VanDyk Mortgage - September 2017

VanDyk Mortgage - September 2017

Sept 2017

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

A GRANDDAD of All Trades

natural detritus into intricately constructed frames. After a few

I was always in awe of my Granddaddy — yes, that’s what I called him. I’m sure that anybody who knew him thought the same, with his seemingly endless library of knowledge and trivia, his knack for artistic creation and expression, and his skill at a staggering number of hobbies.

years, he had almost 20 of these awesome creations around his house — one of them hangs in my office to this day. The local paper did a write-up on him once, talking about his status as not only a “first-class local historian,” but a “skilled artist.” He definitely was both of those things. One memory of him that always makes me laugh was when, relatively late in his life, he decided that he was going to try to sell his bark art. He set up a display out on his driveway, put up a couple of signs on the street, and waited. People came by, thinking it was a garage sale, until they noticed the 500-dollar price tag on a few of the pieces. “Well, what were you thinking I was gonna sell them for?” He told me. Each art piece would take him weeks and sometimes months, and he was determined to get his hourly rate out of them. None of them sold from his driveway, even though they are definitely the real deal. He later sold some of his “bark art” in a local gallery.

Ever since I was about 6 years old, Granddaddy and Grandma lived right across the street from us. My brother and I were always more than welcome in their home, and we loved visiting them as often as possible. The tubby kid that I was, I used to eat dinner with my family at our house and then waddle over to my grandparents’ place to see what they were cooking, and vice versa. With all the time we spent with them, we grew very close. I was always amazed at the number of things Granddaddy was talented at. When he wasn’t outside in his khaki pants and old, beat-up cowboy hat tending to his enormous garden, he’d work for hours in his garage, which he’d converted into a combination art studio-storage space. It was his workshop where he created toy guns and puppets for us out of wood. He even built us a massive playhouse that we spent a lot of time in as kids. But Granddaddy developed a passion for his unique creation that he called “bark art,” insanely complicated reliefs he’d fashion out of dozens of types of bark and other plants. He thought of the style after getting in a work accident while working as a stone mason, putting him out of a job. Sitting around was driving him crazy, so he began to apply his artistic skills, spending over a hundred hours per piece, carefully inlaying bark and other

Though I didn’t inherit an ounce of his artistic ability, I like to think some of his creativity lives on in me. My family was so blessed to live right across from him and my grandma. There was just nobody else like them.

– Tim Hart NMLS #354676

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

Florida. “We passed some great stuff this year,” Dane replied, “but it’s really an ongoing process.” He continued, outlining a bill he’d help pass, the Legacy Florida Bill, which “allocates for 20 years, $200 million toward Everglades restoration plans.” He laid out a bunch of great plans to restore the area. It was clear that it was an issue as close to his heart as it is to his constituents. Like I said, that morning with Dane Eagle was anything but your typical Monday. Fishing for prehistoric monster fish, cruising around on the open water, and learning a little about state politics — who could ask for more? What kind of fish did Dane Eagle catch? The first person to email thart@ vandykmortgage.com withe the correct answer will win two free dinners at Zaxby’s Fort Myers location! Watch our show “Rates and Reels” now on YouTube and Facebook!

Tallahassee for the governor for five years. And then I moved back [to Fort Myers] for this,” gesturing to the splashing tarpon. “Started working on the community and felt that urge to get back and jump back into politics.” “When the seat opened, I hesitated. I’d never considered myself what you’d call a politician, you know? But I decided to give it a shot, started campaigning, and haven’t looked back,” he said. “It’s been one of the greatest joys of my life, to do good things on behalf of this community.” Next, viewer Don Turner asked Dane what his plans were after his eight-year term limit was up. “I support term limits … the first thing I gotta do is get through the 2018 election. After that, I’ll either need to find another office to run for … or I get a real job,” he said, laughing. My final question was a tough one. I asked what Dane was planning to do to help improve water quality in southwest improve our lives, it’s difficult not to wish for something simpler. We want an object we can hold in our hands that doesn’t come with a bunch of unwanted features. Enter the bullet journal: the humble, easy-to-use notebook system that’s taken the world by storm. Instead of maintaining a separate to- do list, calendar, and diary, the bullet journaling system rolls everything into a single economical notebook. Partitioned into minimalistic “modules” — the Index, the Future Log, the Monthly Log, and the Daily Log — bullet journals encourage you to write down everything on your to-do list, single-line tidbits recounting important daily events, and little notes you take throughout the day. Everything is marked by a particular bullet: dots for tasks, circles for events, and dashes for notes. At the beginning of each month, bullet journalers examine last month’s list, eliminating completed or now-

fantastic catch, and best of all, it was a keeper that provided us with some tasty fillets later in the day. In fact, this gave me the first opportunity to add in my first “Rates and Grills” segment, during which I grilled the cobia and gave it to my family to sample. After marinating the fillet in a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and a little bit of sweet and spicy mustard, I threw it on my Big Green Egg, the awesome grill my family hooked me up with last Father’s Day. When it was finished, my boys Eli and Mason were the taste testers. Maybe they’re a little biased, but they loved the fish. “Scrumpshididdlyumptious,” said Mason, while the taste of fish transported Eli to his own private world. I did a little bit of grilling with Dane as well for the trademark “3 Questions” segment. First, I asked him his origin story and why he decided to become a state rep. “I always loved this community,” he said, “born and raised here. I got to work in

THE UNSTOPPABLE RISE OF THE BULLET JOURNAL The New Journaling System That’s Taken Social Media by Storm

irrelevant tasks and migrating long-term or continuing tasks to the current month.

