It's going to be a slippery start today as an overnight ice storm makes its way out of the region. But it appears a quick melt is on the way.
Ron Young of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said crews are out treating roads and getting around without much trouble. Young said there were no traffic problems reported on major roads.
"We still recommend drivers use caution and be alert for icy spots or 'black ice'," Young said.
The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, N.J., issued the following statement at 3:25 a.m.:
An Ice Storm Warning remains in effect until 1000 am.
Freezing rain fell during the night, and ice accumulated on untreated roads and walkways, as well as on trees and power lines.
Temperatures were generally in the middle 20s to lower 30s early this morning. The freezing rain is expected to continue into the morning commute. Temperatures are then forecast to begin rising above 32 degrees, and the freezing rain should gradually change to rain by late morning. However, some pockets of cold air may linger into the early afternoon in the Pocono region and in Sussex County, New Jersey.
By the time the freezing rain ends, some locations could pick up a quarter to a half inch ice accumulation.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
We are living here in Allentown
Two good flights - second one a little bumpy.
It was dark - cold - windy - and a bit rainy when we landed. We are supposed to have sleet and freezing rain tonight.
Our Sheraton Hotel is just across from the Allentown ABE Airport.
Our flight out of Tallahassee was late. Lulu then was able to book a flight straight to Allentown instead of Philadelphia. It saved us a two hour drive. Originally this flight was $160 more - but once our flight was late and we would have missed our connection in Atlanta - Delta did it for free.
Our hotel is nice - has a heated pool - and free Internet - what could be better than that.
It was dark - cold - windy - and a bit rainy when we landed. We are supposed to have sleet and freezing rain tonight.
Our Sheraton Hotel is just across from the Allentown ABE Airport.
Our flight out of Tallahassee was late. Lulu then was able to book a flight straight to Allentown instead of Philadelphia. It saved us a two hour drive. Originally this flight was $160 more - but once our flight was late and we would have missed our connection in Atlanta - Delta did it for free.
Our hotel is nice - has a heated pool - and free Internet - what could be better than that.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Sad Trip North Tomorrow - Lulu's Aunt Ethel Died
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Tomorrow at 10AM - Lulu and I will fly north to attend the viewing and funeral of her Aunt Ethel Pelcheck. Ethel was Lulu's Dad's sister - she was a Cox. She lived near Allentown and spent many summers with Lulu at the Jersey Shore and Saylor's Lake in the Pocono Mountains.
When Lulu and I eloped - Aunt Ethel was one of a handful of Lulu's relatives that welcomed us back home with open arms. She was always such a positive person and would brag about Lulu's success. They were Cox girls through and through.
When we moved to Tallahassee - Ethel came to visit two times. Her husband John is a big Duke basketball team fan. They visited to see Florida State upset Duke and also to see a Wake Forest game here. They drove all the way from Vero Beach - 7 hours each way - not bad for a couple that was almost 80 years old.
Last summer when Lulu taught at the FSU Campus in London - we made a special trip to Lamorna - in Cornwall, England. We took lots of pictures and Lulu made a little album for Ethel. Ethel's Grandfather Heath left Lamorna for a new life in America. It is such a pretty place there - along the coast - with granite quarries and tin mines running down to the sea. We found out all about this from Aunt Ethel's family bible. Ethel loved finding out that that Larmona was along a beautiful shore.
On our recent drive north to spend Christmas with the family - the first place we stopped in the Valley was Aunt Ethel's home. She was weak and sore from the radiation treatments - but got up to visit with us for a little while. She and Lulu used to love to get sunburned down at the Jersey Shore - now her face was red from the treatments. We all knew it would be the last time we would get to visit her. She tried to be a positive force until the end.
We will fly out of here at 10 in the morning - get to Allentown around 3 PM - visit with the family a bit and attend the viewing. Wednesday morning we will be at the funeral to be able to say goodbye one last time. Then we will fly from Allentown to Atlanta and get into Tallahassee around 9 PM.
Life will go on - but it will lose a little bit of its color for a while. Ethel will be missed by everyone who knew her.
Florida State girls Beat Undefeated and Third Ranked Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
After falling behind by 19 points in the second half - the FSU girls put on a strong surge with 10 minutes to go.
