Outer Banks Real Estate

Outer Banks Link Lube

Just a few links about happenings on the Outer Banks:

Nags Head Water Tower deconstruction time lapse video.  Pretty cool to watch but some explosions and fire would have made it even better. 

Monticello our resident BoSox fan gives an update on the Sandbag Removal Deadline which will affect many in South Nags Head.  (All sandbags must be removed from oceanfront properties in North Carolina before May 1, 2008).  Question for Monty - did that traitor use steroids or HGH before he went to the dark side? 

Pete Hummers from the Outer Banks Sentinel published a story about our most famous Outer Banks resident.  Andy Griffith donated a sword he used many years ago while playing Sir Walter Raleigh to the Lost Colony Recovery Effort.  The Lost Colony lost 80% of their costumes in a fire September 11, 2007.

Bob Muller published a response to the Coastland Times about the tax burdens of Dare County and other resort communities.  Political Science class credit - 2 hours.  Bob is supposed to be retired - but quite a few want him back in political office.  He would be a true asset to our government. 

Jason Summerton from Twiddy Real Estate covers the 4WD area of the Outer Banks.  He has published two articles of importance to many - first an update on the Mid Currituck Bridge - there will be three public meetings to discuss the bridge on February 26th at the Hampton Inn in Corolla, Feburary 27th at Griggs Elementary School in Poplar Branch and February 28th at the Southern Shores Town Hall.  All meetings will be from 4 - 8 pm.  This is an important issue for many of us on the northern end of the Outer Banks.  He also posted about the Wild Horse herd - we have 89 healthy horses roaming the beaches.

Becoming your parents

Scott Adams from Dilbert fame has his own blog that I read every chance I get.  This guy gets it.  Here is an excerpt from one of his latest posts:

I have noticed that the person living in a household who pays the energy bills is the only one interested in turning off the lights when leaving a room. Given human nature, this is unlikely to change. That’s why I have two inventions to close the gap.

The first invention is the Whole House Light Switch. It’s located by the inner door to the garage. When you are heading toward the car with the rest of the family, and they have left on every light in every room in which they have entered in the past 24 hours, you just flip the one switch and all the lights in the house go dark. I suppose you could designate one light to be the exception, so it looks like you are home when you are away.

My other invention involves each family member wearing a ring with an RFID sensor, so the lights only stay on if at least one ring is in the room. As you enter the room, and pass near the sensor, the lights come on by themselves. The light switch would need three settings in this case: 1) On, 2) Off, and 3) Sensor. If you have house guests, they simply use the on/off part of the switch. When only the family is there, everything is on auto.

I considered an Allowance Meter, which decreases the kids’ allowances based on light use, but that would have unintended consequences.

All Politics is Local - Dare County Election update 2008

The late Thomas "Tip" O'Neil - the longtime House of Representative and former speaker of the house once said "All Politics is Local".  Two of my favorite local blogs that cover politics are the Outer Banks Republic and View From the Ridge.  We have another that has joined the fold - ex elected official David Sanders from my town of Southern Shores aka "Nine holes and a nap".  I think politicians shouldn't wait until after they are out of office to start a blog. 

Monty from the Outer Banks Republic posted about the upcoming Dare County Commissioners race.  At question was whether Warren Judge should be re-elected Dare Commissioner (this thread is from a local message board - it doesn't look like a nice place to hang out).  Reading some of the nasty messages and the twisting of facts really disturbs me.  I know Monty, ex Mayor Bob and Paula and I have had to deal with this kind of poor behavior in the past - it came from one man with many pen names - Ray Midgett.  The beauty of technology - once you publish a comment online - the comment and it's ID are there forever.  Now I can't say for sure that Ray is responsible for writing some of these comments on the message board - but when it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...  Rumor is that Ray wants to oppose Warren Judge in this years election.  We should all know pretty soon.

One of the problems with message boards such as this is the fact that people can make totally absurd comments and some take them as facts. If you want to see the Outer Banks at it's worst - read some of the trash posted here. 

