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wa: David Lanz Benefit Concert (Bellingham, WA) December 12th - 11/27/10 04:58 PM
Back a month ago, I wrote an article stating that, from what I could tell, David Lanz, the Grammy nominated and best selling pianist who lives in Bellingham, would not be doing a local Christmas-time performance this year.
Good news for locals: Recently it was announced that Lanz will be performing a benefit at the local, intimate music venue, the Amadeus Project, on December 12, a Sunday. There will be two shows, one at 3pm and another at 7pm. For tickets visit: wwwdavidlanz.com.
You can almost be assured that David will play, along with holiday favorites, his best selling and … (5 comments)
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wa: Scandinavian Fair (11th Annual) Bellingham, WA - 10/31/10 03:53 PM
The Scandinavian Fair is one event that I take part in, when I get the chance, every year. I fess up that I am not Scandinavian. And I do not, necessarily, go to the event for the colorful and warm atmosphere. I admit it, I go for the food. Have you ever seen and tasted all those wonderful cookies, assorted sweets, pastries and deserts that the Scandinavian women bake? Treats like these are a big part of the Scandinavian Fair. The local Scandinavian Fair is hosted by the Daughters of Norway #41. Along with the bakery goods, the event includes plenty … (6 comments)
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wa: Bellingham Memories -- Buffalo Bill Rides Again - 03/12/09 08:38 AM
Okay, I have to confess. I am not old enough to remember Buffalo Bill's show (my friend Charlie Buell is). My father, who passed away seven years ago at 104 years of age, had actually seen Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Bill's traveling circus had a 30 year run beginning in 1883. My dad told me that, when he was a kid, that show was one big deal -- a must see attraction. My dad was born in 1898, and he lived in three centuries, but he remembered Buffalo Bill's show.
In my early days in Bellingham, circa late 1950's, everybody knew … (8 comments)
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wa: Washington State Home Inspector Licensing Board, Changing Business Practices Sub-Committee - 09/08/08 10:08 PM
The State Department of Licensing has announced another sub-committee meeting, to take place on Wednesday, September 10th. This sub-committee is the one that focuses on Changing Business Practices, as home inspector licensing becomes a reality in the state.
The meeting time is 1PM to 4PM at the Double Tree Inn, Seattle. The address is 18740 International Blvd. Members of this committee include Bruce Macintosh, Michael O' Handley and Stephen Cancler, all from the greater Seattle metro area.
Issues on the agenda include -- Standards of practice; Professional conduct; Ethics; Written reports; Advertising standards and related business issues.
Since space is limited, those members of … (2 comments)
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wa: Point Roberts bomb story - 07/04/07 10:52 AM
Those of you who read my blogs know that I spend a fair bit of my time inspecting homes in Point Roberts. Getting there is a chore. It is a US city, landlocked,and to get there from the USA one has to first cross into Canada and then back into the USA at Point Roberts. It is a sleepy little community right on the water. While not an island, it is on "island time". Easy going, slow lifestyle. With that in mind, a story from the local newspaper was an eye catcher -- they thought that a bomb had been found in Point Roberts. … (2 comments)
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wa: Let Me Take You Down: Crawl Space Horrors, pt 2 (this photo might gross you out) - 06/30/07 06:20 PM
Yesterday, when I posted part one of my blog "Crawl space horrors" I saw that there were lots of comments among non home inspectors about what we see down there. It seems there is an uneasy fascination with crawl spaces, like with horror movies -- fun to speculate and watch but do not send me down there. Realtors made comments about inspectors telling them of skeletal remains. I have seen cats, rats, raccoons, mice and a skunk in that state. Obviously the more skeletal, the better. It can be startling but you get jaded to it and I wear a respirator, so that … (8 comments)
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wa: Furnace safety - 06/30/07 10:38 AM
I will be the first to say that I am not an HVAC professional. Fortunately, to be a home inspector I do not need to know how to repair every problem that comes up with buildings, including their appliances. The job of the inspector is not to be a repair professional, but to recognize problems so they can be resolved by professionals in the given field: Electrical, Plumbing, Carpentry, HVAC, etc. We look for warning signs. And one great big warning sign, if it is found inside the housing of a furnace, is white condensate that looks kind of like salt. … (4 comments)
