There are billions of dollars of money being flooded into New Jersey right with all of the insurance companies and FEMA making the rounds. Throw in auto insurances and every other way to make money with construction, contracting and scamming, you are sure to make a killing, be killed or play by the rules.

Right now there is basically NO WHERE to find a place to live or rent 30-40 miles from the shore. Throw in pet ownership and you are really screwed.

You can contact your local realtor, which we already have several looking for us, but they are all flooded with work and once a place gets open, there are a line of 100 people waiting to grab it.

The solution for many, Craigslist! At least so they think.

Everyone is telling each other to check out Craigslist for the latest listings, as realtors won’t have access as they are private listings.

Doing so will set you up with a ton of listings, one of which I featured below that would have been perfect for us…

So I decided to give the number a call. I was expecting to hear that the house was already taken, but was instead pushed through a sales path which lead to the person on the other line trying to sell me to pay $89+ to pay for their “exclusive” lists of houses and homes which realtors don’t have access to.

I told them I wasn’t interested and might call back later. They left their name and number and also said to check out locatorsonline.com. (Disclaimer: I have not used them, so they could be legit… but this looks like everyone else taking advantage of craigslists and those who are really in need.)

After checking out their less than stellar looking web site and looking up reviews online about them and how they don’t have happy customers and aren’t issuing refunds, it shows they are just another Craigslist company taking advantage of desperate people in desperate times.

As mentioned, there is a massive flood of money coming into NJ with the relief efforts right now and millions of people are going to scam and try to take advantage of it.

Just wait until the contractors get here and take on hundreds of jobs, accept up front payments then find they have no time to work with all of their clients.

It’s not only on craigslist. As you walk around the streets of damaged homes and area, you can see piles of trash and decent quality stuff outside. People are simply loading up their trucks with metal and electronics and selling them on their own and turning them into scrap metal junkyards. While at the same time some insurance agents will still need to see the flood damaged items in front of the home.

I’m sure this is just a small faction of the misleading and fraudulent activities going on right now… and it’s only just begun!

To say the past week was intense would be an understatement. I think the better words are “life changing” and “shattering”.

At this time last week we were getting ready for Hurricane Sandy to hit the Jersey shore. Everyone said it would be the worst storm to hit the North East in a hundred years, and maybe even ever!

No one really knew what was coming, but it was going to be much worse than many of us though. A week later and it’s just another day for the majority of the country, but those who were on the coast and in the path of Sandy, it’s still a hellish nightmare.

Seeing a natural disaster on TV is much different than going through one on your own. I am no longer on just one side of the story. The night of October 29th, 2012 is one I will never forget.

As of right now we are without a home as it’s been completed flooded, my office completely gone, the Hummer likely destroyed, one car saved and the future up in the air.

Before jumping to where we are at right now, let’s start from the beginning.

(This was the before and after view from the back door of our house. Note the fence is four feet above ground level, which is another two feet above the water in the first pic. The second pic is from the morning after from our second floor.)

Monday Mid-Day

For anyone in the North East, you will surely remember that all of the news was focused on the coming storm Sandy. Most people lost power early. My parents power went out around 4pm and we didn’t lose ours til around 7pm.

Earlier in the day it was mostly windy with a bit of rain. We live on the water (lagoon to bay, leading to barrier island than the ocean). We thought it would be best to throw up wooded boards on the back sliding door just in case the winds got too extreme and the water decided to rise 8 feet and reach the inside of the house.

It still wouldn’t be a few hours til the storm hit land in Atlantic City, but the warnings and effects were surely being felt.

Early Monday Night

As mentioned, the power went off around 8pm, then shortly after the rain and winds started to come. It didn’t even matter that it was raining, it was the storm surge that everyone was worried about. Throw in the full moon and the high tides and we were destined for disaster, but how high would the waters come?

Everyone on our streets talked about how they lived there for 40+ years and never had seen the streets fill with water, so there was never a history of flooding in this area.

I was out that night around 9pm to take Foxy out one more time before staying inside. There were already shingles and gutters being ripped off houses and power lines down and on fire.

