The next hot housing markets - Jacksonville makes the list

My home town of Jacksonville makes the list of the next hot housing markets, according to Liz Pulliam Weston of MSN Money.

The list is described as "latecomers to the real-estate party but where values have recently zoomed." It's good to see Jax continuing to show up on these round-ups. Of course, if the entire market nose-dives, maybe nobody will be safe. But, you'd like to think you're in one of these "bargain" cities, rather than one that's overvalued already.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Liz!

San Marco Heat errr.. Art Festival

Charline, Jude, our dog Maggie, my parents and I went to the San Marco Art Festival this Sunday. It was a nice little event. Pretty typical for a Jacksonville arts and crafts festival, in my experience. Just the right amount of good paintings, sculptures, photos and whatnot.

There was even a strange, crazy guy in a full pink unitard (?) on a high unicycle zooming around the area singing some kind of song about himself. I think he called himself the "pink man." Every time Maggie saw him, she went nuts and started barking angrily. People seemed to think that was funny. It was.

Maggie was the belle of the ball. She got a lot of attention from kids and adults alike. Plenty of compliments and questions and pats on the head. I walked her all around the San Marco plaza, trying to keep her in the shade and in the breezy areas as much as possible. She got water in a bowl from the waiter at the restaurant where we ate at a patio table. A vendor poured some water in a bowl for her also. And, she drank out of a fountain too. She got to see and bark at several other dogs during the day. After she got hot and tired, she calmed down a bit.

The ultra-muggy Florida heat and humidity was the big downside to the whole day. Maggie, with her double-layered coat, was miserable in the heat if we walked too long and I felt almost as lousy.

I cannot wait for this summer to end. And, yes, I do say that every day of every summer. I start saying it around March 1 and don't stop until about October 15, by my best estimate.

In the longer-term picture, I cannot wait for the day that we can move out of the god-forsaken south and into a more humane climate where I don't have migraine headaches triggered by heat and humidity during three quarters of the year. Every time I have travelled to a colder, drier climate, at any time of year, in any weather -- in other words, any time I've left the south -- I have loved the weather and felt much better.

Autumn is just around the corner and it won't be one day too soon. (On another topic... why doesn't anyone use the term "autumn" anymore?)

Topamax: 50 mg. and Rising

I'm up to 50mg per day now, and plan to increase the dosage another notch soon, maybe this weekend. It does seem that the Topamax is decreasing the frequency of my headaches. I wish I had kept a strict log, but I've never been one to do that. It would be far too much hassle -- especially considering how often I was getting them.

The side effects seem to have dropped off a bit. I think that was due to some kind of tolerance or adaptation effect. Some people talk about it as if increasing the dose in gets rid of the side effects, but I think I dispelled that myth by staying at 25 mg. for far longer than I was supposed to. Some minor side effects came and went with no change in dosage.

Anyway... I'll post more when I increase the dosage again.