I am stopping regular weekend posts, and taking back Friday evenings for my family.
This week, I had a technical catastrophe that caused me to burn the midnight oil:
What were you doing at 10:50 last night?
Last night due to a technical problem at 10:50, I lost today's post. I last successfully saved the basic infrastructure of a post, but the analysis of the CEOs comments — something I spent two hours writing — was gone.
For a moment, I was in total shock. I could believe what happened. After a few unsuccessful attempts at recovery, I conceded defeat, and I was devastated. The sense of loss was powerful and jolting. Then the reality of staying up late to re-write the post set in, and I was just devastated (and pissed). I sought out my wife to calm down.
I didn't realize how important it was to me to put up a daily post (weekdays anyway). I felt like an injured Brett Favre who wanted to start if for no other reason than he always started. Some guys are just built that way. I calmed down, wrote this pep talk to myself, drank my coffee, and hunkered down to rewrite it all. Reliability trumps sleep.
In the comments of that post, one of the astute observers expressed concerns over what looks like an unhealthy obsession. I appreciate the concern, but I can assure everyone that I am doing well.
The experience has caused me to re-evaluate how much time I am spending on the blog, and for a variety of reasons, I am going to stop doing full-blown posts on Saturdays. I may still write stuff for fun, but I will not be creating regular real estate related posts.
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The IHB is a workplace blog. People tend to read the IHB in the mornings on weekdays. That is when our daily traffic peaks. On the weekends, traffic typically drops off 30% irrespective of the weekend content.
The primary reason I am stopping weekend posts is purely selfish. I am not willing to give up my Friday evenings any more.
The IHB as personal discipline and nourishment
The main reason I was so driven to get the post out this week after my technical disaster is because I value what the IHB has done for me, and I want to continue that. I was not motivated out of obligation or the desire to please the readership. I was motivated by purely personal reasons to maintain a discipline that nourishes me mentally and emotionally.
All self esteem comes from self discipline. You are your habits. I am proud of my achievement each day I put out a post, and I enjoy the mental challenge of doing it. Whether my business dealings leave me feeling up or down, I know that when I write a post, I will be left feeling energized and renewed. The IHB is not a burden for me. In fact, it has become an integral part of the series of accomplishments that provide self confidence to deal with the challenges of life.
Perhaps I am a bit too driven at times. Anyone who has developed a special skill did so because they have a passion for whatever it is that they mastered. When passion is the driving force behind any activity, it can be uplifting rather than depleting. The real balance is to make sure that pursuing the uplifting activity isn't taking away from other areas of life. The nourishment of the IHB has been taking away from the greater nourishment of spending time with my family on Friday evenings. Therefore, I am only going to write weekend posts if I am inspired.
Shevy has been preparing to write some weekend posts. We were going to have him write on Sundays because it was the only open day. Perhaps he will step up to fill the void I am leaving behind.
Thank you for reading my weekend drivel, and thank you for your understanding.
Irvine Renter
Technical question for those in the business: a builder/contractor/developer is selling a model, new today for X, where 5 years ago, it was selling for maybe 1.4X-1.5X. Was that difference all profit to the developer, or were construction costs significantly higher in 2006/2007? In my area, land/lot costs have not really gone down, or at least that is how it is sold to potential customers.
For big builders, construction costs have dropped modestly (both labor and materials), but not nearly as much as land values have dropped. Of course the degree of decrease in land prices depends significantly on location.
In the high-priced case, the lot was bought by the builder from a developer, and in the low-priced one, the builder was the developer. The lot prices were comparable, maybe $5k difference. I think, in my part of NC, builders had a couple years where, not only could they sell anything, they could sell it at excessive profit margins. Then they had a couple years where they couldn’t sell anything.
Good for you!
I suppose you have made a healthy choice that will benfit both your family and you. I also suppose that your wife strongly supports your decision.
You’re doing a wonderful job with this blog; I hope you keep it up for many years to come. 5 blog posts per week is plenty
Here are some aphorisms/adages:
“If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
Or as Chris Rock said, “Happy wife, happy life.”
“Whenver a husband and wife have a discussion, the husband always gets the last two words, ‘Yes Dear.'”
“Good for you!
I suppose you have made a healthy choice that will benfit(sp) both your family and you. I also suppose that your wife strongly supports your decision.”
Ditto.
Good for you Irvinerenter. I’m not sure how you could put the effort into creating new posts everyday.
One question for you. Did you ever get the Irvine home inventory number resolved. I see 1068…that was a big jump from the previous month.
Great job on the blog. I’m sure your buddy Planet Reality will be along soon to give you a pat on the back too. 🙂
Great work, IR, and enjoy the extra time with your family! We’ll still be here during the week.
-Darth
P.S. With all of this new family time on the weekends, you should take the wife and kiddos down to the Irvine Spectrum! I hear it’s like Christmas morning there every day of the year! Depending who you ask, it’s even better than a 3-car-wide garage!
-Darth
It’s a wise decision to step away from the keyboard once in a while. Nobody will ever care about what an epic worker any of us were in our day. Congrats on making a choice that will probably give you back a little more joy. Real estate will be waiting, like it always is, on Monday morning.
Good thinking IR. The work will always be here…
B
Long time reader, infrequent commenter. Just wanted to say thank you for your posting consistency over the years and I hope you enjoy re-capturing your friday evenings.
As someone who needs to read all of your posts I say “bravo”. Your decision frees up my Saturday mornings. See you Monday.
O.C. homebuilding at quarter-century low
http://lansner.ocregister.com/2011/04/10/o-c-homebuilding-at-quarter-century-low/104811/