Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Has Tampa Bay Real Estate Gone to the Dogs?

countertops bay area People love their dogs. Dogs love their owners. More and more dog related places and things are showing up all over the place, and Tampa Bay is no stranger to the craze. Pet friendly hotels, restaurants, and stores are around every corner these days. Gone are the days that dogs lived in the back yard or the basement. Most pet owners choose their furniture and flooring around the needs of their dogs. Some even have custom designed beds and personalized food dishes for their dogs. Just about every city in the Tampa Bay area has a Dog Park these days and people want to live near them too. Dog owners are starting to take their dogs to the park as much as they take their children it seems.

Some of the more popular places for dog lovers in Tampa Bay are Dunedin and Davis Island. Dunedin has a Dog Beach, with a separate section where dogs can run free up and down the beach and swim in the gulf. Davis Island's Dog Park in Tampa is fenced on three sides with the fourth side opening up to the water with views of the sailboats in the marina. There are also many fenced and unfenced dog parks in the Tampa Bay area as well including Clearwater's Crest Lake Park, Tarpon Springs' Anderson Park and Crescent Lake Park in St. Petersburg to name a few.

Just when you think you have heard everything dog related, a new real estate twist emerges. Bay Park Condominiums just off Old Coachman Road in Clearwater announces the opening of new "dog friendly" condominium project. They have gated, well-lit dog runs for large and small dogs in each building, landscaped with pet friendly plants and accessories. There is also a concierge service which includes pet sitting, walking and feeding. This is not your ordinary run-of-the-mill condominium either. This is a gated, luxury condo complex with 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units, complete with granite countertops, rich wood cabinetry, and stainless steel appliances. Bay Park also has many amenities such as a heated resort style pool, tennis and volleyball courts, a gorgeous clubhouse, a 24 hour fitness center, and a putting green.

A day at the park is one thing but keeping your four legged friend in mind while shopping for a condominium is probably quite a good idea if you are a dog lover. After all, not everyone is. Why not indulge in something that will enhance your life as well as the life of your pooch, while sharing this common trait with your neighbors? All in all, this time the dogs and the owners both have gotten a special treat and Tampa Bay Real Estate has really gone to the dogs!

Tuesday, February 5, 2013 by wiwik · 1

Friday, January 18, 2013

Benjamin Boutell, A True Son of Michigan


Colorado Springs distressed properties

A flat-bottomed boat lazed along the river's bank on a summer day in 1860. An observer could be forgiven for not realizing the lone occupant was a youth who would grow to dominate two Michigan industries, log towing and sugar manufacturing and foster a number of companies in other industries that would add immeasurable wealth to Michigan's developing economy.

The skiff bobbed in a ceaseless to-and-fro motion, influenced by waves that washed against the bank and then receded in accordance with the movement of steamers and sloops that churned the Saginaw River's channel. Its skipper, sixteen-year-old Benjamin Boutell, sighed in sleepy contentment. The rocking motion of the river lulled him deeper into slumber as he basked in the sun's warmth, dreaming of sea adventures in which he was the central figure.

He did not hear the sounds of sawing and hammering, the hailing of ships from shore, and other boisterous dock activity common to Bay City, Michigan in 1860. In ten years, the city's population had exploded from a mere fifty souls to more than three thousand, with more arriving each day from Canada or Detroit to take jobs in one of fifteen sawmills clustered on the riverbank. Before the lumber drew to a close forty years later, thirty thousand people would call Bay City home and more than one hundred sawmills lined the riverbanks from Bay City to Saginaw, twelve miles distant.

His father, Daniel Boutell, owned one of the hotels situated within hailing distance at the southeast corner of Water and Third streets. Not long before it had been the Sherman House. Situated across from the Detroit Steamboat Company's landing, it was often the first stop for newcomers to the city. Daniel Boutell had moved his family thirty miles north from Birch Run to take over the hotel, and after extensive renovations hung a new shingle near the entrance. Now it was the Boutell House, a home away from home for Great Lakes sailors who were made to feel more like family guests than hotel patrons because many of the Boutells' nine children shared the hotel with them

Fascinated by the stories the sailors told, Ben grew to love the river and the great Saginaw Bay, the doorway to the Great Lakes, a doorway he planned to pass through one day. Meanwhile, he earned his way by remaining on call to the Protection Fire Company where he served as first assistant foreman and helped his father at the hotel where he badgered sailors with questions about schooners, sloops, barges, and tugboats. An infectious grin and a sincere interest loosened tongues of sailors who enjoyed Ben's enthusiasm; they gladly shared accounts of their adventures and knowledge of all things nautical.