Late Monday Night

It wasn’t til 9pm that the water started to rise up to the bulkhead then into the backyard. The power was already off and it was very hard to see outside, even with the use of flash lights. However, I could still see the tide and waves coming closer and closer to the house.

Soon enough the water was against the back bedroom wall which is the closest part of the house to the lagoon. You could hear the waves hitting the house while we were in it, along with the crawlspace filling with water and hitting beneath the floor.

The water was very close to the house and I said it was time for us all to get serious and for me, Reena and Foxy to move up to the second level we have in the house. It’s not a full second floor, but more like a loft area, which means it’s open and we can see most of the house from the second floor.

I kept running down stairs to see where the water was at and doing everything I could to save any last items in the house that were still on the ground level. I opened the door leading to the garage and the water was less than an inch from coming into the house.

A few seconds later I ran to the back door and sure enough, the water was slowly flowing across the tile floors throughout the house. I ran to the office and the same thing, ecxect it was now coming through the walls of the house and floors.

There was nothing I could do.

From this point on I just kept doing everything I could to save whats left in the house to be saved and move everything to a higher surface.

Fast forward an hour or so and the water is now flowing throughout the house and two feet high. I’m still running through the house, the water is freezing and loaded with gasoline from all of the cars and boats out side.

No idea how high the water was going to get, and the chance of a rescue at this point was near impossible.

We were fortunate enough to have a house with two levels. I can’t imagine going through this same experience in a one level home.

The rest of the night would be spent wondering when this horrible tide would ever go down and how high the water would eventually rise to.

While all of this is going on, I’m continually texting my dad (who was also without power and desperately trying to get to us, but was impossible) with updates from my phone, which amazingly enough lasted through the night to the next day.

It wasn’t til early the next morning that the water actually started to pull back, which was still only about a foot.

Tuesday Morning

The next morning was nearly just as intense as the previous night. Still flooded and no idea what to expect, except we now at least had light.

Here’s a memorable picture of the first thing I see when I opened my front door that morning… still with nearly two feet of water flowing through the house.

I had pulled the Hummer up to the house as close as I could the previous night and it was still more than half under water. Fortunately I had moved it closer, as I was able to climb on top of it from my front step and be able to see what was going on.

The local fire and police department has rescue missions going on throughout the whole previous night and current day. The problem was the water was still flooded so high that the military vehicles still couldn’t get through. There were also fire trucks, cars and boats stranded in the middle of streets, which meant no one could get past them.

A tractor had come and picked up the people two houses down from us who were in a one level house. They had to sit in the front bucket of the tractor. No one was going anywhere… not to mention there was random floating boats sitting in the middle of the streets.

Later in the day a boat came and rescued two older ladies in their 90s at the end of the street. It wasn’t til around 3pm that a huge monster truck came to rescue me, Reena and Foxy along with a couple other families on the street. These guys were pure heroes and not even part of the fire department or police force.

After Sandy…

There really is no “After Sandy”, as we have just gotten started. The important thing is that we made it out alive and in tact, which is what many people in NJ simply can’t say.

While the mainstream news were quickly turning away from Sandy, the aftermath is still there and much worse than the media projects and what people are lead to believe. Even the inspectors and FEMA people are saying this storm is worse than Katrina because of it’s massive power and wide spread damage.

In the end we went through hell, the house is done and the office is wiped out, but we are safe. Next we will have to go through all of the insurance processes, working with FEMA, ripping down the walls and rebuilding the home.

There is really so much more going on then I could possible remember and document on here right now. I will keep you updated as we progress.

Yesterday I wrote about how anyone can start making money from the $50 billion pet industry. The post was inspired for two reasons… the first was that I just started a new pet site of my own a few months ago, and the second reason is because I love pets, especially the five dogs that I have had during the last 13 years of my life.

Unfortunately, yesterday we had to put down my first dog, Timber, who was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago. A younger picture of Timber and Wolf is to the right, Timber is the one on the bottom. For anyone who has a pet, or had to put down a pet of your own, you will truly understand the value of this post, while many of your without pets probably won’t understand.

