So What Are You Doing Now?

“So What Are You Doing Now?”

In the slow, humiliating, demoralizing morass of unemployment and joblessness that has haunted this household for over a year, one invasive question has continually assaulted me:

“So What Are You Doing Now?”

It comes up every time I speak to some relative or some former business colleague.

“So What Are You Doing Now?”

They mean well, I suppose, because they are concerned. They have heard of foreclosures, bankruptcies, insolvent and inconsolable family financial tragedies.

Some of them are well off, while some are not. They are older and younger than me, and are professionals, or they just hold jobs that they’ve held for many years.

And they just want to ask, for the umpteenth time….

“So What Are You Doing Now?”

Do they really want to know about how hopeless and sad I am? How I don’t see any future for myself. How I see the sickening parade of celebrities and experts and publicists that pass by my computer and television screens, with their botox and billions and how I will never equal them in the stature the public accords them?

“So What Are You Doing Now?”

Should I tell them about how the EDD denied my partner the right to go get job training in the community college because the EDD does not pay benefits to those enrolled in jobs training education?

“So What Are You Doing Now?”

That Anthem Blue Cross raised my monthly health insurance rate from $240 to $325 a month? Fuck Lieberman, McCain and any of those bastards who stood in the way of planting the stake in the health insurance vampire’s heart.

“So What Are You Doing Now?”

Yes, they tell me in therapy, you have a strong voice. You are fighting back. You are courageous. You will survive.

And aren’t I creating some truly creative work with all of my digital photos and lousy screenplays?

And can’t I return to the job market and work for a TV production company where I will research YouTube videos all day to find clips of athletes falling down and injuring themselves?

Doesn’t that sound delightful?

How I love to hear the gentle inquiry, the concerned voices of those who truly, deeply, madly care.

“So What Are You Doing Now?”

Along the Wash.

Banks of the LA River: Near the 101 and Vineland

A few weeks back, I explored some of the LA River as it meanders under concrete overpasses and alongside freeways.

There is a paucity of decent parkland in Los Angeles, as anyone who lives here can attest. Looking at an overhead map of the San Fernando Valley, one sees blocks and blocks of development, only sometimes interrupted by a small park.

Chandler Near Tujunga Park N Hollywood

The great freeway builders of the 1950s rammed their roads through the parks because it was easier and cheaper to do than buying up private property. As a result, North Hollywood, with its river and public green spaces, now plays host to an eternal hellish drone of smoke, noise, litter, violent driving and environmental catastrophe.

In Van Nuys, the 405 slices through parks, a wildlife sanctuary, past the Sepulveda Dam and through the Woodley Park area.

There are forces now, benevolent ones, like the Friends of the LA River, who are trying to reverse the damage done by the entombing of the river in the early 1940s, and the paving over by traffic engineers in the 1950s and 60s. They are planting trees, promoting walking and nature, and building bike trails. The most affluent area of the San Fernando Valley, Studio City, has seen the most upgrades along the LA River.

The Wash Near Vineland &101

But mostly the river and water and wash is ignored, standing mute, alongside the vehicles and the onslaught of cars and trucks, whose main goal is getting somewhere faster.

Oakie estate in Northridge acquired by city – LA Observed

Finally, some positive news…..

Oakie estate in Northridge acquired by city – LA Observed.

Young Tarzanians Defy Recession.

Reprinted from the San Fernando Valley Business Journal:

