Sorry if I’ve been a bit punchy – I think there’s a 9 hour time difference between Stockholm and Berkeley.. and those guys call on their schedule, so they woke me up in the middle of the night. This is a picture of my neighbor Albert, and he plays a role in the story … keep reading on.
The phone call came early this morning!
I’d heard the rumors, but was thrilled to find out that I received the 2009 Nobel Prize for Real Estate!
It was awarded for two different discoveries:
The Quantum Theory Of Home Buying and
The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle of Real Estate
Quantum Theory
After a buyer writes an offer on a home, they either get the house… or they don’t get the house – there is no other state
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
The act of writing an offer on a home changes the home’s final sales price… even if you’re uncertain as to what the other offers are.
If there are multiple offers on a home, and you write a low priced offer, your probability of getting the home is very low. You affect the outcome, because someone who really wants the home will raise their bid and the home sells for a higher price!
And how does Albert Ghiorso fit into the quest for my Unified Real Estate Database Field Theory of Data Integration? He’s my inspiration.
Albert, one of our 90-something year spry neighbors, was co-discoverer of more elements than any other person in the galaxy! Albert’s Wikipedia entry lists the following elements:
* Americium ca. 1945 (element 95)
* Curium in 1944 (element 96)
* Berkelium in 1949 (element 97)
* Californium in 1950 (element 98)
* Einsteinium in 1952 (element 99)
* Fermium in 1953 (element 100)
* Mendelevium in 1955 (element 101)
* Nobelium in 1958-59 (element 102)
* Lawrencium in 1961 (element 103)
* Rutherfordium in 1969 (element 104)
* Dubnium in 1970 (element 105)
* Seaborgium in 1974 (element 106)
Cogito Ergo Blogo in Berkelium Californium Americium
Degrees Of Separation
I looked at the San Francisco Chronicle’s list of Bay Area Nobel Prize winners, and realized I was one or two degrees of separation from several…. one neighbor works with someone who won the award in Medicine Award, a client’s father received one… and I went to Bronx Science, Cooper Union, and UMass Amherst at with a real Nobel Prize Recipient… Russell Hulse (is that a one degree of separation?).
Breaking Bad
Being trained as a Chemical Engineer, I just love watching Breaking Bad, the TV show which could be the poster child for “Chemists Gone Wild” And having Walt using the pseudonym of “Heisenbeg”… well that just brings tears of delight to me.
