Tower to be awoken...

It is with great enthusiasm to mention that the downtown Fiberglass Tower will start its revival as soon as next week. According to the story it looks to be the top 11 floors to get the fresh look and turned into 1 or 2 bedroom apartments. I've lived here in Toledo for the past 17 years and I always wondered why that building sat there empty. My wife (a life long Toledoan) informed me of the many reasons why it was vacant. On one of our walks through downtown we stopped by the tower where on Thursdays many food trucks come out and park along N. St. Clair street adjacent to the tower. While eating our food I noticed that the parking garage also owned by the Eydes had what looks to be retail spaces. My wife informed me that at one point those used to to have businesses and people would visit. Now the article and news release does not mention if they will be refinishing the retail spaces but it would add a whole new factor to the area. Especially with Promedica already underway with their construction of their new headquarters. A few retail/restaurants would be promising for the 600+ employees coming into downtown to work for Promedica. Exciting times ahead - so looking forward to seeing this completed. M.R.

Ubering 08/13/2016...

Good afternoon everyone.

First and foremost the following happened at 1:00 am this morning. I was requested to pick up a gentleman by the name of Ben from an excellent restaurant here in Toledo by the name of Sakura. During the ride to his home in downtown Toledo we had shared what's appropriate for a co-workers/partner to discuss when not with the main contributor of the company present. We agreed on so many levels which led us to discuss the partnership of several businesses that are starting to sprout in downtown. There is an old building by name of "The Berdan Building" that is being renovated. Ben informed me that it will have 112 apartments and the first floor will be dedicated to retail and a restaurant. I for one think that would be excellent for any resident in the downtown area living in the building or not.

Here is what the building looked like right before they started the work. Berdan A

Here is the proposed look after the renovations. Berdan B

Even though the artist rendition looks great the building right now looks amazing. They are moving along quite quickly and seeing the way they work it should be done in no time at all. Ben and I had a great conversation during that ride. Driving for UBER is definitely an eye opener in meeting new people.

Have a safe weekend everyone. :)

Viewing the incredible...

While on a trip to Gran Rapids Ohio on Thursday I noticed that some of the roads were closed due to flooding. Now when I finally got to the village I had a chance to get a few pictures of a home that was near the river and as you can see it didn't turn out so good for that family. Then on Friday when I went to make a delivery to one of our affiliates I noticed the Maumee river was way over it's height. I have not had a chance to go back and see what the level looks like now but I plan on going over tomorrow and seeing what the river looks like now.

Someone actually understands...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said this week that if elected president he would punish states that provide illegal immigrants with tuition breaks or those that issue them driver's licenses.

I can't for the life of me understand how those states that offer the licenses and tuition breaks to illegal immigrants can actually think that what they're doing is okay. We as a nation have laws that were created to better this country, I can imagine the outrage of the immigrants who are taking the time to enter this country "Legally" when they watch the news and hear that illegals get rights from this country by simply breaking the law. That has to be the biggest disappointment ever to know that a country that is strong in diversity can't manage to keep themselves protected from border crossers. Most immigrants are coming here to leave the world they know of where border crossers come and disrupt the flow of life by either killing people for the wrong reason or for any reason. Here they are now entering what is known as the 'Liberty and Freedom Country' the legal way and they find themselves witnessing illegal border crossings which they have already seen before and they can only assume that this isn't going to end up good. I can't blame them for coming to that conclusion because the truth of the matter is slapping us right in the face. Let's not keep the blinders on and think that we're a okay - just remember 9-11-01. Watch the complete interview below and you decide what it is you want in a president.
VIDEO

Veteran Ben Israel...

About 44,000 to 64,000 veterans are classified as "chronically homeless" -- homeless for long periods or repeatedly.
Other veterans -- nearly 468,000 -- are experiencing "severe housing cost burden," or paying more than half their income for housing, thereby putting them at a high risk for homelessness.

This past weekend my wife and I volunteered at the Annual Tent City here in downtown Toledo, OH. She and I helped serve many of those very same vets as well as non-vets. The sight of seeing that many homeless individuals brought out a lot of volunteers as well as many organized groups to help out. We intend on donating time, energy and money to help those who need the extra leverage to get back on their feet. Watching the video I can hear it in Mr. Israel's voice that he has experienced one too many rough nights. If you are currently helping those who are in need of help I would like to say Thank You, if you have been thinking about it but haven't found the time to do so please try to make the time, you'll see the difference your help brings to their eyes and hearts.
VIDEO

Will it end?

Watching the news coverage last night and this morning the one thing in my mind and heart was the safety of the people involved whether it's home owners, neighbors or the brave firefighters fighting this fire with all their might. They have reported that only one life was lost thus far, my hope is that it stays at that number and does not increase as time goes on. I also hope that these brave fighters are being rotated so that exhaustion doesn't partner up with this furious fire. I have posted before about how home owners can try and prevent something like this from happening by simply running a hose line over your house that would act as a sprinkler of sorts to keep the home damp while the fire rushes by. In the end a lot will be lost but the families will continue living together safe and sound.

Not so pleasant in Pleasantville...

- Jayson G. Adams
- James T. McCormick
- James A. Pressley
- Rafael Velez
- Maurice Callaway
- Keith O. Reed
- Marcellus Jackson
- Jonathan Soto
- Mims Hackett Jr.
- Alfred E. Steele
- Samuel Rivera
What due the names above have in common? Give-up? They are all guilty of accepting corrupt payments from companies that offered insurance brokerage or roofing services to school districts and municipalities. This story will definitely be under my radar, I want to know the full story and what were they thinking when they did that. Actually the true question is how long have they been doing this and who else is involved that is not being mentioned and who has been doing this kind of swinging before them?
There's going to be a press conference at 3:30pm est in front of the federal courthouse in Trenton - and I thought the day was going to be boring HA.
Watch the VIDEO to hear the players of this disgrace.

