When the oil hits here I intend to keep paying my mortgage. I

[rzemanfl]

just want my bank to trade me up to a better house from their inventory-they already have lots of them and will get many more. If I can't go to the beach I'll need a pool, if I can't fish, I will need a great room, big kitchen and a work out room so I can stay active. I will need a big garage to keep the nasty oil off our cars. Oh, and a security system to keep other people out. Let the bank work it all out with BP.

[monmouth]

1. I like your style...LOL....n/t

[RB TexLa]

2. What do the bank and BP have to do with each other? I guess if whatever happened and your property

value went up you would expect the bank to trade you down?

[rzemanfl]

4. I'll be watching for the gold leak, silver storm or diamond eruption.

My point was more about the effect the oil gusher will have on property values here than an expression of hostility toward the bank. Why make payments on a small worthless house when you can make payments on a big worthless house? Without the beaches and the gulf they might as well scrape this area flat and plant oranges again.

[Generic Other]

5. Do you really think it will get that bad?

The ripple effect is pretty damn awful to contemplate!

[rzemanfl]

7. Well, had we sold this house in 2005 we would have gotten triple

what we paid for it in 1997. Now the neighborhood is full of houses that changed hands in the hyped up market that are upside down or in foreclosure. Now oil the beach and put that in the equation. There are number of businesses here that exist solely to take people on boat rides to see the dolphins jump the wake, remove the dolphins, what's left? Then there are the party and charter boats. The barrier islands are almost entirely condos and hotels from Clearwater Beach to Pass-a-Grille except for the areas of million dollar homes and some state and county parks.

Restaurants here were going out of business right and left before this happened.

Would you make fall or winter reservations here under the current cirumstances?

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Cheer up. There is always hurricane season to look forward to.

Insure the house for a zillion bucks and wait.

[rzemanfl]

9. Don't get me started about insurance here. Our contents are

insured for $60,000 and our shed is insured for $30,000 although they will only pay replacement cost. If you gold plated everything it might come up to $90,000.00. There is nothing that can be done about this, I've tried.

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. You do realize I was being mildly sarcastic, I hope.

We who live in the South have been thru one financial fubar after another.
BP is almost the coup de grâce.

[Generic Other]

13. You live in the most beautiful place

I visited last summer. Pass-a-Grille. It was unbelievably beautiful. I can see why you feel despondent. I am so sorry.

[rzemanfl]

15. I'm at the other end of the county, but was at Pass-a-Grille the

weekend before last. The really great beach is Caledesi Island which is up in this neck of the woods.

[bobbolink]

11. Ewwww, oily oranges?

Sorry, rzemanfl..... this truly sux.

I can imagine what you would like to do to the BP bigwigs..

[rzemanfl]

16. Actually, Bush and Cheney let them get us into this mess. n/t

[gleaner]

3. Don't forget to write your Congressmen and Senators ...

and ask for reparations. Taking the lesson from Love Canal where no one was made whole for the loss of their homes, health or potential future earnings because they sought justice from the courts, reparations sound a heck of a lot better to me.

Let the banks suck up the losses. It is not like they ever did anything to help us. Neither did BP. I bet they could offer some fine reparations if they remain solvent. I read this morning on MSN that they had lost a huge amount of money already in terms of their worth. This is a trend I would like to see continue.

[Fumesucker]

6. The legislators are bought and paid for..

I would expect no significant help from that quarter, they will posture and speechify but nothing serious will be done.

[gleaner]

12. Never hurts to try .....

They are bought and paid for, but if they want to keep the money coming in at the same clip they have to make the occasional lackadaisical gesture to constituents to hold office.

[Mimosa]

14. HUG n/t