Well, the other day I posted about how warm weather meant good vegetables and about real estate. I’m happy to report that in the intervening days, fall has arrived in coastal Carolina. We have actually turned the heat on, though I’m not sure it’s actually fired off yet. I got chilly outside for the first time tonight at our cheer party, and it was awesome! The being chilled part. The party was ok, but it was nice to not sweat at cheer leading for once.
Guess what’s coming to Charlotte, and attracting the attention of young girls all over the Mid-South Region? It’s not Britney, Lindsey or any of those other stars who are in and out of the drug rehabs. (Hannah Montana is coming later, but I am not putting her on that list). Nope! It’s the Pop Warner Regional Championships, and my cheer leaders will be there. And that means I will be there, too. In a stroke of anti-brilliance, they have scheduled the competition for the day after Thanksgiving but we’re still excited and we’re still going and yay! Go Jets!
I mentioned that we use pick up trucks here in North Carolina, and I thought it would be fun to talk about a couple of other products we use a good bit of: Bengay and duct tape. Sorry, there’s no link for duct tape because there are just so many brands, including one called, ironically enough, duck tape. Why do I say that is ironic? Well, because only a redneck calls is duck tape, ya’ll.
Because why would you tape a duck? Really, how could a duck possibly need fixing in a way that duct tape could help? If his feathers fall out, he’s gonna freeze to death anyway, and if you’ve shot him, that’s not exactly an injury he’s gonna recover from, ya know? Just cook him and be done with it.
Enough of the duck, let’s get back to the tape. It’s called duct tape because you use it to construct and repair ductwork. Well, that was it’s intentional purpose, but we have raised the use of duct tape to an art form. If you follow the link up there you will find Halloween costumes, and here are some duct tape prom dresses and also a wallet. But we don’t just use it to make stuff, we also use it to fix just about anything, from cars to televisions. I personally have used it to repair books, toys, aluminum siding, drywall and more. It’s the stuff of awesome fix-ness around here. Love me some duct tape.
Oh, you are probably wondering about the bengay by now. We use that, because sometimes, teh duct tape doesn’t work. I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s true. And when that’s the case, you know what happens: some redneck with a broken tv lifts it into the bed of his pick up and hurts his back. Then he spends the rest of the day wincing, eating boiled peanuts and watchin’ the race on t’other tv.
I’ve said repeatedly that North Carolina is booming, and thought it would be interesting to compare the Raleigh and Phoenix real estate markets. A search for 3+bed/2+ bath homes revealed 2,770 such single family properties available in Raleigh with prices ranging from $40,475 (home built in 1930, 3bed/2ba, 1345 sq ft) to $23,000,000 (built in 2000, 8bed/13 Bath, 16,856 sq ft). To contrast, Phoenix has 8,277 single family homes ranging from $59,900 (1942, 3bed/2ba, 1000-1200 sq ft) to $7,900,000 (1985, 7bed/11ba, >5,000 sq ft).
The low end of the housing market is pretty much a given–they don’t call it fixed income for nothing. But look at the top end. Almost 3 times the price for fewer bed/bathrooms. Phenomenal! It’s a great time to be a realtor in North Carolina.
And also, am I the only one who thinks it’s amusing that super-rich people apparently poop more than they sleep?
How’s your diet, these days? I know I have mentioned that the weather here is crazy warm, still, and that’s great news for those who love fresh vegetables. A longer summer means a longer growing season, not so much for summer crops that require intensive sun and heat, but for fall crops that will bear until a hard freeze, this is awesome weather. Root crops are also feeling fine.
Of course, it is bad news for one crop–collards. We all know these are sweeter after frost, and there is no frost on the pumpkins here, ya’ll. You know what else there hasn’t been a bumper crop of? Green tomatoes. Usually by this time, the gardeners have had to pull off the last of the tomatoes so they didn’t freeze on the vine and ruin, but there’s been no need for that. Of course, they aren’t bearing any more, either, so I have missed the fried green tomatoes.
