Pack Ratism Can Be Cured!

08-15-11

Bob "RealMan" Timm

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Pack Ratism Can Be Cured!

Wikipedia Pack Rat (click on pic to link)

My name is Bob and I am a pack rat. I hoard tools, vintage electronics, and things that I will sell on eBay someday.

I owned, no less then, 12 tool boxes. I had to have a fully loaded tool box in every car, in my house, in my office, in each storage building, and of course at least six fully loaded tool boxes in the garage. The tool box in the house was one of the big $1500.00 chests that stands about 5' tall and is on wheels that cost more then my Kia. It's two twin brothers in the garge are flanked by 4 to six smaller boxes that I can actually lift... on a good day. Those 4 to six boxes sit on shelves surrounded by power tools.

4 jig saws, 3 vibrating sanders, 2 belt sanders, and 2 little random orbital sanders. A router, 4 power drills, a welder, a table saw, and 2 radial arm saws. OK, you get the idea. Above the shelving was pegboard with hundreds of hand tools. Just on the wall (not counting the tool boxes) I counted 40 screw drivers.

God knows what I was going to do with all those tools or why I felt I needed them (and only God knows). In the back of my mind for several years has been the thought... "what if I die, will Carol be able to convert them to cash effectively?" Seriously!

Everything I just said about tools I could say again about computers. Can you believe that at one time I owed close to 3 thousand computers? It's been a while sense I've been to my warehouse but I believe I'm down to about 500 now.

I was proud of my collections.

Last week I finished the loss inventory that was demanded by our flood insurance provider. Even I was agast. I also have to admit that I felt a sense of relief. Not that the inventory was over but that maybe I was seeing the light. Maybe by pack ratism has come to an end, maybe pack ratism can be cured!

I'm still flirting with danger, I love to thrift and rummage sale. I love the thrill of finding a bargin. I am proud to tell you today that I've passed up many bargins in the past few weeks. I am actually asking myself "am I really going to use this thing" and I've been passing up those fantastic deals if I don't see me using "it" in the very near future.

While pondering what I'm going to do with my garage when it is cleaned and sanitized from the flood that nearly covered the entire roof of the garage my wife came up with a novel idea.. "Why don't you park a car it?"

Bob Timm Minot ND

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I Grew Up In A Ghost Town

08-15-11

Home Staging and Redesign Minneapolis/ St. Paul, MN - Shar Sitter

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Office: (952) 567-1124

I Grew Up In A Ghost Town

Do you ever see pictures of those deserted towns or drive through one on your way somewhere important and think to yourself:

"I wonder who lived here?"

Edge of Town

"I wonder what it was like.....did they have dreams for themselves?"

Abandoned Car

Well I do know who lived there...... I did. Here is my home.

My House

Kind of weird to say those words, "I Grew Up In a Ghost Town" but I did.

Oh of course when I lived there it wasn't a ghost town, it had a bar (my best friend Nancy's Dad owned the bar):

Berwick Bar

It had a post office:

Post Office

It had a town hall where I danced standing on my Dad's feet and holding onto his belt loops:

Town Hall

It had a two room school house (no longer standing) that closed after I finished second grade so there was no longer a school in town.

It had a grocery store run by Elmer and Francis and they lived above the store.

We lived right next to them on Main Street.

Do you want to know what it was like?

It was normal.

Well....I didn't know any different so I thought it was normal.

I thought going to the outhouse during recess was normal.

Berwick Out House

I thought going to the pump in the center of town to pump water for cooking and drinking was normal.

Didn't everyone do that? I did.....many times a day.

Town Pump

I thought playing on the railroad tracks and in the dirt were normal.

So, "Who lived here?" I did..... "What was it like?".......it was normal, it was all I knew.

Berwick Home

The next time you drive through or see pictures of a Ghost Town think of me. Some of the ghosts are still alive.

Originally posted at "Rooms With Style Blog: I Grew Up In A Ghost Town".

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Check out Trilogy in Gilbert Arizona!! Gated Golf community in Gilbert Az, Retirement communities in Gilbert Az, Trilogy in Gilbert Az

08-08-11

Diana Purcell Mesa Arizona Real Estate Agent

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Mobile: (480) 233-3351

Gated Golf community in Gilbert Az, Retirement communities in Gilbert Az, Trilogy in Gilbert Az

Trilogy at Power Ranch in Gilbert, Gorgeous Gated Adult Golf Community. Trilogy Adult Gated Golf Community in Gilbert Arizona. Senior living in Arizona at its best!! Gated Golf community in Gilbert Az, Retirement communities in Gilbert Az, Trilogy in Gilbert Az

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Trilogy at Power Ranch, Gilbert Arizona is the ideal place to grow, attain wellness, find yourself, and relax. Features include the San Tan Club, Center for Well Being, Center for Higher Learning, 2 gorgeous pools and a championship golf course. It is located across the street from the Power Ranch Master Planned Community.

