We underestimated Mom. Maybe I shouldn’t speak for my siblings, but I don’t think any of the four of us expected her to be so resilient in the face of the one-two punch of being widowed and locked down by the coronavirus.

Mom, 92, lost her husband of nearly 72 years just before Christmas. They had moved into an assisted living residence only four months before. On top of grief, she had to contend with adjusting to new surroundings and a less independent and less private lifestyle.

Just three days before Dad died unexpectedly, Mom had told me that she prayed that she would go first. In their old age, they were never apart. He was her caregiver, sorting her medication into the pill box, driving her to medical appointments, and hovering at her elbow to waylay falls. I silently agreed with Mom: Dad would be better able to cope alone.

Now I’m not so sure.

After Dad was gone, Mom teared up when talking about him but didn’t give in to self-pity by huddling in her apartment from morning until night. She went to the community rooms for all three meals a day, live performances, crafts activities, and a daily rosary. Every conversation I had with a sibling included one or the other of us commenting, “Mom’s doing better than I expected.”

Then the coronavirus hit. The first measures Mom’s residence took to protect its elderly residents were closing the dining room and canceling group activities. Meals were delivered to apartments.

My brother Rick, who lives nearby, thought that he would be able to continue to visit Mom, but just as he arrived two weeks ago, the entrance doors were locked.

We held on to one ray of hope when the activities director said that praying the rosary would continue in a common room because only Mom and a couple of others attended, allowing them to sit far apart. Last Monday, the director announced that it was the last day for the rosary. Corporate headquarters dictated that residents should not be with one another, even six feet apart.

So now Mom is in solitary confinement, as are residents of senior communities around the country. We understand — people their age are the most vulnerable to the virus — but worry about the toll isolation will take on Mom.

Once again, however, we’ve been impressed that she’s rolled with the punches. Her biggest complaint is that breakfast is delivered late. She’s cheerful on the telephone, her only means of social contact. The advice about keeping in touch with secluded loved ones via FaceTime or Skype and the like is off base for families with nonagenarians, who are least likely to use the internet. Like four out of five people her age, Mom doesn’t have a cellphone or a computer.

My sister Nancy offered her hunch about why Mom is coping well: “Mom follows rules.” I’ve often thought to myself, “That’s not always good,” when Mom boasted that doctors compliment her for following their orders. Now I’m glad she’s not rebellious.

I used to chide her for worrying about us, and now the roles are reversed. Worried that she feels lonely, I asked a couple of relatives to telephone her. Worried that she feels guilty about missing church, I found a Catholic TV station with a daily mass and rosary. Worried that she feels bored, I remind her of the activity books on her bottom bookshelf. I ask whether she’s been using the coloring books I luckily brought on my last visit. She finally said to me in exasperation, “Marianne, I can’t do everything you want me to do. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay.”

That strong spirit could change if one of us contracts the virus and she can’t see her sick child or grandchild. For the time being, Mom’s fortitude has blunted my worry.

I don’t want to minimize the very real danger of isolation for our oldest citizens. A stiff upper lip isn’t going to cut it for everyone. But even very elderly people can be surprising. I don’t know whether Mom has changed or I didn’t give her enough credit for toughness before.

If my 92-year-old, recently widowed mother can get through this crisis alone, I want to hope that most of her generation can as well.

*****

SOME REASONS FOR GRATITUDE DURING THE PANDEMIC

• Friends checking in and checking up. I even heard from a friend in the UK with whom I typically exchange only Christmas messages.

• Zoom, the video conferencing service that allowed me to video chat with my siblings and their families, and my book group to meet virtually.

• My South Loop neighbors who are putting on a lightshow and singalong from their windows and balconies every evening at 8.

• Geoffrey Baer’s tours of Chicago, available on the WTTW website. They give Chicagoans ideas of places to explore once we’re released from hibernation.

