Since I haven’t posted here in ages, I guess I don’t really have to state that ‘blogging’ isn’t my thing, at least not at the moment.

But this post is to confirm that I have a wordpress account and I still own markwiberg.com, until I change my name.

News: it looks the comedy at the Grange Hall in SLO, CA is done. Too bad, but it’s tough to schedule comedians, no matter where.

I moved to Paso Robles – thank you to the mortgage meltdown for bringing home prices down. I may post soon about buying a house, moving in, cleaning up, etc….but it’s been done, right? Who wants to read about this Home Improvement-type crap?  All I know is that despite all the debate and articles on ‘renting versus buying’, buying/owning) a house adds a different element to one’s life – more responsibility? Tremendous debt? Maybe. But, when I was renting I had debt, so what’s the diff? And repsonsibility? I’ll take that over trying to get your full security deposit back. Anyway, if you’re renting, you still have the responsibility to manage one’s money for the future, so keeping on top of your investments is key. If you buy a house, you have similar responsibility, but in a more ‘present’ or real way – your investment is there, everyday, waiting for you to fix this, or paint that. You are never guaranteed a return, but you know you have a house, and property – actual land, like in that movie Far and Away, without the horse race and phony Irish accents – and except for a few cases (eminent domain or sink hole), that property will be around for years. Depending upon your location, that property may increase in value, for whatever reason. It may decrease in value, but for how long. There is only so much property to be had.

I’m no expert in real estate, finances (believe me, I’m not), but having had the good fortune to pick up a relative bargain in an expensive county, I think the odds are in my favor (unless an earthquake hits, then I’m screwed), and I think pro-rent articles are sometimes too dismissive of home-buying.  We are human. There is something to be said for having your own place. I’m not opposed to renting for sure – I am the least handyman person I know, so I dig being able to call the landlord and say ‘fix it!’. But, too late now for me.  This will be my main investment for now –  I’m too lax on keeping up with 401k/investing stuff. The fact that I call it ‘stuff’ tells you I am. And having rented rooms and apartments for the past 15 years, it’s a very cool feeling (and scary) to know that everything in the house and on the property is mine, good or bad. Besides, if it doesn’t go up in value, I’ll ask the government to cover the loss. j/k.