trail: Season

Taking a Look at Your Home Insurance Policies Ahead of the Hurricane Season

There's been a lot in the news about how the BP oil disaster the Gulf of Mexico has already seen landfall in some beach communities and turned the air around there into an unbreathable toxic cocktail. Well, while that's certainly one way for a natural disaster (or man-made one) to go, but chances are much higher that if a disaster should ever strike your community, it should be the regular kind - a hurricane, a wildfire or an earthquake. And these days, right at the start of the hurricane season, the home insurance companies are at pains to remind us that some forecasts predict that it could be rough this year. While you may have plans in place to protect yourself and your family when something like this happens, you also need to make sure that as a homeowner, you have the best interests of your property in mind long too before the wind begins to howl around your windows. Florida has had a long and painful history with hurricanes, and you'll see most homes there showing the effects of the lessons they've learned from it. Everywhere you look in Florida, homes have extra strong construction and storm shutters. There have been warnings for years that what with global warming the eastern seaboard could see some pretty rough hurricane action soon. Sadly though, most areas of the country haven't really learned their lessons as well as Florida has. And neither has the west coast, with the exposure they've had to wildfires. The home insurance industry frequently puts out public service advertisements with information on how to protect your home in the event (so that they won't have to pay as much damages as they otherwise would have to); let's look at some of the best pieces of advice they have in mind for you. Storm shutters and impact resistant glass are your best insurance policy against storm damage. And remember that if the hurricane begins to blow into your house through an opening of some kind, it makes it doubly dangerous. Garage doors for instance, absolutely have to be properly secured when it starts. But there is a certain amount of misinformation abroad about home insurance policies that can be just as dangerous as the hurricane. Most people who have policies against hurricane damage believe that , they are protected against anything that comes out of a hurricane. That's not quite true; if a hurricane brings in so much rain it floods your town and causes flood damage to your home, your home insurance company will wash its hands off it. The floods are consequential damages as far as they're concerned. And there's more love from the home insurance companies too. The National Flood Insurance Program that's run by the government gives each homeowner $250,000 in aid to cover building losses, and $100,000 for damage to personal property. The insurance companies only ever agree to compensate you for any losses you incur flooding in over these thresholds. So if you have flood damage to your home that comes up to, say, $251,000, your home insurance policy for flooding will give you exactly $1000. And the government isn't going to give you anything right away either, because their program just ran out of money. So you best insurance policy at this time against calamity would be to shore up your house to meet all hurricane codes. Where's the point trusting the home insurance companies anyway?

Taking a Look at Your Home Insurance Policies Ahead of the Hurricane Season

There's been a lot in the news about how the BP oil disaster the Gulf of Mexico has already seen landfall in some beach communities and ...

Dancing with the Stars Season 2 Recap

Building upon the success of season one of Dancing with the Stars was something that sent audiences into overdrive. Pulling the total number of competing couples up to 10, rather than just the six that season one offered was one of the largest changes. However, it certainly was not the only change for the show, which allowed it to reach a wider base of viewers. Another substantial change for the show was the change to an hour and a half time slot, rather than just the single hour time slot. Added to this change was the addition of a results show that was aired the subsequent night, which ran for an hour. Following many of the changes that were in store for the season it was extremely important to begin season two of Dancing with the Stars with a fabulous cast of celebrities pulled together. In order to really do this, the show pulled out several well known celebrities to really give the show a serious boost. The huge changes in the show paid off and it continued to grow in popularity. However, it was also speculated that the viewer voting was creating problems in the results, as many people who received extremely low scores from the judges were actually given the ability to remain on the show an extremely long period of time. Kenny Mayne was the first contestant to be sent packing. As an ESPN sports commentator he was teamed up with professional Andrea Hale. After an extremely brief stint on the show, he was eliminated on January 6, 2006 with the new season only starting on January 5, 2006. As one of the shortest durations on the show, he was certainly passed over by many when discussing highlights of the show. Tatum O’Neil was partnered with professional Nick Kosovich and was eliminated on January 13, 2006. For her previous accomplishments, she was a successful actress and has even won an Academy Award previously. Giselle Fernandez is a TV journalist who appeared in season two partnered with Jonathan Roberts. Following the elimination on January 20, 2006, she was expected to return to her normal job. Master P is the rapper that everyone loved to support. Drawing the love of the viewers, he was kept around for many weeks despite the fact that he had no real skills in ballroom dancing. After putting in very few hours of actual dance training, it was immediately obvious that the viewers were voting for him simply due to his popularity, rather than his actual dancing skills. Partnered with Ashly DelGrosso the pair was eventually eliminated on January 27, 2006 after causing quite a stir over the voting process. Tia Carrere is a model and actress who was partnered with professional Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The duo was eliminated on the February 3, 2006 episode. George Hamilton an actor was partnered with Edyta Sliwinska after a successful run on the show the pair was eliminated on February 10, 2006. Lisa Rinna was designated as one of the best dancers in the competition and was paired with professional Louis van Amstel. Despite best efforts and scores from the judges, Lisa was eliminated on February 24, 2006. Stacy Keibler an actress and also a former Diva for WWE was paired with professional Tony Dovolani. The pair was eliminated on February 24, 2006 in third place; however, there was disputes that they should have rightfully beaten the second place finishers due to much better performances over the duration of the show. Jerry Rice is a retired and highly successful NFL wide receiver. After being chided by the judges continuously over his lack of ability, it became obvious that the reason he stayed for so long was due to the viewers voting for him. The controversy surrounding the voting reached a fever pitch when Jerry finished second place. Many attributed his win to the votes that poured in right immediately following his dancing which was often at the very beginning of the show. The final contestant for season was Drew Lachey, brother to Nick Lachey and also member of the boy band 98 Degrees. His professional partner was Cheryl Burke and they managed to secure a first place win on February 24, 2006. This was the first major project that Drew was involved in for quite a while, and his wonderful performances on the show attributed heavily to his win.

Dancing with the Stars Season 2 Recap

Building upon the success of season one of Dancing with the Stars was something that sent audiences into overdrive. Pulling the total numbe...