Archive for the 'Just for Pets' Category
Anyone living in the northeast has been having a week of what can only be called “miserable” weather. We haven’t really seen the sun shine for about a week. Each day this week has been served up as humid, hot, soggy and foggy mess. The air has been so thick you could cut it with a knife. I think everyone is kind of down in the mouth because the weather has just not given us a break. So with a bit of trepidation – I took a peak at the forecast for tomorrow. Lo and behold! Is that a little sunshine that I am seeing in the forecast! I took this screen shot from the wunderground.com site for my zip code. Just seeing that sun peeking through the cloud on that forecast helped bring me out of my funk. I have to be out on the road a lot tomorrow – but I will be packing my camera looking to take advantage of a day that promises to usher in our first taste of fall!
Have a very happy and sunny Friday!!
© 2011 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.
Real estate agents are known to spend a lot of time on the road. I am no exception. My car is my second office and depending on what I am doing on a given day – I sometimes bring along my social secretary, and friend – Jade. I have two other dogs but they are not what you would call great work companions. They are lively and active and a real blast – on a hike or any other doggie adventure - but not at work. Jade, however, is so mellow and relaxed that bringing her along actually makes the day run more smoothly. Gentle and quiet – and a bit shy, she makes any trip – work or otherwise – more fun.
Today was cool and comfortable. So Jade tagged along when I went out in the late afternoon….I was taking some photos quickly and when I came back to the car to put my camera away – there she was – apparently she had been tracking me and was looking out the back window…..I actually was able to grab a quick shot….since I already had the camera handy…
© 2011 – Ruthmarie G. Hicks – http://thewestchesterview.com – All rights reserved.
On this Memorial Day I think it is fitting that we take a look at how our Veterans are fairing. After all, we have been at war for nearly 10 years and many serving our country have been on multiple deployments. Sunday Candy Crowley of CNN addressed Veterans issues in depth on her show “The State of the Union”. She had several segments on Veterans affairs – two of which I have embedded on this post. These interviews revealed some shameful facts:
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If you love your pet – and don’t we all – you need to take proper care of him or her. Having 3 dogs in these hard times – I have to say that this isn’t easy. Vaccinations are easy to “skip” but you are truly tempting fate with your pet’s health if you do. Well here is something that can help. My Veterinarian is associated with the County Animal Clinic in Yonkers NY. They offer vaccines for your pets at half price on specific days and times. They started this right after the crash and it has proved enormously successful. It has helped many pet owners keep on top of their vaccination schedule.
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It seems as though every single day I hear another story about pets being put into shelters as a result of the sour economy. These may not even be foreclosures, but may be families forced to scale back from a single family home to a condo or coop. You guessed it – the condo or coop nixes the pet. This is particularly hard on our canine friends and I’m getting e-mails and pleas almost daily begging people to spare their beloved pet from the animal shelter. Most of the time it is to no avail and many of these wonderful companions are put to sleep.
In the meanwhile – I’m seeing condo after condo and coop after coop nixing dogs. Complexes that were once an oasis for those in need of a home that will take their beloved dog have put up MORE restrictions not less. The same holds for rental complexes.
Westchester Condos & Coops & Pets:
I’m going to be very blunt. Westchester condos and coops are about the MOST pet UN-FRIENDLY places imaginable. Manhattan, Riverdale, most of the Bronx, Queens and Fairfield county are ALL more flexible than Westchester are all more pet-friendly than Westchester. Personally, I’m sick to death of seeing – “no restrictions” chaining to “restricted weight” or “no dogs.” We already have a crisis I think it is unconscionable that complexes are making this matter worse.
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Over the past year or so, I have set up numerous web pages for the convenience of buyers and sellers a like. This information takes time and energy to compile and it is my pleasure to do so. HOWEVER, a girl has got to eat and pay the bills. I’m finding that although my readership has gone way up over the past year (people seem to be gobbling up the data) registrations to the site have actually declined significantly. When I found agents were using the site as a source for their clients, I realized I had to call a halt to giving it all away. So I have very reluctantly decided that with the exception of city-wide or town-wide stats – I will have to require registration for all updates after June 2010.
There will still be gobs of free information for people. I am starting a mapping feature for those who are not strictly local but are thinking of moving here. This will be absolutely free and will help consumers understand where the towns, villages and cities are located with respect to each other as well as what major roadways run through each area. There will be a new school section and I will also be adding a lender, contractors and stagers to the mix. The registration requirement will be limited to specific market reports that cover highly local market conditions.
I’m sorry I had to take this step – I was very much in the “paying it forward and I will reap the rewards with loyal clients and happy home buyers and home sellers a plenty!” But it is not working out that way. So the price for the latest information from now on will be YOUR information. And yes, I will – gently- try to coax you in to using me as your agent when the time comes for you to pull the trigger. There will be several sign in sheets going up throughout the site. If you don’t want to sign in – feel free to call or email me – or – just use the site as it sits, but you will not be getting the advantage of the valuable updates that I have at my fingertips. Sign in and you get all that great information – and a great agent besides. (No false modesty here!)
I do not spam your email – and I never, ever sell your information to any other vendor – so you can sign up with complete confidence that your information will remain private.
Those of you who read me regularly know that I generally post something about weekend events….This week didn’t blog much and there was a reason. I happen to live in a home that has a “challenging” driveway. It’s a long winding gravel driveway. This driveway became the bane of my existence during the last ice storm – and a near death trap before I was done.
The ice was so thick, the person who usually plows my driveway couldn’t quite manage the curve and as a result there was a lot of ice between me and the road. I was able to get the car on the road on Thursday to do some errands, although I knew getting it back UP the driveway was going to be problematic – I proceeded with my errands. When I got home – as predicted, there were problems. The car got mired in the ice and yours truly spent over 2 hours trying to free the wheels. in the process – I suddenly heard a very ominous hissing sound…Yup – somehow I punctured a tire!
So far this was somewhat funny though very frustrating. It was definitely impacting a client of mine – though that person waited until today to go out – which was very kind of them.
The next day we got the donut on the car and I tried to go about my business…. There was a salt shortage county wide and so I was still dealing with a solid block of ice for half the driveway. When I got home I had a couple of bags to remove from the car. I could not get the car all the way up the drive – but that didn’t worry me. What I didn’t expect was that the ground was so slippery that the brakes wouldn’t hold. Unfortunately, the car started to move when I was out of it pulling groceries from the passenger seat. I was pulled down to the ground and almost run over by my own car! Fortunately the skidding of the car stopped just in time. I was damn near killed…
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With all the shoveling and salting - this crazy winter has managed to load me with so much extra work that I didn’t get the chance to show just how much my huskies are enjoying the weather. To be honest, I’ve been too busy grumbling about how much shoveling I have to do and whining about my aching shoulders. But my dogs have an entirely different take on this weather than the rest of us. Although this season has been rough on people, its kind of amazing to see these guys in what is as close to their natural habitat as we are going to get unless I move next door to some Emperor Penguins. They truly love and really built for the snow!
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Welcome to another Christmas lights display post for the holiday season. These two photos were taken on Gedney Park Drive in White Plains NY . There are several homes on either end of that street that are known for their large displays. I took two photos near Ridgeway – but that shouldn’t stop you from looking at the other major displays near Heatherbloom Road.
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But the videos really seem to capture the feline personality. The second video makes me wonder what’s behind my refrigerator. I haven’t been back there in a while. Hmmm…. I sense a chore in my immediate future…..