With 4 minutes to go - Chasity - Angel - Cayla - Mara - Tanae - Jacinta - and Cierra tied Damitria - Takai - La Toya - Tyra - Tanisha - Taniqua - Skylar - Katrina - and Sydney. Does anyone have a normal name like Mary or Nancy anymore?
When it was all over - FSU led 60 to 53 - and the the senior captains were leading the FSU band doing the FSU fight song and Tomahawk chop. It may have been the greatest basketball comeback in the Tucker Civic Center - certainly the best won we ever saw.
Pictures were taken with my iphone - sitting with George - Joel - and Lulu.
The Aggies were undefeated and ranked third nationally - no more.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Top Kicker in the Country Commits to Florida State
By Steve Ellis
DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER
LAKE BUENA VISTA — Dustin Hopkins knew what he would find inside the letter with the Tallahassee postmark.
Although he had no previous contact with Florida State's football coaches and no ties to the program, the kicker from the Houston suburb Clear Lake told his parents a scholarship offer from the Seminoles was inside.
Hopkins, who had offers from Notre Dame and Baylor among others, was right.
"We felt it was something we needed to check into. We went out of respect to Coach (Bobby) Bowden and the history and prestige that goes along with that," said Hopkins' father, Jim. "Everything about that school impressed us.
"And the whole (football) program. I think they are on their way back, I really do."
His son agreed and is now poised to put his signature on a letter of intent with FSU next month. In the fall he'll attempt to fill the huge void left by Lou Groza Award winner Graham Gano, also the MVP of the Champs Sports Bowl.
But before all of that, he should get a chance to show a national television audience why he's the No. 1 rated kicker in the country by Rivals and ESPN. Hopkins is one of four FSU commitments participating in today's Under Armour All-America Bowl shown on ESPN at 8 p.m.
Hopkins committed to FSU in June. He has since attended FSU home games against Chattanooga and Florida — the later being his official visit.
During the recruiting process he has built a friendship with Gano. As with Gano, Hopkins has a strong leg and can punt in addition to handling all kicking duties. But Hopkins said he'll leave the punting to Shawn Powell.
"I think I can make an impact when I first go in," said Hopkins, who played soccer before concentrating on his kicking duties in football. "I've got some big shoes to fill but I'll do my best.
"I talked to Graham (on Thursday) and he was saying what a great opportunity I have."
Hopkins' longest field goal this past season was 49 yards. He missed three field goals — a 58-yarder left, a 64-yard attempt that he said fell 1½ yards short and a "makeable" 38-yard attempt.
Hopkins, by age and distance, is removed from any association with the wide lefts and wide rights of FSU kicking lore. The 18-year old was an infant when Gerry Thomas put "wide right" in the college football vernacular. The first FSU kicker he paid attention to was Sebastian Janikowski.
"It's out there — everybody says something you are either crazy or really confident going to FSU," Hopkins said of the wide-something misses against Miami. "I haven't seen the videos.
"When we win the national championship, I won't even have that picture in my mind. I'll just picture the ball going through the uprights. I'll only watch (the legendary misses against Miami) that after I graduate."
As was the case with fellow Texas native Christian Ponder, Hopkins expects to have a head start on his academics when he enrolls. His father said he'll have enough college credit hours to be a sophomore academically before he begins his career as a Seminole. But unlike Ponder, who enrolled at FSU in January of 2006, Hopkins plans to enjoy his final semester of his senior year in high school before arriving in the summer.
Hopkins, who boasts a 4.27 GPA, plans to major in business marketing with a minor in broadcast journalism and would like to complete his master's degree while on football scholarship.
DEMOCRAT SENIOR WRITER
LAKE BUENA VISTA — Dustin Hopkins knew what he would find inside the letter with the Tallahassee postmark.
Although he had no previous contact with Florida State's football coaches and no ties to the program, the kicker from the Houston suburb Clear Lake told his parents a scholarship offer from the Seminoles was inside.
Hopkins, who had offers from Notre Dame and Baylor among others, was right.
"We felt it was something we needed to check into. We went out of respect to Coach (Bobby) Bowden and the history and prestige that goes along with that," said Hopkins' father, Jim. "Everything about that school impressed us.
"And the whole (football) program. I think they are on their way back, I really do."
