Hurrincane Florence

[RoamingKat]

Heard from my friend. They built sandbag walls around the bunker. They are all dry. But, the water all around will prevent them from getting the animals back to their usual pens The rest of the property it further uphill...so flooding isn’t likely.

I think she s considering building new animal pens at the top of the hill now.

Glad they are ok

[TrainChaser]

TWIH: 'This is when home ownership is not the “American Dream”...'

The home I'm trying to escape from was my first and only purchased home. I've learned a lot in the last 25 years:
* Investigate the bank you're planning on getting the loan with. Mine turned out to be a disaster from top to bottom, and was the largest bank failure in U.S. history (WA Mutual). Their loan officers were either crooked or incompetent. There is a big difference between 20% down and $20,000 down on a $75,000 property. I was putting down $20,000, so I wonder where that extra $5,000 was going that wasn't going on the loan?
* Read the loan agreement all the way through. Mine had FIVE huge errors (including the down payment, above).
* If you're smart, you'll never buy a mobile/manufactured home -- they're junk clear through, designed to last only until the original loan is paid off (maybe). You'll be better off in something half the size that is stick-built.
* Never, EVER, trust what comes out of a realtor's mouth. They might be half a notch more trustworthy than a politician, but I wouldn't bet on it. Ask for proof if something sounds funny. I have a brother who lies like a rug, so I've I quite a bit of practice, in that regard.
* Check with an insurance agent/company as to what the flood zone for the area is. Flood zones: DO NOT take the word of a realtor as to what the flood zone is; even if they sort of tell you the truth, they will try to make is sound like a non-problem, like what mine said: "Well, it never got into the house, and even that was a one-in-a-hundred-years flood". Yeah, well we've had THREE 100-year floods in the last 20 years. When TWELVE FEET of water is sitting on the main highway of the western states (Interstate 5), directly in front of Walmart, THAT'S A GD FLOOD ZONE! When a mother and two teen girls walk across your field to look down at their mobile home that has flood waters just below the bedroom windows (MH about 3ft off the ground, too), THAT'S A FLOOD ZONE.

It doesn't matter how good the price deal is for low-lying property -- if it can flood, it WILL flood. And yes, it floods in deserts, too.

My heart bleeds for all the people who lose their homes to floods. Due to financial circumstances, many people who had to have flood insurance mandated by their mortgage company will drop it after they pay off the mortgage. If flooded afterwards, they're on their own.

[TWIH]

The Raleigh NC paper said between 10 and 20% of the NC coastal homes had government flood insurance and only between 1 and 3 percent of the inland homes had flood coverage.

Now if you are in the coastal parts of Texas where flood insurance costs several thousand dollars a year then I could see the reluctance but in NC the average cost was said to be 6-700$.

Bet a lot of folks may change their minds after this year! Till the next shiny toy comes along anyway...

[daonacetpi1969]

I guess I have no honor.  I lost the key to my storage unit in Phoenix and had to buy a $55 pair of bolt cutters, I used them on the cheap lock (didn’t even scratch the bolt cutter finish) and returned them.

I can't see much harm done there, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.  If you're superstitious, just pick up a small bag worth of litter in the parking lot of the store you borrowed from and you'd be up some points in the karma bank.  


Not sure if you have a cordless drill, but if you do/did you can drill out the key hole on pad locks and they pop right open.  Use a 1/4" drill bit and drill right down the middle of the key slot and it usually pops right open in a few seconds.  Some stick and you can wiggle the drill bit around as you're drilling or go up to a 3/8" bit to drill more of the lock out.  Even a lock that gives a little fight doesn't take much more than 30 seconds.

I have a pocket kit of lock picking tools.I keep in them my bug out bag. I can unlock most keyed padlocks in under 3 minutes. No I have not used them for illegal purposes. Just part of my survival skills should SHTF.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[MN C Van]

When I interned doing criminal histories for bail evaluations, there was a charge (Felony) 'Possession of Burglary Tools.'
I always wondered what the elements were ...

[rvpopeye]

A screwdriver and/or a prybar (I don't think a phillips counts but they probably should add a cordless sawzall)

[TrainChaser]

MN C Van is correct. Possession of lock picks without a license can put you in the slammer in some places. Many states will overlook it, but some municipalities within those states say no-no. Investigate locally.