VanDyk Mortgage - October 2017

VanDyk Mortgage - October 2017

Oct 2017

Letters From The Hart Give us a call! 239-437-4278 or visit www.TimHartJr.com Corporate NMLS #3035 www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org

THE DARK KNIGHT Has a Wardrobe Malfunction

But I was nothing if not determined. To my 7-year-old mind, the parade was everything — I

One fateful October day when I was 7, I was at Walmart with my parents, staring at a Batman costume that’d caught my eye the instant we entered the store. Complete with a mask, cape, and utility belt, the dinky plastic uniform had completely captured my imagination. But, the husky kid that I was, my parents were convinced that the flimsy faux spandex would be too tight. They were right, of course, but I didn’t know or care. When I made my case, which mostly included how cool the costume was and how good I’d been lately, they miraculously caved with a long sigh and bought the costume off the rack. On the last school day before the Halloween weekend, I donned my one-piece Batman costume, mask and all. I wanted to stay authentic to the character, so all I wore beneath the disguise was a pair of tighty whities. I headed to my second grade class at Gulf Elementary, excited to show off my awesome outfit in front of the cool fifth graders in the parade we did every year. The event went in shifts, and each class took about 30 minutes to go from classroom to classroom, displaying our Halloween attire. Early in the day, everybody in the class was writing away on some spelling assignment, when I noticed my pencil was down to a tiny nub. That’s when the trouble started. As I stood up and walked to the sharpener, I felt a small tear rip open in my costume. I fast-walked over behind the cubbies and surveyed the damage. The cheap pants of the costume had started to rip across the most inconvenient seam possible. It was clear that, without concerted effort, the tear would shred all the way across the seam, from back to front. If only I’d listened to them.

wasn’t about to reveal my wardrobe malfunction, but I wasn’t about to give up either. So I resolved to hide the tear at any cost. With my heart beating out of my chest, I penguin-walked with my legs clasped tightly together all the way back to my desk, sat down, and picked up my pencil. None of the other students had noticed.

The tear got worse as the day went along, and I began to wonder whether I’d made a mistake. When I finally penguin-walked with my class into the classroom of the scary fifth graders, I was sweating bullets, braced at any moment for someone to point and yell, “Hey, this kid ripped his pants!” Somehow, that moment never came. When we returned to the classroom and got back to work, I tiptoed up to my teacher and told her the situation. My mom, the saint that she is, drove all the way out to the school to bring me a change of clothes.

I could not find a picture of me in the outfit. Pretty sure I burned the pictures from when I was a kid

In the end, our hero lived to battle the criminals of Gotham another day, but his costume went straight into the trash. I may have been the hero Gulf Elementary Deserved, but first, I’d need a suit that didn’t come from the bargain bins of Walmart.

– Tim Hart NMLS #354676

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Watch our show “Rates and Reels” now on YouTube and Facebook!

the craftsmanship that goes into every rod he and his four-man team create, with handpicked, high-end components and everything built in-house. Back on the boat, we closed out the day fishing for barracuda, landing a huge one with massive teeth, and a few smaller guys. I finally did end up catching my permit, too, even if it almost pulled my brand-new rod out of my hands. Thanks to Dan James and Brady Nelson of Dan James Rod Company. If you’re looking for a beautiful fishing rod that can take some permit-level abuse, check them out on Facebook or at their shop at 8900 Gladiolus Drive! What kind of bait did we use to catch the permit? The first person to email the correct answer to thart@ vandykmortgage will win two free dinners at Zaxby’s Fort Myers location. Watch our show “Rates and Reels” now on YouTube and Facebook! To start, dye the almond slivers black to make “fingernails.” Cut the pretzel rods down to finger-length and dip them in frosting dyed the pale green of witches’ skin. While the frosting is still soft, stick an almond fingernail at the tip. If you want extra details, use a toothpick to make knuckles in the frosting. Spooky Oreos What you’ll need: Oreos, melting chocolate (white or bittersweet), decorations Melt your chocolate, dip America’s favorite cookies in it, and let them set. Ta-da! You’re left with the perfect blank canvas for your children (and you!). Run wild — from spider webs and ghosts to vampires and werewolves, you’ll have a unique treat for everyone at your party. Follow these simple instructions (don’t be afraid to get creative!), and you’ll delight kids of all ages this year.

Soon, Brady brought in an even bigger one, a beautiful fish almost 3 feet long. He made it look a lot easier than Dan and I had. I guess he’s actually in shape or something. I met up with Dan a few days later to ask him my signature “Three Questions.” Mainly, I wanted to know about the origins of Dan’s talent for building fishing rods. “I was in the Navy, and I was in south Texas doing some rehabilitation — I had some reconstructive jaw work done,” he told me. “They have something called an MWR, or Moral Welfare Recreation Center. Well, I didn’t really have a job to go to when I was down there. So I spent a lot of time by myself, and they had this cool woodworking shop. I started going and making wine racks.” “My jaw’s wired shut, and I can’t talk, and I’m skinny as a rail. And you walk down this hallway, and down this hallway there’d be like pottery or painting … there was this old

man in there with a handwritten piece of paper that says ‘custom fishing rods.’”