His son agreed and is now poised to put his signature on a letter of intent with FSU next month. In the fall he'll attempt to fill the huge void left by Lou Groza Award winner Graham Gano, also the MVP of the Champs Sports Bowl.
But before all of that, he should get a chance to show a national television audience why he's the No. 1 rated kicker in the country by Rivals and ESPN. Hopkins is one of four FSU commitments participating in today's Under Armour All-America Bowl shown on ESPN at 8 p.m.
Hopkins committed to FSU in June. He has since attended FSU home games against Chattanooga and Florida — the later being his official visit.
During the recruiting process he has built a friendship with Gano. As with Gano, Hopkins has a strong leg and can punt in addition to handling all kicking duties. But Hopkins said he'll leave the punting to Shawn Powell.
"I think I can make an impact when I first go in," said Hopkins, who played soccer before concentrating on his kicking duties in football. "I've got some big shoes to fill but I'll do my best.
"I talked to Graham (on Thursday) and he was saying what a great opportunity I have."
Hopkins' longest field goal this past season was 49 yards. He missed three field goals — a 58-yarder left, a 64-yard attempt that he said fell 1½ yards short and a "makeable" 38-yard attempt.
Hopkins, by age and distance, is removed from any association with the wide lefts and wide rights of FSU kicking lore. The 18-year old was an infant when Gerry Thomas put "wide right" in the college football vernacular. The first FSU kicker he paid attention to was Sebastian Janikowski.
"It's out there — everybody says something you are either crazy or really confident going to FSU," Hopkins said of the wide-something misses against Miami. "I haven't seen the videos.
"When we win the national championship, I won't even have that picture in my mind. I'll just picture the ball going through the uprights. I'll only watch (the legendary misses against Miami) that after I graduate."
As was the case with fellow Texas native Christian Ponder, Hopkins expects to have a head start on his academics when he enrolls. His father said he'll have enough college credit hours to be a sophomore academically before he begins his career as a Seminole. But unlike Ponder, who enrolled at FSU in January of 2006, Hopkins plans to enjoy his final semester of his senior year in high school before arriving in the summer.
Hopkins, who boasts a 4.27 GPA, plans to major in business marketing with a minor in broadcast journalism and would like to complete his master's degree while on football scholarship.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Was This Joe Paterno's Last Game?
Ever since I remember watching college football - Joe Paterno was in charge at Penn State. He reminds me of my Dad - my teachers - my coaches - my school principals - and my coal region heritage. Change for change's sake was never an option in my culture. You must have a reason to do something differently. If it isn't broke - don't fix it.
Joe can beat everything but the clock - time marches on. Joe deserves to retire under his own rules.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Click Here For Year End Travel Picture Review
It seems that every newspaper and TV station runs a year end review. The reasons are simple - very little news happens over the holidays - people want to get done work and go home - and there is so much space to fill after stores stop running Christmas ads.
When we owned The Tamaqua Paper - it was fun doing the review - you just went through old issues and literally cut and pasted them into the new edition.
Click on the above headline to see my review - 2008.
When we owned The Tamaqua Paper - it was fun doing the review - you just went through old issues and literally cut and pasted them into the new edition.
Click on the above headline to see my review - 2008.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
The Demise of the Newspaper - Time for Change
I predicted in 2000 that newspapers would be dead by 2020. It looks like I was being gracious with expecting them to last that long. I think they will be gone sooner than that now. I am not saying that their will not be a "printed" news sources - it will just be in electronic format.
In 1975 - Lulu and I founded a weekly newspaper called The Tamaqua Paper. The daily newspaper - The Tamaqua Evening Courier - was closed and we thought our town of 10,000 could still support its own paper. Although we planned to publish daily we soon realized that publishing weekly was even a difficult task. We had the entire operation set up in our 20 by 20 basement - printing press - darkroom - offices - circulation.
Lulu was fresh out of college and reluctantly served as editor. I was the publisher and did much of the reporting. We slugged it out for 2 years - finally selling it when our children starting coming along. Russ Funk - a local pastor - bought it and folded it 2 years later after running up a lot of debt.
Fast forward 30 years. With the advent of the Internet - news can be circulated at lightning speed. Electronic web pages can be published in seconds from anywhere in the world. The term Weblog was born and everybody could now publish what they wanted - when they wanted. You are reading my weblog right now.
