For some weeks now, the Keller-Williams Realty marquee in the Junction has boasted that the office profit-shared $41,000 or so with its agents last year.

Admittedly, the only thing I know about real estate is what I learned when we bought our house more than a few years ago. But it seems to me that the whole business of real estate is about profit-sharing … the seller certainly shares his or her profits with the agents, via the commission. I remember being fairly grumped out all those years ago (pre-Internet) because I’d done all the research and used the agent for little more than paperwork assistance, yet she still got a multiple of my monthly salary out of the deal.

Not to begrudge the $ earned by the talented agents out there. I just don’t get the bit about the firm profit-sharing with its agents, and more to the point, why customers should care. Is it an attempt to sound warm, fuzzy, employee-friendly, like Costco and its Wal-Mart-beating benefits? (Which sends me on a tangent … the founder of Trader Joe’s has written a book, just spotted at the Westwood Village Barnes & Noble, and the only thing I learned from taking a quick look at it is that TJ’s is now foreign-owned! Yipes! Holy Dubai Ports, Batman!)

Saturday morning, sun’s out, no plans. So many places we COULD go … That is the joy of West Seattle. Parks, forests, beaches. No swimming this weekend; Southwest Pool is closed for a swim meet.

I’m just going to turn off the computer and force myself out the door. Really.

Just a thought, after a trip to the Westwood Village vicinity:

When Tony’s at 35th & Barton sells Christmas trees, the prices are as steep as Mt. Rainier.

When Tony’s sells fruits and vegetables, the prices, well, crater. Right now, a sign along the street touts 50-cent Hass avocadoes, available in grocery stores for a buck and up.

In other money-related news … looked up your house at Zillow yet? The values on our street are totally cattywhompers. Zillow thinks our house is worth exactly the same as the other half-dozen on the street of similar vintage … never mind that none of them have views.

While I was whining about boredom last night, some folks were gathering for a “State of the Neighborhood Summit” hosted by the city. Wouldn’t have known this except for a mention in this blog, the first I’ve found that at least alludes to West Seattle issues, in addition to semi-detailing the life of its WS-based author.

For various reasons, I tend to have more access to, and interest in, information about what our government is up to. Yet this summit was news to me. I have mucked around the Web in the past half-hour trying to find out how I missed it, and all I’ve come across is a brief mention at the end of a PDF newsletter posted online by a member of the City Council.

If I’d have known about it, I’d have blogged it. What better place to address the State o’ West Seattle, than the WS Blog? Next year, I guess.