All posts by Nathan Ruffing

All, Ventures Quarterly

Ventures Update November 2016

695 Riverview Drive

We are fully-occupied, 9 out of 9, and running smoothly.

Panzera Realty has been our property manager for one year as of the 1st of November. Comparing the year ending 1 November 2016 to the year ending 1 November 2015, we have a 20% increase in rent collected and a 22% decrease in overall expenses. We are making money and saving for a future re-model.

Moving to Ohio

I have decided to return to Ohio. I plan to start a business there, but haven’t decided what yet.

Kineomen

I arrived on 14 September in North Carolina as scheduled. We purchased a foreclosure in Graham, North Carolina for $65,000.

707 Brookgreen Terrace
Graham, NC 27253

We closed on the house on 6 October. The house will be used to for employees of Simple Kneads bread until summer, then we will rent it as an investment property. We expect to spend about $11,000 in repairs and improvements, plus about 6 weeks of sweat equity in order to make it marketable. Once prepared, it will be worth about $95,000 to sell or about $800 per month to rent. The rental market in Graham is high compared to the purchase prices.

"The Terrace"
“The Terrace”

Simple-Kneads Gluten-Free Bread

Selling bread, pushing every sales channel to expand the market share.

Vino de Coco

The wine is FDA approved and they have partnered with a liquor company to help distribute the product in the US. I still plan on going there in person as soon as possible.

The Stock Market

I’m still out of the stock market.

All, Ventures Quarterly

Ventures Update August 2016

695 Riverview Drive

We had to pay a lot in retroactive taxes because the county finally decided that we have to pay property tax based on the “new” value of the building, the amount that we paid when we bought in July 2013, instead of the amount that the previous owner was paying.

Other than that, the quarter went smoothly. Three tenants moved out, but the units leased quickly. We are 8/9 occupied currently with the ninth expected to lease quickly.

The insurance company mandated a routine inspection and we passed, probably largely thanks to all the repairs and maintenance that we’ve done.

Simple-Kneads Gluten-Free Bread

It’s going well.

Kineomen

I will arrive on 14 September in Raleigh, NC to work with them full-time.

The Stock Market

It keeps creeping up. I’m still out.

Vino de Coco

Nothing significant to report. I still plan on going there in December to see in person.

All, Brazil, Gallery, Travel

Glauco Brasil

Glauco makes leather maps and designs. My mom bought a large map, so I picked it up at their house in Cabo Frio and had lunch with him and his wife. He also built his own house near the beach in Cabo Frio. You should buy a map from him just to hang out in Cabo Frio…

Where you can find him: the “Hippie Fair” every Sunday in Rio de Janeiro by the mêtro station General Osorio.

Meet Glauco in my video series, Rio 2017: Made by Hand

Click here for the Rio 2017: Made by Hand video series.
All, Brazil, Travel

One Week of Olympics

Thursday, 4th

Walked out of a piano show in Ipanema to see the torch go by on its final day.

Friday, 5th

Watched opening ceremony at Holland Heineken House. Olympics under way in good fashion. Brazilians breathe sigh of relief.

Saturday, 6th

Men’s Field Hockey with a group of five Irish girls who just arrived from a five-month tour of South America. Field hockey can remain a women’s sport in America as far as I’m concerned.

Our field hockey crew!

Sunday, 7th

Table tennis. Watched Brazilian hopeful, Hugo Calderano, win his match. Obviously the home favorite. Had given two extra tickets Brazilian couple in line, they got to see also before attending their boxing ticket. Watched Japan player beat Segun Toriola of Nigeria. Segun was clearly having more fun in his 4-2 loss than the other players. Crowd favorite. Turns out he’s the first African to compete in seven Olympic games. He debuted in Barcelona. He has never medalled. Brazilians take selfies with him after the game.

Basketball. Watched Pau Gasol (weak) have his game-tying shot swatted at the buzzer for a Croatia upset. Priceless.

Swimming. ~3 WRs, Brit dominated breaststroke, Katie Ledecky dominated 400 free, Michael Phelps wins gold with 4×100 relay. He’s medalled before.

Monday, 8th

Skipped super-early water polo tickets.

Watched two sessions of beach volleyball in awesome venue on Copacabana beach, including a Brazil match and two of USA. Final match was USA women beat China.