Like every large town in America - Tallahassee has a daily newspaper called the Democrat. This town of 185,000 has faithfully supported this newspaper for over 100 years. It is the history book covering whatever happens in the capital city. It is owned by Gannet publishing which also owns many newspaper throughout the land.
The Democrat is dying a slow death. They offer a fantastic product by historic standards - but we live in an electronic age. It is hard to compete with a product that is virtually free. It is 9 AM - and I have already read over 10 newspapers from throughout the land - even the world. I have also faithfully read my Tallahassee Democrat that was on the driveway at 4 AM. The problem is that I already read most of the stories in their Internet edition last night.
When computers first were marketed - it was difficult reading news printed on a black screen in dot matrix type. But today - one can skim pages that in most cases look better than the version printed on newsprint. Since I have just crossed the 60 year old barrier - my eyesight is not what it used to be. With the touch of one key - I can enlarge or brighten the page to my comfort. I can also cut and paste any article or picture I want to save. It is so easy to highlight an article and send it to all of my friends in one swoop.
Old terrestrial newspapers have a lot of expenses. Beside having a large capital investment in equipment - it is a labor intensive industry. It is also expensive to keep a staff of reporters - writers - editors - photographers - deliverers - printers - and office workers. It is difficult to cover that nut by selling a product for 50 cents that costs you $5.00 to produce.
Newspapers have lived on advertising fees and retail sales. But services on the Internet like eBay and Craigslist have virtually wiped out the classified advertising pages of the paper. An example of this dramatic loss is in today's newspaper. There are only 2 pages of classified ads where there may have been 12 pages just 5 years ago when we arrived in town. Also in today's edition they are offering a two for one subscription deal. Pay for one subscription and have the newspaper sent to a friend for free. A newspaper generally charges for advertising space based upon paid circulation. This is a cute way of increasing circulation in an effort to not lose advertising customers.
Newspapers are failing all over the country. The Morning Call of Allentown - the daily that covered Tamaqua for 100 years - has filed for bankruptcy. It was the flagship of all media in our area and their demise was unthinkable right up to when the parent company - The Tribune - made the announcement. Keep you eyes on the news - more will follow.
Almost all newspapers offer an electronic version on the Internet - but the dirty little secret is - they make very little money in the process. They are all marking time waiting for someone to come up with a model that they can follow. The New York Times offered a special edition on line for $5.00 a month. It failed miserably. There just wasn't enough added value over their free Internet version.
On this last day of 2008 - a year filled with much sadness about wars - lost homes - lost jobs - lost fortunes - it is sad to throw another log on this fire of gloom and doom. Many older folks can't start the day without their fresh newspaper and coffee at the breakfast table. It is like reading a novel that did not exist just a few hours ago. What they do not realize is that even this fresh crisp copy in their hands is already obsolete. Meanwhile their kids are catching up with the latest news on their iPhones and Blackberries. News stories that have broken in the last 5 minutes are available on the Internet now.
In the old days - people used to heat their homes with wood and ride their horses to work. They used to buy fresh food daily because it would spoil from the lack of refrigeration. They would bathe only once a week and use an outhouse for waste. You are experiencing another change.
Tomorrow is 2009 - place the newspaper on the romantic scrap pile of the past. Out with the old - in with the new. I doubt that the Tallahassee Democrat will print this weblog in the paper.
In 1975 - Lulu and I founded a weekly newspaper called The Tamaqua Paper. The daily newspaper - The Tamaqua Evening Courier - was closed and we thought our town of 10,000 could still support its own paper. Although we planned to publish daily we soon realized that publishing weekly was even a difficult task. We had the entire operation set up in our 20 by 20 basement - printing press - darkroom - offices - circulation.
Lulu was fresh out of college and reluctantly served as editor. I was the publisher and did much of the reporting. We slugged it out for 2 years - finally selling it when our children starting coming along. Russ Funk - a local pastor - bought it and folded it 2 years later after running up a lot of debt.
Fast forward 30 years. With the advent of the Internet - news can be circulated at lightning speed. Electronic web pages can be published in seconds from anywhere in the world. The term Weblog was born and everybody could now publish what they wanted - when they wanted. You are reading my weblog right now.
Like every large town in America - Tallahassee has a daily newspaper called the Democrat. This town of 185,000 has faithfully supported this newspaper for over 100 years. It is the history book covering whatever happens in the capital city. It is owned by Gannet publishing which also owns many newspaper throughout the land.
