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Some of the technology being used is based on an “AVM” or automatic valuation formula. AVM is what Zillow is using when displaying their famous or infamous “Zestimates“. It is a formula which gives a home value sight unseen. Is it accurate?…well not always. AVM’s tend to be much more accurate in parts of the country where the  home construction is more “cookie cutter” then here in the Northeast, which is full of varying types and ages of home construction.

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Anyway…back to Homesnap. This app is the fastest way I know to get information about homes as one is traveling and spots a home that you find interesting or attractive in your home search. No more remembering an address or a company. Just take a picture with your phone and voila you are empowered with all the available listing information. Check it out and let me know if you find it useful. Of course it is free

City of Gloucester Website - Home page

“click” on the tab (left side of page) that says “online services”.  That will bring you to this page:

City of Gloucester Website - Online services page

The property tax records and water/sewer bills can all be accessed by “clicking” on the highlighted type.

The next page will then ask you for your address or parcel ID number.

City of Gloucester address page for online tax records

If you are unfamiliar with your parcel ID number, it can be found in the “assessors” records online , on a tax or water bill or by calling our helpful Gloucester assessors office. Fill in the address and voila the computer does what computers do and you have your annual records in front of you!

“Sea Smoke” is the “fog” one sees rising from the ocean when the air is much colder then the water. It is very difficult to photograph due to its transient, hazy properties. It is most common at sunrise, usually the coldest period of the evening. As the sunlight warms the air the temperature, the temperature difference between the air and water tends to moderate and the wafting, steamy quality of this event disappears.

Wikipedia describes the phenomena in the following manner: Evaporation from exposed water surface depends upon its vapor pressure. If the water temperature is greater than that of the nearby air, the evaporation continues faster than the air can absorb the water vapor, even though the cool air’s relative humidity is 100%. This further evaporates immediately and re-condenses as visible fog, which rises up in convective currents.The conditions required for such fog formation include not only low surface temperature but also a preexisting surface inversion of temperature to inhibit the rapid development of instability.

Not only is Sea Smoke difficult to capture on film it is downright eerie in person and an accurate predictor of one cold morning here in Gloucester!!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It is unique in the fact that it offers so many varieties of water views from its singularly spectacular location. It sits on a peninsula facing south with views in every direction. This means that sunrises and sunsets can both be seen from this property. The water views that can be found at this location are many: open ocean, Boston skyline, up the  Annisquam River and working waterfront all from one vantage point. The lot size is small (2,740 sf) and the home has not changed hands since 1963. Assessed at $440,700 and priced to reflect the value of a 360 degree water view in Gloucester MA homes at $2.4 million, one thing can be assured:the taxes will be changing after this sale!

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it is a painting technique. It is painting a light color over a dark color using a dry brush & dryish paint on a textured surface. Ultimately is creates a “soft” look.

Scumbling by Melody Phaneuf

It is used to create a light or a veiled effect. Melody Phaneuf uses it in her work in both ways and especially in her snow paintings. In Melodys paintings the effect she achieves with her oil work has been compared to the “softness” of working with pastels. Scumbling is used to create a “fuzzy” effect, a translucent effect or in the case of the Dutch Masters the light effect.

Still curious about scumbling? Melody Phaneuf has a Snow exhibit currently displayed at Bank Gloucester (160 Main St., Gloucester MA 01930) where this technique is instantly recognizable!

She's Holiday shopping again?

Electronics shopping and needing help, I’m leaning heavily on consumer and editor reviews. I don’t have the time or energy to research every detail of every electronic gizmo it seems I need in my personal or professional life. Why not depend on some else’s experience and expertise? The two sites I’ve been leaning on are amazon.com and CNET.com. Consumerwise, I must find safety in numbers. I love amazon.com due to the sheer volume of consumer reviews they provide for so very many items. I checked many review sites for the particular item I was recently purchasing but nothing can match the volume of reviews at amazon. I’ve been to epinions.com, reviewgist.com, buzzillions.com and viewpoints.com in search of a particular item review but none of them offer as many reviews as amazon consistently does.

The other site I admire for electronic reviews is CNET.com. I like the way the editor matter of factly provides a video for so many item reviews. Not only do I find the video representation comforting (real live people holding the actual item), they actually sound like they know what they are talking about! I find that very satisfying considering I’m sure I would be at a loss for words if someone asked me to explain simple electricity much less how something like a cell phone or a bluetooth headset actually works.  My holiday electronics shopping website list  is short but the two together:

amazon.com for consumer reviews

CNET.com for editorial reviews

 have simplified my life, provide a consensus and made electronics shopping (electronically!) easy.

Kings wood in a Gloucester MA attic

Ever wonder about those really, really, wide pine floors we find in our New England homes? They have a very interesting history in our country. Interestingly, enough they may have been just as influential in the American Revolution as the Boston Tea Party! The British fell in love with the white Pine species of trees for their usefulness as light, strong and exceedingly tall masts of sailing ships, & the British Navy. They were considered so valuable that the “Kings men” (militia) went through the virgin New England forests marking the most desirable trees (widest & tallest) to be saved for shipment to the British Monarch. Three hatchet marks in the shape of an arrow was called The Kings Broad Arrow”. These trees (24 inches or more in diameter) were so important that they were mentioned in The Charter of Massachusetts Bay 1691.

The Broad Arrow

Predictably over time, the colonists became less and less willing to surrender the resources of the colonies to the British Monarch. They began ignoring the Kings Mark and harvesting these premier trees for them selves and using it for their own needs, which were usually for building structures instead of supporting the British monarchy and its Navy. It became more and more apparent to the British they were fighting a losing battle as the trees mysteriously disappeared and the New England forests became devoid of the tallest and widest white pine trees.

And now comes the part we are slightly familiar with. The King decided to tax the colonists on the width of the boards in their homes…with a caveat. The Kings men inspecting the homes for board width(s) were not allowed to go beyond the first floor of the home or structure. The colonists (not being dumb) then proceeded to use all the “best wood” or widest boards on the second & third floors. Hence, many of our second and third floors in our oldest homes in New England have incredibly wide floor boards. A little repeated fact is that this floor tax caused The Pine Tree Riot which was a precursor to the Boston Tea Party!