In my opinion, Warren has done a fine job as County Commissioner.  Dare County is facing one of it's most challenging times in recent history - we need a stable leader.  Let's hope the ducks stay in Southern Shores.

 

Snow on the Outer Banks?

No snow yet but they are predicting some accumulation tonight.  I heard an show on NPR Weekend America and the picture was taken from the snowflake guy.  He is a professor from Caltech - not the snowflake capital but it gives him an excuse to travel. 

The forecast calls for 1 to 2 inches of ice and or snow on the Outer Banks.  We will see what happens if anything. 

Off Road Vehicles and the National Park Service Survey

What we have here is a failure to communicate.  There has been a lot of chatter lately about the state of Off Road Vehicles on the Hatteras National Seashore.  This morning I read the article by Bob Muller and you could feel the frustration dripping through his keyboard.  Bill Bell - another local blogger was also asking for public input from those interested in this topic.

The National Park Service has asked for the input from the public on what they feel about allowing ORV access.  The way they went about it was awful at best.  You can try your luck on the National Park Service site, or you can just download the form directly from Bob Muller.  There has to be a better way to gather this information - an online survey or poll would work so much better than this system. 

If this is an important issue for you, please let your voice be heard.  Here are the instructions on what to do with the completed form:

Description: The purpose of this workbook is to get your input on the draft alternative options for managing ORV use at Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Public input is an essential component of a successful management plan and it is important to us that you provide your opinion on the effectiveness of the alternative options and suggest options of your own.

Public participation is vital in assisting with the planning process.  There are a number of ways to be involved: 

• Attend a public information meetings and complete a preliminary alternative options workbook at the meetings;

• Submit your completed workbook by mail to: Superintendent, RE: Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan/EIS, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, 1401 National Park Drive, Manteo, NC 27954;

or

• Email your completed workbook to cahaorveis@louisberger.com.

Please note that faxed comments and other email comments will not be accepted.

Please be sure to include your full name, e-mail address or mailing address with your workbook so we may add you to our mailing list for information on the planning process. The NPS practice is to make comments, including names, home addresses, home phone numbers, and email addresses of respondents, available for public review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold their names and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish this request to be considered, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comments.

Dogs on the Outer Banks

Many people say you resemble your pet.  I would hate to see the owner of this dog.

Joe Lamb Jr. posted guidelines for dogs on the beach in each town on the Outer Banks. 

Kitty Hawk has the craziest law

  -DOGS ARE ALLOWED ON BEACH MEMORIAL DAY TO LABOR DAY, 10AM TO 6PM, AS LONG AS THEY ARE ON A 6 FT LEASH. ANY OTHER TIME OF YEAR DOGS MUST BE RESTRAINED ON A 12 FT RETRACTABLE LEASH AND CAN BE LET OFF THE LEASH AS LONG AS THEY DO NOT DISTURB OTHERS AND ARE WITHIN 30 FEET OF THEIR OWNER.

Good Fishing Today - look what I caught Ma!

Nice day for fishing on the Outer Banks.  These shots were taken this afternoon by the Avalon Pier.  Most were fishing for Trout but in the five minutes I was there, I saw shark, trout and puppy drum being pulled in.  Here are a couple of photos from earlier today:

The puppy drum on the left got lucky.  The limits according to my Rich Pearson (local Realtor and fisherman extraordinaire) are between 18 and 27 inches for a puppy drum - also known as "in the slot".  This one went back in the drink to be caught another day. 

This is a current shot from the pier - as you can see there is just a little bit of humidity in the air.

While driving south on the Beach Road, I stopped in to see if there was any activity on the Triangle Wrecks - on Second Street.  To my surprise, there were a couple of divers on their way out of the water.  Pretty smooth conditions but they said visibility was only 5'.  Water temps were around 59 degrees.  Not my cup of tea (the 59 degrees and 5' visibility part).  I have been snorkeling on the wrecks with 30+ feet visibility with 80 degree water.   I then noticed something else being washed up on the shore:

The Kill Devil Hills Police said there were two reports - one of a scooter in the surf and one of a stolen scooter.  Good news - scooter found.  Bad news - scooter ruined.  My guess is that someone decided (after many too many) to take a joy ride on a scooter that didn't belong to them and then decided to get rid of the evidence.  What a waste.  I hope Darwin's Law of Evolution keeps the folks responsible out of the gene pool.