Having learned much about the nature of goods that moved from port to port on the Great Lakes, he began to pay special attention to the movement of logs towed by powerful tugboats. The task of moving felled trees to mills situated in one of the state's principal sawmill towns, Saginaw, Bay City, or Muskegon, was critical to the success of the timber industry. Water transport provided the least costly solution. Logs carved from Michigan's forests were floated downstream, collected at river mouths, sorted into floating corrals, called "booms," and towed by tugboats to sawmills that lined the river from Saginaw to Bay City. From forests along Canada's Georgian Bay shoreline, tugboats towed booms containing thousands of logs across Lake Huron and into the Saginaw Bay for shipment to waiting sawmills.

Tugboat captains faced many perils: sudden storms that would threaten to shatter the delicate lacing of logs that formed the boom, shipboard disasters, exploding boilers, and fires that could leave crews abandoned to chilling water far from rocky shores. The idea of taking the helm of such a craft fired the imagination of the hotelkeeper's son.

His ambition gained impetus in his twenty-first year when fire destroyed the Boutell House. Dan Boutell fought the blaze until only smoldering rubble remained. His lungs seared by smoke, he declined in health until death claimed him the following year. The family's livelihood in peril, Ben immediately signed on as a full-time sailor on the steam tug Wave. Within the year, he was the Wave's mate and in the following year earned papers conferring upon him the responsibilities of a ship's master.

Friday, January 18, 2013 by wiwik · 0

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Anyone Can Write an Essay!

www.essaytobuy.com "I'll figure that out . . . when I get the time."

"I really don't know how to start!"

"I really should write my essay!"

This common dilemma is expressed over and over again by many people everywhere. The good news is that anybody can write an essay!

There are three main reasons for essays:

1. To help you to cohesively construct an argument and defend it on paper.

2. To help you develop good written and oral communication skills.

3. To help you to figure out how to find information.

Not knowing how to write properly can make your academic life disorganized, stressful and chaotic. By improving your writing skills, you can confidently and quickly finish assignments and write properly throughout your professional career.

Writing an essay can be very simple when you follow these basic steps: choose a topic, define the scope of your essay, create the outline, write the essay and -- proofread, proofread, proofread!

The Essay Topic

The first step in writing an essay is to select a topic (if one has not been assigned). In order to define a topic, you should think about the goal of the essay. Is the purpose of the essay to persuade, educate, or describe a topic -- or for something else entirely? It is generally helpful to brainstorm ideas by jotting down favorite subjects or thinking of a topic that may be interesting to you.

Define the Scope of the Essay

The next step is to define the scope of your essay. Is the subject matter very broad, or will the essay cover a specific topic with detail-oriented examples? Thinking about the overall topic and scope will help you to begin the writing process.

Create an Outline

The next step is to create the outline. You may think that an outline is an unnecessary, time-consuming task -- but this step will actually help save time! An outline will help keep you focused while writing your essay, and help keep you from wandering aimlessly in conducting your research. It should be composed of the main idea of the essay or thesis
statement, and the arguments that support it. The outline is often numbered and organized by paragraph, but more abstract outlines will also help to organize and focus your
ideas.

Writing the Essay

The subsequent step is writing the essay. The introduction paragraph should begin with an attention grabber. This is a statement the lures the reader into wanting to read the rest of the essay. The next few sentences should be very broad in topic, and should lead to the narrow focus of the thesis statement, which is usually the very last sentence of the introduction paragraph. There are typically three body paragraphs, and each one starts by tackling one of the main ideas presented in the thesis statement. The following sentences should describe and elaborate on the main point. Details of specific examples should be included to strengthen your main ideas. The conclusion paragraph summarizes the essay and provides a final perspective on the main topic. It often begins with a paraphrase of the original thesis statement, and sometimes includes a future prediction based upon the viewpoint presented in the essay.

Proofreading Your Essay

The final step in writing a thesis is proofreading. Proofreading is actually the most important part of writing the essay and is often skipped. A few items to consider when proofreading your essay are the order of the paragraphs, the flow of the sentences, grammar, spelling and the instructions for the assignment. Questions to ask yourself include:

o Does your essay make sense?

o Does each sentence flow to the next sentence well?

o Are there any points that can be made stronger or clearer?

o Are there words that are used frequently?

o Are there any run-on sentences or fragments?

The proofreading process sometimes takes longer than the actual writing process, but this is what makes the difference between a concise and well thought out essay, and a bad essay.


Tuesday, January 8, 2013 by wiwik · 3

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