It should be no secret now, to anyone who lives on the Eastern Coast of the United States and Canada. For several days now, the media has ran Irene into the ground. I guess the main part to this story is Washington D.C. and New York, where they don’t get a lot of big hurricanes heading their way. Since the media capital of the World is in New York, we see Hurricane Irene filling up our television screens and local news stations 24/7.

Astronauts & Aliens View of Hurricane Irene in the Atlantic Ocean

This hurricane of 2011 could cost Americans around 1.6 billion dollars; once all of the damages and repairs are taken care of and utilities get restored. Gas prices are already on the rise, since a few refineries of oil on the East Coast have shut down. If you live within 1 or 2 hours from the Atlantic Ocean; then chances are, this huge hurricane is going to affect you in one way or another. Not many folks are taking chances and there are already several states of emergencies declared and Irene hasn’t even blasted her first rain pellet on these states yet. It does look like Florida, Georgia, and most of South Carolina will be spared from the eye wall portion of this Category 3 Hurricane Irene. The next state and the most likely place for a first landfall would be North Carolina. I’m expecting the worse damage to occur here and it will result in a lot of power outages and beach erosion, as Hurricane Irene is timing her strike, about the same time as high tide.

After Irene leaves North Carolina, she will be headed over cooler waters and part of her massive size, should still be over the land area of the Eastern USA Coastline. The other states will not face the high speed winds, like N.C. will be doing about 5 or 6 a.m. on Saturday morning. Just as the sun begins to lighten up the Carolina Beaches, the true force of the hurricane should be right over the Tar Heel State and doing her damage.

New York Governor Declares State of Emergency Too Soon?

I don’t think others up in New York or on Long Island have a lot to worry about with Hurricane Irene. The Governor of New York has clearly over reacted and the media has been fueling their self off of his words. No need to declare a state of emergency; when your state has sunny skies and nice summer time temperatures. This hurricane is not that strong and New Yorkers have very little to fear. I have covered these hurricanes for a long time and the track will lead Irene away from the coastline of the United States 98 percent of the time. This Hurricane Irena could be the 2 percent time, in which a hurricane does rock the Big Apple, but as of right now, Hurricane Irene just doesn’t have that much strength to carry her self that far.

This 2011 hurricane is big and this does present a lot of flooding problems. Wind damage is what most people think of, when they hear about a hurricane. The flood damage is often the worse culprit out of the 2; when it comes to these fall storms that are really common in the Southeastern part of the United States.

New York doesn’t really have a lot to worry about. There is already a lot of extra pumps on hand to pump the extra water out of the subway systems in NYC and surround areas. These extra pumps should insure the subway system; which does set below sea level and pumps run daily there, to keep the salty waters out of the NY Subway Tunnels.

What is your thoughts about Hurricane Irene? Do you think this massive Category 2 or Cat 3 Hurricane is going to cause much damage for Americans? Will any state get hit harder than North Carolina? With wind speeds going between 110 MPH and 115 MPH, it does present some concern for those right on the beaches and 2 miles inland. If you live 5 to 10 miles from the beach or your state’s coastline, you should not have a lot of wind damage from a strong gust of wind. Hurricanes do bring those 40 to 50 mph winds that are constant and never let up. These winds will make it tough for power crews, who are out there trying to restore power to their customers, but I would take shelter against the rain mainly.

Do you think the N.Y. Governor over-reacted, by declaring a state of emergency days before the Hurricane arrives in the state and has ordered a lot of senior citizen evacuations, along the beaches and coast lines of New York.. I do think he caused unnecessary panic to his state and this is not a matter of being “safer than sorry”. Public officials and especially governors and those who have a million or more residents to be responsible for. Should only make decisions 12 to 24 hours in advance and not start scaring people 5 days before a hurricane like Irene.

As always, please leave your Hurricane Irene comments and be sure to reply back with your opinion about the author of this hurricane story. Do you think the blog post author is right on? Or do you think their story is missing the big picture here and the pressure on the state officials; like the Governor of New York have been in-line?

