Marty Woomer

With USC scheduled to beat-down Washington tonight, I started to think how bad of a year its been for them, and come to think of it, every major sports team within the state.

College Football: 1 win between 2 teams!

Washington State: the lone bright spot here at 1-7 overall and 0-5 in the PAC-10.

Washington: 0-7 overall, lame-duck coach, and the probability of not winning a single game this year. The Ty experiment is over.

Makes me think if the Apple Cup is going to be a 0-0 tie.

NFL:

Seahawks: 2-5 in the worst division in football. They also have a lame-duck coach, and a rash of injuries that they seem to think give them a good reason to lose.

MLB:

Mariners: finished the season 61-101, a season in which they were predicted to win the AL West easily. Manager, fired. GM, fired. Richie Sexson & Jose Vidro, fired. Eric Bedard, flop.

NBA:

Let is not forgot that the Supersonics moved away.

I can not think of a worse year in the history of sports for a region. Anybody else have any idea's?

Sounds like a simple answer. Kind of like the old saying that "you are more likely to die in a car crash than a plane crash." Motorcycles are a great transportation method, especially with gas prices these days. Like everything else, the savings come with a risk. Below is a link to a good CNN article. Please keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers, no matter where they are serving.

Marty

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/30/marine.motorcycles/index.html

Hello,

Below is a link to a news article which summarizes this new service. It basically puts all Resort/Vacation Real Estate into one easy to search database. Having worked with clients who are looking for resort/vacation real estate, I can't wait to see how this system works. I can't post the whole article due to copyright laws, but here is the link.

The companies website is http://www.resortconnection.com

The article can be found at: http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/new-resort-mls-launches-national-resort-real-estate-network/

Marty

When my family moved to Washington several years ago, finding a good veterinarian was one of many concerns. Everybody you talked to had different opinions. Having tried out 4 different Vets, here is what we have learned.

Bangor Sub-Base does have a Vet clinic. It is mainly for treating the bases security dogs, but they also treat "civilian dogs" Whidbey Island also has a Vet. Here is a good link... http://www.navylifepnw.com/site/108/Veterinary-Services.aspx

The base vet was incredibly cheap, for example when we found out or eldest lab had bad hips, they only charged around $10 a piece for the x-rays(compared to nearly $300 out in town). They also have the cheapest pet meds in the county. You can also pick up Front line, and other meds there. The one downfall is they do not provide urgent care.

For urgent care, or care needed when the base vet is closed, or simply does not offer it I recommend Ridgetop Animal Hospital(360-692-7387). They are relatively centrally located, and have good and fair prices. Their staff is always courteous.

The one place I don't recommend is Banfield animal hospital inside Pets Mart. There is always a price to pay for convenience, but theirs is way to high. We had no issues with their service, except that it was really expensive. For example, one of our dogs had a skin issue. Took him to Banfield, walked out with a $700 bill (including a 2 week prescription). It didn't work, so we went to ridgetop, and paid $125 for the vet visit and a MONTH'S prescription. The were charging 50 cents for pills Banfield was charging $7 for.

In short, if you are military, use the base vet as much as possible and you will save a good deal of money. If you have to go out in town, use Ridgetop. They are very good, and not very expensive.

Marty

Well, the answer to your question is . . . . . it depends. There are 3 main bases to be stationed at in Kitsap County; Bangor, Bremerton(PSNS), and Keyport. Keyport is mainly contractors, and is within 2.5 miles of Bangor, so will be treated as Bangor for arguments sake. There are many wonderful and beautiful neighborhoods to live in. With gas pricing taking a large chunk of our wallet, it is really a matter of how much do you want to commute, and what is your budget. For arguments sake, I will limit the discussion to 4 localities.

Port Orchard offers some of the cheaper housing on the peninsula, but is south of PSNS. There is a "choke-point" in Gorst where 3 and 16 split. At the same time, there is a foot ferry that runs from Port Orchard to the WA State ferry terminal which offers a quick walk to PSNS, and can be free with a TIP(transit incentive program) pass. I rode the ferry for 4 months, and it was great. I would bike to the Port Orchard terminal(right by Kitsap Library), take the 10 minute ferry, and be at work in PSNS in no time. On the flip side, the commute to Bangor can take 25-35 minutes on good days. For those working on PSNS, or stationed in Bremerton, Port Orchard is highly recommended.

Silverdale is probably the best commuting location for those working at Bangor. It is a very quick drive, often less than 10 minutes to get to the main gate, but the prices are slightly higher than Port Orchard. The commute to Bremerton is ~ 12-14 miles, and is usually < 20 minutes. The Gorst choke-point is south of the PSNS gate, so is not a concern. Silverdale is nice since you are so close to the areas main shopping hub.

East Bremerton is South & East of Silverdale, thus the commute to PSNS is shorter, but the commute to Bangor is longer. It is slightly more congested than Silverdale, but there is a larger home inventory, and is usually cheaper. It is a great place to live as well.

Poulsbo is North of Silverdale and Bangor NB. It is one of the penisulas more expensive places to live, and rightfully so. The commute to Bangor is only slightly longer than the Silverdale commute, and very similar to the East Bremerton commute. The commute to PSNS is ~40 minutes depending on where you live. It is a fantastic place to live and full of culture.

The Kitsap Peninsula is such a great place to live. You can't go wrong!