To start on the way back, I planned to talk about the cancer treatment that I will be undergoing starting in a couple of days. The focus will be on my thoughts, feelings, and just general experiences along the way. I don't envision this as some guide for future cancer sufferers or advice or anything like that. Perhaps it will be interesting to family and friends to learn a bit more about me, but the reality is that this is as much just for me as for anyone.
It would have been best to start this when I first found out I had cancer as those early days were really crazy. For the most part, I was very confident of beating this thing and that I would still live for another 20+ years, but when you don't know anything more than that you have it that confidence can be shaken. I can be a funny person in a way, as I find myself grieving for things that have not even happened yet and that was part of what I went through; the idea of missing my kids college years or getting married, helping them grow and seeing what they become was truly what scared me the most and really got the eyes watering. As they say, its the chance of losing something which really makes you realize how important it is to you and there was no doubt that they were top of the list!
I really appreciate the ENT doctor who first provided me with some details that gave me a better understanding. She was actually helping out for my primary doctor because he was on vacation that week. She noted that there was a P16 test which showed a positive result and said that this was great news as it meant that the chance of success in treatment is much higher. It led me to doing some research which showed that the success rate in treating neck cancers which had this positive test was 85%!
The next great news was the PET scan which showed that the cancer had not spread to other parts of my body. There were a couple of hot spots seen, but they were clearly not related to this or indicative of other cancer locations. So now we were moving forward in a positive way.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
The nice thing about having a blog page is that you can just ignore it for a long time and it will leave you alone, especially when you don't have a big following (or any following for that matter). Its also nice because its there when you want it, so that you can just write whatever you feel when you want.
So now is time for the third iteration and restart of this blog. I orginally started it just to try to whole system out and see what its like. Then I used it as a way to communicate real estate info without loading down other sites which I thought were less appropriate. Now I plan to use this to capture thoughts on my upcoming cancer treatment and other things that are important to me. It will hopefully be an way to explore those things and that this will lead to my next big project/job/activity/passion/life goal. Or perhaps I'll just go back to my leisure pursuits and we will see you on iteration number 4?
So now is time for the third iteration and restart of this blog. I orginally started it just to try to whole system out and see what its like. Then I used it as a way to communicate real estate info without loading down other sites which I thought were less appropriate. Now I plan to use this to capture thoughts on my upcoming cancer treatment and other things that are important to me. It will hopefully be an way to explore those things and that this will lead to my next big project/job/activity/passion/life goal. Or perhaps I'll just go back to my leisure pursuits and we will see you on iteration number 4?
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
New home sales jump to near 2-1/2 year high in September
Just a quick link to another story about the improving real estate market,
New home sales jump to near 2-1/2 year high in September - Yahoo! News. This is national news, but reinforces that our local market is still strong.
New home sales jump to near 2-1/2 year high in September - Yahoo! News. This is national news, but reinforces that our local market is still strong.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Median home prices in Bay Area and Santa Clara County
Pricing in the Bay Area are definitely on the rise as the latest data is showing, for example see http://www.dqnews.com/Articles/2012/News/California/Bay-Area/RRBay121015.aspx. Median prices have softened over the past couple of months in Santa Clara County though they are still much better than this time last year, here the chart for the past 5 years:
The more interesting data, though, is to look at average pricing of For Sale homes which is trending up very strongly:
It would be easy to see this upward trend as a leading indicator of house pricing and certainly the pricing has improved in many areas, but there are many factors that could be driving this average up beyond just pricing. Some examples could be that all the cheaper housing is sold quickly, which they are, and higher end homes are on the market longer distorting the numbers. This will need to wait for a later post, but the low inventory levels we are experiencing is also a factor, as the lower end homes are not coming on the market and when they do they sell so quickly as to not show up in this data. That's my take on the trend, FWIW; more soon to see if the data fits the theory.
The more interesting data, though, is to look at average pricing of For Sale homes which is trending up very strongly:
It would be easy to see this upward trend as a leading indicator of house pricing and certainly the pricing has improved in many areas, but there are many factors that could be driving this average up beyond just pricing. Some examples could be that all the cheaper housing is sold quickly, which they are, and higher end homes are on the market longer distorting the numbers. This will need to wait for a later post, but the low inventory levels we are experiencing is also a factor, as the lower end homes are not coming on the market and when they do they sell so quickly as to not show up in this data. That's my take on the trend, FWIW; more soon to see if the data fits the theory.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
New home sales down - Driverless Cars!
Here is an update on new home sales, down in August, but the market is different now speel, http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/home-sales-slip-time-different-corelogic-chief-economist-160034104.html. This is nation-wide, of course, and while I am a firm believer that the housing market here in Silicon Valley is doing well, I would be leary of statements like "its different now" and future looking predictions.
More exciting, though, is Bob Lutz's statement that all cars will be driverless in 20 years, http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/cars-driverless-20-years-bob-lutz-133826028.html, which was the story linked as previous to the above story. While being a bold prediction, there is definitely data to show the trend and there are such obvious benefits that it seems like a given to me. The biggest obstacles are likely to be those of us that actually enjoy driving.
More exciting, though, is Bob Lutz's statement that all cars will be driverless in 20 years, http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/cars-driverless-20-years-bob-lutz-133826028.html, which was the story linked as previous to the above story. While being a bold prediction, there is definitely data to show the trend and there are such obvious benefits that it seems like a given to me. The biggest obstacles are likely to be those of us that actually enjoy driving.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Good and not so good news on home sales
First, the good news home prices continue to rise across the nation, as discussed in this story, http://news.yahoo.com/home-prices-consumer-confidence-gain-145737113--business.html. The key quote from this story:
On the not so good side, comes this story that inventory levels are still low and unlikely to rebound soon, http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/dianhymer/2013-optimism-keeps-home-sellers-sidelines. The inventory problem has been particularly acute in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the number of homes for sale has dropped by nearly 50%. This columnist is less optimistic than the general press and thinks that the future of the housing market is far from clear.
"Housing is out of the woods and it should be making a contribution to the overall economy going forward," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's, told Reuters Insider.
On the not so good side, comes this story that inventory levels are still low and unlikely to rebound soon, http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/dianhymer/2013-optimism-keeps-home-sellers-sidelines. The inventory problem has been particularly acute in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the number of homes for sale has dropped by nearly 50%. This columnist is less optimistic than the general press and thinks that the future of the housing market is far from clear.
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