While not a hot real estate topic, I'd like to comment on the storm.

If you see or know someone who is a utility worker or city/county public works employee, please thank them. I had to go check on my grandparents during the peak of the storm on Monday, and there weren't many people on the roads but the crews were already out there clearing roads the best they could. Also, the effort that Pacific Power put into getting our lights back on was incredible. I realize there are people out there that thought the power was out to long, and when when PP&L said 8 hours and the power still wasn't on they were more frustrated. A very good friend of mine is a PP&L employee in Bend, Oregon. He called Sunday night, before the storm had hit full force to tell me his crew was on their way to the coast. After Sunday night, I couldn't reach him for 2 days because the phones were out. I finally reached him Wednesday afternoon, still here working to get our power back on. These guys were working 24 hour days and in very hazardous conditions to get wire back in the air. I heard on the radio that Pacific Power had more than 300 personnel in Clatsop County, and I personally saw crews from all over Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Utah. The effort these workers put into restoring our power, and the speed that they had repaired the huge amount of storm damage is amazing. Please thank these workers if you know one or see them out working.