The next time you encounter a problem with the plumbing or you have a leaky roof up above. You would just come to the computer, go to the website Hire-a-Pro.com and open up an account. Then state your problem and list out all of the work you want done at home. For instance, the bathroom shower is leaking water. I just want to go ahead and get a whole new shower head and faucet for the bath tub. Please leave me your best estimate on the price, how long it will take to do it, and what is the soonest you can come to fix my leaky shower head. Professionals in this line of work, like plumbers would be sending you in offers, on what it would cost to do a job like this. After you get a few offers in, you will have a good “ball-park” figure on how much it will cost to fix this bathroom problem. Also, if one of the offers is really low; then you found a cheap plumber to do the work. For those households right now, who have a leaky roof, they could do a similar process to find an affordable roofer.

This is the best way to handle the professionals you hire for work around the house. Doing your next hire with this process, will insure you’re getting the job done for a really low price. This is an excellent way to protect your hard-earned money. There are a few professionals out there that will over charge you. Now you can fight back and protect your self, by letting the professionals bid on your work or repair services you need!

You couldn’t find a better place in the country to start and raise a family. The Dallas area is a perfect area for raising children and for new families searching for their first home. I love the flat land area in and around the Dallas area. I live in an area where there are lots of mountains and steep hills. I think a flat landscape would be a good change of scenery for me. I believe the flat land in Texas is one of their main selling points; when they try to attract out-of-state buyers for new homes, land, and Texas real estate.

You can’t deny all of the fun activities and local attractions Dallas, Texas has to offer. I know I love sports and Dallas is full of good sports teams. Most notably the Dallas Cowboys or America’s Team call this part of the World home. I think everyone has heard about the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders before. You also have one of the best online success stories of the 20th century in Mark Cuban; who owns the Dallas Mavericks NBA team in this growing U.S. city. The Stars offer on-ice fun for those who love professional  hockey. You wouldn’t think of an ice rink being in the warm climate of Texas, but the Dallas Stars do participate in the National Hockey League. You know with all of these sports athletes, who now call Dallas home, they are always looking for deals on Dallas Homes For Sale. If you and your family plan to buy a home in a up-scale section of Dallas; you might just become neighbors with one of these professional athletes, who give their all for the sports fans of Dallas. Now is the perfect time to find value; in all the different income levels of housing and real estate properties for sale in Texas.

A big chestnut tree that sits in the middle of a lot of buildings in Amsterdam has been talked about a lot over recent years. Some felt like it was time to remove the tree and open up the space the tree was taking up. Others felt the tree was not safe for visitors, who were going to the office building, in which Anne Frank and her family was hiding in the attic from Nazi German soldiers. On the other side of the debate was the supporters of Anne Frank and they wanted to see the tree stay up, since the big tree brought happiness to Anne; while she was a young teen growing up in a very small space for over 2 years of her life.

Famous Anne Frank Tree

The big chestnut tree has been standing strong for over 150 years now. It was well in the ground and growing high toward the sky, long before the Frank family went into hiding and before Hitler started invading his neighbors in Europe. The tree has remained firm in its original setting, since Otto Frank and his family got betrayed and sent off to prison camps. The tree survived long past Hitler’s reign of terror on the Jews and even continue to grow as the new millenium finally arrived in the year 2000. However, just a short decade later and in the month of August and in the year 2010; the 150+ year old Anne Frank Tree finally met its match. It was Mother Nature who would solve the Anne Frank chestnut tree debate, as she poured soaking rains into the Amsterdam area. The moist ground, which the famous Amsterdam tree had its roots firmly planted, finally gave way to the high winds and all of the stress being caused by the towering tree. The beloved tree that would cheer up the famous young girl, based on her entries into her diary, we all know about now is just a memory, as the clean-up process begins to remove the 150 year-old tree.

