Call to Action: I cannot make the home owner’s meeting due to a family obligation. I will be at my home in Pine Valley later that afternoon if you care to drop by and discuss.

POA’s have broad sweeping powers over homeowners including the right to increase dues, make assessments, and foreclose on homes. Though, voicing concerns at an POA meeting is mandatory, I feel this board will not listen as they have made their stance clear in official communications. If the board is unwilling to put a vote out to homeowners with a variety of options that consider the needs of all, I propose legal action be taken against the POA and the board. Later in this communication I have outlined a list of angles that either represent my situation or potentially those of other home owners. If you identify with one or more of the items in the list, contact me. derick@orangecaster.com.

- My View –

After having lived in Pine Valley at Lake Cypress Springs for a decade, I found myself completely removed from communications about the same time this board took over. I tried to “be included” in communications by simply getting on the email list. My attempts to do so were by directly providing my information to Pine Valley employees and sending certified USPS mail to the address(s) of record. Those efforts failed. After receiving letters at an address in Dallas, TX from a third party management company insinuating that I had unpaid invoices (ones never received at my address of record in Pine Valley), I began to get a little more assertive about figuring out what the heck was going on. Well, too little too late.

From what I can understand, a new board came in, created a new website under a new domain (not the old one where we used to post our newsletters www.pinevalleypoa.com), left the old one up, made the new one impossible to find in Google, and actually placed terms of service verbiage on the new site requiring me to provide an “irrevocable license” to my opinion and made it a violation of the terms link to the website without their written permission. Meaning, if I emailed a link to the new website to my wife so she could see what is going on, I’d have to get written permission? Since my emails have not been responded to and I disagree with the terms of service of the website, I’ll simply use the Internet to voice my opinion.

After a thorough review of the documentation that was provided, the PV POA board hired an engineering firm out of McKinney, TX to “number justify” $618,000 in replacing or upgrading every aspect of the community. These include kitchen appliances for the club house, PVC Foam infrastructure for the boat ramp, seal coating for the roads, bathroom doors at the camp grounds, and new surfacing for the pool. This approach did not include:

• A survey of who actually uses infrastructure proposed for major upgrades and repair.
• P&L data supporting that the infrastructure actually brings in money to Pine Valley or has a potential return on investment.
• Other alternatives which would include selling the boat ramp property.
• An opportunity for home owners to vote (and if they did it was posted to this website that you can’t find nor share)

Again, I would provide a link to the detailed information or put it on this website if it wasn’t expressly prohibited by the terms of service of the POA website. So, you’ll have to find the website, fill out the required information, and wait to get approved to see what I’m talking about. In the mean time, let’s talk reality.

Who uses that pool? Who uses the boat ramp? In my experience, not many. What kind of money do we make from the camp grounds? What do the numbers look like if the pool is filled with sand and the boat ramp property is sold for profit? After all, we have a State funded boat ramp within a 7 minute drive of Pine Valley which is really easy to use (PV’s has a steep incline and is a pain to use). Do we really need a new kitchen in that club house? New windows? New cabanas? What happens if we shut that down? Do these future upgrades really justify putting homeowners that fall into a variety of socioeconomic classes and life stages to expenses that could put them at financial risk in the worse economy recorded in modern history?

In terms of the roads, yes we do need to look at maintenance and repair costs. We’ve needed to look at that for a decade. We also need to look at restricting heavy equipment on it and for those who must. . .make them pay. Seal coating and other very expensive options. . . .I’d really have to see the numbers to determine return on investment.

I’ll net out my opinion:

• I disagree with raising the cost of living associated with Pine Valley during this very difficult time. Expenses should be cut in the short term. Infrastructure that is not used by the majority of the residents or is not producing revenue should be eliminated. Bad decisions from 20 years ago don’t need to be given a prolonged life.
• I disagree with this Group One / Group Two division. Us versus them. This isn’t right. The attitude of the communications from the board is not right.
• I disagree that all communications have to be through a website which is very controlling in nature. It is not accessible and has not been well communicated. Many do not have Internet access nor communicate in that way. Have the website, send an email, and post a flier on the gates like we used to always do.
• I disagree with the board’s demonstrated practice of not responding to written and email requests.
• I disagree with the timing of this entire initiative. It is unprecedented times and dropping expenses on homeowners that are not within their planned budgets is insensitive
• I disagree with letting our night and weekend person go. Security was the #1 factor that caused us to decide on a home in Pine Valley and with the current economy we need security now more than ever.