Surrounded by breathtaking vistas of the San Tan Range and Superstition Mountains, Trilogy Golf Club offers solid golf course design, consistently outstanding conditions including some of Gilbert's truest greens, and guest service. The golf course and clubhouse, feature fine fare at the Slate Bistro and Bar.

This gated golf community in Gilbert Arizona is a must see, you will be pleased with the immaculate landscape, large lots, beautiful winding paths and green areas.

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Flooding Concerns in Fargo and Moorhead,

08-03-11

Dan and Lida Deutsch

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Office: (701) 306-6632

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For nearly 20 years the upper midwest and Fargo and Moorhead have been experiencing a wet cycle with more rain and snow year around. Additionally farmers, out of necessity, have worked to improve the drainage from their fields in order to get their crops in and out of the fields. The result has been far more water getting into the red river drainage basin and subsequent flooding.
The concern for new residents of Fargo Moorhead is finding a home that is not flood prone. Fortunately there are few homes left which are likely to flood on a regular basis. This has been made possible by a combination or diking and removing homes.
But unfortunately there is still a chance that any home within the Red River Valley could be affected by either river flooding or overland flows. After all, this area was known to be the site of a great body of water called Lake Agassiz, has been under as much as 50 feet of water during the post ice age period over 10,000 years ago.

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FEMA Aid in Flooded ND Falls Short

08-02-11

Jason Frey

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Office: (406) 586-9418

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This Flooded House - Rebuilding Help

Aug 1 2011 7:09PM
KXMCTV Minot

Thousands of people across north-central North Dakota are facing a bleak financial future because of the Mouse River Flood of 2011.

Jim Olson has information about how other disaster have been dealt with - and how others in this flood are being treated in today's edition of "This Flooded House".

Many victims of the 2011 Mouse River Flood are having to recover largely on their own

For people who suffered losses in excess of the $30,200 maximum payout from FEMA, the finances are daunting

(Florence Anderson, Minot Resident) "$30,000 won't do it." (What kind of damage did you have?) "Way over the max. I came from Hawaii, sold my house there and put everything I had in here and I don't know how I'm going to do it." Many people are facing taking on another loan on their home - on top of their existing mortgage

But what's happened elsewhere where major disasters have struck? We told you Friday about the situation following Hurricane Katrina

Congress approved nearly 17 billion dollars in block grants to Gulf Coast states through the Department of Housing and Urban Development

In the case of Louisiana, the money was distributed through a program called "The Road Home" that carried a maximum per-household grant of $150,000

To date, 128,645 households have been approved for funding totaling 8.82 billion dollars, an average of $68,500

In asking this question, we've been told that budget cuts make such a response unlikely in Minot's case

Which is why we've checked the HUD budget from 2006 - when Katrina money was passed - compared with 2011

That budget was 28 billion in 2006 and climbed to 43 billion in 2010. A jump of over 50% in four years. President Obama suggested a cut to 41.6 billion for this year, but no federal budget has been passed, so it's unclear how much will be spent this year

But, let's look at another disaster - the devastating Tornado in Joplin, Missouri in May of this year

Joplin is a city of about 50,000 people in southwest Missouri

Tragically, 138 people were killed by the twister, something that can't be measured in dollars and cents

For our purposes, we will look only at the property damage in the storm

State Farm Insurance estimated the tornado damaged or destroyed two thousand buildings

The difference between a tornado and a flood is that tornadoes are covered by standard homeowners insurance, whereas floods are not

And the latest estimate from insurance industry officials is that insurance payouts in Joplin will hit two billion dollars

In Minot, only about 10% of the 4,100 homes damaged or destroyed had flood insurance, since it was not recommended after the flood control measures of the 1990s were finished

That means the people of Minot will have to come up with - through loans or other means - the hundreds of million of dollars needed to rebuild their property, beyond the $30,200 FEMA grant limit

And one final note, to our north in Manitoba, residents with damage from this year's flood qualify for a Canadian government grant of up to $240,000 per household for rebuilding

By the way, the woman in Jim's story - Florence Anderson - could really use some help in gutting and cleaning up her home.

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Pack Ratism Can Be Cured!

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Flooding Concerns in Fargo and Moorhead,

FEMA Aid in Flooded ND Falls Short

This Flooded House - Rebuilding Help

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