• Sunday evening’s start of Call the Midwife’s new season on PBS, keeping up our spirits with its perfect blend of seriousness and uplift.

*****

ANTI-TRUMP QUOTATIONS: 107TH IN AN ONGOING SERIES

“This is not about your ratings, Mr. President! This is not a reality TV show. For countless Americans this is our reality.”

— Valerie Jarrett, former adviser to former President Barack Obama, about Trump’s boasting about the ratings of his coronavirus briefings

One hundred thousand, say experts, will die.

A number Trump’s briefings do seem to belie.

He wanted to knock down

Extending the lockdown,

And yesterday crowed that his ratings were high.

Although the Illinois Stay At Home order went into effect just a bit over one week ago this is my third update on what the coronavirus pandemic is doing to the Chicago real estate market. Many of us were hunkered down before the order went into effect – either out of common sense or because employees were told to work from home where possible. So I’ve been looking for signs of what is going on for 3 weeks now.

Let’s start with some of the hard facts from the Chicago Association of Realtors, comparing the most recent week available (ending March 21) to the corresponding week one year ago. Keep in mind that normally at this time of year activity would be picking up. Timing could not be worse.

Let’s start with single family homes:

• New listings were down 33% from last year to only 330
• Contracts written were down 22% to 245
• Available inventory was down 10% to 2816 units

As for condos and townhomes:

• New listings were down 34% to 565
• Contracts written were down 33% to 314
• But available inventory was essentially unchanged from last year at 5057 units

So it looks like people are starting to hesitate from taking new actions but – for the time being at least – homes already on the market are staying there. Early next week I’ll be doing my normal monthly update instead of a weekly update and we’ll be able to see the impact of this mess on the entire month of March.

One aspect of the pandemic we have not explored is how many deals are falling apart. I suspect we’ll get a much better sense of that with next week’s monthly update when we look at pending home sales. I’m expecting we’ll see a significant decline in that number which will not be good. Marc Cervantes, one of our favorite attorneys, posted this video with his observations from the past week and mentions how 8 of his 11 scheduled closings got cancelled at the last minute in one week. If this is being repeated throughout the industry it’s not good at all.

This may explain why real estate related stocks are still in the toilet. In the last week there hasn’t been much change in the already depressed prices of the publicly traded firms.

Real Estate Searches Seem To Be Almost Normal

I checked in on the Google Trends data again and was actually surprised to see no apparent impact on people looking for a realtor. It could be that potential home buyers and sellers still want the opinion of a realtor right now – perhaps more than ever. However, there does seem to be some evidence of a drop off in searches for homes for sale in Chicago. The searches in the most recent week appear to be at the low end of the range, though there is a lot of variation in the data.

Mortgage Rates Are All Over The Map

Take a look at the mortgage rate graph below from NerdWallet. It’s totally crazy with wild gyrations from one day to the next. I’ve heard about extensive liquidity problems in the mortgage backed securities market so I assume that’s the effect that we are seeing here. This is certainly not helping the market, though you would think that once rates settle down – and I assume at a lower level – we will see a boost in demand for homes financed at cheap rates. However, as Marc Cervantes mentioned in his video above, jumbo loans are now very difficult, if not impossible, to get which could hit the higher end of the market pretty hard.

Mortgage rates are still fluctuating wildly from day to day

#RealEstate #ChicagoRealEstate #Coronavirus

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.

This week was the first week we weren’t able to go into the studio to record the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast. So, we used a nifty app called CleanFeed to help with sound quality. I think it mostly worked.

We started out discussing the cool things the Detroit Three are doing to help with the Covid-19 relief effort. As someone who has a family member “on the front lines” as a paramedic, I appreciate what they’re doing to get more safety equipment and ventilators out to more entities as quickly as possible.

Then we switched gears to discuss a #cardujour I had a few weeks ago: The Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro. This is a unique vehicle in its segment with an upright stance and a body-on-frame construction. But the truck has experienced a resurgence, and it’s novelty is a big part of the reason why.