In some ways this tree will continue to grow. There have been a number of saplings taken from the tree over the years and a lot of them are growing all over the World. This famous chestnut tree is actually growing more now than it ever did during it’s 150 year-old life on Earth. This historic Amsterdam tree is like a mother for so many offspring trees which in some cases will be around for another 150 years or more. We can all shed a small tear today, knowing the Anne Frank tree will no longer stand tall in front of the Amsterdam office building. At the same time, we can crack a smile knowing the saplings from the Anne Frank tree are still very much alive and will grow long after the August, 2010 death of the original Anne Frank tree.

-IN LOVING MEMORY OF ANNE FRANK -

Born June 12th, 1929 and Died Sometime in Early March in a Nazi Concentration Camp in 1945

I’m sure most people have seen the way an apartment complex will have their mailboxes set up. Each resident will have their own key for unlocking their special box and getting their mail out from the front side of these CBU mailboxes. The mail carriers for the USPS will have just one master key for unlocking the back panel of these huge mailboxes and it allows him/her access to each individual box from the rear. The mailman just has to stand there and insert each person’s mail and some of these community mailboxes will be large enough for 50 people to get their mail from. As someone who use to deliver mail for a living, its a lot easier servicing 50 customers in this fashion; than trying to drive down small streets and high-traffic roads, where you have to pull in and out each time you make a drop off.

Now in my area there are a lot of apartment buildings which are located in the business districts and where you have a lot of real estate zoned for commercial purposes. The majority of residential areas that find their self in the middle of a lot of commercial real estate, are these low-income and government funded apartment buildings or you have the high-income apartment housing for the upper-class folks. So often a mail carrier working a couple of apartment buildings on their route, will also stop by a few commercial mailboxes; which usually get a lot more mail than the average home owner or person residing in an apartment complex. Each mailman, who has a route for the USPS, can only carry so much mail in their LLV or Long Life Vehicle (most common mail vehicle). Another slight luxury for the lucky few who get apartment building on their route; if they do indeed deliver to businesses too. It doesn’t take too many businesses to fill up a load, so these mail carriers get to drop off huge amounts at each commercial box on their stop; while delivering mail to dozens of others, by simply filling up a cluster box at the apartment buildings. If you plan to get a job or start working for the USPS soon, consider yourself lucky if you have an apartment or two on your route.

This breed of carp from Asia is already present in the Mississippi River and strong measures are being taken to keep it out of the other tributaries feeding the Mighty Mississippi. The best defense in place right now is electricity. Under water walls or barriers have been put in place, so they discharge volts of electricity when the carp gets near by. These barriers are not 100% effective, but scientists hope it will cause the Asian carp to change swimming directions in most of the places, where these barriers are present.

Many are calling on higher members in the political party to help. Even going all the way to the President and asking for help from Barrack Obama. These Asian carp do pose a great danger to the fishing industry in the American fresh waters. If these carp are allowed to grow and populate in the American waterways, we could see a sharp decrease in other fish like bass. The small mouth or large mouth bass is huge for fishermen and they know it could all come to an end one day, if the Asian carp is allowed to grow and reproduce in America. If you happen to catch one of these Asian carp in the places you fish, you should kill the fish immediately. Also, report where you caught the fish to local authorities, so they can take steps to help destroy other Asian carp that may be in the area. I believe fishermen will play a big role in the prevention plan to keep these fish out of our fresh waters in the United States. It would be wise if someone would start holding fishing tournaments and reward fishermen for catching these Asian carp. A tournament for Asian carp could help control the population, if the tournament host would destroy each and every Asian carp a fishermen caught in the Asian carp tournament.

More than likely we are already fighting a losing battle to this fish. If we could just find numerous ways to slow down the growth, we could help to delay this fish from taking over in the waters our other native fish live and eat in each day. For anyone that loves to fish in America, you will want to know that the Asian carp is enemy number 1 to all of us that enjoy fishing. If you hope to take your son fishing on a beautiful Sunday afternoon one day, you need to do your part and destroy all of the Asian carp you come in contact with. The fishing life as we know it now, is in danger and more measures need to be taken to keep this Asian carp from the lakes and rivers we like to fish in.