For most people, having a pet (especially dogs) is just like having a child. They are there for you better or worse, and will always stand by your side. As a a pet owner, your pet is no longer a “pet”, but now a family member. As we continue to see the pet industry burst through the $50 billion annual spending, this really gives a great understanding of what pet owners are willing to do for their pets, whether that be pet food, toys or even the hefty medical bills that come along with many pets.

Wouldn’t you do anything to save your dog and keep them happy?

About My Dogs: Timber, Wolf, Sandy, Rocky & Foxy

Over the past 13 years I’ve had many dogs, Timber was my first. I still remember the day when I came home to see her running around in the front yard with my parents. She was an Alaskan Malamute, and while she was purchased at a local dog store, she originally came from a puppy mill, and being a larger dog, she suffered from hip displaysia most of her life, which made it hard for her to walk and run like most dogs, especially being a larger 100+ pound dog.

As mentioned, Timber was my first dog and we got her around the same time I started getting serious with making money online. She was always there for me during the “firsts” of my business… sitting under my desk during a lightning storm, laying by me during the late night hours while pumping out ad campaigns, or just there when I just needed someone by me. (Remember the feeling of getting your first C&Ds, and not knowing what to do? )

Soon after Timber, we got another Alaskan Malamute named Wolf, then several years later we brought in a foster dog named Sandy, who was extremely sweet and ended up joining our family. You can see a picture of Timber, Wolf and Sandy during their best years together below. Everyone would always stop by and be amazed by our dogs, as they looked like a pack of wolves.

Timber (on grass), Wolf (on concrete), Sandy (on steps)

Just like Timber suffered from hip displaysia, so did Wolf. All dogs combined, the cost of hospital bills easily passed $50k over the years, but it didn’t matter, as we would do anything for them to keep them healthy and with us. Wolf and Sandy ended up passing while in the hospital for immediate care they required, and Timber was the first of the three that we actually had to decide a day to put down, which was a horrible and grieving process at that. Yesterday was that day, and after weeks of family never leaving her side, it was best for Timber to leave us before she was in any immediate pain or danger something worse.

After moving out from my parents house years ago, we took in Reena’s dog, Rocky (pictured on right), who lived to be around 15 years old. After a year of taking in Rocky, he was also unfortunately diagnosed with cancer, but we made the most of the time we had with him, and eventually had to put him down. One of the massive benefits to being able to work for yourself and out of your own home, is the ability to take care of and spend time with your pets and family. After losing Rocky, the house was extremely lonely and sad, so we took a trip to California to get away for a bit. It just isn’t the same when you have a family dog around for years, then nothing.

Going from having a dog to not, nothing is the same. A couple months after losing Rocky, we ended up looking through PetFinder and came across a dog named Foxy. Foxy has turned out to be one of the most amazing dogs ever. We can’t imagine life without her, and for myself, running a business from the house and being alone for most of the day is quite a task in itself, so it’s great to have someone like Foxy around. Foxy will always come into the office and lay down on her bed next to my desk, or start hitting me with her paw to take her out on a walk. The picture to the right is of her sitting next to me, wondering why I am looking at this weird screen all day! She keeps me on my toes and busy during the day!

In the end, all of my dogs have been amazing and special, and each of them were unique in their own way. Timber was my first dog and I can relate a lot of my early internet days to her growing up and being around my old desk at my parents house. Timber will greatly be missed.

This Ones for the Dogs…

It’s always nice to bring some personal stories to a blog and share stories with your readers, especially when they can relate. There is almost nothing worse than losing a dog that’s been part of your family for so long, but also nothing as great as to have had them in the first place.

For anyone who has been looking for a new pet and adding a four legged friend to the family, be sure to make PetFinder.com or your local adoption drive your first choice. There are so many amazing dogs out there who are waiting for someone to adopt them. The animals in pet stores are often from puppy mills which breed unhealthy dogs and continues to process of breeding dogs in bad living situations.

I leave you with a great quote from Roger Caras… “Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”

Care to share any stories about your beloved pets?…