Pine Valley used to be a very pleasant place to visit where you could make a phone call, drop an email, or just stop by a board meeting and have a decent conversation. It has turned into an experience now of answering services, password protected/terms of service driven websites, and charged rhetoric. I can do that in Dallas. . . I disagree with this change as well.

I cannot condone blanket increases in the worst US economy in modern history. My family and I have one car that weighs 3,000 lbs and we enter on Friday and leave on a Sunday. We haven’t embarked upon construction projects which include the construction of private lakes, massive boat houses, land moving excavations in coves, nor projects that require 18 wheelers and cement trucks to come into Pine Valley. We also don’t pull our boat in and out parking it on the sides of the road tearing up the edges nor park large trucks on the edges of the roads. We don’t use the pool, we don’t use the club house, and we use the public boat ramp.

I am interested in exploring a number of legal angles against the Pine Valley POA and its board. If any of the following apply to you, please contact me. If:

• The POA’s assessment puts you in a financial situation that could cause you to be faced with the foreclosure of your PV property or another property.
• You have been denied request for inclusion in POA communication which has prevented you from attending key meetings or vote at board member elections
• You have received written or verbal communication insinuating you are “group two” (as listed on a recent discussion on the website) and that you feel this communication has placed pressure on you to sell your property, or was slanderous, harassing, or discriminated against you based on race, religion, or socioeconomic status.
• Your registration with the PV website has resulted in emails from third parties that violate the Federal CanSpam act.
• Forced usage of the PV website (and its terms of service) has violated your civil rights. Specific examples would be if comments or communications you have submitted have not been approved or you have been reluctant to communicate as you were not willing to provide PV with an irrevocable license to your thoughts.
• You are a current or prior employee of Pine Valley who’s name has been brought into communications (written, verbal, or on the web) that have tarnished your reputation.
• You have had a recent offer on property for sale in Pine Valley fall through due to POA dues increases or assessments.

If you have an opinion and want to voice it by name or anonymously, under rights afforded to this site by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, all comments will be approved.

If you disagree with my thinking, please let me know. Maybe I need to get in line with the new America which is one where all kinds of policy and expense just gets shoved down our throats!

Derick

• Does Jerry Jones have a private jet?
• What kind of airplane is Jerry Jones’ private jet?
• Where does Jerry Jones park his private jet?
• Where is Jerry Jones now in his private jet?

So, I went out and did a little hunting on the topic and here is what I found.

YES, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones does have a private jet. Mr. Jones ownes a Gulfstream Aerospace G-V (N1DC). Photographer Michael Davis has a beautiful shot on his Flickr account.

And per an online tracker that can be found on the Cowboy’s Zone website, it is pretty obvious he parks his plane at Love Field and you can actually keep up with where he is going?

Beyond that, there isn’t much more information on the topic. Still, it does go to show the power of the Internet as a true Cowboys fan would keep up with Dallas Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones’ flight activities as it could provide insight on trades and of course their normal two year rotation of head coaches!

More on the Gulfstream G5

The Gulfstream V, referred to as a G-V (G5), was certified for flight in 1997 and is considered an “ultra-long range” business aircraft. Depending on cabin configurations, the G5 has a max capacity of 16 people. It is capable of flying 7,480 miles.

I could not find any interior pictures of the Cowboys owner’s Gulfstream business jet. Still, with having business ranging from coast to coast and in foreign countries, you can rest assured that the aircraft gets its use by Mr. Jones.

One of the easiest way to avoid pipe damage while you are away from your home is to shut off the water to your house and drain the pipes. The challenge most home owners have with this is that shutting off the water to a house generally requires accessing the covered main by the street and using a specialized tool to shut off the water. This is cumbersome. However, you can have a simple shut off installed closer to your house in a housing that is much more accessible. A simple shut off doesn’t require tools.

Home owners with simple shutoffs have a two step process to quickly prepare their house for freezes while they are away. The first is to shut the water off which takes less than 1 minute. The second is to turn on a faucet in order to let the pipes drain. This process takes less than a minute to do and you simply want to come back and close the faucet after about 10 minutes when most of the water has drained. This simple process will relieve the water pressure from the house.

Once you return from your leave and turn the water back on, you will want to take a walk around the house to make sure that no pipes have broken and that no fixtures (toilets, sink units, etc) have broken or are leaking due to a washer or other issue that could have been affected while you were away.

The next time you have a plumber at your home for a service call, inquire into installing a simple shut off to put your mind at ease while traveling during the winter months.