Lastly, we spent a significant portion of the show talking to our guest Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions, to talk about the long-range effects Covid-19 will have on the automotive industry. 

While I will continue to post the podcast to my blog each week, you can subscribe to the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast on any podcast subscription service or visit the Buzzsprout link. New episodes are usually posted on Friday, and then the show itself airs on WCPT 820 AM on Sundays from 1 to 2 p.m.

Be sure to let us know if you have questions or if there are any topics you’d like us to cover on future podcasts.

You can follow us on social at:

• Jill: @jillciminillo (instagram/twitter)
• Tom: @car_guy_tom (twitter)
• Damon: @DBell72333786 (twitter)
• Consumer Guide Automotive: @cgautomotive (twitter/facebook)
• Consumer Guide Car Stuff on facebook

During my quarantine thus far, there haven’t been a lot of releases from local artists worth covering. I was expecting an influx of submissions would be keeping me busy throughout my time indoors, but that has not yet happened — until now. Back with a new drop is lyrical mastermind WhoIsAubry with a new single entitled “Amor (The Quest),” and this cut is the perfect example of how multi-faceted of an artist he is.

Produced by Aubry himself on his own iPhone, the instrumental comes in two parts. The first part of the song is a wavy trap beat filled with a ton of emotion. There’s a beat switch in the second half that brings in some eerie guitar melodies that are topped off with some turntable scratches and a chaotic drum break.

Aubry shows off his softer side on the first half of the cut, coming with some introspective lyricism and a sing-rapped delivery. His lines reek with nostalgia and a sense of longing.

Ally Of The Moon also drops in during the first half of the track, lending some ethereal sounding vocals in the background. It’s a beautiful addition to an already emotionally-charged soundscape.

Aubry’s vulnerable lyricism continues after the beat switch, coming with some lines that are poetic and incredibly hard-hitting. He switches over to more of a traditional hip-hop delivery, but his bars cut through every bit as much.

WhoIsAubry is one of Chicago’s most intriguing up-and-comers. He has a certain command over emceeing that not a lot of artists his age have, and it shows here once again. With a little help from a close confidant of his, “Amor (The Quest)” sees WhoIsAubry making the most of his time indoors.

“Amor (The Quest)” is now available on Soundcloud. Stream it here:https://soundcloud.com/aubryonly/amorthe-questfeat-ally-of-the-moon

Follow WhoIsAubry on Instagram @whoisaubry

Follow Ally Of The Moon on Instagram @allyofthemoon

One of the things I have come to love about mohit through covering his music is how versatile he is as an artist. His output cannot be defined by a particular sound or style, and all of the different vibes he has experimented with have displayed his many different talents. His new jam, “Want The Bag?” is a carefree, nocturnal sounding cut that invokes images of late night car rides and laughter with friends.

The instrumentation is stripped back and smooth. There’s a wavy set of synths that fade in and out, and the guitar lines add a sense of depth that is thick and watery. Despite how chill everything is, the bass hits and trap percussion pushing everything forward turns this into something of a banger.

mohit’s lines are scene-setting as they are funny. He uses his voice as an extra instrument on top of the moody production, adding to the nocturnal atmosphere. Despite the heart-felt crooning, the content is lighthearted and tongue-in-cheek.

“Want The Bag?” is a catchy, humorous tune that is perfect for a late a night vibe session. Everything sounds moody on the surface, but one listen through the lyrics make it clear that mohit isn’t taking himself too seriously on this one. From a listening perspective, this is the type of song that will transport you to a specific time and place — a clear sign mohit is only continuing to develop as a songwriter.