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wa: Up on the rooftop - 06/29/07 05:50 PM
We home inspectors spend lots of time up on rooftops. What we are usually looking at is the installation of, and the condition of, the roofing materials. That includes the flashings, appurtenances, the chimneys, B-vents and other things that we can see up on the roof. One of the things we look for is sewer venting. Proper venting is crucial if the drains are going to work properly. You have, in real life, probably experienced the scientific principle this is based on. I remember, as a kid, trying to pour Hawaiian punch into a cup from a big can, with only … (0 comments)
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wa: Railroad Avenue, Bellingham - 06/26/07 12:12 PM
There is always something happening on Railroad Avenue. It might be good and it might be bad, but something will be going on. Railroad, historically, was a center for street car and train operations in Bellingham. Those industrial uses are gone and today it has a huge assortment of people -- street people to professionals -- and there are a number of shops. Most of them are related to food: coffee, bread, bagels, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then there are the specialty stores, mixed in with the pawn shop, that sell jewelry and boutique clothing. The city has spruced the area … (1 comments)
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wa: Boring details, part II - 06/24/07 04:43 PM
Yesterday I wrote about bonding of electric panels, main panels and distribution or sub-panels. That post showed a sub-panel that had the neutrals and the grounds connected, which was incorrectly done. Below, is a photo of a correctly wired sub-panel. The neutral buss (left) and the ground buss (right) are not bonded to one another and the wiring is neatly done. If you are joining this blog in progress, and wondering what this boring stuff is all about, the article that introduced the topic is here: Bellingham home inspector on bonding.
Thanks for snoozing,
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham WA Home Inspectorwww.kingofthehouse.com
… (2 comments)
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wa: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House): Boring details - 06/23/07 06:09 PM
I have to be careful here that I do not make this too boring, as it is more detail oriented than what I would normally write about at a non-technical forum. If you are a realtor, have you ever had an inspection report where the inspector made some comment about the "bonding"? While similar to grounding, bonding is not identical. A bond, in essence, takes two metal surfaces to the same electrical potential vs establishing an earth ground. The earth ground is the electrode out by the meter. The bond is that wire and clamp at the water pipes and/or the gas … (1 comments)
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wa: Peace Arch Park, Blaine WA - 06/22/07 10:34 PM
When I drive to Point Roberts to do home inspections, or just to visit the Vancouver BC metro for a show, I usually go through the border at Blaine, although there are a number of other border crossings in the county as well. Peach Arch Park, known for the world famous Peace Arch of course, is always pretty. The park extends from the US side across to the Canada side. The divider is just about the center of the Peach Arch, from the side that is. I have gone through it several times a year, for about 50 plus years and … (0 comments)
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wa: Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts, WA - 06/20/07 06:31 PM
Lighthouse Marine Park is a Whatcom County Park that many Whatcom County residents have never visited. Why? Because it is in Point Roberts, and it takes some effort to get there. Many locals never take the trek by venturing across the Canadian border at Blaine and then heading back into the USA at the Point Roberts port of entry. It is a more complicated trip than a person might like, but Lighthouse Marine Park has lots to offer. There are tremendous water views, a boardwalk, an orca center, picnic areas, a beach. The city probably has more visitors from Canada, than … (3 comments)
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wa: Gossage Garden, Bellingham - 06/20/07 06:14 PM
There is a pretty little neighborhood garden,right along Cornwall Avenue, which is one of the main streets in Bellingham. Actually, it is at the intersection of Cornwall, Alabama and F streets. This is Gossage Park and it is a colorful monument to the fact that you are entering into the letter street neighborhood -- at least if you turn down F street. This park is neatly tended and the photos depict the charm. Take a close look at the gardener, she works 24 hours per day, seven days a week, and never takes any breaks.