Funny Apple Commercial Spoof

Found this on a Mortgage Blog - The Mortgage Cicerone.  Like Tony, I am not trying to make a political statement - just thought it was a clever skit.

AppleIrag - video powered by Metacafe

Poll Results - What option would you like to see replace the Bonner Bridge

Well the Short Bridge has it and by a convincing number.  Over 57% of voters thought the parallel replacement was the best option while the Long Bridge to Rodanthe came in second with just under 30%.  What really surprised me was the numbers that voted for a high speed ferry service.  Just over 10% thought it would be a viable option.  Some of the interesting points:

• Farthest Vote North - Toronto Canada - Short Parallel Option
• Farthest Vote South - Orlando Florida - Long Bridge Option
• Farthest Vote West - San Fransisco, CA - High Speed Ferry

Local Votes:

• 51% for the Short Bridge
• 33% for the High Speed Ferry
• 16% for the Long Bridge

Beach Glass on the Outer Banks - another lost opportunity...

Collecting beach glass is a popular pastime for many on the Outer Banks.  Beach glass is broken bits of glass that have been weathered by tumbling in the surf until their edges are smooth and the glass takes on a frosty appearance. 

This is a good time of year for those searching for those gems on the shoreline.  Two reasons - a LOT less competition and some winter storms = more beach glass.  Some even take daily photos of the surf and their findings and post them on local message boards. 

Those that hunt beach glass usually find brown, white and green glass along the shore.  Blue is coveted and red - forget about it.  Red beach glass is the daddy find.  You will probably have a better chance getting a photo of Bigfoot. 

When I was young - someone gave me one of those rock tumblers that made ordinary rocks turn into - well - polished rocks.  I don't know what happened to that rock tumbler - watching and waiting for rocks to become polished rocks was not my strenght.  I had an idea a while back for a way to cut to the chase - use one of those rock tumblers to create my own batch of the cool colored beach glass.  It would not be as fun or relaxing as walking on the beach but it would really blow away those that collect the stuff.  Imagine a whole jar of yellow, red, and maybe even purple beach glass. Well it looks like someone has beat me to the finish line. 

I saw an article in Make Magazine where a guy made his own rock tumbler to make some cool colored beach glass.  Not sure if there is a market for this stuff but he sure could amaze his friends that collect the stuff.  Another opportunity missed. 

This is the second time in as many weeks that an idea I had slipped by me.  My other missed chance to retire early had to do with an industrial martini shaker.  My wife really likes my custom recipe for Pomegranate Martinis.  The key to a good martini is the shake.  The more you shake, the more ice crystals form which turns these great martinis into works of art.  When you have a few people over, it is tough to devote the attention needed to get the martini just right.  I had an idea to get one of those paint shakers you see in the hardware store and make a custom container to really shake a batch of martinis all at once.  Idea ended when I found one of those paint shakers (used) for $1,000 on ebay.  Wife found a martini shaker in one of the many magazines she received last week...  The only hope - it was small (maybe two at a time).  Not sure how we went from beach glass to martini shakers, but for those that trudged though this post - here is the recipe.

Ronnie's Pomegranate Martini

Put martini glass in freezer at least 15 minutes before you plan on serving.

Three oz. decent Vodka
Four oz. of premium Pomegranate Juice
Fresh Squeezed Juice from 1/2 Orange or Tangerine (don't skimp on this one)
Juice from 1/4 lime
1 teaspoon of sugar

For best results - make one at a time.  Fill shaker with ice and shake for three minutes.  Then shake for three more minutes.  It is a great workout and it is really worth the trouble.  Pour and watch their faces light up.