“I got tired of making wine racks. So one day I wrote ‘Jaws wired shut. Would love to learn’ on a piece of paper and I walked in there. The guy looked at me and said, ‘You’re gonna be my best student!’” Dan stayed there for months, never speaking a single word to his teacher, learning the basics of rod building. He started the Dan James Rod Company about five years ago out of his garage, building just enough customs at first to afford a down payment on his boat, until it expanded into what it is today. He’s proud of his product, and I can attest to

SIMPLE AND CREATIVE Halloween Treats to Make With Your Kids

Creating decked-out, bespoke costumes for your kids takes a lot of planning and hard work. If you want an easier way to make Halloween more creative this year, try creating some holiday-themed treats the whole family can participate in making. The results will be a lot more exciting than the standard fun-sized candy bars that you’ll have more than enough of after the holiday. Donut Monsters What you’ll need: glazed or plain donuts, M&M’s, plastic fangs These monsters require only brief assembly, and the effect is awesome. Simply buy your favorite glazed donuts, or make them yourself if you’re feeling adventurous, buy some cheap, plastic fangs, and decorate. You can use red food coloring for a blood effect and candy for eyes. You’re only limited by your imagination. Witch Finger Pretzels What you’ll need: large pretzel sticks, frosting, green and black food dye, almond slivers

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HOW FARMERS Grow Those Giant Pumpkins

their “father” plant and “mother” seed, like racehorses.

Massive pumpkins aren’t practical, but they can become a minor tourist attraction in your hometown, and even win a few thousand bucks if they’re really huge. However, with the time and effort it takes to get them that big, farmers aren’t in it for the money. They’re in it for the glory. Growing these monstrous fruits (yes, they are technically fruits) is kind of like breeding a racehorse. It takes practice, cultivation, and even good genes. Competitive growers will often purchase the seeds of the previous year’s champions for their plant. After preparing the soil to make it extra fertile, they’ll plant the pumpkin in late winter or early spring. Before the gourd starts growing, flowers on the plant need to be pollinated. Farmers will usually take it upon themselves to pollinate, using pollen from plants with proven genetic lines. Winning pumpkins usually claim

Growing a great pumpkin is practically a full-time job, with some farmers reporting spending 40 hours a week on it. Using heated soil, installing fences to reduce wind, adding sand to the patch, and other specific cultivation techniques give the pumpkin a fighting chance to grow into a monster. But, in the end, there’s an element of luck. The competitive growing industry is getting bigger (pun intended). In 1979, the largest pumpkin on record was 438 pounds. Since 2008, the world record has been broken every year. The reigning heavyweight champion, grown in Germany last year, weighed in at 2,623 pounds. That’s as much as a 2018 Toyota Yaris or 1,748 standard pumpkin pies.

Forklifts and cranes may be used mainly for construction work, but every fall, thousands of backyard gardeners use them as gardening tools — or rather, harvesting tools — for their largest single crop.

SUDOKU

VanDyk Testimonials “VanDyk Mortgage more than exceeded my expectations. Typically, most people will tell you how much of a hassle it is to go through the process of purchasing a home, and I have heard some nightmare stories. But I have to say that my experiences were far from that. Throughout the entire process, Tim and his team were there to assist me. They were available to answer my questions and point me in the right direction quickly and timely. If in the future I decide to purchase another home, I will definitely be giving my business to them. Thank you for all you did to make buying my home an enjoyable experience. My family thanks you!” –Jeremy and Jason Schmidt

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PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411

Answer the question on Page 2 and win dinner for two at Zaxby’s!

Give us a call! 239-437-4278 or visit www.TimHartJr.com

8280 College Parkway Suite #101 Fort Myers, FL 33919

Inside This Issue The Dark Knight Has a Wardrobe Malfunction PAGE 1 Creative Halloween Treats PAGE 2 How Farmers Grow Giant Pumpkins Testimonials Train Your Brain! PAGE 3 Permit Fishing With Dan James Rod Company PAGE 4 For this month’s episode of Rates and Reels, I decided it was time to upgrade my fishing rod collection. So, I headed to Dan James Rod Company right here in Fort Myers, home of Dan James and Brady Nelson, two masters of the custom rod craft. Dan hooked me up with two completely custom Rates and Reels rods, one inshore and one tarpon, made to my precise specifications. I gave them some leeway with the visual design, and boy did they kill it, Rates and Reels logo and all. But, of course, I wasn’t about to accept these two awesome rods before taking them out for a spin first. I met up with Dan and Brady at the Port Sanibel Marina, along with Captain Ryan Kane of Southern Instinct Charters, to get out there and catch us some permit. We ran out of the bay about 20 miles into the Gulf of Mexico and parked above a wrecked shrimp boat that was buried in the

FISHING FOR PERMIT With Dan James Rod Company

sand deep below. As always, it was a beautiful day. All the conditions were right, with abundant growth on the seafloor and schools of permit

congregating outside their

that their reputation for being one of the most difficult to catch fish in the world was well-earned, as my fish battled me harder than any I’d had on the line before. My new rod was bent almost 90 degrees, but it held fast. Unfortunately, the line didn’t when the permit ran me into the back of the engines. Rookie move on my part! But Dan managed to avoid my rookie mistake and land his, a fish almost 2-3 feet long, with flat, silver sides and blade-like fins.

shrimp boat “house.” Neither Dan nor I had ever fished permit before, so we were excited to try our hands at landing one of these elusive, big fish. With crab for bait, it was an all-or-nothing deal — we were catching permit or we were going home. It wasn’t long before we had a double hookup going, with both Dan and me struggling to reel our fish onto the boat. Permit are sometimes called “the grey ghost of the flats,” with an insane sense of hearing and a ridiculous sense of smell. I learned

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