These Young Entrepreneurs Got Gelt and Some Chutzpah By Eric Billingsley - 2/1/2010 San Fernando Valley Business Journal Staff Take a minute to think back to when you were young, bright-eyed, and totally confident about your ability to enter the commercial real estate business and make a name for yourself. Everything seemed possible, and you were convinced you could do things smarter, faster, and more profitable than your predecessors and competition. And each transaction, even the little ones, fueled that entrepreneurial spirit. Not a bad exercise to do every now and then in a tough real estate market. Now, meet 25-year-old Keith Wasserman, Damian Langere, 29, and Evan Rock, 24, principals of Gelt, Inc. Founded about a year ago, the Tarzana-based boutique commercial real estate firm specializes in retail, industrial and multi-family properties. “Some of the most successful companies were started in recessions,” said Langere, co-founder of Gelt. “We’re trying to build something that’s fresh and new.” They’re all newbies to the commercial real estate business, and in my opinion, the embodiment of that bright-eyed entrepreneurial spirit. And youth and ambition aside, they’re not just all talk. The trio has closed 10 transactions since December 2008, formed a staple group of mentors, and attracted $2.5 million in investment capital. The capper, and testament to their entrepreneurial drive, is they all still live with their parents in order to re-invest money back into the business. Gelt has acquired nine four-plexes and one 78-unit apartment complex in Bakersfield. Most of the transactions are REO properties. And after the purchase, the company rehabilitates the buildings, leases them out, and works with a third party property manager. They are purchasing most of the properties in all-cash transactions, and said they hope to double or triple the number of properties in their portfolio in 2010. And if you haven’t figured it out yet, the term “gelt” is Yiddish for money. “The main goal of Gelt, Inc. is to provide affordable housing,” said Wasserman, co-founder. Returns for investors have also been solid. For now the company is focusing on Bakersfield but would eventually like to expand into other markets. The group is also tech savvy. They have a web site and use blogs, quirky videos of their due diligence process, Google Docs, social networking, iPhones and BlackBerrys to keep investors in the loop and market the company. They are also hosting regular investor seminars. And they’ve managed –with some help from Wasserman’s father – to attract a large percentage of international investors. “I want us to push the limits of how we brand this company,” said Wasserman, adding he wants Gelt to be the type of business where investors and clients always have access to the CEO and other principals. And he wants the business to be transparent. The company is the brainchild of Wasserman. In 2004 he launched a general merchandising business on the Internet, which he said was one of the top 500 eBay sites. Then he worked in the property management business and eventually obtained his brokers license. A couple years ago he and Langere, his cousin, teamed-up to form Gelt. Langere eventually quit his job as an environmental consultant, and the duo put up their own capital to buy the company’s first property. Then they brought on Rock, who worked for a brief time with a commercial brokerage, as VP of operations. And the Gelt guys are getting plenty of guidance in how to grow the business and navigate the commercial real estate market from the “grey hairs.” Wasserman’s father, prominent Valley lawyer Steve Wasserman, Adrian Goldstein and Robert Hernandez, are mentoring the youngsters. All are experienced real estate investors. And Wasserman Sr. and Goldstein have invested in some of Gelt’s properties. “I can only speak about Keith, but I’ve seen a transformation in him from a college graduate to a real estate entrepreneur,” said Wasserman Sr. “They’ve got the business going. And they call me all the time because everything is a new experience for them.” Why would an investor trust his/her money with Gelt, Inc.? He said Wasserman Jr., Langere and Rock work 24/7. They’re constantly performing due diligence, rehabilitating properties and attracting new investors. They have a lot of good resources to use and have made a good name for themselves in the Bakersfield market. “It’s very hard work and they probably look at dozens of properties before they get their hands on one,” said Wasserman Sr. What about the issue of them still living at home –Keith and Damian both live with Wasserman Sr.? “They’re up in Bakersfield a lot, and it gives them easy access to me.” Staff Reporter Eric Billingsley can be reached at (818) 316-3124 or at ebillingsley@sfvbj.com. San Fernando Valley Business Journal, Copyright © 2010, All Rights Reserved.

US Census: I Passed the Test. They Lost My Information.

On January 11th, at 6:30 p.m. , I showed up at the Van Nuys Flyaway to sit for a US Census Job Placement Test.

A few days later, the census office called to tell me I had passed the test and gotten 20 out of 28 correct.

Several days after I was told the results, a census worker called my home phone “to clarify some questions”.

I called him back six times and never got a hold of the person.

Finally, someone called from the Census office and asked for my full name and social security number.

He told me they had no record at all of me in their system. My passing test score, (which they originally told me) was nowhere to be found. My ID and name brought nothing up.

I predict the 2010 US Census will be an absolute disaster:  poorly administered and profoundly disorganized.

2,603 Murders in LA since 2007; 1,371 US Soldiers Died in Iraq.

Since 2007,  2,603 Angelenos have been murdered here.

In the same period, 1,371 US Soldiers died in Iraq.  (source: http://icasualties.org/)

Mr. Obama plans to keep us in Iraq and Afghanistan for the foreseeable future, but also intends to announce a budget freeze on domestic spending programs.

Why do I think something is very wrong with our nation and its priorities?

Map – Homicide Report – Los Angeles Times.

Haven’t you heard the great news? Crime is way down in Los Angeles. We are all living in a very safe city:

L.A. shootings leave 3 dead, 4 wounded – latimes.com.

For photographers and graphic artists, not a pretty picture out there – latimes.com

For photographers and graphic artists, not a pretty picture out there – latimes.com.

Larry Harnisch’s THE DAILY MIRROR

One of the occasional blogs I peruse is Larry Harnisch’s THE DAILY MIRROR.

Mr. Harnisch reprints LA history as seen through its print media.

Read the story below, about an explosion at an apartment building in North Hollywood, that completely destroyed 10 units and caused $30,000 worth of damage.

They sure could write well in the old days, with those fear inducing words: hoax, suspect, blast, blown-off, kill, FBI,  and tomb.

War and Health Care.

War and health care.

These are the two big issues I care about.

Even as I look for work, being unemployed for some time now, I think that our nation must end its destructive and expensive interference in other nation’s affairs, and bring our spending priorities and needs back to the US.

Obama has not ended the war in Iraq, and he has ramped up the war in Afghanistan. What war is next? Yemen, Pakistan, Indonesia?  We are on a constant war footing with boogie men on every continent.  An endless battle with no end.

And what became of health care? It has been downsized, weakened, bended, fractured, anesthetized to make it palatable to Lieberman and Blue Cross, Pfizer and John McCain.  I still paid over $3,000 last year to cover one $40 doctor’s visit.

President Obama, you are losing my confidence because you seem to stand for nothing. You “lost” in Massachusetts because you don’t stand for anything. You are continuing the Bush, Clinton, Reagan policies of neo-conservatism, neo-militarism and neo-know nothingism that furthers the decline and impoverishment of the United States.

If you had only been bold and courageous enough to end the wars and demand single payer health care, I would respect you. Again.