Jim Pompe - Realtor

01/08/2025

I understand the value of wild animals and birds running free in our world, but I was curious as to what you think about them running wild in your neighborhood?

We have a family of hawks that have taken up residence in the trees of our community and I don’t mind them feasting on pigeons who are a pest anyway, but I’ve heard neighbors complain that they fear for their little dogs every time they take them out for their walk.

I understand that anyone who has been found destroying one of these endangered species can meet with legal fines or whatever, but how are residents supposed to protect their pets when they get dive bombed by a hawk?

Just curious as to what you think is right and/or legal and what’s the best thing pet owners can do for protection? Have a safe day everyone.
You can see our resident hawk in the tree up in the right corner and you can see the remains of his breakfast in the other photo.

01/05/2025

Today I went to the funeral of the son of one of my associates in real estate. His mom Refugio is someone who whenever I saw her in the 14 years that I’ve known her always had a big smile on her face and it was infectious for the rest of us. It was obviously missing today.

At the reception, it was impressive listening to the young people speak of their friend and share that he too always had a smile on his face and always brought a positive mood to whatever setting he may have entered.

It was a wakeup call to me because unlike “Beto,” my friends are always saying, “Quite being such a crab!” and what can I say “It’s true!!” So we are always learning about life and you can learn a lot in a sad environment like a funeral.

This picture shows Marie, who has become Refugio’s very good friend, Gonzalo, who is Refugio’s team and business partner and of course Refugio. I’m honored to be included in this photo with some of her closest friends.

I think that all the people, young and old, experienced a profound understanding that anything can happen to us or our loved ones and that we need to spend each moment like it could be our last.

These are always good moments to spend, especially beginning a New Year. God bless you Adalberto and RIP my good man.

12/30/2024

You are the eternal Word of God who flooded the world with joy at your birth.

12/28/2024

One of the fun reasons for moving to downtown Phoenix.

After years of struggles and hardships, MacAlpine’s Soda Fountain and Diner along 7th St. and Oak in Phoenix hit a big milestone Friday.

12/28/2024

The Word of God existed before the creation of the universe yet was born among us in time.

12/27/2024

Christ is born for us; come, let us adore him.

12/26/2024

A little child is born for us today; little and yet called the mighty God, Alleluia!

11/15/2024

I missed posting a special Veterans’ Day post so I thought I'd post a belated one now. When I was in college, we had a military draft with a lottery by birth date. I had a college deferment but I was also blessed with a very high lottery number so I was safe.

My roommate on the other hand had a very low number and couldn’t quite focus on college so he decided to leave school and enter the Army on his own. We lost track of each other until I was ready to graduate and he re-entered school.

Tom was a new man this time, focused on his studies and dating the woman of his dreams. He also embraced a spiritual life that she turned him onto and he ended up graduating with good grades and marrying this wonderful woman.

The point of this story is that some men benefited by their time in the service and when they came back, ended up with very successful lives and careers. Tom’s side gift to me was the friendship of his younger brother who became one of my best friends, but that’s another story which I will save for later.

God bless our military and its Veterans.

11/14/2024

Last night at our HOA meeting we approved a measure to cut down five trees in our community and that isn’t a cheap contract. We also passed a measure to trim 29 trees before they got to the point where they had to be removed also.

It appears that if you avoid trimming branches off of trees when they need to be trimmed, then you create a situation that can be deadly for the tree. What little you save by not trimming a tree you pay much more to cut it down.

Being an older community, we still have trees that were planted over 50 years ago and I am told that trees don’t last forever so some just die of old age and have to be removed also. We’ve also had termite infested trees so they had to go also, No question about that.

In walking my neighborhood outside my community, I’ve noticed a number of dead trees and the one in the picture is finally being removed but there’s plenty more. This can cost in the $1,000-2,000 range so it isn’t cheap and I understand that, but if it falls on your home, will insurance cover that if they determine it should have been taken down?

The challenges of being a homeowner, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

11/14/2024

As an engineer, I always appreciate more efficient methods of performing a task. Before I became a Realtor, I was an audio engineer and worked with audio and video systems. This was a job where I got paid to play around with what I enjoyed doing.

I worked with a group of men who installed sound systems in nightclubs, bars and restaurants. The best part of the job was participating in the grand opening party where we were treated like guests on the dry run for the brand new staff. Tough job I know.

Most of the time we worked in right-to-work states but sometimes we were working with Union help and they didn’t always like our shortcuts because we could get things done too quickly. Drywallers had these mini stilts that raised them closer to the 8-ft ceilings and we thought that was great.

Wearing those we could pull cable through the soffits at breakneck speed and that really irritated our Union buddies. Today I saw the bug man driving his golf cart through our complex spraying insecticide like a mad man. Maybe the spray was getting to him.

There’s just no way of speeding up the real estate process, you have to take your time and wait for everyone else to get their job done so that you can finalize the process when everything is finished and guarantee that everything is correct.

11/09/2024

At the beginning of the season, ASU was picked to finish last in the Big-12, and now they’re in the upper half of the conference. On a crazier note, Utah, UofA and Okla St, were picked as the top three, and now they hold three of the lowest positions in the league.

The big reason for this is Cam Skattebo who is a running machine and doesn’t go down easy for any tacklers. In fact his yards after the first hit pretty much leads the world right now, but he’s not limited to just running. He’s one of the top receivers too.

Any runner would be ecstatic to run for 153 yards in a game, that could be a season high and any receiver would be excited about catching for 121 yards, anything over one hundred is a great game, But for the same guy to do both is simply out of this world.

They have two conference losses so far so they are pretty much out of the Championship game, but a great finish could have them end up in a decent Bowl Game. I’m sure that wasn’t on their list of goals for the year but who knows?

The coach said Cam works particularly hard to hone these skills and going forward, I’m going to use his work ethic as a model for me in my business. Take it one step further Jimbo! Go Devils! And thanks for producing such an exciting season for us.

11/08/2024

Before my mom moved to a home that was closer to her family in North Phoenix, I was in a position to move in with her and help her organize her stuff and get it ready for sale. Looking back on my life, this was pretty much the highlight of my adult life.

I would take her to Church and to the store and when I walked behind her, I could see that she wasn’t walking in a straight line…not even close.

She’s been gone for over 10 years and now when I casually walk in the same paths, I notice that I wander a bit too. What use to take place automatically now takes concentration and that doesn’t always work.

I also notice that in a bright setting like a department store or something, I can become sensitive to the lights and almost have to stop and adjust to them. This can’t be good.

Up until now, I’ve always had excellent balance which was confirmed by my quick automatic reaction to tripping on something or not adjusting correctly to a change in surface height. So I saw this picture and thought I would incorporate it into my daily routine.

I’m good at putting my trousers on while standing on one foot (sometimes) but by standing on each foot for up to 30 seconds, like a Yoga pose, I can tweak my balance back up. This is my newest routine, do any of you folks have any suggestions?