The Democrat is dying a slow death. They offer a fantastic product by historic standards - but we live in an electronic age. It is hard to compete with a product that is virtually free. It is 9 AM - and I have already read over 10 newspapers from throughout the land - even the world. I have also faithfully read my Tallahassee Democrat that was on the driveway at 4 AM. The problem is that I already read most of the stories in their Internet edition last night.
When computers first were marketed - it was difficult reading news printed on a black screen in dot matrix type. But today - one can skim pages that in most cases look better than the version printed on newsprint. Since I have just crossed the 60 year old barrier - my eyesight is not what it used to be. With the touch of one key - I can enlarge or brighten the page to my comfort. I can also cut and paste any article or picture I want to save. It is so easy to highlight an article and send it to all of my friends in one swoop.
Old terrestrial newspapers have a lot of expenses. Beside having a large capital investment in equipment - it is a labor intensive industry. It is also expensive to keep a staff of reporters - writers - editors - photographers - deliverers - printers - and office workers. It is difficult to cover that nut by selling a product for 50 cents that costs you $5.00 to produce.
Newspapers have lived on advertising fees and retail sales. But services on the Internet like eBay and Craigslist have virtually wiped out the classified advertising pages of the paper. An example of this dramatic loss is in today's newspaper. There are only 2 pages of classified ads where there may have been 12 pages just 5 years ago when we arrived in town. Also in today's edition they are offering a two for one subscription deal. Pay for one subscription and have the newspaper sent to a friend for free. A newspaper generally charges for advertising space based upon paid circulation. This is a cute way of increasing circulation in an effort to not lose advertising customers.
Newspapers are failing all over the country. The Morning Call of Allentown - the daily that covered Tamaqua for 100 years - has filed for bankruptcy. It was the flagship of all media in our area and their demise was unthinkable right up to when the parent company - The Tribune - made the announcement. Keep you eyes on the news - more will follow.
Almost all newspapers offer an electronic version on the Internet - but the dirty little secret is - they make very little money in the process. They are all marking time waiting for someone to come up with a model that they can follow. The New York Times offered a special edition on line for $5.00 a month. It failed miserably. There just wasn't enough added value over their free Internet version.
On this last day of 2008 - a year filled with much sadness about wars - lost homes - lost jobs - lost fortunes - it is sad to throw another log on this fire of gloom and doom. Many older folks can't start the day without their fresh newspaper and coffee at the breakfast table. It is like reading a novel that did not exist just a few hours ago. What they do not realize is that even this fresh crisp copy in their hands is already obsolete. Meanwhile their kids are catching up with the latest news on their iPhones and Blackberries. News stories that have broken in the last 5 minutes are available on the Internet now.
In the old days - people used to heat their homes with wood and ride their horses to work. They used to buy fresh food daily because it would spoil from the lack of refrigeration. They would bathe only once a week and use an outhouse for waste. You are experiencing another change.
Tomorrow is 2009 - place the newspaper on the romantic scrap pile of the past. Out with the old - in with the new. I doubt that the Tallahassee Democrat will print this weblog in the paper.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
The Only Thing Constant is Change
Holiday moments jog the mind. Fragrances - decorations - flavors - music - pictures play tricks on us. The arrival of Jack beckons me back to a really happy time - when my boys were young and I was the big daddy. It seems like a new Everhart comes along every 30 years. Now the cycle is repeating again. Each one seems better than the last.
Following the Florida Coal Cracker
There is an easier way to keep up to date on the Florida Coal Cracker page. A free service is available called Follower. You can sign up in public or anonymously. You simply click "follow this blog" in the right hand column - then insert your email address. The next time I add something to my page - it will be sent to you automatically. Your name does not have to appear anywhere. If you ever decide you want it to stop - you can easily cancel the service.
You are invited to become a Florida Coal Cracker Follower.
You are invited to become a Florida Coal Cracker Follower.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Returning home from Pennsylvania
After a lovely visit back to the Valley - we made the big turnaround
at 1300 miles and are on the way home. We had a white Christmas but
did not see any snowfall - just a little sleet.
at 1300 miles and are on the way home. We had a white Christmas but
did not see any snowfall - just a little sleet.
