Category Archives: Humor

Funniest HOA Video Yet!

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Homeowners Associations can, indeed, wreck your life. So there isn’t much humor in the anti-HOA movement. Still, it’s great to see a homeowners rights advocate in Texas making such a good video and sharing it with the rest of the world.

Turn up the volume, click on the video, sit back and enjoy!

http://www.classclownpictures.com/

Permanent link to this post (56 words, estimated 13 secs reading time)

Container Home VS HOA Living

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

Oh, to be HOA free! People are finding all sorts of creative ways to put a roof over their heads. Sometimes that means a sacrifice of space for the savings of money. Which means less need for high-stress and high-income employment. Or it’s an opportunity to pay off school loan debt. Or spend less of your retirement savings on empty space that eats utilities, creates taxes, insurance, maintenance and needs constant cleaning. And yet for others it’s a way to stay out of an HOA or condo association.

It’s a housing movement that is catching on and growing by leaps and bounds. Could it be because we are learning that life is about living not about servicing debt and empty spaces? Or it might just be the brutal experience of living in a nightmare condo association or HOA that has shocked us into seeking a place that can be moved if our surroundings start to feel like we are trapped.

Whatever the reason the creativity seems endless in our quest for uncontrolled shelter. This one even offers a roof top deck!

(link to Tiny House Living)

http://www.tinyhouseliving.com/casa-cubica-a-tiny-container-home-2/

Permanent link to this post (199 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

Homeowners Associations Could Learn From Baboons!

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

30 years of studying how baboons were able to change their culture could be the clue to what will change the culture of homeowners associations. Wouldn’t the results be interesting if Dr. Robert Sapolsky spent three decades studying behaviors in HOAs?

Do we have to wait until the selfish, narcissistic, abusive, bullying, self-serving, and power-hungry board members die off? Can we legislate these people to respectable conduct or do we have to sit back and watch them self-destruct? Keeping in mind, they only self-destruct when they run out of our money.

We’ve learned a lot from animals. Mostly, that they are more than companions. They guide those without sight. They alert those who cannot hear. They comfort those who have been severely traumatized. They assist soldiers and law enforcement in doing their jobs. And now, we learn they know more about co-existing together than we do.

As I see it, Sir Michael Marmot is correct when he says, “The conditions in which people live and work are absolutely vital for their health.” It is no wonder there are so many unhealthy and depressed people living in HOAs.

(click here for video on baboon study)

This is a preview of Homeowners Associations Could Learn From Baboons!. Read the full post (206 words, estimated 49 secs reading time)

I Nearly Died Laughing!!!

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Oh, my sides still hurt from the hilarity. Linked below you’ll see a very short and amazingly insightful video from an HOA critic who is, as yet, unknown. If I can learn his identity I intend to send that person an autographed copy of my book to show my appreciation.

This fellow obviously lives in an HOA, obviously has been hassled over his holiday decorations, and obviously keeps up with current news events.

And if one of you can figure out who this fellow is, I’ll also send you a book autographed to whoever you want, a neighbor, a Congressman, an HOA board member.

This is a preview of I Nearly Died Laughing!!!. Read the full post (166 words, estimated 40 secs reading time)

Paper? Plastic? Or Old-Fashioned Roasting Pan?

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Yes, Thanksgiving is coming.

Since becoming the sole caregiver of a loved one a few years ago, I’ve had to spend a little time in the kitchen trying to learn to cook. I passionately hate cooking. Recipes always seem suspiciously like the semester of chemistry I flunked in high school.

But in the past few years I’ve been amazed at the number of folks who know nothing about paper bag-baked turkeys.

My mother, God rest her soul, didn’t know any other way of cooking a turkey. You basically prepare the Thanksgiving bird in your favorite way. Open a brown paper bag, grab a stick of butter with your hand and smear it all over the inside of the bag. Then slide the turkey in and tightly seal the bag.

No, the bag won’t catch fire. And after the appropriate time in the oven you’ll taste an incredibly moist turkey.

Speaking of shopping bags, communities around the country are beginning to pass laws which essentially fine shoppers who ask for paper or plastic. But I promise you this: You cannot cook a turkey in a canvas reusable bag. Buttered or not.

Permanent link to this post (193 words, estimated 46 secs reading time)

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