Dean Barlow » News

Hurricanes Here, Earthquakes There

Dean — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:26:06 +0000

The entire East Coast of America is on alert for Hurricane Earl and two other names storms in the Atlantic Ocean.The hurricane brushed North Carolina’s coastline and is headed for New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

And half the world away, the people of New Zealand were awakened by a 7.4 magnitude earthquake at 4:00 this morning. With the power outages and amount of damage to buildings, I have not yet heard if anyone was killed in the earthquake, but I did see pictures on CNN this morning of the buildings that have collapsed and the rubble in the streets.

Mother Nature is being quite the bully today.

Watch Out for Earl

Dean — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:22:12 +0000

Hurricane Earl continues to head for the shoreline of North Carolina and southeastern Virginia. This is a category 3 hurricane and the Governor of North Carolina has order all non residents to leave the Outer Banks islands and beaches of Nags Head. Because of the serious danger of rip tides and up to 30 ft high waves, all beaches along the North Carolina coast have been closed.

This is serious business, especially right now, when so many families were going to the beaches for the Labor Day holiday weekend. I hope everyone heeds the warnings and that we have no loss of life from Hurricane Earl.

Hurricane Watch

Dean — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:17:13 +0000

Apparently there is a very large hurricane heading across the Atlantic Ocean that is causing concern for people like us who live along the East Coast. The storm has sustained winds measuring over 150 miles per hour – which is extremely high winds. In my experience, any wind over 60 mph is a serous threat, and wind over 110 mph is very dangerous.

I have been in hurricanes that had winds over 130 mph and have seen the damage and danger first hand. I certainly hope that this hurricane loses some of the force if it does come ashore along the East Coast as projected.

In Plain Sight

Dean — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 03:54:38 +0000

I saw a story on the TV last week that was addressing the issue of how important it is to have a mailbox that has your information on it that is easy to read, especially at night. It seems that there are a good amount of mailboxes that are preventing the police, ambulance and fire fighters from getting to where they need to be in an emergency situation. This could be a life or death situation that could be prevented if more people made sure that their mail boxes were set up with easily read information.

I know that in the city that I grew up in the city had the street addresses painted on the curbs to help with this type of issue, but I imagine that with all of the budget cut backs most places can’t afford to take on the cost of something like that. So it is up to the individual resident to make sure that they properly display the numbers, and for their own good.

The oil spill

Dean — Mon, 17 May 2010 01:14:21 +0000

I really had not had the opportunity to learn a lot about the the offshore oil platform’s explosion. All I really knew was the it had exploded and some people died and that there are millions of gallons of oil being dumped into the Gulf of Mexico. And that all attempts to stop the gushing oil have failed so far. Well, tonight I had the chance to watch one of my favorite television news shows – 60 minutes. And I learned a lot about the who, what, where, why and how of the whole thing and it makes me furious that the employees of BP were so interested in speed that they endangered the safety of their employees, and the environment.

I don’t normally buy BP gasoline anyway, because the BP prices are usually more expensive in my town, but if I WAS a regular customer, I’m not sure how that would affect my loyalty to the brand. All I know is that there was a lot of greed and stupidity involved here, and I hope that someone takes responsibility and makes restitution and cleans up the mess. Finger pointing is just a waste of time.

Too Funny!

Dean — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:43:01 +0000

This email was sent to me by a good friend last night. I thought it was too hilarous to keep to myself.

This man, 73, is wearing a protective flap over his ear while Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi addressed the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

I wish I could shake this man’s hand.. I just want to know where he got it…..?

Real Estate Tax Benefit Extended

Dean — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 14:29:56 +0000

Last night while watching television before retiring for the night a commercial came on informing us that the real estate tax benefit has been extended, once again. That is good news for a lot of people that are looking and are now in the position to purchase a home. There are great deals on houses right now and sales are picking up more and more. I have a close friend who is a real estate agent who has been struggling due to the economy, like so many of us are. But she tells me that sales are picking up and that there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, which is awesome news, all the way around.

I’m told that qualified home buyers are being urged to act as soon as possible and to have a written binding contract by this April 30th and to be able to close by June 30th of this year of 2010. I found this video and thought I’d post it here for grins and giggles. And for more information I urge you to visit http://bit.ly/5D6mKg for all of the pertinent information concerning this extension. There are strict guidelines involved and this site gives a pretty good over view of all that you need to know.

2009 Taxes – Real Estate Stimulus Info

Dean — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:20:03 +0000

Right now most people are busy gathering up all of their paper work that it takes to get our yearly income taxes prepared and sent off. I’m so thankful that my sister has taken care of my taxes for the last couple of years. The last time that I paid a company to do my taxes it cost me over $200, which threw me for a loop and really upset me. I know that there is a lot involved in preparing tax forms but good grief I don’t have $200 to throw around these days.

I have gotten pretty good at keeping good records and saving all kinds of paperwork and receipts in order to get the most bang for my buck come tax time. It’s a pain in the rear but a necessity. Each year they have so many changes to the whole tax scam, I can’t keep up with them all though I do try. I understand that the Real Estate Stimulus package for first time home buyers has been utilized by over 2 million people and it has been extended so that more people can utilize it. That is over $22 billion has already been added to the general economy resulting from the bill, that is a nice chunk of change!

I found the video on YouTube that addresses the extension and I thought that I would share it here.

To watch the video click here Real Estate Stimulus

The Saints Kick Some Super Bowl Butt

Dean — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:54:54 +0000

Last night’s Super Bowl game was a great game. I think that I actually enjoyed the game more than the commercials this year, that is a first. I did enjoy watching The Who perform some of their hits at half time, their music and the light show was fabulous, where as their singing voices left a lot to be desired. But then again we are all getting older.

I’m glad that the Saints won.

Miracles and disasters

Dean — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:31:23 +0000

I’ve been watching the very sad and disturbing news stories about the earthquake in Haiti. It boggles my mind to see how much destruction was caused. Yet I hear nothing about any damage to the Dominican Republic, which is part of the same island! How can an earthquake that huge not had any effect to that part of the island? The stories about medical personnel leaving their clinics in the middle of the night out of security concerns, leaving so many injured victims to fend for them themselves overnight was really disturbing! And the stories about so many survivors being pulled out of the rubble so many days after the quake are simply miraculous!

I pray for the healing of all of the victims and their friends and families. So very sad.