Thank you to all who have made 2008 quite memorable! It will be facinating to see what the New Year brings the mortgage industry.
Mortgage Master is closed today and will reopen for business as usual on January 2, 2009.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
December 24, 2008 by Leave a Comment
From my home to yours, I hope you are surrounded by those you love most during this holiday season.
Mortgage Master will be closing early today at 1:00 p.m. in honor of Christmas and will be reopening for business as usual at 9:00 a.m. Friday, December 26, 2008.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Photo: Orson taking a Christmas break.
Social Media and Seattle’s Snowpocalypse
December 22, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Are you feeling like you've been trapped in snow globe and you can't get out? Do 
you have images from The Shining playing in your head? I'm a Puget Sound native and for life of me, I cannot recall so much prolonged snow! It's beautiful and I've enjoyed taking pictures (check out my snow album) but I'm ready for some rain!
On a side note, it's been fascinating to see the level of communication that has taken place about our weather via blogs and other forms of social media, like Twitter, from the public to our local government.
I've received emails from the City of Seattle and King County over the past few days with request to post safety tips for my "community" of readers. They are utilizing bloggers to help spread their message. In my neighborhood, West Seattle Bloghas done a phenomenal job (as they always do) keeping everyone up to date and sharing stories about our local weather (and more). I believe it was our big winter storm of 2006 that really catapulted WSB's readership. If you have an neighborhood blog, this is one reason alone to subscribe. Just this morning, I became aware of the Seattle Transit Blog.
If you're a long time reader of Mortgage Porter, you may be aware of the interest rate updates I quote. Twitter allows you to post live updates of whatever you're doing in 140 characters or less. Just like a blog, you can subscribe (or "follow") what the author has to say. Local folks I'm following on Twitter who have helped with information on the storm are:
West Seattle Blog (@westseattleblog)
Washington State DOT (@wsdot)
King County News (@kingcountynews)
Seattle Department of Transportation – Snow (@sdotsnow)
Seattle Times @seattletimes
Seattle PI @seattlepi
and don't forget Mortgage Porter (@mortgageporter)
Last, but not least, you can search terms on Twitter using "Twitter Search". Twitter-er's will use the # sign to create a short code/phrase that can be used to follow a specific event or thing. For this storm, the code is "#seatst". Whenever someone posts a comment (aka tweet) on Twitter about this storm, if they include #seatst. When you enter #seatst in the search field on the Twitter search page, you'll see a list of what EVERYONE is saying right now about the storm.
Do you have a Twitter profile?
Tips for being prepared for this weekend’s snow storm
December 20, 2008 by Leave a Comment
I just received this email from King County with a request to post this safety information on my blogs for our local community:
Are you prepared? Steps to stay safe in this weekend's storm
With high winds forecast for this weekend and possible power outages, it's time to take steps to stay save and avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
How to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning
Carbon monoxide can kill you or cause serious injury. Carbon monoxide gas comes from burning fuels such as gasoline, propane, oil, kerosene, natural gas, coal or wood. Here are some steps to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Never use a gas or charcoal grill, hibachi, or portable propane heater to cook indoors or heat your home.
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During a power outage or at any other time, do not operate fuel-powered machinery such as a generator indoors, including in the garage.
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Avoid combustion "space heaters" unless there is an exhaust vent.
Carbon monoxide poisoning can strike suddenly and without warning. In some cases, physical symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning may include splitting headache, nausea and vomiting, and lethargy and fatigue. If you believe you could be experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning, get fresh air immediately. Call for medical help from a neighbors home. The fire department will tell you when it's safe to reenter the home.
For a full list of carbon monoxide prevention tips and other safety and disaster information in English and other languages, visit www.kingcounty.gov/health/disaster
Other important safety tips
- Make sure you are wearing enough warm clothing before going outdoors. Wind speed can create dangerously cold conditions even when the temperature is not that low.
- If you think power will be out for several days, check with your city for location of warming shelters.
- Watch for signs of frostbite and hypothermia-slurred speech, confusion, uncontrollable shivering, stumbling, drowsiness and body temperature of 95 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Get medical help immediately if you think someone has frostbite or hypothermia.
- Check on elderly friends, family, and neighbors to make sure they are safe.
- If power goes out where you live, keep food safe by keeping the doors closed on your refrigerators and freezers as much as possible. A full freezer can stay at freezing temperatures about two days'' a half-full freezer about 1 day. Potentially hazardous foods, like meet and fish, should be discarded if thawed and warmer than 41 degrees.
Veteran’s Day
November 11, 2008 by Leave a Comment
Mortgage Master is closed today in observance of Veteran’s Day to honor those who serve our Country to protect our freedom.
This photo is of Lady Liberty at Alki in West Seattle. A gift from the Boy Scouts in 1952, she was recently restored to her original beauty.