Thanks for looking.
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham Home Inspectorwww.kingofthehouse.com
… (0 comments)
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wa: I want you to see my mussels! - 06/18/07 09:02 AM
Well, I am off across the border this morning. That is an odd thing about working out of Bellingham, hopping over to Point Roberts: going out of the US, into Canada, and then back into the US. Then reversing that to get home. If one was afraid of the customs, or had a record to hide, it would be a white knuckle trip. Fortunately that is not the case. Before I head out, I wanted to post regarding another popular shellfish that is excellent quality in our cold waters of this region. Last week I wrote about an oyster farm. Oysters … (2 comments)
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wa: Bellingham, WA -- This time long ago, White City Amusement Park - 06/17/07 02:22 PM
In the Silver Beach neighborhood by Lake Whatcom, 101 years ago, White City Amusement Park was built. It closed in 1919. Having been in this region since I was a child, I knew people over the years who remembered and told me about the excitement of this great amusement park. We have never had anything like it since. This was not some dinky site, but spectacular. There was the Silver Beach Hotel nearby and it was serviced by the street car. There was a large wooden roller coaster ( I mean big not like at the carnival) and a ferris wheel … (4 comments)
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wa: Air accidents, pilots and a city park - 06/17/07 01:49 AM
Carl Lobe Park, in Bellingham, is a tiny park in the Columbia-Eldridge neighborhood --children's play equipment and a small ball field. This park has been around as long as I can remember, but most people have no clue who it was named after. Who was Carl Lobe? Information is scarce. When I was young there was a big furniture store in town. It was called BB Furniture. Years later that was changed to Van's BB Furniture. The tall building is still in town, on Bay Street. Veco Engineering has occupied it for years. The Lobe family owned this business. They had a … (0 comments)
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wa: An oyster a day - 06/16/07 10:30 AM
I remember, back to the 1950's, when my aunt worked at an oyster farm on Chuckanut Drive. At the time, it was called Rockpoint Oysters. Well, it has changed hands but, and I swear, some of the best oysters you will get anywhere are farmed right here in our corner of the northwest. The cold waters and ideal conditions make them delectable. The farm is still going full swing, bigger than ever, and run by Taylor Shellfish out of Shelton, WA. If oysters are not to your taste, they also sell fresh crab, Manila clams and Mediterranean mussels. Personally, I like them … (4 comments)
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wa: Where do all the vegetables come from? - 06/16/07 10:27 AM
Recently I wrote a blog about a nursery, with great flowers, here in Bellingham. This time, I am switching to vegetables. Clear back when I was a child, my mother would talk about getting produce from Joe's Garden, over on the south side. It was operated by an immigrant from Italy, Joe Bertero. He came to Bellingham by way of San Francisco and he and his wife Ann began the small farm about 1927. Joe's sells fresh peas, tomatoes, corn, carrots and lots of other northwest produce. Somewhere along the way, Joe's also began supplying produce and plant starts to local supermarkets … (2 comments)
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wa: Edison 50 years later - 06/15/07 08:08 PM
As a Bellingham Home Inspector, I was in the Bow, Edison area today, so I thought I would take a couple photos. This is my old stomping grounds, from when I was a kid. It seemed like all my relatives lived down there and I used to visit them almost every weekend. Unlike most communities today, it really hasn't changed much over the last 50 years. Time has almost stood still. Bow, Edison goes back to about 1902, when the Great Northern Railroad decided to route the tracks along the foot of the water and mountains along Chuckanut. If you are going south on … (1 comments)
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Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector
Bellingham,
WA
More about me…
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc
Address: Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, Sumas, Nooksack, Lake Whatcom, Lake Samish, Anacortes, Mount Vernon, Whatcom County, Bellingham, WA, 98225
Office Phone: (360) 676-6908
Cell Phone: (360) 319-0038
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