The Taylor Family had a nice party for us. It was a nice way to see so
many friends at once.
Today we will see Jack - Robin - and Drew. We will cheer on the Noles
together in Baltimore.
Tomorrow we will drop Keith in DC and cover the last 900 miles alone.
It has been a cheap trip. The Honda is getting 25 mpg and gas is $1.50
a gallon. We will barely drop $200 on the whole trip.
Our hotel suite was perfect. We even put up a Christmas tree.
We are looking forward to showering Jack with presents on his first
Christmas today.
I am posting this story while Keith chaffeurs us down I-83. It is
foggy but the snow is gone now. As the snow melts our memories last of
our first Christmas spent in a hotel back in the valley of our youth -
and the first Christmas of the newest Everhart.
Sent from Harry's iPhone.
Friday, December 26, 2008
She Said Yes
After 37 years of solid friendship and courtship - Lulu has accepted Harry's proposal of marital bliss. The couple have set a wedding date - June 24th 2011. The location of the festive event will be announced at a later time.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
10 Degrees Outside and Almost 10 Degrees Inside Washington Hotel
I am writing this from under two quilts in our hotel room. We are spending our first night up north in the Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington DC. It is just across the street from where Keith works at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. We have a corner room on the 4th floor - you can see the Capitol down the street.
It is 10 degrees outside and very windy. Our corner room is beautiful - but let's just say the temperature is much lower than we usually keep our home in Tallahassee. This is a beautiful old hotel with colonial architecture and appointments. On the first floor there is an Irish pub that reminds us of the many pubs that we visited in London last summer. No one can say they are wasting energy though.
Keith met us at the hotel last night and we had supper in the Irish pub. He parked our car in the secure parking garage under his office building. We wanted to make sure all of our Christmas gifts are safely stowed away. Today - we tour the Capitol arranged by Representative Boyd. Then after seeing Georgetown play Florida International in basketball - we will drive to Towson near Baltimore to spend a night and visit Robin - Drew - and JACK.
After that - we will head to Tamaqua for 3 nights - then visit Drew and his family in Towson - then drive home to Florida the next day.
We have not seen any snow yet - we are supposed to run into that north of town. It is a good thing that I installed a Die Hard Gold Battery right before we left Tallahassee. The last thing we need is to be stuck alongside the road here.
Happy holidays to everyone. It is a time of the year to enjoy the friends and family. We are looking forward to seeing you all.
Should You Bailout A Friend In Need?
The following is a guest post by Trisha Wagner. I copied this post from the Not Made Of Money blog.
What do you do if a close friend or family member comes to you in dire need of financial help? If you have not yet faced this situation, the chances are you might in the near future. The question of whether it is wise to lend money to loved ones is not a new one, however more and more people may find themselves in the position to request help or extend help. Banks are not really in the business of lending these days and people are losing their jobs and homes in record numbers, so it is no great surprise that some people are turning toward friends or family for assistance. Which leads us back to the original question, what should you do if you are approached by a friend in need? By answering the following questions you will be one step closer to knowing if this is something you can live with.
Are you in a position to offer assistance? Just because someone thinks you are in a position to help them, doesn’t make it so. Before considering loaning a friend money, take a hard look at your finances. Do you have the money to loan without adding financial hardship to your own budget? You should only consider loaning money if you have your own expenses covered and the loan will not affect maintaining your own household responsibilities.
Can you afford the financial risk of this loan? If this loan is not paid back or is paid back over a period of time, will it cause you financial hardship? Ask yourself if you can afford to give this money away? If you can’t afford to live without it if it isn’t repaid, you should probably think twice before loaning it.
Reason for needing the loan? Do not be afraid to ask what the money is needed for. You will know better than anyone if the person who is asking for the loan is one who has just fallen on bad times or someone who is always falling on bad times largely due to their own decisions. While you may feel obligated to help a loved one, you should also consider how this loan will help them in the long term. If they have previous issues handling finances or struggling with debt, loaning them money might not help them beyond their immediate needs. Are you OK with loaning money that might not really help them in the long run?
How much are you willing to lose? Are you willing to risk a strained relationship with this individual if the loan goes south? While both parties may enter the loan with the best intentions, life has a way of throwing a wrench in the best laid plans. Do you want to take the chance with your money and relationship?
