,538 in 2007, $17,029 in 2008, and $18,824 this year), but the number of donors increased dramatically this year (92 in 2007, 80 in 2008, and 205 this year). While it would be great to see the amount-per-donor at the same level as 2007 with the higher number of donors in 2009 I think that's unrealistic in this economy. In the long run I think that having the higher number of donors will be a positive because when next year rolls around there will probably be more donors coming back and if times are better then the dollars-per-donor average will go up and it's a long-term win for Donor's Choose. I'm wondering if the same trend is happening with other non-profits?
  (tags: nonprofit)

• AVC: Throw the Bums out
  I'm in general agreement with Fred Wilson:

  "It is not a positive to be an incumbent right now. And that's a good thing because the track record of our government sucks. I hope the anti incumbent mood continues to be honest. We could use a good house cleaning throughout our government."

  (tags: politics government)

• CRE Trouble
  From the report:
  "In September 2009, the delinquent unpaid balance for CMBS increased to $31.73 billion from $28.16 billion a month prior. Such delinquent unpaid balance is up an astounding 583% from one-year ago (when only $4.64 billion of delinquent balance was reported for September 2008), and is now over 14 times the low point of $2.21 billion in March 2007. An increase in four of five delinquent loan categories was noted in September, with a slight decline experienced in the REO bucket (reflected in the increased liquidations for September). Despite such decline, the distressed 90+-day, Foreclosure and REO categories grew in aggregate for the 22nd straight month – up by $1.48 billion (8%) from the previous month and over $16.65 billion (547%) in the past year (up from only $3.044 billion in September 2008)."
  (tags: commercialrealestate economy)
• How Greensboro Voted
  A map showing how Greensboro residents voted for mayor. A very stark divide between east and west Greensboro.
  (tags: politics greensboro)
• Yes!Weekly: Bill Burckley on the clock
  A look at how a GSO political handler evaluated the field and got a political neophyte elected mayor of Greensboro.
  (tags: politics greensboro)
• Hoggard: Council Kingmakers
  David Hoggard has an interesting post about last nights Greensboro election results, including a link to a blog post at Yes!Weekly about the work of Bill Burckley who managed the campaign of mayoral upset winner Bill Knight.
  (tags: greensboro politics)

• Univ of Chicago Mag: Sumo wrestlers are big, but are they a Big Question?
  Freakonomics' Steven Levitt is an economist at the University of Chicago and the school's magazine asks if he's responsible for ruining economics. It's an interesting article in and of itself, but I got no small measure of pride when the one non-Chicago economist cited was from my alma mater (George Mason University). FYI, GMU's first Nobel Prize was for economics in 1986 and the winner was James Buchanan, Director, Center for Study of Public Choice. I can still remember the buzz on campus the day it was announced.
  (tags: economics)
• Bloomberg: Wilbur Ross Sees ‘Huge’ Commercial Real Estate Crash
  From the story: “All of the components of real estate value are going in the wrong direction simultaneously,” said Ross, one of nine money managers participating in a government program to remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets. “Occupancy rates are going down. Rent rates are going down and the capitalization rate — the return that investors are demanding to buy a property — are going up.”

  h/t to Ed Cone for the link.

  (tags: economics commercialrealestate apartment)

• Orlando Sentinel: Hot Mormon moms pose for calendar
  Not a headline you'll see every day. BTW, the "hot Mormon moms" are posing to raise money for breast cancer research, but that doesn't mean some of the more conservative in their church aren't a bit upset.
  (tags: interesting religion)
• Triad Biz Journal: Apartment vacancy rates hit 15-year high in Triad
  What this piece doesn't mention is that in addition to the 15 year high vacancy rate of 13.9% compared to 11.6% a year ago, the average rent is also down in the Triad from $643/month this time last year to $629 this year. (That might be covered in the full version of the article which seems to be behind a paid subscriber firewall). Not good news any which way you slice it.
  (tags: apartment triad piedmonttriad realestate)
• Collins: Girardi Proved Wellman Right
  Dan Collins posted a nice piece on his blog about Wake Forest AD Ron Wellman's connection to Joe Girardi (he was Girardi's college coach at Northwestern). I learned quite a few things about Girardi that I didn't know, like he was a three time Academic All-American in Industrial Engineering and he played minor league ball here in Winston-Salem. With all the abuse that Girardi's been taking in the press it was nice to read this.
  (tags: baseball sports blog winston-salem wakeforest)
• Freakonomics: Fewer Murders, More Suicide?
  In general countries that have lower murder rates have higher suicide rates.
  (tags: freakonomics)