BY Jack Boardman

At the old James Jerome Hill Elementary School, almost every 5th grader hoped to be chosen for the school police when he or she advanced to the 6th grade. The school police were responsible not only for   standing in the middle of the street armed only with a bright red flag festooned with a yellow and black “STOP” sign but also to monitor lines of kindergarten and first grade kids to and from the school and to serve as hall monitors before and after class. 

We hoped to be chosen because of the POWER the position brought with it; no one messed with the school police! So on that day at the end of our 5th grade school year my daycare “sister” Susie and I went to school just full of anticipation of being selected. At the end of that day one of us was harassing the other the entire two and a half block walk back home; Susie was selected and I wasn't.

I was crushed. Not only did I suffer a loss of self esteem, it was worse than that; I suffered weeks of teasing at the capable hands of Susie and her younger sister Barbie. Over the course of the summer the teasing stopped replaced by other squabbles; that's how these thing went. Until late August when preparations for going back to school reach their annual intensity. Susie was again in full harassment mode and again my self esteem was taking a beating.

The first week of school was torture; I'd look at my friends resplendent in their Sam Browne Belts and shiny school police badges being all bossy and stuff. Mr. Larson, our principal, had not yet appointed the sergeant, lieutenant or captain of school police; he wanted to observe a while before making a decision.

A week or so later Harry was appointed captain, Grant as lieutenant and Marilyn as sergeant. On the same day I was called to the principal's office and not being the smartest kid on the block; I had no idea why. The kids in my class started in on me as I slowly walked to the classroom door. Head down I made my way to the office all the while wondering what I'd done.

 Mr. Larson smiled when I arrived. On his desk was a very worn, raggedy-looking Sam Browne belt with a brand-new shiny school police badge affixed to it. He congratulated me and told me I was Harry's replacement. I was a made-man…er boy. No more harassment from Susie and my self-esteem made a complete turn around.

“Put a little polish on that belt,” were his parting words. By the time I reached class, the belt was on me  worn, but proud. It was with a huge smile that I entered the classroom. Everyone but Susie returned that smile.

I should say controversial local architecture, people either love it or hate it and there are some like me who find it interesting and unusual.

The Weisman art museum is located on the campus of the University of Minnesota.  It was built in 1992 and is made of stainless steel.  It is fun to take photos of and how it looks changes with the color of the sky.

It is Friday and Fridays are for fun.  I write a minimum of 12 blog posts a week on two blogs and I write an article each week for Inman news. That is more writing than most writers do in a week and that doesn't include the emails, Facebook updates or tweets.   Every now and then I run out of words but I tell myself that it isn't a matter of finding words.  Writing is about taking the words and arranging them in a meaningful way.  I decided to take the few words I have left and arrange them in a new way so that I could have a blog post for today. 

I used the Wordle web site to make this.  If you want to have some fun with words go check it out.

If you come back to my bad old blog tomorrow I promise there will be new words arranged in a different way.  If you prefer photos . . like I do then you can always see more of St. Paul by visiting my photo blog at StPaulPhotos.com  where it is always totally acceptable to just look at the pictures and ignore the words. 

I have three listings right now that have tenants in them. They did not start out as rental properties but the owners needed to move and selling a home takes time and in some cases costs a lot of money if more is owed on it than it can be sold for.

 Finding renters can be a good thing when selling isn't and option and it is time to move on. There are some problems with it too.  I have on occasion found tenants that cooperate when the owners want to sell but most will not cooperate to the point where the property is kept immaculately clean and ready to show.  They usually are not motivated like the owners are and they have their own lives and schedules.

The sellers always tell me they have the very best tenants and that they will cooperate.  That is seldom the case.  They may cooperate but only to a point.  They are paying rent and there really isn't anything in it for them, they are not stake holders and are not attached to the outcome.  Some home owners will reward tenants by reducing rents or giving them a months rent free for the inconvenience and that can help some but I still have not encountered a tenant that cares as much about selling the property as most owners do.

The bottom line is that sellers may come out ahead by renting a home out to pay the mortgage but they need to accept the fact that it will take a little longer to sell the home because of the tenants and the home may not sell for as much as it would have if it were vacant or inhabited by someone who is willing to keep it extra clean for the buyers who will want to see it.

Sellers who have renters always tell me the same thing.  They say these are wonderful tenants and there won't be any problems.  I have done this many times and there are always problems. The worst was the tenant who would not let anyone see the place.  The tenant who would not leave for the showings and who told buyers all sorts of things about the property and the neighbors was a problem too.  She didn't want to leave and did everything she could to make it all less attractive.  Then there was the really nice couple and the immaculate condo that tuned into a sea of empty fast food bags and cloths strewn all over a week after the place went on the market.

I get it.  My home office usually looks like a bomb went off but if my home were for sale that would have to change and I would be highly motivated to keep it neat and clean because my efforts would result in a faster sale and probably for more money.  I suspect that if I were renting the place I wouldn't feel the same way.

by G. Sax (@gsax)

Invariably, when someone from somewhere else wants to make fun of Minnesotans, or northerners in general, there will be something about ice fishing. To many, it is a ridiculous enterprise for ridiculous people in a godforsaken land. On the frozen, cynical surface, they may have a point, but…

Ice fishing is more than ice fishing. In the movie Grumpy Old Men, it's a way of life and a place to watch Gophers hockey games for Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, and Burgess Meredith. For Timothy Hutton and Uma Thurman in Beautiful Girls, the ice shack is a reflective place to get to know one another. For Dave Attell of Comedy Central's cult classic TV show, "Insomniac," it was a place to get downright boozy at 4:30 a.m. In fact, drinking is a solid part of all my examples.

