Orlando Real Estate >> East Orlando Real Estate and Homes For Sale

The Orlando Pratt family has welcomed its newest addition- Wookie!

Here’s a pic of my boy and the Wookster. He is such a doll!

Hey early risers, have a look in the sky towards the south-east. You will have a brilliant view of Venus and Jupiter, with Venus being the brighter of the two. Friday, February 1st, they will appear at their closest together. And on Monday, February 4th, the moon will appear in a triangular formation with the 2 planets. Simply brilliant.

Click on Astroblog for more information.

Dawn Pratt
Orlando Real Estate Agent

Just for fun.

My mom (yes Kathy has learned to Email!) forwarded me the following tips to get more for your money at the petrol station:

1.       Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still
 cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried
below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets
warmer gasoline expands, so, if you’re filling up in the afternoon or in the
evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon.  In the petroleum
business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel,
jet fuel, ethanol  and other  petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallonage
is actually the amount pumped.  A one-degree rise in temperature is a big
deal for businesses, but service stations don’t have temperature compensation
at their pumps.
2.       If a tanker truck is filling the station’s tank at the time you want to
 buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being
 stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt
 from the bottom of their tank into your car’s tank.
 3.       Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the
 more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates
 rapidly, especially when it’s warm (gasoline storage tanks have an internal
 floating ‘roof’ membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the
 atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation).
 4.       If you look at the trigger you’ll see that it has three delivery
 settings: slow, medium and high. When you’re filling up do not squeeze the trigger
 of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow
 setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump  are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery
 from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high
 setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapors, which is being sucked back
 into the underground tank, so you’re getting less gas for your money.

Hope this will help ease your ‘pain at the pump’!
Dawn Pratt
Your Orlando Real Estate Agent

Don’t forget to VOTE tomorrow!

Dawn Pratt
Your Neighborhood Realtor

Seeing the helicopter with search lights fly over my home was a bit unnerving.
Unfortunately, a fight between family members turned serious last night, January 25th around 9 p.m. according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. The suspect fled, and thanks to Orange County Officers, was eventually arrested. I would like to personally thank the officers for all their hard work and keeping our community safe.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family members who were injured.

Dawn Pratt

Any plans for the weekend? No, then come spend the day at Blue Spring State Park watching the manatees!

The Manatee Festival is great fun for the whole family. This Saturday and Sunday, January 26th&27th, marks the 23rd anniversy of this wonderful event. Tickets are $8 for adults and $2 for children ages 4-12. The money raised will benefit: “Friends of Blue Spring State Park,” educational scholarships, and other Greater Orange City organizations. There is a FREE Park-N-Ride available from West Volusia Regional Shopping Center.

Besides spotting the manatees, other festivities include:

Our neighbor Eric asks:

How Toxic is YOUR home?  Tilex, Windex, Cascade, Tide, Bleach, Oust, Bounce, Pine Sol, Clorox Wipes, just to name a few…YOU get the Picture.  They are in YOUR home.  Migraines, allergies, asthma, ADD/ADHD, juvenile cancer, accidental poisonings…Don’t YOU deserve better? 

Give me 30 minutes to listen to an overview of a safer alternative for YOU and YOUR family.  Mention the East Orlando Life blog and receive a free enrollment upon full conversion of YOUR home to safer, better quality, eco-friendly products.  Please contact Eric “EB” @ (321) 663-2426 or visit the presentation website at www.RATTLERDREAMS.weeklycalls.com to schedule YOUR appointment. 

Making YOUR environment safer…One home at a time!

Also visit www.RATTLERDREAMS.wisehomebiz.com if you have Toxic Financial Wellness (no money, foreclosure pending, repo pending, sick and tired of being sick and tired). And for extra income, please click ….Moms Make More Working From Home.

For the time being, no new homes are to be built behind the Jade Forest area of Waterford Lakes. Below, you will see the Email I received from Ms. Marcy Frederico- Jade Forest HOA Secretary:

  Hi Everyone,
As far as I have been told, the N19B community meeting that was going to be held on Jan 31st has been cancelled. (Notices were supposed to be sent out this week to inform everyone of the meeting, but it is now cancelled) 
I called the county on friday, Jan 18th, and was told by Sue Watson, who works with John Smogor (the Orange County planner who ran the first community meeting), that the N19B community meeting was cancelled “because the interested parties have pulled out of the deal”. Good news for us!! Had there been a meeting, notices would have been sent out on Jan 17th.
So for now, there is nothing going on with N19B and there will be no community meeting. The school board will remain the owner. If I hear anything else on this I will let you know. 
This is good news for us now, but we will have to keep our eye on the situation. The poor housing market has worked to our advantage!
I will also contact Megan Shannon from the EO Sun to let her know. This is a fairly new development and she may not be aware. I think it was in friday’s edition, but I haven’t read it myself yet.
Marcy Frederico
Jade Forest HOA secretary
Waterford Lakes
N19 planning committee

Please Email me if you would like to join our forces and help stop the overdevelopment of the Waterford Area. We will keep you informed of any further developments about this important issue.
Dawn Pratt - Your Concerned Waterford Neighbor

I lack etiquette in this arena. How can I gain an understanding or appreciation towards viewpoints other than my own, if they are not discussed openly?

I’m an Independent and am excluded from voting in the primary January 29th. Early polls seem to be leaning toward McCain and Clinton as our choices for the next presidential election, November 4th. 
Where do you stand?

Vote Monkey: For Whom Will You Vote January 29th?