The Da Vinci system and robotic surgical procedures have had a profound impact on both the Dallas medical community and its patients. Prior to the introduction of non-invasive, robotic surgical techniques, procedures such as hysterectomies required patients to recover from incisions up to 12 inches long which significantly limited physical abilities for a period of 6-8 weeks. The Da Vinci procedure requires 4 minimally invasive hole-like incisions and has reduced recovery times to 1-2 weeks, with patients generally returning to work and family activities during the recovery period.

Beyond minimizing scarring and increasing recovery times, robotic surgery has had a positive impact on the North Texas economy.

In challenging economic times, the thought of taking a 6-8 week medical leave is almost unthinkable for both employees and employers. The fast recovery times associated with robotic procedures have put North Texas women back into their daily routines, helping to increase productivity and decrease the economical impact of surgery. Second, the medical community in North Texas has been a pioneer of robotic surgery, attracting patients from both out of state and out of the country. These patients were brought into North Texas as their medical cases were severe enough to require a minimally invasive procedure the was unavailable in their state or country of residence. Beyond impacting their quality of life, this has been positive for the North Texas economy.

Dr. Eisenberg returned to work after the holidays with a full surgical schedule for the months of January and February, during which time he will continue to step up to new surgical challenges using some of most advanced surgical equipment in the healthcare industry today.

Though its development roots go back to 2001, per WordPress.Org , “WordPress started in 2003 with a single bit of code to enhance the typography of everyday writing and with fewer users than you can count on your fingers and toes.” What is significant about WordPress is that it was developed in the spirit of writing versus software development.

Though I’m not writing as one of those early contribors or authors who used WordPress back before it supported elements as simple as themes, I have been an avid user of WordPress over the past couple of years and I thought I’d take write about an enabler of writing.

Five Reasons Why WordPress Is Great

Low Barrier of Entry – Whether your goal is a simple blog or a complex content management system, WordPress is accessible to all. First of all, being licensed under the GPL, WordPress is free. However, free software doesn’t mean that it is accessible. One of the challenges with “open source software” is that it is really only accessible to developers. WordPress is accessible to writers! With powerhouse companies such as GoDaddy wrapping domains, hosting, and wizard based install routines around WordPress, anyone can be writing on the Internet in 1 hour for less than a round of beer.

Plug and Play – The WordPress architecture supports the addition of custom functionality through plugins. Plugins are individual software programs adding specialized features and functions to WordPress. Plugins are desiged by developers around the world. Whether you are interested in making your installation of WordPress more accessible to search engines or publishing your audio files to iTunes, there is a plugin for everyone. WordPress plugins are litterally plug and play (both to install and maintain). WordPress is great; plugins make it flat out powerful. Unlike getting a printer to work on Windows Vista, “plug and play” with WordPress plugins just works!

Search Engine Friendly - In general, content management systems (CMS) are a disaster with search engines. If you talk to SEO’ers, they constantly struggle with how search engines handle the expensive CMS’s their clients have implemented. WordPress is very friendly with search engines right out of the box. With the addition of a few plugins like All-In-One-SEO, Platinum SEO, and Google XML Sitemap Generators, your installation of WordPress will become Google’s best friend (swicthing to Permalinks in WordPress settings is also recommended).

Themes and More Themes – Since version 1.5, WordPress has supported themes. Themes are templates that are built for WordPress giving it a unique look and feel. Whether you are interested in the “hot off the press” Google Chrome Theme or the off the wall Desk Mess Theme. The best part about themes is that they are completely decoupled from your content allowing you to change themes without fear of loosing your information.

Bill Gates Can’t Get In Your Way – There is nothing more frustrating than an upgrade from one of the software powerhouses that causes you to have to upgrade or else everything breaks. WordPress is built on a three part architecture that keeps people honest. The first is the WordPress engine. It is an OpenSource project created by a diverse group of developers with a simple mission of creating great software. The second are Themes. WordPress Themes are developed by thousands of independent designers who do not have anything to do with the actual engine. Last, are Plugins. Like WordPress Themes, WordPress Plugins are the result of independent developers. These three communities keep each other in check as the project can’t be successful if any one group makes radical changes that alienates the others work. In commercial software companies, it doesn’t work like this. Yes, WordPress has had its problems but they get fixed by the community. As far as Bill Gates goes, he still does own the majority of the browser market share. We’ll see if Google changes that in the next few years.

To conclude, WordPress is great for writers, software designers/developers, and the Internet overall.

[tags]wordpress, internet, seo, plugins[/tags]