One of the big moving companies NYC could help a family today with a move to one of these beautiful neighborhoods in Queens. It’s idea for small and large families alike, that seek to be near the big city and still far enough to leave some of the noise and bright lights of NYC in their rear view mirrors. Queens is full of good neighborhoods that have a very low crime rate; when comparing to some of the other areas located around NYC. A lot of the Italians and Italian-Americans would still see this as part of the Gotti legacy, in which him and the Gambino family help to create and leave behind for their own families to grow up and work in today. The folks at Citymove.com are available and waiting for any new home buyers to call Queens their home. I would probably rank Queens as my top choice for a new area to move to in the New York metropolitan area.

I plan to do a lot of sample panning to find the places which hold the most gold. If I do get into some heavy pockets of gold in North Carolina, I may have to enter the marketplace for Apartments in North Carolina. I’m not joking, I am being very serious when it comes to finding and tracking down where all the gold is hiding. Gold is selling for over 1K dollars an ounce right now and this is more than double what people were selling gold for 10 years ago. Any lucky spots I find up in North Carolina, I will want to work from daylight to dark, so the employees for North Carolina Apartments better be on the lookout for a dirty gold miner from Georgia.

I don’t believe I am in the minority and most prospectors would change their plans or living arrangements to keep a close eye on their gold discoveries. I do find it strange that most people haven’t put two and two together yet and started their own gold expeditions. If you and one other person could find just 1 ounce of gold a week, that’s a 500 dollar job for the two of you. Maybe some weeks you would struggle and fall short of that mark. You also have the possibility of striking it rich and may be able to work several ounces out of the Earth. It’s the days like that you would want to go get one of those NC Apartments or housing that was available in the local area. The weather is finally warming up. I need to stop talking and start walking to these areas; like the rich gold deposits the Tar Heel state provides, for anyone that is willing to get their hands dirty.

Another disturbing trend outside of the real estate markets, is the fact we keep losing jobs. If the loss of job rates continue to increase, then no one will have the money to pay their bills or buy new land. The real estate market is not going to recover this year and it may even be years away from any long term recoveries. Our financial situations can’t get better with fewer jobs and this trend will have to change first, before America can begin to have any confidence in the guys that work on Wall Street. This is not a good time for a small business to start up and no one should be investing in the cheap stocks that are currently available. Your home and land just aren’t worth today what they were yesterday, but let’s hope tomorrow they will be worth the same as they’re today.

It appears President Obama is clearing the way for two new nuclear power plants to be built in the state of Georgia. No mention of where these power plants will be built in Georgia yet, but it’s one piece of real estate I would not want to be near. This will be the first time in more than 30 years that the U.S. Government has approved a new nuclear facility. Many people against these nuclear power plants say that there is no proper way to dispose of the radioactive material that these plants create.

New power plants fueled with nuclear energy will help the United States to be less dependant of foreign oils. Nuclear energy is a cleaner fuel and will produce less greenhouse emissions that some of the coal plants that are in operation now. These two nuclear power plants in Georgia will cost about 8 billion dollars to construct. At least the government is giving a loan for 8 billion dollars and most of this money will go to Georgia, to build both of these nuclear power plants. The President is calling this “homegrown energy” but at some point in the future someone will be calling this a ”homegrown problem”.

We do need to figure out ways to be less dependant on the Middle Eastern Nations that supply us with so much oil each year. We are in a collision course with a future energy crisis and it doesn’t look like we will avoid it. The oil in the ground can’t be pumped out forever and the Earth will run out of this precious oil in less than 25 years. We are using our oil reserves too fast now and everyone is going to see big changes in 20 years from now. I’m not convince that building nuclear power plants in Georgia is the best way to go, but these new power plants will create new jobs in Georgia. It seems a remote location in Alaska would be the idea place to build nuclear power plants, but Barrack Obama and his administration have their heart set on the state of Georgia. It should be interesting to see exactly where these two new power plants will be built in Georgia and I look forward to seeing the proposed areas.