Steven L. Smith's Blog

The problem is that, sometimes, the big picture is expansive enough -- such a broad focus -- that defects are not that apparent, or they come at you from left field. Below is a good example This is a brand new house in a development. When I arrived, the realtor was parked in the driveway, off to the right side.

My first thoughts were that the concrete looked good, new and all, so my suspicions were not running high. A few minutes later, the realtor exited the driveway and, in so doing, his truck ran OFF the curb. What?

Take a look below. The tape in the photo is a bit crooked, but it illustrates the point. If you line up the right edge of the vehicle door with the driveway, and drive straight back, the vehicle will run over the curb and down onto the storm drain. 

Someone suggested to me that this was a problem, mainly, because they had not planted a tree in that little square of grass. I do not know that a tree would exactly thrive there but, also, then you would back into the tree. I do not know what the builder is going to do on this one as the clients really would rather not deal with this problem over the years, personally, and when they have company.

Let me suffice to say that I am glad that this came to my attention. The inspector is so busy looking at everything, checking out the concrete, flashings, etc, that it is easy to miss something this subtle in the big picture. You do not normally have to line up the garage door with the very end of the driveway.

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

Little Anthony, Anthony being Anthony Gourdine, and friends formed a vocal group in 1954. They competed in battles of the bands against other performers of that era, including the legendary Frankie Lyman. Anthony had talent, garnered attention, and was signed by a record label.

The group that Anthony started eventually became Little Anthony and the Imperials. They had a bonofide big hit in 1958 when Tears on My Pillow sold a million copies. My favorite of the Little Anthony songs was recorded in 1964. Yep, there they were, a group from the 1950's scoring a #6 pop hit in the 1960's.

Since he was the star, and the singer, I guess we ought to play the song that Anthony himself said was his best ever recording. It was a hit in 1965 and climbed both the pop and the R&B charts.

I saw a newspaper advertisement today and, low and behold, Little Anthony and the Imperials will be performing just south of here, at the Skagit Valley Casino, on May 29. Many people from Bellingham and Skagit County frequent the shows at that casino. The next video, which looks pretty recent, indicates that the guys can still go through the paces and strut their stuff. This song, originally, was a hit in 1959. You got to love the words and beat on this one. My certifried assistant and his buddy, Charles Buell, can really do the Shimmy Shimmy Koko Bop. How about you?

For more "Stories Behind the Music" click on the guitar

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

Let us leave Africa behind. The most famous pirate of them all was Blackbeard. I am wondering how many of you realize that many of Blackbeard's dastardly deeds took place right here in the Americas.

At the end of the 17th century, wars were ending in Europe and one time privateers -- essentially pirates who worked for governments -- were finding themselves without gainful employment. Blackbeard fits that category.

Little is known about Blackbeard, but his legend is strong. Historians do not know for sure if he was born in Jamaica or, more likely, if he came from Bristol, England. They believe that his name was Edward Teach. This was the golden age of pirates and many of them, including Blackbeard, preyed on merchant ships. Popular pirate routes were waters in the Caribbean and those off the Atlantic coast of North America. 

What is a pirate without a ship? Initially, Blackbeard captured a French ship off the coast of Africa. He rechristened the "Concorde" as the "Queen Anne's Revenge" and it became his flag ship. The pirate crew numbered three hundred and the ship had an arsenal of forty guns.

 Blackbeard (Teach), to make his job easier, cultivated the image of a cut-throat brute. He realized that the crews on merchant ships were more likely to surrender peacefully if he was fearsome. To augment his brutal reputation, Teach went into battle with cords or fuses tied into his beard. These were lit so his whole head was smoking. He must have looked like the devil himself.

In 1718, Blackbeard vanished. There is no record of that missing time. But, not to fear, he resurfaced when he led a fleet of eight ships into Charleston harbor, in the Americas. Remember we were British colonies back then. The pirate blockaded the port for weeks and held some of the town's leading citizens for ransom. Teach did not want gold, silver or jewels -- typical booty -- he wanted medicine. Finally, Blackbeard aimed all of his guns on the town and, at that time, the medicine was delivered to his ship.