Bullet journals may seem simple, and they are, but they’ve acquired an explosive following on social media. At the time of this writing, there are over 791,000 posts on Instagram tagged with the #bulletjournal hashtag; there are posts upon posts of users’ beautiful layouts, bearing intricate calligraphy and embellished with incredible designs. As the bullet journal’s creator, Ryder Carroll, told New Republic writer Josephine Wolff, “The most valuable part of the bullet journal [is] the inventiveness of its community.” But don’t be daunted by users who seem to spend hours on every page of their journals. Really, it’s a simple system that only takes a few minutes to learn. Check out bulletjournal.com to learn how to start your own modular notebook. But be warned: You may get obsessed.

In the modern age, where the internet is constantly flooded with productivity apps and trends promising to fix our schedules, unlock our potential, and

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RENOVATING REALITY The Truth Behind Your Favorite Home Improvement Shows

can break budgets. Unlike the average homeowner, home improvement shows get to defer some of that cost. Every home renovation show is one big commercial, and they get steep discounts when they use specific products and manufacturers. Sometimes, they get materials for free. On top of that, TV shows often cut corners to minimize costs. Home renovation is time-consuming. To cut costs and speed up renovation times, on-TV contractors often use cheap, quick-to-install materials. On camera, these materials can be dressed up to look Instagram-worthy, but in reality, they probably won’t last long in the real-world home environment. They want it to look as good as possible in the shortest amount of time, and the camera can hide a lot of the disappointment.

But one thing’s for sure: Home renovation shows are more popular than ever, making up the bulk of HGTV’s programming. However, not everything is as it seems. Lurking behind the scenes are truths that don’t make it to broadcast. Home renovation is boring. If you’ve ever been involved in a home remodel, you know that from start to finish, the process isn’t that interesting and can take weeks or even months. Shows leave out many of the dull details, giving viewers a feeling of instant gratification. For younger would-be home remodelers, a real home reno can be an eye-opener when they realize just how much of a time investment it requires — even if it’s a single-room reno. Home renovation is expensive. And speaking of the investment, even seemingly simple remodel projects

Home improvement and renovation shows are as fun to watch as they are frustrating. They can be inspiring when you see design elements you want to incorporate into your own home. And they can be infuriating as you watch a design expert or homeowner make a questionable choice.

HAVE A LAUGH!

“Tim’s team was very friendly, informative, and helpful in assisting us with buying our first home. I would recommend Tim and his team to anyone. All staff were very prompt and professional. The process was explained in a way that could be easily understood.” VanDyk Testimonials

–JACOB AND ERIN BOWMAN

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Inside This Issue 8280 College Parkway Suite #101 Fort Myers, FL 33919 A Granddad of All Trades PAGE 1 The Unstoppable Rise of the Bullet Journal PAGE 2 The Truth Behind Your Favorite Home Improvement Shows Testimonials Have a Laugh On Us! PAGE 3 Rates and Reels Episode No. 7 With Florida State Rep Dane Eagle PAGE 4 Representative Dane Eagle, and I decided to mix it up a little bit. We hatched a plan with legendary Captain Bo Johnson of Tenacity Guide Service. Unlike most of our previous expeditions, this time, we were out in more open water seeking out the big guys: tarpon, these giant, silvery fish that hunt in huge schools and are known the world over for their spectacular jumping ability. The plan was to be out on the water by 6:30 a.m. with our bait on top of the schools of fish as early as possible. But last-minute scheduling conflicts gave us a late start. In the end, we had a great time. As Dane put it himself, it was “the ideal Monday.” We started out the morning at Boca Grande Pass, live crabs on our hooks for bait, watching what was basically a free SeaWorld show. A horde of 4- to 6-feet-long tarpon were jumping straight out of the For this edition of Rates and Reels, my guest, District 77 Florida State

THE IDEAL MONDAY Fishing With Florida State Rep Dane Eagle

couple of seconds, though, we thought we might have a battle on our hands. Luckily, we didn’t strike out altogether. Dane got another monster on the line, this time a gargantuan cobia. Cobia are big, dark fish with black and white bands that can get up to 2 meters long. He wrestled with the thing for a long time, finally dragging it onto the boat. It was a really ... continued from on page 2

water, their shimmering scales glinting in the sunlight. We went a long time just viewing the spectacle without a single bite. “After a while, you get so impatient you just want to jump in and bear wrestle one,” Dane said, as the fish taunted us with every leap into the air. Maybe hearing Dane’s words, a tarpon slammed on the line, immediately bending his rod with its brute strength. But just as quickly as it came, the tarpon escaped, tricky fish that it is. For those

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