The Susan Komen 5K run will be coming up in March and I am not remotely ready. I must first try to push the plate away or put the fork down. Oink. Next, I need to actually run. Uhg.
Having been under the weather for many weeks I just started putting the gym shoes back on. Just a few days ago I decided to run to the grocery for detergent and GNC to get my vitamins. My favorite GNC Store is in the Target (and Publix) plaza on the corner of 41 & West Terry Street in greater downtown Bonita Springs, Florida. The owner is very personable and knowledgeable.
On my trek to the store I store I passed a few of these posters tacked to phone poles. My first impulse, being the smart ass that I am, was that it was a play on the joke about the dog that was missing and had a missing leg, missing eye, fleas, broken tail, accidentally neutered and has the mange and answered to the name "Lucky". Then I realized that there were so many posters that the expense was too much to be a joke.
If you've seen Lucky, the dog with a missing left eye that loves everyone call the owner. His phone number is in the picture above.
Yes, I carry a phone with a camera when I run. In case I have to call a cab or something.
Did you know that the halls and walls of the Liles Hotel at Riverside Park are lined with old photos of Bonita Springs, Florida. I mean way old photos. The kind of photos you see in those books and think to yourself, boy, how did they make it on dirt roads like that? How ever did they live in hot, humid Southwest Florida with no air conditioning. They must have been savages.
At the Liles Hotel you might see pictures of theses old, preserved houses.
No doubt you’ll see pictures of old fishermen, on old fishing boats and old farmers on fruit barges.
You will definitely see pictures of hot babes in bathing suits at the Imperial River and at the beach. Their swim suits cover more of their bodies than regular clothes cover on kids today.
I bet that back then the moms boxed lunches for their kids and they had to eat a lot of tomatoes and oranges. This place was chock full of the fruits. Yes, tomato is a fruit. A pretty good fruit, too, if you ask me.
Those moms probably beat laundry on a rock and eventually enjoyed the treat of running clothes through a wringer washer. It was probably a Mother’s Day present.
Every old little city needs a post office even way back when before air conditioning. Some people had to make due, like the Ochopee Post office that is no more than a hut. Literally, it’s a hut on the side of the road.
Other cities made due with a post office window in their general store. Imagine the clerk that had to work in this hot, dank, sweaty building with it raining buckets outside and mosquitoes munching on every inch of your exposed skin. West Nile Virus anyone?
Maybe it was worth it to work behind that barred window. Everyone that you handed mail to would have to be overjoyed because it was THE only entertainment. Someone sent mail!! Real mail with stamps and licky, nasty glue envelopes with wax seals.
*Sigh* Those were the days … or maybe they weren’t.
Maybe this was just a post office in a general store at the top of a mountain in Crown King, Arizona. Yeah, its old but the photo was taken December 2008.
Maybe I fibbed a little.
Maybe there were more dogs than people at the bar (barn) in Cleator and maybe there were so many rednecks with quad runners at Cindy’s Café in Crown King that I became confused and I thought I was in Olde Bonita Springs.
I simply was confused. Yeah that’s it.
(Psst. There really are old photos of historic Bonita Springs at Liles Hotel. I’m not lying about that.)
If you found this post looking for the *real* Bonita Springs Florida post office.
First time home buyers, if you don't see the video below, click here: Compound Interest.
When shopping for a mortgage, one can easily become overwhelmed with all the different mortgage programs that are out there: Fixed Rates (FRM),Adjustable Rates (ARM), Hybrids, etc.
The problem that consumers face is "which mortgage is the best?" The answer to this is: the best mortgage program is that program that best suits the individual's needs. But how does one know which is the best, if one is not up on all the different types of mortgages?
Well, let's break mortgages down to their very basic levels: rate and term. Rate is the interest rate that one pays to bank. Rate is determined by risk. Term is the length of time that a loan is paid back. Term is also the length of time that the rate remains fixed (We will call this the rate term). The longer the rate term; the great the risk; the higher the rate.
For more information read: FIXing The Broken ARM by Jason Price
Marc J Blasi
For some time now, Knightlines Mortgage Services has been offering the people of Florida a convenient way to finance and re-finance their residential property.
But that isn’t the entire story - we are also doing commercial lending in all 50 states. AND - now we can offer commercial financing OUTSIDE of the country as well. Caribbean, South America, etc - just call for the details.
Looking for things to do? January in Bonita Springs, Florida means one thing is certain, The Bonita Springs Art Festival is coming. Bonita Springs National Art Festival is held two times this year; Jan. 10-11, 2009 and March 14-15, 2009. The Bonita Springs Art Festival features the works of more than 200 artists specializing in painting, jewelry, glass, clay, photography, sculpture, wood and more.
The Bonita Springs Art Festival is held at The Promenade at Bonita Bay shopping center. For further information call 239-992-1213.
You can also find out more at www.artcenterbonita.org
And I am NOT talking about the 'Option ARM' that got so much bad press over the last few years. I was a good loan IF you knew what you were doing, but it was so often misrepresented that people tend to cringe when they hear the words.
Someone just talked to me about loans in general and, as I typically do, I started talking about the 30 year fixed rate home loan (FRM).
However, he didn't want a 30 yr fixed, he wanted a 15 year fixed. Why? So he could pay it off faster.... not a bad idea really - the savings in the amount of interest paid is considerable.
BUT (you had to know that that was coming...) on a $250,000 loan you are also locked into a monthly payment that's more then $600 higher then for the 30 yr FRM. Actual dollar amounts will vary depending upon available rates, but the 30 yr FRM will always have a lower monthly payment.
What I would recommend is this: get the loan with the longer term so that the required payment is lower. If you have a bad month you won't be struggling for the extra money, but you can always pay more and even pay off the loan whenever you want to!
No tricks - since there is no pre-payment penalty - a little flexibility can be a very good thing.
Marc J Blasi (561) 282-7406
For some time now, Knightlines Mortgage Services has been offering the people of Florida a convenient way to finance and re-finance their residential property.
But that isn’t the entire story - we are also doing commercial lending in all 50 states. AND - now we can offer commercial financing OUTSIDE of the country as well. Caribbean, South America, etc - just call for the details.