I could go on and on about the amazing variety of food that can be grown here, and someday, I just might. Many, many people here have small gardens right in their yards, and even more have an actual field that they call a garden, LOL. The point is, there’s no need for hydroxycut when you live here. Just eat the good stuff you can grow right at home.
I talked yesterday about North Carolina’s stance on insurance, but I didn’t talk about how the computers communicate. I’m assuming it’s through an intranet software of some kind, since the different companies also seem to be able to access information from the state, but not necessarily from each other. That’s how they can quote your rate so accurately on the fly– they look up your driving record with the state.
Of course, I could be totally wrong, and they might do it the old fashioned way, via phone call. Or, you know, not.
Here’s a quick and easy craft idea that you can use on your next visit to the beach. Visit the craft store and buy some paper or canvas picture frames. You’ll find them with the foam shapes and such, since they are made specifically to be decorated. While you are there, get some craft glue. I like Aleene’s tacky glue for this sort of thing. The thickness makes it stay put instead of drip, no matter how you need to hold your item, and this is important, as you will see shortly.
Ok, frames? Check. Glue? Check. Go to the beach. Spend the day making memories, playing in the sand and surf. Don’t forget to snap a few pics–you’ll need them once you get home! Before you leave, gather up a mound of sand and small shells. Spread the glue in a goodish layer on the frame, and then press the frame into your pile. Put a fair amount of pressure on it, so that the frame sinks a bit into the sand and shell. Now, pick it up and admire it.
See the shiny parts? That’s from the silica in the sand. Did you know that glass is made from sand? From the makeup mirrors ladies use to touch up their lipstick to the glass you drink your iced tea from, it was once all sand!
That’s the answer, of course. The question is: what does an uber cool Native North Carolinian drive? Now, I am not uber cool, only slightly cool, and also, I have 8 kids, so I drive a minivan. I should actually drive a bus, but HEY! we take what we can get, yk? But my dad drives a truck, and he is absolutely the coolest person I know, bar none. Let’s not make this article about my dad, though. I could do that, but I really want to talk about trucks.
We do drive trucks here in North Carolina, and it’s because we use them. North Carolina is still heavily agricultural, and so trucks are necessary for moving and hauling stuff. Tobacco and cotton must be taken to market, feed purchased and brought back home, and in general something must always be hauled somewhere. Now, it used to be that one purchased a vehicle and just drove it’s wheels off and then bought a new one, but these days, many are leasing their cars or trucks, and this includes working farmers. These folks typically use truck bedliners so that the bed remains unmarred and they don’t get docked for damages when they turn the truck back in.
Of course, that doesn’t explain the uprising in pickups in heavily urban areas, does it? Wannabe rednecks, maybe?
Not the stuff they make fiber cable from, either.
Like most states in the Union, North Carolina requires car insurance. I remember back in the day, before computers linked every office and communications were instant, that one could occasionally let their insurance lapse for a few days and not get dinged for it. This is no longer the case, as I have received a plate surrender notice for merely switching insurance companies. The old company notified the state my policy was canceled, and the computer printed and mailed me a notice immediately before the info from the new company was processed. Now, I did not have to surrender my plates, I just had to send the notice back with my new policy information, but that doesn’t change the fact that NC knew the status of my car insurance instantly. And of course, they had already received the new info via computer before my return mail reached them.
What’s the moral of my little story? North Carolina is serious about car insurance, and if you don’t want to find yourself having to file an SR-22, don’t get caught with your pants down.
I posted not too long ago about beach cruisers, and I was thinking it might be interesting to talk about some of the other toys we enjoy here. Of course, our climate dictates that we get to enjoy some things year round that are considered seasonal elsewhere. For instance, where else could you play with kites at Christmas but on or near the beach?
And what about horse shoes? I’ve actually seen people play that with toilet seats and small trees. And cornhole, whose name sounds so much worse than it really is. I’ll try to keep on the look out for more things like these as I go about my business.