If after considering the aforementioned questions you feel this loan is something you are interested in doing, please include a legal document as part of the process. Hopefully you will never need to proof the terms and conditions, but it is always better to be prepared.
Trisha Wagner is a freelance writer for DestroyDebt.com, a debt community featuring debt forums. Trisha writes regularly on the topics of getting out of debt and personal finance.
---
What do you do if a close friend or family member comes to you in dire need of financial help? If you have not yet faced this situation, the chances are you might in the near future. The question of whether it is wise to lend money to loved ones is not a new one, however more and more people may find themselves in the position to request help or extend help. Banks are not really in the business of lending these days and people are losing their jobs and homes in record numbers, so it is no great surprise that some people are turning toward friends or family for assistance. Which leads us back to the original question, what should you do if you are approached by a friend in need? By answering the following questions you will be one step closer to knowing if this is something you can live with.
Are you in a position to offer assistance? Just because someone thinks you are in a position to help them, doesn’t make it so. Before considering loaning a friend money, take a hard look at your finances. Do you have the money to loan without adding financial hardship to your own budget? You should only consider loaning money if you have your own expenses covered and the loan will not affect maintaining your own household responsibilities.
Can you afford the financial risk of this loan? If this loan is not paid back or is paid back over a period of time, will it cause you financial hardship? Ask yourself if you can afford to give this money away? If you can’t afford to live without it if it isn’t repaid, you should probably think twice before loaning it.
Reason for needing the loan? Do not be afraid to ask what the money is needed for. You will know better than anyone if the person who is asking for the loan is one who has just fallen on bad times or someone who is always falling on bad times largely due to their own decisions. While you may feel obligated to help a loved one, you should also consider how this loan will help them in the long term. If they have previous issues handling finances or struggling with debt, loaning them money might not help them beyond their immediate needs. Are you OK with loaning money that might not really help them in the long run?
How much are you willing to lose? Are you willing to risk a strained relationship with this individual if the loan goes south? While both parties may enter the loan with the best intentions, life has a way of throwing a wrench in the best laid plans. Do you want to take the chance with your money and relationship?
If after considering the aforementioned questions you feel this loan is something you are interested in doing, please include a legal document as part of the process. Hopefully you will never need to proof the terms and conditions, but it is always better to be prepared.
Trisha Wagner is a freelance writer for DestroyDebt.com, a debt community featuring debt forums. Trisha writes regularly on the topics of getting out of debt and personal finance.
---
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Trip north
We are at our first stop in
Jekyll island ga
Jekyll island ga
Nice drive
Listening to john Lennon book CDs - almost not wanting stop
Hit a little rain in ga
Will have lunch here with kay - lulu's. Library buddy
They rented house on beach for week
Honda van is great for highway travel - full to brim with gifts.
Will drive to Santee sc today. DC tomorrow.
Sent from Harry's iPhone.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Summer Solstice Baby is a Half Year Old
Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice and Jack Everhart - our number one grandson is 1/2 year old. Jack was born on June 20th - the longest day of the year. He has been nothing but a bundle of joy for the family. Jack is spending the day in New York City with Drew - Robin - and grandmother Charlotte. They will do Christmas shopping and enjoy the decorations of the city.
Lulu and I will be driving north for the holidays. We will stop along the way in Jekyll Island, Georgia - Santee, SC - and Washington, DC. We will spend some time in Washington and when Keith is done work - we will drive to Baltimore and spend Christmas Eve with Jack (and Robin and Drew) - finally driving north to the Valley. Nancy booked a hotel suite at the Residence Inn just north of Tamaqua where we will entertain friends and family. We also will have a fireplace and decorate a Christmas tree.
After Christmas - it s back to Baltimore - where the whole family will watch the Florida State Seminoles play Wisconsin in the Tangerine Bowl on the 27th. After a few days - we will head back to the sunshine of Florida.
As I type this story - it is 75 degrees and sunny here in Tallahassee. We have doors and windows open. Meanwhile - up north in Syracuse they are getting tons of snow. We are looking forward to driving in the snow and seeing all our friends and family from back in the Valley.
In the earth picture above - the earth is in the far right position - and the 21st will be the shortest day of the year. Then the days start getting longer - about 2 minutes a day until June 20th - when Jack will be one year old.
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