Not a bad idea...

Something like this could easily help neighborhoods out there keep drivers from going to fast down residential streets. If you're wondering what I'm talking about click on the title and read what I believe is an awesome idea. This gentleman creates life size cut outs of just about anything. He has a few of his kids and he had them placed outside on his lawn. He had them placed by the road so that potential customers would get a close look of what he is creating. Well he noticed right away that most of the cars that usually drive fast on his road seemed to slow down because they thought that the cut outs were actual kids. He is on to something and hopefully people will buy them to protect their neighborhoods. I have an individual that loves to speed down my road about twice a day, if I buy one I'm pretty sure he'll stop being a jerk-off and actually slow down.

An interesting perspective...

This certainly puts things in perspective!

A Sad Parallel...

I bought a bird feeder.
I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed.
Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the
continuous flow of free and easily accessible food.

But then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio,
above the table, and next to the barbecue.
Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs,
the table...everywhere.
Then some of the birds turned mean: They would dive bomb me and try to
peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket.
And others birds were boisterous and loud: They sat on the feeder and
squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded
that I fill it when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. I took
down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone.
I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all
over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like it used to be...quiet, serene and no one
demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now lets see...our government gives out free food, subsidized housing,
free medical care,
free education and allows anyone born here to be a automatic citizen.
Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands.

Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments
are housing 5 families:
you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor:
you child's 2nd grade class is behind other schools because over half
the class doesn't speak English:

Corn Flakes now come in a bilingual box;
I have to press "one" to hear my bank talk to me
in English, and people waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking and
screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.

Maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder

Treasures hidden from the world...

I received this information from a co-worker today, my first reaction was WOW. All this time and no one knew what was inside. A true fairy tale.

A New York man retired. He wanted to use his retirement money wisely, so it would last, and decided to buy a home and a few acres in Portugal. The modest farmhouse had been vacant for 15yrs.; the owner and wife both had died, and there were no heirs. The house was sold to pay taxes. There had been several lookers, but the large barn had steel doors, and they had been welded shut. Nobody wanted to go to the extra expense to see what was in the barn, and it wasn't complimentary to the property anyway...... so, nobody made an offer on the place.
The NY guy bought it at just over half of the property's worth, moved in, and set about to tear into the barn....... curiosity was killing him.
So, he and his wife bought a generator, and a couple of grinders.......and cut through the welds.

What was in the barn...............?
Click HERE and see for yourself what was inside.

I'm going to do a little more research and try to find out what they did with the items.

Sleeping Grandson Killed...

I would of never thought that something like this would be possible. I know that most people say that there's always a first but come on now, I'm curious as to what went down that triggered her to shoot the man and then set the house on fire. I have had many arguments with my mom and grandmother but I would never get in a heavy argument if I knew that sleeping would be a sign of weakness. Someone has to file some sort of appeal to get her to say what happened that day. Just when you thought you saw it all.

84-sq. ft. dream home...

This story comes to you from Olympia, Washington. A woman who says she doesn't really need anything except for a smaller place has done so by building herself a small home and relying on solar energy and a propane tank to run her day to day utilities and uses. Dee Williams is quite content with her home and doesn't see the need to have a large home. I know a few friends of mine back in Connecticut that would probably do this just to save some money on expenses as well. Someone making $35-$40 thousand a year can find themselves having a lot of money in the bank that can be used on other necessities. As the cliche goes "You Go Girl".

Can I Borrow $225,000?

The title to this post sounds a bit extreme but if I were to live in that part of New York then that's what I would be asking for because there is no way that I would pay that much for a parking spot.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Parking spaces in New York cost as much as $225,000 and could soon be going higher still, putting the cost for the prime spots above the price tag of the typical U.S. home price.

Manhattan real estate agent Tom Postilio said there is a waiting list of seven or eight people hoping to pay $225,000 for one of five private parking spaces that has been approved in the basement of 246 West 17th Street, a 34-unit condo development scheduled for completion next January.

If the money that these few people have is burning a hole in their pockets the please by all means send me the money and I will be sure to save you a spot here in Toledo if you were to visit in the near future. You can send it under a title like "The Bettering of Roman Fund". I would gladly take the money and make necessary improvements and I will also make sure to send a special thank you letter and an update of what's going on.
:)

Wired Homes - Living Homes...

My first reaction is WOW! If money wasn't an issue I definitely would love to own a home just like this. Watch the video and see what it is that I'm talking about.
Click here for the TOUR
The gentleman presenting the tour and also does the narrating goes by the name of Steve Glenn. He does an excellent job at presenting the home in a serious and yet a funny manner. Watch the entire tour and give me your opinion on the home, for those of you who don't like the open look of a home this may not interest you but for those who love a great look as well as an excellent way to recycle material please view and enjoy.

Vonage...

One of the popular phone services out there that is practically a house hold name is Vonage. They have an excellent section that include reviews, forums and news. If those of you who are current customers you may want to participate Thursday May 10th for the announcement from Management who will host a webcast discussion of the quarter's outcome at 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time. In order to participate, please dial 800-811-8830 roughly ten minutes prior to the call, for international callers please dial the following (913) 981-4904. Come and join in on the latest discussions and press releases.