Tuesday, 9th

Learned that rugby sevens is a cool sport. Man sport. For men built like running fire hydrants. Japan won it’s first rugby match ever upsetting New Zealand. USA lost a heart-breaker. Took a selfie with Nate Ebner’s (NE Patriot from Dublin, OH) mom. Unfortunately Matthew McConaughey was there, but his Brazilian wife looks OK.

Selfie with Nate Ebner’s mom.

Rugby Sevens

Like a full-field wrestling match cross fumble pileup cross last-chance kickoff laterals. Literally 20 minutes for an entire game. How can that be? Because they’re wrestling and running at the same time and they play 2 or 3 games per day in tournaments.

Injury = power play. There was a guy laying on his back holding his face and kicking the ground with his foot. Once play stopped, they brought the meds out, but his own players weren’t even paying attention. It looked like they were gonna rope off the area and play around him.

Wednesday, 10th

My friend departed for the states the night before. Took the day off.

Most we paid for tickets:

Beach volleyball $60

Swimming $40. Yes, $40

Others less, as low as $13

All, English Lessons

English Lesson 2 Answer

3 Comments

Click here for the lesson.

  • If I were a boy, I would turn off my phone.

Beyoncé is not a boy, but if she were, she would turn off her phone so that she could pay attention to her girlfriend. It goes under, “If I were you, I would join the tennis club.” I´m not you, but if I were…

  • If you thought I would wait for you, you thought wrong.

It is the “zero conditional.” It goes under, “If I have enough time, then I play tennis as much as I can,” because it is true in the present:

You thought I would wait for you…

It is currently true. He thought Beyoncé would wait for him.

…you thought wrong.

is also currently true. He thought wrong. The verbs are past tense, but the statements are true in the present. Beyoncé also could have said: “Because you thought I would wait for you, you thought wrong.”

  • If I had a million dollars, I would buy you a house.

Is the second conditional. It goes under, “If I had enough time, then I would play tennis every day.”

All, Ecuador, Travel

Ecuador, Land of Beautiful Views

3 Comments

As far as I can tell, everywhere in Ecuador is picturesque. If you want more without my face blocking your view, I recommend Google image “Ecuador countryside,” or “Ecuador mountains,” or something.

Along the highway while waiting for the road to open. They were cleaning up a rock slide.
The Basilica in Quito
This picture does not do justice. This statue is badass. Please Google image “simon bolivar statue quito,” for better pictures. Conquistador!
Close to Cumbre Rucu, overlooking Quito on the trail from the Teleférico. Coordinates: 0.1626300°S, 78.5636260°W
Quito in the background
All, English Lessons

English Lesson 2

1 Comment

Conditionals, Medium Difficulty

Beyonce – If I Were a Boy

Place the following lyrics from the song on the conditionals classification sheet (click here for the workbook):

  • If I were a boy, I would turn off my phone.
  • If you thought I would wait for you, you thought wrong.

Barenaked Ladies – If I Had a Million Dollars

Place the following lyrics from the song on the conditionals sheet:

  • If I had a million dollars, I would buy you a house.

Click here for the answer.

All, English Lessons

English Lesson 1 Answer

1 Comment

Click here for the lesson.

Easy Answer

“The United States of America”

“The” is an article. In this case it means that there is only one country called “United States of America.”

“United” is an adjective describing “States” meaning that the states are together.

“States” is a noun. A state could be a thing, or a place, or an idea. It is only capitalized when used as part of the name of a specific place.

“Of” is a proposition. The prepositional phrase “of America” means the states are in America.

“America” is a noun. It is a place. It is always capitalized because it is the name of a specific place. “America” includes both continents, North and South America, but people from the USA are “Americans.” America!

Medium Answer

“I’ve been to Hollywood”
and
“I’ve been to Redwood”
are both present perfect. See this lesson.
Step #1: identify the verb.
“I’ve” = “I have,” therefore
In “I have been to…”
“have been” is the verb.
Step #2: match it to present perfect in your workbook, write the sentence, and underline “have been.”
Step 3: continue to enjoy the music!

“I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold.”
Step #1: identify the verb.
“Crossed” is the verb. The sentence is in the simple past verb tense.
Step #2: write the sentence and underline the verb.
Step #3: continue to learn by example!

More

Translate the song with Google Translate. Do it! Then listen to the song a few times until you can feel the meaning. Learn 30 words all at one time! Don’t worry too much about the exact meaning.  Music uses poetic license!