I'm a city mouse by choice and trade, and I'm so nose-deep in city snobbery that I often scoff at anything suburban. I know it's wrong and I know it's hypocritical. I've had good times in the suburbs, I work in the suburbs, I've eaten at Applebee's.

What I'm getting to is that beyond the suburban doughnut is a wide world of exurban, rural, and lakeside experiences that can refresh the soul and rekindle the flame of even the most hardened urbanite. There are 10,000-plus lakes out beyond the 494/694 ring, and most of them can be fished. And ice fished.

I managed to get out before the season ended. I went up to Cross Lake in Pine City with some guys to "fish," which is better defined as "sit in a 10' x 15' shack, eat junk food, listen to country music, play cribbage, smoke Cuban cigars, page through the latest Playboy and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, and drink Grain Belt Premiums in a can."

If you're a certain type of Minnesotan, whether country, city, or suburbanite, this is a heavenly way to spend a day.

I admit that I'm not the poster boy for ice fishing. Until last weekend, I didn't know what a tip-up or a Vexilar was, and when I asked one local boy what a Vexilar was, he said, "It's a Vexilar." That was apparently definition enough. It's actually a manufacturer of color flashers and LCD depth finders. Google told me so.

According to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Minnesota's ice fishing houses and portables must be off the ice of inland waters no later than midnight on March 1 in the southern two-thirds of the state (including the Twin Cities) and March 15 in the northern third. Those not removing shelters will be prosecuted, and conservation officers may remove the structure and confiscate or destroy it. This is serious business.

There are different rules for waters abutting bordering states, and the DNR website is worth checking out for more info. They even have a Twitter and a YouTube.

Sellers like to get feedback when someone sees their home. They like to know what the buyers thought about it, but sometimes buyers agents don't always give feedback and are under no obligation to do so.

They are representing the buyer not the seller and they don't owe the seller anything. There is no contractual agreement. 

When I am working with buyers there are types of feedback that I will not give the listing agent.  If I am asked what I think about the price of the home I don't respond and the reason why is because I don't believe it is in the best interests of my buyers.

If the home is perfectly priced and I say that in my feedback and the buyers make an offer that is less than full price it is harder for me to negotiate and I have weakened by buyers position.  I could just always say "overpriced" to cover myself but that doesn't really seem fair to the sellers or to their agent if it isn't the truth.  Even though there is no contractual agreement we do owe both buyers and sellers honesty.

There isn't too much I can really give in the way of feedback that is in the buyers best interests so I don't say much.

When I am representing the seller it is a much different story.  I want as much feedback as possible.  Information and reactions from buyers can be used to help sell a home. 

If you are a seller and are frustrated by the lack of feedback from showings this may give you a little insight.  Giving feedback to sellers that we do not represent is optional and there are others like me who believe that less is better.  So don't beat up your agent too badly if he or she can't get feedback from buyers agents.

Last week I realized that I have sat on at least one board of directors for a non profit organization for each of the last twenty years.  They have not been the really cool charities or organizations that people get excited  about and I have held every board position there is but the boards are not prestigious.   It doesn't seem like they will change the world, but they are the local neighborhood based groups in St. Paul that make our communities stronger and maybe make one little part of the world better.  They handle the every day tasks and needs of some or our neighbors and they shape the future for our neighborhoods. They are the backbone of our community and part of a kind of hidden infrastructure that helps make it all work.

Volunteer work has enriched my own life in so many ways. For years I was a volunteer for the Community Reporter Newspaper and I was the chairman of the board of directors for a few years.  I have also sat on the board of directors for our district council which is a grass roots neighborhood organization.  I am currently on the board of directors for the West Seventh Community Center where I have also been a volunteer for the Meals on wheels program for the past 8 years.

Every neighborhood in St. Paul has a district council and they always need volunteers.  Most of the neighborhoods have some kind of a community center too. They are opportunities to get involved in the community and in some cases to have a voice. Strong communities are good for property values and being a volunteer is a great way to share the skills you already have and to learn something new that might even lead to a better job in the future. 

This is a particularly tough year for non profit organizations that get funding from the United Way.  They didn't raise as much money this year becasue of the recession and higher than average unemployment. They need your help but I know that this blog post probably won't raise any money but maybe you will decide to at least learn about your local community center or volunteer.

There is always a need for Meal on Wheels volunteers and that need is nation wide.  Meals on wheels is a wonderful program becasue it helps older Americans stay in their homes longer.  If we are very lucky we will all be old one day and some of us just might need to have that meal delivered.  As a volunteer myself I can assure you that it is just about impossible to deliver the meals and have a bad day.  I can see it in the faces of the people who answer the door when I deliver the food that the service is greatly appreciated.   Meals on wheels is always happy to accept donations to.  Heck we have volunteers who can barely afford the gasoline it takes to deliver the meals.

One thing I have noticed over the years is that the same small group of people seem to get involved in everything.  They do too much while most of us don't do enough.  I like to do something and always wish that I could do more .