Legend is that 300 years ago, Blackbeard lived in a house in Beaufort, North Carolina. The house is still standing and it is known as "the Hammock House." It is a ghostly story that you can read if you click on the house below.

Blackbeard arrived at Ocracoke Island on the outer banks of North Carolina.  His initial plan was to retire and to receive a pardon from the king. He had too many pirates in tow to achieve that goal. Being clever, Teach ran Queen Anne's Revenge aground. At that time, he divested himself of many of the excess pirates and he took more than his share of the booty. Teach, and a few of his pirates, sailed on to Bath Towne where the governor pardoned the famous pirate.

Blackbeard lived the celebrity life of a retired pirate. He even got married to a young woman and turned over a new leaf -- becoming a smuggler instead of a pirate. His operation was based at Ocracoke Island. Problem is, it is hard to take the pirate out of the man and, within a short while, Blackbeard was back to his old ways. He had a new ship and Teach was committing acts of piracy and his celebrity had turned Ocracoke Island into a pirate's den. Townspeople were very afraid. Pirates from all over were coming ashore just to party with the big guy.

The British Navy was responsive and they decided to deal with Blackbeard and the pirates. In 1718, Lieutenant Maynard and fifty-eight men engaged in a battle with Blackbeard and twenty pirates. Blackbeard died in the battle. He was shot and stabbed several times. Maynard then beheaded the famous pirate and hung the head on the ship for public display. Perhaps the last legend of Blackbeard -- and I believe it for sure -- is that the pirate's headless torso, when it was tossed in the water, swam around the ship seven times before it sank down into the depths of the ocean.

The legend of Blackbeard is still alive at Ocracoke Island in North Carolina. You can imagine that there are many tourists who are fascinated by this most famous of all pirates who was operating in the land that would become America. Click on Blackbeard's flag to visit Ocracoke Island today, where Blackbeard lives on.

In 1952, Hollywood took on the legend of Blackbeard. Robert Newton's accent has shaped our perception of "pirate-speak" for more than half a century. You might get a kick out of the film trailer.

Also, there is an underwater recovery operation taking place. It began around 1996 and divers have reclaimed thousands of artifacts in Beaufort Inlet. It is believed that these are from the Queen Anne's Revenge. Below is a video of divers reclaiming one of Blackbeard's cannons.

Finally, if you would like to read the previous post on the pirates of Africa, please click on the buccaneer below.
  

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

Martha Reeves, and her friends who would become the Vandellas, did backup singing at Motown, along with Martha's clerical duties. The girls recorded with Marvin Gaye and, at that session, the owner of Motown, Berry Gordy, was impressed with Martha's voice. He decided to put out a single featuring her girl group.

Martha first heard the song that would make her famous when it was performed by Marvin Gaye. Marvin was a co-writer of the tune and, frankly, she was not impressed with the song. She agreed to record it anyway, and she put her heart into it. The anthem of the era was released in 1964 and it went right up the R&B and the pop charts. On the Billboard pop charts, it peaked at #2. You have to know this one. Baby, this was the Detroit sound.

There were a number of remakes -- the Mamas and Papas, Ramsey Lewis and Van Halen come to mind. However, the next most successful cover, and it still did not top Martha's original hit, was this crazy version by two of rocks most enduring legends. This visually stunning video helped turn a performance from the Live Aid concert into a #7 single back in 1985. Dig the cool outfits.

For more "Stories Behind the Music" click on the guitar

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

In recent years, the team has sputtered. Seattle fans have been disappointed with the performance of the team. Since Lou Pinella left, there have been a number of team managers but things just did not click. Then, we jump ahead to this year.

Hold on to your horses, stop the presses, this season the Mariners are winning. Yesterday they trounced the Los Angeles Angels, a team that has given them real problems in the past. So far this is a fun year for Seattle fans. We have on our team not only that over-achiever, Ichiro, but we have Junior, Ken Griffey Jr, back in our dugout.

Junior, along with Ichiro and A-rod, is one of the most famous and popular Mariners ever. I remember when Junior played here in Bellingham when we were part of the Mariner's farm system. Bellingham fans, to this day, head down to see Mariners games by car, bus and on the train.

