Forum discussion, thread suggestion, and random comment thread

[Kimbell175113]

Did I really not notice that?

Ouch.

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
learn more about real estate soon. Could we get a thread started on REITs?

[/ QUOTE ]

REITs fall into 3 basic categories:

1. Property

2. Mortgage

3. Hybrid

Property REITs include all kinds of different property types like apartments, office buildings, shopping malls, health care facilities, even jails. Many more types of properties.

Mortgate REITs are varied as well. Some are just leveraged bond funds more or less that own Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) purchased with borrowed money both residential and commerical. Some fill in niches in lending like "jumbo" lending and sub-prime lending. Due dilligence is required in understanding the various business models. Basically mortgage REITs are heavily involved with the "carry trade" i.e. borrowing short and lending long.

Hybrid REITs are a combination of mortgage REITs and property REITs. Not that many of these. Here's a link to decent site for finding out more specific info on REITs.

National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts

[offTopic]

[ QUOTE ]
OK, this is the place to post whatever random stuff you want to post

[/ QUOTE ]

I think I've only eaten a couple of meals that would have qualified for citanul's thread, but the service component did remind me of an odd thing that happened last weekend.

My wife and I went to dinner, and had a pretty bad server. The guy wasn't tweaking or rude or anything, he just wasn't there much. The couple at the table next to us might have had something else going on (I wasn't really paying attention, but the guy was talking on his phone for a while) and they just got up an left with iced tea and bread on the table.

After that happened, another woman came and took our order. I heard her ask our guy which area/station/whatever he was working, so she could put the order in correctly. Then, a third server refilled my wife's soda. A fourth server delivered our food, and the third guy came back and bussed the bread plate. Finally, "our guy" came back and checked on us a couple of times before we got the bill and paid.

Weird. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[Tron]

I had a dream about Whitney from The Hills last night so I thought I would just update everyone and tell you that I have yet to meet her or interact with her in any way. I haven't even seen her this semester! [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Arnfinn Madsen]

There is a subject I would like serious discussion about, I have discovered a pearl in a low cost country where the tourist infrastructure is in place and it is perfect for Norwegian taste. I am thinking of settling there and be a sort of tour operator, running an operation which welcomes Norwegian tourists, guides them in their own language (me + a local who has lived in Norway and speaks fluent) take care of everything they need etc..

-What kind of revenue can I make? I have thought of guided tours, transport to/from airport, provision from hotels and maybe even restaurants and some other entertainment. Anything more? Is this sufficient?
-How can I protect my revenues? People like to order their plane tickets on internet, so that part I will skip. But hotels, guided tours etc., I think they prefer that somebody take care of since it is a bit risky, right?
-Who can I convince to pay marketing costs? I would guess local tourist office, maybe regional/national, maybe one selected hotel and one selected entertainment. Anything more?
-How can I market it?

In general I think it could foster some discussion about modern tourism in general, it has dualism, on one hand people like to click more and more on the internet to fix everything which makes a lot of traditional travel agencies redundant, on the other hand people are searching for something special, something personal and that you don't find on lufthansa.de. People seem to go more towards exploration, off the beaten path etc. and away from typical packaged tours; but at the same time their are willing to pay more for the perfect trip so the packaged tour not branded as a packaged tour might be the way to go?

[Leaky Eye]

Total nit.

I thought the what to do in SF thread really missed something. I would much rather have residents telling me about a day they would plan, than see them simply link restaurants. I can find that information anywhere.

And yes I am aware I didn't contribute. Maybe when I get a few minutes together I will reply to that thread with what I would have liked to see.

[El Diablo]

LE,

Yeah, get it pointed in a direction, no reason that thread can't go all sorts of ways.

[claudenm]

All,

Do you get the feeling people have grown sick of reading the 'my story' threads? I've had a lot of interesting thoughts recently, partly spurred on by the whole slew of "why bother living" and "Smart, lazy guy" syndrome threads. I reached a mini-epiphany recently, which is huge for me, and I would like to share it-- even though some will find it uninteresting. Additionally, it involves a long story about my family (gambling addict Dad), my upbringing and various non-life threatening but painful medical maladies. I also think it will be a bit cathartic for me. I may write just write the post and not post it if I get some feedback to that effect. So, what do you think? Post, or no?

Claude

[El Diablo]

claude,

Write it. Hold off a few days to give people a bit of a break from similar content and then post it.

[g-p]

smarter people post more here than OOT so i want someone to start a thread about how rich kids should handle everyone around them knowing they have money. like when i get lunch with all my broke friends and the check doesnt get split up, i always feel bad saying "ok you owe 6, you owe 5" etc. same thing goes when we go on road trips and they ask for gas money but they know i dont do the same thing, when i pickup beer/liquor, when i order pizza, or even when they bring over a case of beer (or whatever) and then they always make sure i chip in the correct dollar amounts.

ive noticed that the less i focus on school and the more i contribute rambling poker advice the less eloquent it makes me, so someone who knows what it is to go through this that can capture what im thinking might do a better job than me creating the thread-starter.