Are banks really necessary these days?

Do you pay your bills online? Do you get cash back on your debit card at the grocery store? Do you go to the ATM? Is your paycheck direct deposited? My guess is that you said yes to several if not all of those questions.

There is even a new bank called Ally that is a virtual bank with no locations. They have lower interest rates and less fees. USAA bank even allows you to make deposits using your iPhone.

So ask yourself, how often to you actually go into a bank? Is there really a need for more "brick and mortar" banks?

Within 2 miles of the corner of Mockingbird and Abrams there are no less than five Chase Bank branches. There are four between Abrams and Central (although the one at Mockingbird & Central is closing). There is also at least one Bank of America, Comerica, Wells Fargo, BBVA Compass, Professional Bank, Liberty Federal Savings, Texas Capital, Park Cities Bank and Wachovia in that same radius. Before bank meltdowns, FDIC closings and consolidations there were even more.

Until the banks start lending again this financial mess is not going to improve much. So if we rarely go into a bank, doesn't it seem that the money used to buy that expensive land and build these new financial institutions would be better spent on improving the balance sheet and lending?

Have you heard what the city wants to do to bicyclists?

• Do you ride a bicycle?
• Do you want to ride a bicycle and feel it's not safe?
• Do you want to see changes in your neighborhood?
• Come share your vision for a bicycle friendly Dallas!
  

The City of Dallas needs your input. The 2010 Dallas Bike Plan is a city-wide plan that will affect OUR neighborhoods, OUR children, OUR future. Please consider participation in this open house on Thursday the 27th of May from 5-8 pm at Dallas City Hall in the Flag Room (6E-North)

If you cannot attend the meeting and would like to provide feedback or if you would like to be added to the email list for news about bicycle planning in Dallas, please contact:

Waco Moore, Dallas Bicycle Advisory Committee
waco.moore@gmail.com
972-352-3492

Whether you support bikers or not, this is your chance to have your voice heard.

Energy Wasting Day

I recently received information on Energy Wasting Day and while it made me laugh it also caused me to reflect on a blog article recently posted in the Advocate Magazine.

The article was about a free service (not really free since you pay a fee each month to Oncor to subsidize this program) where your electrical provider will send someone out to do a free energy audit on your home; seal HVAC connection points throughout the house to prevent air loss, weatherstrip doors, install foam insulators behind light switches and plugs, and seal plumbing penetrations beneath the sinks.

I, like the blog writer thought this was too good to be true. So I called the company in the article, E3 Solutions and Matt Newnham and his crew showed up. First they tested the amount of air that the home was losing and said it was quite a bit since my house was built in 1933. They proceeded to seal all the HVAC connections points, repair duct work that was leaking, seal plumbing penetrations underneath all the sinks and install foam insulators behind the light switches and plugs. While they will blow in attic insulation at a cost subsidized by Oncor, I was told it was unnecessary on my house. What they did not do was weatherstrip the french doors (3 sets) nor weatherstrip the windows. After all the work was completed another air loss test was completed and the air loss was reduced by 12%. This is not a huge difference but it would be nice if I got a 12% decrease in my electricity bill.

There are some limitations: your house has to have at least 50% of the HVAC vents in the ceiling and the home must have been built before 2002.

Oh and by the way, it was free and it took about two hours.

Give Matt a call at 214-995-9581 and try it out for yourself. It's only good until the funds run out which Oncor predicts will be sometime in late June to early July.

Lakewoodstock is this Sunday

The Lakewoodstock Neighborhood Festival is this Sunday the 16th from Noon till 8 pm. There are live bands all day long on three stages, arts, crafts, food and shopping.

The Friends of the Santa Fe Trail are also sponsoring a bike ride in conjunction with the festival. The ride will officially start at Main Street Garden, the cool new park in downtown Dallas and take the Santa Fe Trail to Lakewoodstock in Lakewood village at 1pm.

There are at least 58 neighborhood sponsors and over 70 Lakewood businesses in the immediate area that are involved.

Take out the trash!

Just try to drive down Santa Monica on a Saturday morning by Lindsley Park. Cars are parked on both sides of the street while Mom, Dad and kids are running around everywhere playing soccer, grilling and having birthday parties among other things. The pathway between cars is so narrow that a suburban can barely make it through much less two cars trying to go in opposite directions. But the parking near the park is another story.

It is obvious by the number of people at the park on Saturday and Sunday that it is a popular weekend activity. But drive by on a Monday morning and it looks like a war zone. The amount of paper plates, napkins, water bottles and beer bottles (which incidentally are illegal in Dallas Parks) is sickening.

Doesn't it seem like it would be a better use of the Parks and Rec departments time and money to mow, seed, landscape and repair the athletic equipment than spend their Mondays cleaning up litter?

Do your part, pitch in. If we need more trash cans, lets figure out a way to make that happen.

Tree & Plant disease/insects

Last month the eight year old Carolina Jessamine in my yard was blossoming more beautifully than in any of the past years, but this weekend I noticed that it had suddenly died.

To be honest, I still don't know what attacked it or caused both plants to die but it did prompt me to examine all of my landscape. After taking samples to Redenta's on Skillman and Oram I realized that this past winter was unusually hard on our plants. My pecan tree leaves have these unusually large green pimple on them (sometimes 10-12 per leaf), the black walnut tree has some type of unknown scale or bug, a hibiscus has aphids or white fly, the shrubs and roses have scale and I mentioned the Carolina Jessamine.

Both Walton's and Redenta's have provided me with excellent counsel in the past and I am sure there are other arborist and horticulturalists in the area that would also. With that said, I don't think there is a better blog out there that either addresses or links solutions to our N. Texas landscape issues. DFW Gardening Blog

Keep an eye out because my guess is that I am not the only one who is having issues.

No Trespassing - Trail Closed

Although few people pay attention to them, I wonder why the city suddenly showered "No Trespassing" and "Trail Closed" signs on the Santa Fe Trail after months and months of grading, utility work, laying re bar and pouring wet concrete. They appear to be about 90% complete.

The forgotten tragedy

Illegal immigration, an unexploded car bomb and an oil slick have all overshadowed a harrowing scene in Middle Tennessee.

The city of Nashville and surrounding areas had 14-15" of rain in a 24 hour period and at least 29 deaths. Thousands of homes and most major tourist sites have been devastated with rising water.

I can only hope that if something happened like this here that we would not be forgotten like they have been in Tennessee.

To make a donation, please call 1-888-540-5200 or donate online www.cfmt.org/floodrelief

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