“Want The Bag?” is now available on Soundcloud. Stream it here: https://soundcloud.com/mohitsengupta/want-the-bag

Follow mohit on Instagram @mohitsengupta

This was written by one of my friends, retired Chicago Police Lieutenant John Dowd.  John has an MBA and is working as a private investigator lately.  He is also the Dean of his homeschooled classes while schools await reopening. He has touched on something that certainly should have us all thinking next time we hear the phrase “LOW SKILLED WORKER”.

” This pandemic has shown us the real value of our fellow Americans. What was commonly referred to as low skill jobs are some of the most essential jobs in the country. The cleaning person at the local hospital, the truck driver delivering gasoline to the gas station, the restaurant worker, the toilet paper manufacturer, assembly line workers making safety equipment, the national guard, nurses, and all the rest on the list far too long to write. Collectively we need to remember all these workers on an ongoing basis rather than falling back into our yesterday where some out of touch celebrity who really doesn’t give a crap about any one of  the people listed, is seen as an expert because of their notoriety.” John Dowd——- He goes on to quote Charles M. Russell, Montana, American Artist and champion of Native American Rights 1926.  “Guard, protect and cherish your land, for there is no afterlife for a place that started out has heaven.”

John’s brilliant incite has awoken in us just what the hell essential means and who is delivering and stepping up while most of us remain virtually helpless. Imagine where we would be without those so-called low skilled people. There would be no fights over toilet paper, hand sanitizer, eggs, milk, and all the other essential goods we all need to sustain life because they would not be on the shelves, to begin with. There would be nobody to clean and care for the sick when need be. All those people who at one time were labeled low skilled have finally been exposed for what they are “OUR HEROS.” During this pandemic ask yourself could we have ever survived without them? Look around and see who is there for us, not only for basic needs, but for safety, sustenance, and all those other essentials we surely have taken for granted in all those yesterdays that John mentioned.

I’m really wondering when this pandemic subsides if historians will be able to say about us what today’s historians say about, what some folks call “THE GREATEST GENERATION,” the time of World War II. Eighty years ago when America faced the crisis of a world war, the greatest generation stepped up together to defeat enemies that were bent on taking away our freedoms. Back in 1941, there was one man in the world who knew what we were all about, it wasn’t a guess.

His name was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Marshall Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy and  Commander in Chief of the combined fleet. Admiral Yamamoto was the architect of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. He also had studied at Harvard for two years and knew the American people well and had great respect for American values and an admirer of our freedoms. The worst kind of enemy a Country could have.

The Japanese Government’s plans were to follow up Pearl Harbor quickly with land troops and invade our country swiftly when they assumed we would be at our weakest. Yamamoto fought against the idea of the invasion and informed the Japanese leaders that to do so would devastate our armies and in time America would defeat us.

His words to them were, “OUR ARMIES WOULD BE FACED WITH A RIFLE BEHIND EVERY BLADE OF GRASS FOR THOUSANDS OF MILES.” Yamamoto knew something of our history, he knew of that fighting spirit, that same spirit that routed the superiorly equipped British invaders with their, RED COATS.  He knew about the common folks who tamed the West and were always willing to answer any call that threatened American freedom. He also knew what we all think about today and can only guess of our leadership, that most have in their minds and speeches will have the same in their GUTS.

Do we have the right leaders?  Do we still have the RIGHT STUFF Yamamoto knew we possessed? We are facing a crisis, it’s early but it is real, it’s killing and making demands this generation never had to face. “IT’S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT NOT EVERY CRISIS CAN BE MANAGED.  AS MUCH AS WE WANT TO KEEP OURSELVES SAFE, WE CAN’T PROTECT OURSELVES FROM EVERYTHING.  IF WE WANT TO EMBRACE LIFE WE ALSO HAVE TO EMBRACE CRISIS.” Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

I certainly will not be around when those historians judge us, many years from now, but it’s my fervent hope we will be judged by our compassion, courage, and understanding. It’s time to take a stand, put bickering aside, squabbling, denial and blame are for losers.  We have to ask ourselves do we really have the right stuff in our guts. We are going to find out very soon.

“