Fort Worth in Housing Market Top Ten

This article is about one month old but I just saw it. Good for Fort Worth, especially homeowners, and Texas which has 4 of the top 10 (bye-bye California):

Fort Worth is one of four Texas markets that are among the nation's "healthiest" housing markets, according to Jed Kolko, chief economist for real estate information site Trulia. By healthiest, Kolko explains, he doesn't just mean that home prices are rising -- "because many of the markets with the largest price gains in 2012 were rebounding from huge price declines during the bust, but they still have weak fundamentals," he says.

Here are his fundamentals: strong job growth (supporting housing demand); low vacancy rates; and low foreclosure inventory. Those are his markers, and here are his picks: 1. Houston; 2. San Francisco; 3. Bethesda-Rockville-Frederick, Md.; 4. San Antonio; 5. Austin; 6. Seattle; 7. Omaha; 8. Peabody, Mass. (Boston suburban); 9. Fort Worth; 10. Louisville.

Read more here: Tarrant Business

Merry Christmas my old friends . . .

I miss the blog comment give and take and hope to be back soon. Merry Christmas.

. .

Raising Cane's on University, Fort Worth

I tried the new Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers on University yesterday. Cane's is a franchise out of Baton Rouge, Louisiana with about 100 restaurants and it sells one main dish: strips of battered-and-fried chicken breasts called fingers.

Plus:
The chicken fingers are excellent. They're cooked perfectly, served hot and juicy. Loved them. Also, on the plus side, Cain's is comfortable and clean, has a modern interior and a friendly staff.

Neutral:
$6.50 for 3 strips of chicken, about 4 ounces I'll guess, plus fries, toast and a drink is a little pricey on my balance scale of value and cost, because . . .

Minus:
The fries are wimpy and the Texas toast, while thick, is light and a pretty tasteless piece of toasted bread.

Raising Canes is not in the McDonald's/Taco Bell dollar menu category, they are more the In-N-Out, Chipotle category which is a little more expensive for a little better quality.

But that's a distinction I am not liable to make on the side of Raising Cane's when I'm looking for chicken, even though compared to that slab of white shoe-leather they serve at Chik Fil A, it's heaven.

If they could give me a crispy french fry and a heartier piece of bread and maybe another piece of chicken at $6.50, I'm happy. But I'm not looking at their numbers so that may be asking for too much.

I liked it, the chicken is delicious. I might go back, but not often.

The O Antiphons of Advent

Today is the final day of the O Antiphons.

"In the Roman Catholic tradition in which they originated, the O Antiphons are sung or recited at Vespers from December 17 to December 23 inclusive. In the Church of England they have traditionally been used as antiphons to the Magnificat at Evening Prayer during this period, and although not printed in the Book of Common Prayer, have long been part of secondary Anglican liturgical sources, such as the English Hymnal. More recently they have found a place in primary liturgical documents throughout the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England's Common Worship liturgy." Wikipedia

 The hymn O come, O come, Emmanuel (in Latin, Veni Emmanuel) is a lyrical paraphrase of these antiphons.

Tom Waits

Haven't posted much, lately. It's been a rough couple of months. Heard this old Tom Waits tune today, Waltzing Matilda.