blog/web-journal

The average rate on 30-year, fixed mortgages held at 5.04 percent for the week ended Sept. 24—down from 6.09 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.

Interest on 30-year, fixed loans has declined in the past three weeks, according to Freddie Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft, and the Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 13 percent increase in application volume last week.

Other rates performed as follows:

15-year fixed loans dipped for the week from 4.47 percent to 4.46 percent.
Five-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages were flat at 4.51 percent.
One-year ARMs fell from 4.58 percent to 4.52 percent.

- Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2009 -

LEGACY PARK BOULEVARD & FLORENCE VILLA GROVE ROAD

For those in the area of these two community access points on Highway #27 south of US #192, relief is almost here.  Long over due, the traffic lights and cross walk indicators will be a well received addition.

So far, 1.4 million people have used the credit as of this past Friday.

The deadline is Dec. 1 for first-time homebuyers to have completed a purchase of a house to qualify for the homebuyer credit of up to $8,000 from the federal government.

The credit is 10 percent of the purchase price of a home, up to the maximum of $8,000. This credit either reduces a tax payment or is returned as a higher refund next year.

- Internal Revenue Service, September 2009 -

You’ve probably driven past it many times and not ventured in. If so, you are missing out on excellent “real pit Bar-B-Q”. You won’t find fancy surroundings but if you appreciate delicious food with friendly service and great prices, you will not be disappointed. The sliced pork sandwich (on garlic toast) with choice of sides is recommended and comes in various sizes, depending on your appetite.

Fat boys’ has been a long-time favorite venue for Kissimmee locals and visitors. It burnt down several years ago and was re-built almost exactly as it was before. Some things just do not change!

You can find Fat Boys’ on US192, heading east, just before you get to John Young/Bermuda Avenue.

Who Is Enslaved To E-mail?

Almost all of us, according to John Freeman, editor of Granta. In a new polemic to be published in the US in October entitled – surprise, surprise – The Tyranny of E-Mail, Freeman throws some pretty tyrannical numbers at us. In 2007, he says, 35 trillion messages were sent on a billion computers which works out at about an average of 200 e-emails for each of us every day. And that’s way too many e-mails, Freeman believes. He says this e-mail avalanche is slowing us down, distracting us, undermining both our concentration and our productivity.

So what to do?

In part, The Tyranny of E-mail is a “Manifesto for Slow Communications”. Here’s Freeman’s ten point plan for how to escape the tyranny of e-mail:

1. “Don’t send.”
2. “Don’t check it first thing in the morning or late at night.”
3. “Check it twice a day.”
4. “Keep a written to-do list and incorporate e-mail into it.”
5. “Give good e-mail.”
6. “Read the entire incoming e-mail before replying.”
7. “Do not debate complex or sensitive matters by e-mail.”
8. “If you have to work as a group by e-mail, meet your correspondents face-to-face.”
9. “Set up your desk to do something else besides e-mail.”
10. “Schedule media-free time every day.”

All good advice, I think, if you want a slower communications lifestyle. What Freeman doesn’t discuss, however, is the merging of e-mail with real-time communications in forthcoming products like Google’s Wave (imagine Twitter + g-mail + Skype). Once the real-time stream is unleashed on e-mail, then, I suspect, we will look back nostalgically at a time when we only got 200 electronic letters each day.

Are you ready for the tyranny of real-time e-mail?

Source:  Andrew Keen. Telegraph Online -  Sept 2 2009

NOAA (United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) called for seven to eleven named storms in 2009.  Normal hurricane seasons produce on average eleven named storms with six generally becoming hurricanes.

This year… four storms have formed with two developing into hurricanes so far.

Atmospheric conditions globally may work to favor Florida and the United States this year.  Though the hurricane season is not over yet, it may turn out to be a quiet year.   Good for all…

The Smugglers Cove Tavern Bar and Restaurant is located on west US192 in the premises previously occupied by the Double Eagle.

Offering a full bar with daily happy hour and a very reasonably priced menu, the Tavern also hosts nightly events including quiz night, Texas Hold ‘em competition, live bands, karaoke and occasional appearances by an Elvis Presley impersonator.

You can also watch live and recorded sporting events or, if you’re feeling more energetic, you can hone your pool and darts skills.

 Check out the web-site for more information: www.smugglerscovetavern.com