It is interesting to know that superstar Ichiro, as a kid in Japan, admired Griffey. Griffey was his favorite player. It is exciting for Ichiro to be playing on the same team with Junior. You can read that human interest story here. 

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

Back then, early 1966, the record executives, being no slouches when it came to making money on a fad, wanted a song with the word "groovy" in the title. Who better to write it than two women, one of whom, Toni, was not really a woman if you were to check her I.D. The girl was only 17 years old.

The part of this story that is most amazing to me is that the song came back to life years later. I never would have expected a song, based on a word that was a fad, to be an even bigger hit 22 years later. But, that was the case. Phil Collins rode his cover version all the way to the top of the carts, for a full two weeks, in the fall of 1988. I guess that proves that "groovy" is a word for the ages. Who would've thunk it?

For more "Stories Behind the Music" click on the guitar

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

This makes the BTC offering the first, and at this point the only, course in the state that will be accepted by the DOL as basic or fundamentals training in home inspection. The Bellingham Technical College 120-hour course has received conditional approval. This helps alleviate the recent catch-22 situation that was faced by many home inspectors across the state and is explained here.

Conditional approval means that the course will need to be modified slightly in the future to better follow state recommendations. But, as that work is being done by the school, the course is approved and DOL will accept it as fundamentals training. As someone affilited with BTC, I will explain: The BTC course has been in existence for 15 years but, with the newly adapted ethics and standards of practice that are very specific to the state, the school has to do a bit more work so those changes, and a few others, are better integrated into the course content and testing. Faculty at BTC plans to re-submit those changes in the next couple of weeks. Regardless, at this point, students taking the course are assured by DOL that they will be fulfilling the mandatory state education requirements.

The BTC course is four weeks in duration. The first three weeks satisfy the 120 hours of classroom fundamentals education. The final week will satisfy the field training requirements that are, also, required by the state. Those inspectors who require fundamentals training, field training or both, should visit the BTC website. 

The next scheduled four week class will begin on May 18, 2009. Prospective students wishing further information should contact me directly:

kingofthehouse@comcast.net 

Telephone -- 360-676-6908.

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

I have always enjoyed writing. Those who read my posts know that I go on about assorted topics from home inspection to Bellingham news to national events such as aggressive Somalian pirates. Many people follow my series of histories, or tidbits, about rock and country music.

If one likes to write, and do research, blogging is easy. But, it still takes time. A while back, I discovered that the effort I put into blogging today can save me time tomorrow and down the road. Case in point below.

In the past week I wrote three posts here in the rain that described common, and relatively minor but pesky, problems that are found at home inspections. Once those posts are active here at Active Rain, I copy the URL's to those posts into my master report writing template.

Boy, does that save me time later. The language below is text taken from my last three home inspections.  By being able to link to Active Rain, to fully describe a concern and it's cure, I am in a position to save on a whole lot of monotonous typing at the keyboard.

Example 1 -- The hose bibb, north end of the home, leaked at the valve stem during a standard water pressure test. This test puts back pressure on the faucet. For additional information on this common issue, please follow the link below:

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1041188/Bellingham-Home-Inspector-King-of-the-House-My-Leaking-Hose-Bibb

 Example 2 --  The downspout at the carport does not have an extension, so it empties next to the structure. Uncontrolled run-off water is defined by the State of Washington as a conducive condition that can lead to attracting wood destroying organisms. For further information on this topic, and a recommendation for solving the problem, please follow the link below.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1041181/Bellingham-Home-Inspector-King-of-the-House-Downspout-Extensions

  Example 3 -- The receptacle outside at the S/W corner of the house requires a waterproof "in-service" cover. Presently, since the cover is open all of the time, rain can enter and damage the GFCI receptacle. For additional information on correcting this condition, please visit.

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1041184/Bellingham-Home-Inspector-King-of-the-House-In-Service-Out-of-Service 

Thanks Active Rain! The nicest thing about this method of reporting, and using one's blog, is that it saves time and it enhances the prestige of the author. When clients are sent to a detailed article on a topic that comes up on their report, they are impressed that the professional they hired writes well and is respected within the industry.

This shortcut, that actually enhances the report writing process, works great at my inspection firm and I know the same practice works for realtors and others in the industry who blog and write.

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections