Tips for buying via a private sale and getting the car of your dreams

You can get a great deal and the car of your dreams if you choose to look for your used car online. However there are some unscrupulous people out there who will try to sell a car that has been stolen or has been written off in an accident. When it comes to buying via a private sale you have to follow a few simple guidelines so that you get a bargain and not an old banger - or even worse.

The easiest way to find the right car for you s is to go online with a specialist motoring website. A site such as this will have thousands of cars all listed by private sellers and by conducting a search you are able to find a specific make and model within seconds. Once you have narrowed down your search, browsed through the photos and read the listing you will then have to make contact with the seller. However before this you can benefit from doing a little research regarding the type of car you are looking for and this will give you a rough indication as to if the sellers are asking a fair price.

While you also do not want to pay too much for your used car you should also be very wary of any car that is way below the going price for a car of that make, model and age. Any car that is listed well below the average should be considered a red flag, especially if the seller has given no indication as to there being any faults with the car.

Before you actually travel to see the car, confirming the buyer is actually who they say they are, is a must. The majority of private sellers will just put a mobile telephone number and an e-mail address down on the listing and while this is often done for privacy reasons, there could be a more sinister reason. Ask the seller for their landline number and address and then check these online. Never arrange to meet anyone to take possession or to look over a car in any place other than their home. If someone is going to con you then they could simply arrange to meet you in a place which they claim would be more convenient for you, sell you the car and then disappear only for you to find out later that the vehicle was stolen.

When going to look over a car when buying via a private sale if you know very little about motors then consider taking a mechanic with you to check over the car. While you will have to pay for this it can be very worthwhile if there are several faults found on the car that would work out very costly to repair. Finally all cars have a vehicle identification number which can be found on the car in several different places. Find this number and then make a car data check online with a specialist motoring website to learn the full history of the vehicle.

Selecting area rugs for your home or office

Imagine the desired total look of the room. Do you want a room that's organized or a room rich with colors or texture? If you start with a totally empty room, choose an area rug, then paint or wallpaper the walls in colors to match it.

Keep in mind the area rug has to fit the room. Think how the room is used, how much traffic the area gets and who will view it under what light. For high traffic areas such as hallways and foyers, you may want a tough, decorative rug.

If you start with furniture, choose an area rug to pick up the colors used in your furnishing pattern. The fundamentals of a rug design can be more included into the overall design.

Size up the dimension of the room and the area you want to cover up. The most common area rug sizes are 4x6 and 6x9feet. They work well under small tables.

An 8x11 foot area rug or bigger can cover an entire room. Smaller area like in front of a kitchen sink adds color and warmth. A rug with a courageous, overall design can be the focal point of a room with furniture's in solid or passive patterns.

Light colored area rugs make a room look more open. Choose a rug that will execute well, with the right grouping of thickness and fiber. The denser the mound, the better your area rug will be.

Synthetic yarns, nylon, polyester, acrylic, and polypropylene, and the naturals wool and cotton, are durable, soft, and easy to clean. Your area rug should not only look great, it should perform well, too.

About The Author:

Roger King is a successful author and publisher of 1st-home-decor. com. Selecting area rugs and ideas to showcase your homes.

New age spirituality morning has been all night coming part 40

As I contemplated these ideas, I realized how helpful and practical Gideon had been. He was trying to show me the way to a more glorious life. His method of teaching was simplicity itself. His was a lifetime of love and understanding, and because I felt his concern, I responded by learning many lessons extremely quickly. He used examples from everyday life and imparted to me not only knowledge, but understanding at the same time.

I remember driving along on a super highway once, accompanied by Gideon. It was a beautiful day and all seemed peaceful. I was, as usual, questioning Gideon about my concerns. “What is the meaning of life, Gideon?” I asked, more to aggravate him than anything else.

“Life has no meaning, John.”

“No meaning, Gideon?” I was shocked.

“Life has no meaning. You have meaning. You bring meaning to life,” he calmly replied.

At about that moment there was the terrifying sound of squealing brakes and honking horns. I reacted quickly as a green sports car cut in front of me without even so much as a signal. It continued weaving in and out, disrupting the synchronized flow of traffic that had prevailed for the last half hour or so. I was visibly shaken. “That idiot!” I shouted. “He could have caused an accident. Look at him speed, Gideon! He may still cause a wreck.” “He certainly is in a hurry, John,” Gideon replied. “How can you sit there so calmly? The jerk almost ran us off the road! We could have had a horrible accident. What do you think about that?”

“ ‘Could haves’ don’t count. It doesn’t matter what could have happened. Only what is really happening is important. Listen, calm down and let’s keep going. No harm has been done.”

These were the times when I wanted, more than anything else, to yell at Gideon or grab him by the neck and squeeze until he abandoned his attitude of calmness. How could someone always maintain such balance? I knew he had abilities beyond the ordinary, but nevertheless, it was extremely frustrating, and at the same time strangely comforting, to see him responding instead of reacting to circumstances and events.

To read the rest of the story visit spiritual-simplicity. com

10 resourceful things you can do with a product that doesn t sell

1. Sell the reprint/reproduction rights to the product. You could make money selling other people the rights to reproduce and sell the product. People are always looking for new products to sell.

2. Giveaway the product for free from your web site. Just because it won't sell doesn't mean people won't visit your web site to get it for free. They may see another product you sell and buy that one.

3. Try auctioning off the product at an online auction. You may make part of your investment back. If you're lucky, you may even make a profit because people sometimes get into bidding wars and will bid a higher price than the product is worth.

4. Use the product as a free bonus for another product you sell. This will increase the perceived value of the product you're selling. People will feel they're receiving more for less.

5. Contact businesses with the same target market and see if they would be interested in using your product as a free bonus for their product. You could place your ad on the product and get free advertising.

6. Sell your product to businesses at wholesale cost as a promotional product. Businesses are always looking for products they can giveaway to their customers with their advertising on the product. You could make part of your investment back.

7. Barter your product to other businesses for things you need for your own business. You could trade for their products or services. This will save you money and help make up for your profit loss.

8. You could create an online contest so people could win your product. This will attract traffic to your web site. You also could get free advertising by listing it on online contest directories.

9. If you decide to giveaway the product for free, allow other people to giveaway the product for free. Place your web site ad on the product. This will spread your advertising and attract even more people to your site.

10. Ask businesses with the same target audience if they would be interested in combining your product with their product. You could then sell them together as a package deal and split the profits. You may have better results selling your product this way.

Refinance home loan quick cash to get out of worrisome debts

Lower interest rates make a refinance home loan attractive to borrowers in a financial bind. Lenders will be comfortable to lend the money no matter how large the loan amount needed as long as borrowers could prove ownership of their homes. If you need quick cash, then read on.

Your Home Is Your Wealth

If you are seriously thinking of consolidating your debts and are hoping to decrease your monthly bills, a refinance home loan is your best ticket out of debt. Your home, which is your wealth, is your equity to qualify for a fast loan.

A refinance home loan carries lower interest rates compared to a purchase mortgage. Like all other loans, exercise caution when taking out this loan. You must be able to have all the information – how much you can save from lowered monthly bills and how much you will have paid for the entire loan term. Remember that you are putting your home on the line, hence, the precaution. To make a good and an informed decision, use the online mortgage calculator to see how far it will take you to pay off your loan.

Be ready with the requirements for the refinance home loan to eliminate wasted time and effort. Get copies of your credit report. This will help you decide if you want to go on with a refinance home loan. A poor credit score will jack up interest rates.

With this scenario, would you still be willing to get a loan considering that you have a stack of credit card debts to pay? Find out if you need to go through all this trouble. Most likely you will still find that a refinance home loan is the only way to get out of debt.

Perhaps you have other reasons for getting a refinance home loan such as:

1. switching to another mortgage rate.

2. getting a different loan term.

3. paying for a big expense.

4. have extra cash.

Whatever your reason, you have the right to take out a loan, provided you can afford it. Several companies can help you make the right choice without the guesswork. You just need to know where to look

The Cash-Out Option

This option allows you to borrow money above the value of your home. Although this presents a pretty solution to resolve your debts, it may not always be the best option for the following reasons:

1. expensive closing costs.

2. entails more cost because of PMI payments.

3. cash out financing will bloat your monthly payments.

But if you are thinking of long term business investments, the cash out option is a viable choice. You can use the cash to improve your home to increase its value, or purchase equipment to enhance your business operations. The cash-out option from refinance home loan pays dividends faster when you have a sure income generating project in mind.

So use the cash-out from your home equity and build a better future for your family. Since your home is your wealth, use your refinance home loan wisely.

Internet marketing which shoe fits

The discovery of niche keywords is an effective no-cost way to uncover marketing potential. Many online businesses simply rely on keywords or phrases they think best describe their product or service. By conducting a search to learn what niche keywords might bring visitors to your site you are likely to increase the number of unique visits to your site. There are several online tools to help you uncover niche keywords. This information is valuable for Meta title information as well as knowledge based articles and product descriptions.

Color schemes may also have some bearing on the acceptability of your site. The harmony of colors may go a long way in maximizing the time spent on your website. A website like easyrbg. com can assist you in finding colors that work together. The use of this tool is free.

Consumers do not have patience for a site with broken links and missing pages. The use of a free product like netmechanic. com will allow you to check links, html as well as spelling mistakes that may exist on your website. You can effectively uncover problems with your website before an irate visitor points it out.

There are other free-to-use software programs to help with learning html codes, fixing broken html codes, placing a search engine on your website as well as other tools that have the ability to help you maintain and market your website.

The world of web marketing is a blend of tried and true methods like long-term keyword strategies, advertising and exemplary web site maintenance and updates. The addition of knowledge-based articles that are subjected to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques can also provide a significant boost to your marketing efforts.

Internet marketing is a bit like going into your favorite department store and looking at shoes. You can see that every box has a shoe, but each box contains something unique. Each shoebox contains a different size, style or color of shoe. In marketing, every site has similarities, but there are certain strategies that may work better for one ecommerce site than another.

For instance, some websites use business blogging extensively while others may not us blogging at all in their Internet marketing strategies. Some websites may rely heavily on Meta title information while others may rely on manual site submission strategies. It is true I may have some marketing preferences that just make sense to me, but as long as you keep working at ways to promote your website you improve the odds that your online business will succeed.

3 futon seater swing - where east meets west

Sometimes, it's the simple pleasures in life that makes us happy, like swinging happily in a hammock at a beach. Why not innovate a little by creating the 3 futon seater swing? A 3 futon seater swing is a futon converted into a swing with the capacity of a 3 seater fit. Currently, if you are looking for one, then perhaps you need to make one yourself. But don't fret just yet. It's not as tough to make one as you think!

First you need to get yourself a 3 seater swing. The 3 seater swing you buy must have a 3 Seater Cast Aluminum. This swing frame you purchase must be a true heavy duty garden swing with heavy duty powder coat finish. Make sure that it also has a tilting sunshade and heavy duty sling set and sunshade so it will not fade in the most harsh outdoor climate. This is the your first step and skeleton of your 3 futon seater swing.

Now that you have your 3 seater swing frame. It still isn't the most comfortable thing in the world. Good can be better. So we look at combining another luxury into our set. The hard part is to find a futon that you can use for cushioning in your brand new 3 seater swing frame. Now don't be discouraged. After all, it's just a futon you are looking for to fit the puzzle right? Wrong. There is no place on earth you can find a futon which can fit the size of a 3 seater swing. It just isn't available.

However, there is alternative. You can find a cushion made with the texture and quality of a futon mattress and then use it as your cushioning for your 3 futon seater swing. Now just head down to a futon store and look for a baby futon. You need to tell the sales person your intention so he or she can have an idea of your 3 futon seater swing project and estimate the best cushion made of futon specifications for your 3 futon seater swing. Ask to see the choices of baby futons. Futons made for babies are of same texture and are not softer or harder than ordinary futons. So all you need is six of them and then you will have your complete fusion of traditional Japanese bedding and 3 seater outdoor garden swing. Your new 3 futon seater swing will be the envy of your neighbors for a very long time!

Say hello to those 0 credit card deals

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Getting the best deal on a credit card is not always about jumping from one 0% APR card to another and getting a bad name for you. As you will because the credit card companies are getting wise to this and are beginning to refuse serial jumpers their credit card application.

This though is not aimed at those who up until now have found it easy to get their hands on any credit card that they choose; this article is aimed at those who find it extremely difficult to get their hands on a credit card at all and can only dream of taking advantage of all the 0% interest deals that are out there.

Your low credit rating can affect your application…

This is down to the fact that many potential credit card customers have such a low credit scoring that the credit card issuers; see them as too much of a credit risk. So they ultimately refuse issuing those with a low credit scoring the cards, as they only want those, who they see as profit making customers. This can even happen to you if you have no debt and never have had debt, as the credit card lenders only go on credit information that is held on you on their data bases. So if you have no credit history, they will more readily refuse you one of their cards.

What you have to remember though, is that you should not take your anger out on the credit card company as you have no divine right to expect them to let you borrow their cash just because you want it, they have to be sure that you are a worthy credit risk. To combat this, the first thing that you should not do is to apply again and again to different credit cards, credit agencies or banks for loans, this will only dig the hole deeper for yourself. The next time you apply for any type of credit it will be known that you have applied before and been rejected in the past, so they will find they’re answer easier to come by.

For credit card advice please visit here For credit card advice please visit here credit card advice

Get your credit rating background…

What you should do is contact a credit reference agency, to see where you are going wrong and maybe find the reason why the credit cards are not letting you handle they’re plastic. Ask the credit card company who have refused you, which credit reference agency they use, this will normally be one of two the main ones which are Equifax and Experian. Once you have ascertained which one it is, you can write to them asking for a detailed run down of your credit history. This will normally cost a couple of pounds, but will be a worthwhile practice to help you get your credit scoring back up.

Once that you have found out where you have gone wrong in the past, you can then begin working on getting your credit scoring up. You may wonder as how this can be done if you are not allowed credit, but by keeping your household bills up to date and paid on time, making sure that you can prove where you live, make sure that you are on the electoral role and make sure that you never lie on your application for credit. These are all simple things and if followed through, you will not only find that your credit rating will go up, you will also be able to build on it and be able to one day get the best credit card deals and when you want them.

Choosing your new puppy

When expecting a new puppy addition to the family you want nothing but the best. You check out the best day-care facilities, kindergarten and schooling.

So, why should it be any different when the new addition is a puppy? Hey, if it’s good enough for stars like Brittany and Paris, who are we to question this new trend in spoiling our pets.

Before buying your new puppy it is advisable to do some research and find out all you can about on the background, general behavior and sociability of the breed you have chosen. If you have young children, would a puppy be suitable? Stop and consider the future. When the puppy grows into a dog, will it still be as much fun? Will it outgrow your home?

It’s all too easy to overlook the fact that what is now a cute little puppy will grow into a dog that without proper training may become unruly and dangerous. Remember all dogs are born wild and need training. Once they know who is the leader… you and not them… they will settle into their new life quite happily.

When you bring your puppy home make sure their first night away from mom isn’t to stressful. Give your puppy a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in. A fleece blanket would be a good idea and maybe a small teddy bear or other type of soft toy to cuddle up too. This will help relax your puppy and stop it feeling alone.

The first 12–16 weeks of a puppy’s life are all important. This is the time of intense learning and getting the training right now, will reward you with a well-trained obedient dog.

One thing to remember is it won’t happen in a day. Done with regularity, persistence and a lot of patience over the coming weeks, you and your dog will soon have a great understanding and be the best of friends for many years to come.

Give your puppy time to settle into his new home (and have the necessary injections) then why not arrange a party. Everyone enjoys a party and what better way to introduce your puppy to other dogs and people. Invite your friends, and their dogs, to come and say “Hello”.

Now, lets get round to organizing the Puppy Shower. This isn’t as complicated as it may seem. Dogs are natural party animals and will certainly enjoy the day. The party is more to get the puppy used to other dogs and people so it’s no great shake to organize. Maybe decorate the party room with blue or pink balloons and streamers. Put up a “birthday” banner with pictures of your puppy on it. This will get the puppy used to strange things being around.

Make sure there are enough soft toys around for the doggie guest to play with, as this is a great way to teach your new puppy about sharing things. Some of the bigger doggie guests may be a bit to boisterous for the puppy, so watch carefully but don’t take him away from the fun, as he must learn to interact with others. They have to learn not be afraid or intimidated by other dogs.

Look after your new puppy well and you will have the best friend anyone could ever wish for.

Move into the top 1 of all ebay sellers - accepting the best methods of payment

eBay is becoming a more competitive environment to make money these days. As such, there are certain things that you can do as an eBay seller to separate yourself and distance yourself from your competition.

As you set up your eBay selling systems, make the commitment to accept all methods of payment. If not, you’ll lose out on potential customers.

The following short list should be considered your preferred method of accepting payment on eBay:

1. PayPal

Paypal, owned by eBay, now has over 100 million members and is the most accepted payment method online. While some sellers don’t like the 3% PayPal fees – remember that 97% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

PayPal is simple (and free) to set up – you are only charged a fee when there is a transaction. PayPal makes it easy for every seller to accept credit cards safely online without the time and expense of setting up a typical merchant account.

Many people shop on eBay for convenience. PayPal provides the simples and most convenient way for a buyer to pay. You can register for a free PayPal account at: paypal. com.

2. Money Order or Personal Check

Some sellers don’t like accepting a personal check for fear of the check bouncing. 99.9% of all checks are good. As long as you follow the basic strategy of not shipping your item until the check clears you have nothing to lose – even if the check is not good.

Remember that there are some buyers who don’t have a credit card. If you make them go to the bank to get a money order, they may simply buy from someone else who takes a personal check.

I would suggest NOT taking checks from International Buyers as it simply takes too long for the check to clear. Reminder: In your payment terms in your auction, you’ll need to disclose your payment policies – and be sure to specify whether you’ll accept a personal check or money order from an International Seller.

3. Cash

While it’s not the best method of payment, some eBay sellers do accept cash payments. It’s not likely that a buyer will send you cash for their purchase.

4. Escrow

For a high-ticket item (car, real estate, jewelry, etc.) escrow is a safe and secure way to accept payment for the simple reason that the escrow service will guarantee full protection prior the close of the transaction. NOTE: With escrow, the seller has to wait for the confirmation that the buyer has received the merchandise prior to receiving payment.

Safe Payments Policy

Recently, eBay instituted a “Safe Payments Policy” in an effort to continue the safe and secure transactions on their site. eBay evaluates various payment methods to insure that transactions are safe within the eBay marketplace.

As such, their recent policy states that sellers may accept the following methods of payment:

-PayPal

-Direct Credit Cards (for those sellers with a merchant account)

-Bank Wire Transfers

-Personal Checks, Money Orders, Cashier’s Checks and Certified Checks

Not permitted on eBay. com: Sellers may not solicit buyers to mail cash. Sellers may not ask buyers to send cash through instant cash transfer services (non-bank, point-to-point cash transfers) such as Western Union or Moneygram. Sellers may not ask buyers to pay with Stormpay, Greenzap. com or e-gold payments. Finally, sellers may not request payment through online payment methods not specifically permitted in this eBay policy.

What is lung cancer and who can get it

Abnormal cell growth in either one or both of the lungs is the simple answer to the question, “What is lung cancer?” In healthy individuals, the cells within the lungs go about their business duplicating at a normal rate and turning into more and more lung tissues. The lungs continue to function properly and all is well.

But in damaged lungs, this rate of cell duplication becomes uncharacteristically fast yet new lung tissue fails to develop. These damaged (cancerous) cells begin to clump together and ultimately turn into cancerous tumors. Eventually, the tumors begin to interfere with the impacted lung’s ability to function normally and that is when the full impact of the disease known as lung cancer begins to be noticed.

Interestingly, although it usually takes many years for lung cancer to develop, the cells begin to take on abnormal characteristics almost immediately upon being exposed to cigarette smoke or the other environmental contaminants that can cause trouble in the lungs such as radon, asbestos, coal, air pollution, and even second-hand smoke.

Lung cancer can strike anyone regardless of gender, age or race. Even though it is more likely to strike those who are or who have been a smoker, lung cancer can develop in those who have never taken up this habit. Lung cancer in non-smokers is very rare, occurring in only about 10% of the cases, meaning that in almost 90% of the lung cancer cases, cigarette smoking is the instigator. Why is that so?

The primary purpose of the lungs is to breathe in air. The lungs remove the oxygen from this air and push it out into the blood where it can travel around the body as needed. Because the air we breathe is not always pure – it’s filled with dust, dirt, and other types of pollutants – the upper part of the lung system was designed to clean it before allowing it to enter deeper into the lungs. In the case of smokers, the carcinogens in cigarette smoke can break down the lung’s cleansing capabilities and as a result, dirty air and the contaminants within cigarette smoke continue to freely enter into the lungs. It is the absence of this cleansing capability that ultimately causes the cells inside the lungs to function abnormally.

Besides being the #1 cause of cancer death in the United States, lung cancer is unfortunately so far a disease that has no cure. In fact, by the time lung cancer is discovered, few people will survive the first year after diagnosis.

Small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer are the two types of lung cancer that can develop. Eighty percent of the lung cancer cases are the slower-moving non-small cell type. The problem with this type of lung cancer is that it often spreads to other parts of the body. Sophisticated lung scans are generally the way most tumors are detected, but unfortunately, such scans are not part of routine medical care. That’s probably why most lung cancer goes undiagnosed for so long.

Laying down a big poker hand

Fixation - Definition: an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone. (Dictionary. com)

Fixation happens. I’ve seen players with pocket aces not notice that someone at the table has possibly received a flush on the flop. After the river, they confidently flip over their aces only to realize they have lost the hand.

I have got caught in the act of not laying down a big hand. I was in a tournament at Catfish Bend Casino in Iowa and was dealt pocket Queen’s. I wasn’t paying enough attention to the other players at the table and went “All In” before the flop. Had I been paying attention and simply made a small bet instead of going all in, I would have noticed that the posture of one of the other players had changed. He leaned forward and placed his hands differently on the table. I realized later that this signified he had a good hand. He ended up beating my pocket Queen’s with pocket King’s. It’s very rare but it happens. Thankfully, I was able to buy back into the tournament at that point and ended the tournament in 5th place.

Knowing when to lay down a big hand is part of playing quality poker. Being able to read the other players at the table and determine what hands they will typically play will give you this edge. It also relies on your ability to estimate the cards that the other players have as well as the cards that will likely come on the flop, turn and river. This is estimated through probability. See my article “Its all about the cards,” for more information about this subject.

I was watching a poker tournament on TV and it was heads up play. The TV did not show the cards they were playing with. Simply by watching the way one of the players was acting (he was unsure) and the cards in the flop, it told me he had a low pocket pair. My father asked me to guess what he had and I said pocket nines. I was right on the money.

I’ve also prevented myself from losing a hand as well. I had determined that one of my opponents had pair their 10 on the flop and the other I wasn’t concerned about because of their previous betting pattern. I had paired my 9 on the flop and I was able to determine after I saw the turn that he had a pair of 10’s. The only reason I knew this is because I watched how he played and how he bet in hands that I wasn’t playing. I subsequently folded the hand and he beat the other player by showing his pair of 10’s.

Overall if you do not become fixated on your hand and pay attention to the whole table, you will become a more successful poker player. Poker is not only about the cards you have in your hand, but it is also about being able to confidently determine, through probability and psychology, that you have the best hand. Good luck!

Ice climbing techniques

Mountain climbing locations vary in altitude but many of them are in of sub zero temperatures. There are different techniques required for climbing in ice covered terrain and it’s much different than climbing in dry terrain. While it is more challenging than other forms of climbing, ice climbing can be the most rewarding and exhilarating.

Many techniques that are used in other types of climbing are used in ice climbing but the challenge is altogether different. There are definite differences in the equipment used for ice climbing. For example, ice climbing boots require more insulation than for alpine climbing since it’s important to keep ice and snow from entering the boot.

Spiked soles that clamp to the soles of your boots, called crampons are required for keeping traction on the ice. There are special techniques used for trekking on ice. Using a large ice pick, you use an overhead swing to penetrate the ice in front of you. When you’ve determined it’s secure, you kick your crampon fitted boot into the ice. Once you are sure you’re secure these two steps are repeated.

While hiking and climbing, a pro is used much like in traditional climbing but the protective devices used in ice climbing take on a different aspect. Single, twin and double rope ascents are still used but ice screws are commonly used. Ice screws are hollow tubes that have teeth on one end and a hook on the other end. They’re placed and secured into the ice and the hook on the ice screw is for attaching to.

The ice itself is sometimes used as a pro. There are two common methods; the V-thread and the Bollard method. In the V-thread method, a pair of holes are drilled diagonally into the ice and their holes connect to make a “V” shape. A sling is threaded and then attached to a rope and harness. The ice is quite strong and there is little risk of giving way. With the Bollard method a rope hold is carved into the ice and a rope is looped over the piece of ice. The ice is strong enough to hold one or two climbers depending on their weight. There is a risk to using ice as a pro since it is an unpredictable medium but many climbers prefer it.

Ice climbing utilizes many of the same techniques as traditional climbing but with some different equipment. Many climbers find that ice climber is more adventures and provides them with a more rewarding feeling. If you’re a climber, you should give ice climbing a try for a true adrenaline rush.

Love those table tennis dvds

Table tennis DVDs are increasingly popular and in the sports videos market. More companies are producing table tennis DVDs using different themes and formats to suit the demands of the rising number of table tennis enthusiasts. Table tennis DVDs might come as a compilation of film clips from previous Olympic games and World Championships. Instructional videos suited for both the beginner and the professional player are also widely available.

A series of table tennis DVDs that are currently gaining popularity is the one produced by Reflex Sports and sold and promoted in the internet site tabletennisvideos. com. These table tennis DVDs are: “The Wonderful and Wacky World of Table Tennis”, “More From the Wonderful World of Table Tennis” and “Table Tennis Beyond Imagination”. The DVD series is a must-have item for most table tennis beginners and enthusiast because these videos are meant to be enjoyed and learned from.

The first table tennis DVD in the series, “The Wonderful and Wacky World of Table Tennis”, is a 60 minute collection of humorous and wacky moments in world competitions of table tennis from 1985 to 1990. Viewers will see their favorite professional table tennis players at their best form, but also see moments of utmost hilarity. From this table tennis DVD, bloopers, blunders and substantial video clips of smashing, crashing and flopping can be seen.

Some of the segments in this DVD that are sure to entertain viewers are entitled: “Candid Coaching”, “Circus Atmosphere”, “Don't Do This”, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, “Jump for Joy”, “Nets And Edges”, “Racket Ricochets”, “Swing and Miss”, and “Ups And Downs”.

The second DVD in the series, “More From the Wonderful World of Table Tennis”, contains a more serious approach to presenting table tennis clips and highlights. This sequel introduced a series of film clips from the greatest game matches in the world of table tennis.

It also features highlights from the World and European Table Tennis Championship Games and also those from Olympic competitions from 1991 to 1994. Players and coaches alike can both benefit from this video as they can be very educating in terms of techniques and skills of world-class table tennis players in action.

Featured segments in this DVD include winning moments of table tennis superstars. They are: “Block and Smash”, featuring Deng Yaping, Prean and Tazaki; “Control Spinners” featuring Appelgren, Grubba, and Qiao Hong; “Counter Drive” which features Li Bun Hui, Keen, and Struse; “Power Spinners” with Rosskopf, Fetzner, Persson, Ma Wenge, and Kim Taek Soo; “The Defenders” featuring Li Gun Sang, Shibutani and Chen Xinhua; and lastly, “The Final Four”, featuring Primorac, Waldner, Gatien and J-M.

The DVD also features extreme close ups and slow motion clips of game highlights included in the video. Unique clips of funny moments reminiscent of its predecessor are also included in the video.

The latest in this series is a compilation DVD called “Table Tennis Beyond Imagination”. This video contains highlights of world championships in table tennis from 1985 to 2000. It also includes clips of highlights from the previous two table tennis DVDs produced by Reflex Sports.

“Table Tennis Beyond Imagination” is almost a collector’s item for table tennis enthusiasts because it has the best film clips from 1985 to 2000 showing impressive shots and remarkable points played by the best table tennis players of the world. For 500 hours, viewers will see excellent games in this DVD.

Also in the DVD is a countdown of the 10 best plays 1985 to 2000, including a slow motion replay for all the highlights. The video also boasts of its special feature, that of the game series between China and Sweden, two countries vying for the top win in the sport.

How to select halloween layouts for your profile-2

In the first article, we learned the basics of choosing a layout for Halloween. The points we discussed were mainly the weight of the page. If the profile is heavy, the page will not get downloaded fast and your friends will move away. What factors make the page heavy?

Any thing on the profile page adds to the weight. To begin with the - layout. Then any other widget that you add. Contact tables, countdowns, music, videos, surveys, and any such widget that we add to our profile adds to the beauty of the profile. But it also adds to the weight of the profile. Therefore it is important that we think about weight right from the day we select the layout.

The next important consideration is color of the layout. The choice is between different colors and the darkness of the colors. Which color should you be looking for Halloween? Black and red are most popular colors. Red signifies blood and black signifies dark night. The layouts are not commonly made in mono colors. You will find many colors in the layout. Choose a color that satisfies one criterion. The text is readable or not. I have seen hundreds of profiles where nothing can be read. Because the font color and the background color are so similar that it is impossible to read the texts. Chose a color that allows the font to be read.

Should the color be shining or mat. This can be tricky because it also depends upon the settings of your friends. You may choose something very bright and your friend may have a monitor with high contrast and low brightness. So you cannot control what they view. Best is to chose what looks good to you. In the next part we will discuss more about the colors and other widgets.

Search engine marketing exclusive services

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Get your site exposed. Are you ruining your own campaign?

Marketing is not something to be forgotten when delving into an online business. Marketing is in fact just as, if not even more important today in promoting a website than any offline business. So what does it take to market on online business? Well, it’s the newest strategy on the market and it’s called Search Engine Marketing.

In the same way a business would choose an advertising company to lead an advertising campaign, an online business should choose an online advertising company to lead their search engine marketing campaign. Effective marketing requires the experience and expertise of professional advertisers. For a website, this means knowledge and understanding of the internet, and more importantly, of search engines. Search Engines dictate the way people shop online.

A search marketing company is the best way to get your site some online exposure. There are a great number of tasks to get a site ready for search marketing. Keyword research, placement, and selection are all an essential part of targeting your market. Search marketing companies have the tools and the technology to select the best keywords and keyword phrases for your audience. Other important considerations for site include overall website design and theme. There are many factors in design that can affect the way search engines rank a website.

Website hosting is another important key to search marketing. Exclusive search marketing services include a complete analysis of your hosting account to ensure good service. If your hosting partner causes your site to be down frequently, it can be detrimental to your search marketing campaign. If your site is down when a search engine comes to visit, this can be bad news. It’s also important that you have all day access to your files to work on the site. Most importantly, there may be banned sites on that hosts IP address, and this can cause the search engines to automatically ban your site also.

Once your site design and hosting are up to par, search engine marketing dictates a vigorous campaign to market the site. Advertising consists of tactics to increase the visibility of a site, to get it noticed in more places by more search engines. A search engine marketing company will submit the site to major search engines, and other sites used by search engines to rank sites. Once a site is submitted, it must be maintained carefully and monitored frequently to assess rankings.

The industry of the internet and the search engines is changing everyday. To make a business successful, it has to keep up with the ever changing trends. A company with exclusive search marketing services can help a business meet its goals and reach success. With marketing a website, the guidelines are specific and the results are real and the success of a business is not worth gambling with.

Avoiding closing costs when buying a home

Most homebuyers – especially those doing it for the first time – are faced with a tough challenge when it comes to closing costs. Enough consumers who have saved for many years may not have enough available funds to cover fees related to a major real estate transaction. But there are ways to at least minimize the costs, and there are several strategies for buying without incurring any immediate closing costs.

With excellent credit you may qualify for loans over and above the price of the property you’re buying. And if that happens, you can cover your closing costs with the extra funds you borrow. For example, you might be able to qualify for a loan of 107 percent of the selling price, enough funds to pay for the house plus all of your closing costs. If the price of the home you intend to buy is $200,000 and you borrow $214,000, the first $200,000 covers the house and down payment, and the rest pays your closing fees. Because the lender considers you a low risk borrower thanks to your high credit rating, they see the bigger loan as good business for themselves, while it offers great convenience for you.

Another common way to avoid closing costs is by using a “80/20” or “piggyback” loan. This type of loan is actually two loans packaged together. One of the loans works in a conventional way, and is for 80% of the purchase price. The 2nd part of the loan is a smaller 20 % loan that is used to cover the down payment. So in reality, the lender is letting you borrow your 20% down payment. You can expect to pay higher rates on the down payment portion of the loan, but you get to buy a house with essentially zero down.

Sometimes a seller will offer owner financing and also pay your closing costs, to help you close a transaction. Or you can buy from your landlord and use a “lease purchase” contract. The way those work is that the landlord/seller lets you apply monthly lease payments toward the purchase price until enough money has changed hands to compensate for the down payment. So you can avoid the biggest closing cost of all, by gradually using monthly rent to come up with your down payment.

If you are self-employed, be sure to investigate whether or not you qualify for special loans that are intended to help people buy houses. Some apply to those who are veterans of military service, and they offer loans with little or no down payments and reductions in other closing costs. Other loans are created by the government to assist lower income families; and there are even programs managed through various non-profit organizations that fund grants to help consumers buy homes. If you find a loan that fits your circumstances, don’t hesitate to apply for it – sometimes special grants and loan funds are budgeted and dispersed on a “first come, first served” basis and then they run out quickly.

Accessorizing the bathroom the smallest details complete the look

How you style a bathroom depends on a number of factors. First, there is the general style of your home. If everything in your home has a classic country sort of feel, having an ocean theme in your bathroom may seem out of place. Second, there's the concept of the feel you want to create with the bathroom. For kids, you may choose a fun, cartoon theme; for those who are looking for a relaxing atmosphere, a place where it's possible to fully unwind at the end of a long day, peaceful colors like those in a spa would be ideal.

Similarly, the types of colors that you're like - along with the overall brightness of your bathroom - can determine whether you look for brightly colored accessories or those that are muted in color. Finally, there's your personality, or the personality of the person who will be using the bathroom the most.

In general, there are four styles that are commonly used when accessorizing the bathroom - classy, muted, bright and fun.

In a classy bathroom, you may find yourself choosing bath accessories in muted colors, perhaps with a subtle floral tone. Toilet seat covers, towels, bath mats as wall as bath accessories for the counter - a soap dish or soap pump, a toothbrush holder and such - can all be coordinated with the shower curtain. You may start with a shower curtain that is a neutral color like beige with a rose colored embellishment and match the other bath accessories to the rose shade.

If instead you were trying to create a muted look in your bathroom, you're likely to choose soft tones as well, but rather than a floral look, you may choose slightly more modern bath accessories like those that you might find at a spa retreat. Muted shades of green or blue, natural colors that resemble stone or clay are all good base colors for your bathroom. Consider a solid color shower curtain or one that is patchwork - squares of complementary colors. Choose a matching bath rug, bath towels, a toilet seat to match and simple chrome plated bath accessories.

Alternately, if bright, modern colors appeal to you, you'll find that bright, single colored shower curtains, window dressings, bath towels and shower mats can create a crisp, modern look. From using a number of different bright, solid colors in your bathroom to choosing the same pieces that feature bright colors in geometric patters or simple stripes, you'll find that you are able to bring the look of your bathroom together, to create a bright theme even if the items don't necessarily match.

Using blocks of color can be fun, but for some it's just not fun enough. Whether you're accessorizing the bathroom for kids or just for those who are young at heart, sometimes you just feel playful. You may make the choice to use a bright, aquarium theme for your bathroom - tropical fish on the shower curtain, bright towels with a wave-like geometric pattern, a fish shaped bath mat or even an acrylic toilet seat designed to look like a fish bowl (complete with colorful fish). You might choose dolphins, or even cartoon characters as the central theme for your bathroom.

For example, someone who still carries a fondness for Betty Boop may decide to use the character as a theme for his or her bathroom. A Betty Boop shower curtain and bath accessories set with a toothbrush holder, a trash can and a soap dish could be used with red or black towels and a red or black bath mat and toilet seat.

Of course, these aren't the only four styles for a bathroom; whatever your interests are, whatever inspires you, that's going to be the foundation for decorating your bathroom. Whether you choose colorful flowers, solid colors, muted tones or something altogether different - a clean, modern look using all white for example - it's the small details that bring it all together. Choosing bath towels that don't quite fit in with your chosen color scheme, combining an aquarium theme toilet seat with a bamboo shower curtain: these things simply don't create a cohesive look.

Fortunately, it's easy to find bath accessories that will allow you to bring the whole look together - that is, once you decide what kind of look and feel you are looking to create.

Traditional american wedding practices weddings in the united states

Starting with the engagement, Americans can think of unique ways to personalize their wedding. As there really isn't any engagement tradition, the more unique the marriage proposal is done, the better.

For most wedding preparations, the engaged couple visits their parents to inform them of their recent engagement.

At times, the engaged couple hosts an engagement party. The engagement party costs less than a wedding reception since most of the time, the menu will only include cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Therefore, if the couple is on a tight budget, they can just invite more guests to the engagement party if they plan to limit the number of guests during the wedding.

Most wedding preparations have a bridal shower given by the maid of honor and the bridesmaids. The groom may also have a bachelor party the night before the wedding but he has to be careful not to drink too much.

Wedding invitations should include response cards to quickly inform the couple whether the person has accepted or declined the invitation. The wedding invitations should also be sent within four to six weeks before the event.

Usually, there is a rehearsal dinner in which the wedding party and guests came from far places to be present at the wedding attend. It was practiced that the groom's parents pay for this dinner.

A bridal luncheon may be hosted for the bride's attendants during the wedding day. However, time constraints may not permit this to be part of the schedule for the wedding day. Likewise, the groom may also host a groom's dinner for his groomsmen.

Interestingly, even if the couple is not very religious, they still prefer a religious ceremony. However, this may pose a problem since in America people of different faiths and religious backgrounds get married.

Even if there are few people who believe in bad luck, some couples still make sure that the groom does not see his bride until she starts waking on the aisle.

It is still practiced that the groom and his groomsmen enter the church through a side door. The bride will then walk down the aisle with her father. In some cases when both her father and stepfather brought up the bride, she may ask them both to escort her.

During a formal reception, there is usually a bridal table where the couple and the attendants sit. Also, food and drinks should be served as the guests appear at the reception.

Before, gift giving used to depend on what the guest will feel useful for the couple. Now, it is better to register for gifts so the guests will know what to bring that the couple will need.

Upon receiving an engagement or wedding gift, it is better to send a thank you note apart from saying "thank you" to the giver. This should be sent within two weeks upon receipt of the gift. Make a personalized thank you note, instead of using an impersonal generic thank you note.

These are just some American practices during weddings. Whether one chooses to this or prefers to have a very different wedding, what's more important is that American's still believe in the wedding vow, "For better or worse, 'til death do us part."

Car donation facts for you

Donating money and good is a great way to help out worthy causes while still helping yourself out on your taxes. Car donation is no different. Even though some of the car donation tax laws changed a few years back, this is still a great way to help yourself and others. So if you have an old car and just aren’t quite sure what to do with it, then consider a charitable donation of your vehicle.

As of 2005, the laws for car donation changed. For motor vehicles, boats, and airplanes that are valued at more than $500, things are a bit different than before. The allowable amount of the deduction is now limited to whatever amount the charity sells it for. The charity to which your car donation is made is required to provide you with written acknowledgement of your donation within 30 days of you making it. If the charity provides any false or exaggerated acknowledgement, they can be penalized.

As of the first of January in 2005, when you make a car donation, the tax write off is based on how the charity uses your donated car. If it is sold, you can deduct the gross sale price. If, on the other hand, the charity uses the car for what the new law calls “significant” tax-approved work of charity, you would be able to claim the market value of the vehicle. Again, however, there are stiff penalties for falsified documents.

Some of the charities, despite acknowledging that the old laws had problems, are skeptical of the new car donation laws. Many of these organizations are concerned about what will happen when the tax deduction responsibility is put in the hands of the charities rather than the donors. A group of them actually sent a letter to the Treasury Secretary suggesting that people may be discouraged from donating when they are unaware of their deduction amount. Not being able to weigh the cost to the benefit of donation may discourage some auto donations.

If you do choose to make a car donation, you will find that the process is very easy. Most charities that offer to take your vehicle will have information on line or via phone about it. In many cases, in fact, you can fill out the appropriate forms on line to get the process underway. You also will likely not even have to be home and the vehicle may not even need to be in working condition. Many charities will come and toe your car away if you can simply leave the title under a floor mat along with the key and put it somewhere accessible. As soon as the car is sold, you will receive a document in the mail letting you know how much you can write off of your taxes, legally.

Since many charities rely on donations of all sorts: clothing, cars, money, and even appliances, think about what you are doing when you make an auto donation. By donating your vehicle, you are helping out a worthy cause of your choice. In addition, you are helping yourself out. Sure, the tax laws have changed, but you can still benefit from your donation. The car doesn’t have to run to be eligible, so your write off might still be more than selling it for junk. So feel good about yourself, help your tax line, and get rid of that old junker by donating your car.

Credit counseling scams

Some of the worst scams involve offers to help consumers fix their credit. Our nation is so entrenched in the use of credit, it is inevitable that many will get behind on their payments. This common malady affects at least one person you know if not you, personally.

Credit card companies, banks, stockbrokers, stores, and other financial institutions make it sound so easy, who could resist. No interest! No payments until July! No annual fee! Just fill in this form and you can buy all the things you really can’t afford!

We are sucked into this system easily, but getting out of debt can be extremely difficult and stressful. The promises of all these credit providers become insults and threats as soon as you cannot pay for all the things they promised you could have when you filled out that form.

Many people do not know how to get caught up. Their situation may have changed since they applied for the credit and ran the bill up. They may have lost a job, had a baby, had an illness in the family, or had some other disaster strike which meant they could not make payments they had once agreed to.

The credit providers don’t offer much help. They offered you the credit. Now they want their money. They didn’t worry about whether they were giving you more credit than you could really afford. It’s not their problem. It’s your problem.

Then, here you are. You owe them money. The collectors are calling and sending you notices threatening to take your house, your car, or ruin your credit rating. They tell you that if you do not pay there will be dire consequences.

Then you see the ad or find the website that says, “Credit Counseling. Let us help you get out of debt and get those bill collectors off your back for you.” You’re saved! Look, it’s even a not for profit organization. They are just there to help me. Where do I sign?

That’s where the trouble begins. Many companies have gotten into this lucrative venture and prey on people who are stressed out and have nowhere to turn. The credit card companies who recruited them so vigorously before have now abandoned them. The government isn’t offering to help. The IRS still wants their taxes. And now the knight in shining armor, the credit counseling service comes to the rescue.

The ad may say “Consolidate your bills into one low monthly payment”, “No Borrowing”, “Use federal law to keep your property from being foreclosed by creditors”, “Wipe out your debts”, “Stop Garnishments”, “Stop Collectors from harassing you”, “Keep your property from being repossessed”, or other equally great sounding phrases that looks just exactly like what you need.

But, don’t get sucked in a second time. If you think the credit card companies sucked you into debt, you haven’t seen anything yet compared to what a disreputable credit counseling company can do to you.

Some of these companies offer to help you eliminate your debt altogether. If you get an email like that, delete it. If you find a website that says that, hit the back button and go somewhere else. Do not walk, run!

Sometimes, the best answer is to negotiate directly with the creditor. Be firm. Tell them what you can actually afford to pay. Do not promise more than you can deliver. They really have to take what you can actually pay if they want you to pay them off eventually. Avoiding them doesn’t work.

Many of these scams do not tell you what they actually charge and their fees can be worse than what you already owe. These companies will try to avoid giving you straight answers to your questions about their fees and have hidden costs they may not disclose at all. They know you turned to them because you are afraid your credit is about to be ruined and that they can pressure you into paying them later.

They also don’t tell you they are receiving a portion of whatever payments you are making to your creditors through them. That’s one of the ways they hide what they make from you.

Some of them will take the payments from you, then not pay your creditors with it on time, or in some cases not pay your creditors at all.

Never pay a credit counseling service an up-front fee to fix your credit or give you counseling or anything else. Many of these companies are only in place to make money from collecting that fee and never provide you with any credit counseling or other services at all. They’ve made their money and gone on to the next victim.

Many credit counseling scams are under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and those claiming to be nonprofit are being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and their nonprofit status is in danger of being revoked.

However, our government agencies will not save you. These unscrupulous credit counseling services will change their business names and be right back in business bilking consumers in no time at all as long as there is a buck to be made. Only your common sense can keep you from being ripped off by credit counseling scams.

Check them out with the Better Business Bureau. Search their company name online to find others who have used their service. Do not believe testimonials that appear on their own website or ones they send you in an email. They can just make those up.

If they have a website, go to betterwhois. com and type in the domain name to find out who the Registrant of the domain name is. Then search for their name on the web. Search their phone number or address on the web. Find out all you can about them before you sign up for anything. Ask a lot of questions.

I hope this article has been helpful to you. Do a search in your favorite search engine for credit counseling scams and you can learn even more about how to avoid becoming a victim.

Hypnotherapy and nlp unscrambling the link

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and Hypnotherapy are very closely related and could be considered to come from the same ‘family’ of therapeutic approaches. In fact, if you are considering having hypnotherapy and are currently searching for a therapist, you will probably find that many hypnotherapists now-days, practice NLP to some level and conversely that most NLP practitioners who have completed certified training courses, will also be familiar with using hypnotic techniques during therapy sessions.

How are these therapies similar?

Hypnotherapy utilises hypnotic techniques in order to bring about therapeutic change. Hypnotherapy enables a person to solve personal problems by bringing about a deeply relaxing state of mind. When the person is deeply relaxed this allows the unconscious part of the mind to use its resources to find solutions. It also allows the person to focus their attention completely on the therapists voice in order to follow the positive suggestions and guidance the therapist is making. In hypnotherapy this relaxed state is called trance. All people experience trance states on a daily basis. Trance simply refers to the experience of being really relaxed. It also involves focusing your attention so that it is highly selective. Reading a really good book and being completely absorbed in it, is an example.

Have you had the experience of being totally immersed in the characters of the book, being able to vividly imagine what they are like, whilst at the same time being able to ignore other noises and distractions going on around you? If so, you have experienced trance. Using your imagination and day-dreaming are other examples. Any time that you ‘go inside’ your own head you are in a light trance. If you’ve ever had the experience of having a problem that is constantly with you, so that it feels like all you have or all you are, is this problem, then you will know what it is like to experience a bad trance.

Richard Bandler (a computer scientist) and John Grinder (an associate professor in linguistics) developed NLP in the 1970’s. NLP was created after they spent time studying and modelling therapists who were considered to be extremely effective at getting good results. One of these therapists, was the Psychiatrist Milton Erickson. He was also an extremely talented hypnotherapist. Erikson’s style of indirect hypnotic suggestion and skilled use of ambigous and vague language patterns, has become known as Ericksonian hypnosis. Since NLP was developed after modelling Erickson, many NLP techniques involve Ericksonian hypnotic approaches. Like more traditional hypnotherapy, NLP works with the unconscious part of the mind in order to find solutions to problems. NLP therapists are also trained in using Milton Model language patterns in order to induce light trance states in clients. This is very useful at getting a problem moving when a person is stuck in a bad trance. Other hypnotic techniques that are common to NLP include metaphorical story telling and utilising the client’s imagination in order to bring about a highly focused state of attention during change techniques – a trance state.

How do NLP and Hypnotherapy Differ

You will find that they are more similar then they are different. During hypnotherapy you are much more likely to be seated in a comfy chair, perhaps reclining with your eyes closed! During NLP you often get more involved with the techniques on a practical level, so you may be standing, or be required to do or say certain things related to overcoming your problem. You may still get to close you eyes and you will certainly get to use your imagination. NLP techniques utilise hypnotic elements but usually in a more subtle way, the NLP therapist will empower you to draw on resources you already have in order to bring about new options in thinking.

When you see an NLP therapist you will find they often use more traditional hypnotherapy techniques as well. At the end of your NLP session, after all the hard work, you will often get to recline back in your chair and experience relaxation so that you leave the therapists office feeling positive and ready to go on with your day.

Karen offers NLP and hypnotherapy, Herts and is trained to master practitioner level. Karen is trained to use Milton Model hypnotic techniques during NLP and Hypnotherapy, Herts.

Mueller water products quot a quot and quot b quot shares are mispriced

Some smart investors see value in Mueller Water Products (MWA). They're probably right; but, Mueller isn't the kind of situation that jumps out at me as a clear bargain I can understand. However, there is something peculiar about this situation that makes it worth writing about. (Note: The information in this article was current as of Friday, April 6th, 2007 – please consult current market quotes).

There are two shares of Mueller Water Product common stock – Series A common stock and Series B common stock. There are roughly three times as many B shares as A shares. The A shares and B shares have identical economic rights. So, ownership of all of the B shares would provide a roughly 75% economic interest while ownership of all of the A shares would provide a roughly 25% economic interest.

Here's where things get interesting. "Shares of Series A common stock and Series B common stock generally have identical rights in all material respects except Series B shares have eight votes and each Series A share has one vote per share."

So, what's the premium on the B shares? There is none. The last trade on Mueller A shares (MWA) was at $13.98; the last trade on Mueller B shares (MWA. B) was at $13.64. Buyers of the A shares are currently paying $0.34 a share more to reduce their voting power by 87.5%.

You can't convert A shares into B shares or B shares into A shares. If you could, there would be a profit in simply buying, converting, and selling. Unfortunately, you can't do that. So, there's no "manual" arbitrage opportunity here. Obviously, you can bet that the discount on the B shares will be eliminated – but, the market has to close the gap for you.

Regardless, there is a nonsensical discrepancy in price between the A shares and the B shares.

Anyone looking to make a new investment in Mueller should buy the B shares. There's no reason to touch the A shares until they are trading at a discount to the B shares.

Owners of Mueller A shares who currently hold those shares in a manner that would cost them less than $0.34 a share to sell should immediately begin selling their A shares and putting the proceeds into the B shares. Doing so would slightly increase their economic interest in Mueller's business, greatly increase their voting power – and, over the long-term, possibly provide additional appreciation in the share price, if and when the B shares consistently trade at a premium to the A shares.

Do the B shares have to trade at a premium to the A shares? Technically, no. But, in the future, it's possible that circumstances may make the B shares far more attractive to certain investors. The A shares are extremely unattractive to any large shareholder who isn't committed to complete passivity as close to 96% of the votes are tied to the B shares – the A shares are essentially non-voting shares.

Furthermore, there are fewer A shares, so it would be more difficult for a large investor to acquire a meaningful economic interest via the A shares without moving the price of those shares.

While some investors might have very good reasons for buying the B shares when they trade at a higher price than the A shares – no one has a good reason for buying the A shares when they trade at a higher price than the B shares.

Right now, the choice seems simple – dump the A shares; buy the B shares.

Preventing water damage in the attic

Controlling the natural drying of your property must start at the attic as it is located at the top of the house, separating between the roof and the rest of the house. Read the following guide lines to prevent water damage caused by ceilings and flooring, common attic appliances, insulation, vents, and recessed lights canisters

Perform thorough inspections every few months to assure that you attic is kept in good conditions

Ceiling and Floor

Be sure to look both up and down when inspecting the attic. Pay special attention to openings through the roof such as pipes, vents and the chimney. Take a look to confirm that all surfaces are dry and that there is no mold or rot. Also, check the bottom of the roof sheathing and roof rafters. It is recommended to inspect during the morning to make sure that the roof is sealed and that no daylight penetrates through roof cracks. Inspect the floor and make sure it is dry.

Recessed Lights Canisters

The presence of rust and corrosion indicates possible moisture invasion and a potential electrical hazard. Additional indicators for potential water damage are stains above or near the wood, or on the insulation around the canisters. Consider replacing old recessed lights canisters with newer, safer ones that include built in insulation.

Vents

Attic ventilation is important. Commonly, vents are installed along the peak of the roof. Moisture or surface discoloration near vents is a sign, locate the moisture source and fix the problem. When inspecting the roof, remove any bird nests and debris blocking the vents.

Insulation

When damaged by moisture and water, the insulation becomes thin and flat. Check the insulation frequently, especially after the rain season. Touch it. If it feels wet, find the moisture source and fix the problem right away. Remember: wet insulation is useless, but it will continue to hold water for a while and will create high moisture conditions. If the insulation is wet, replace it.

Common Attic Appliances

Periodically, check attic air conditioners, swamp coolers and HVAC systems. Look for wear and tear and loose connections. Inspect around and under these appliances. Remember that appliances failures may cause water damage to everything that lies below.

Passport to wealth

What is your passport to wealth ? Everyone is blessed with gifts. Some people are great artists, great ball players, and others great musicians. The key to creating wealth is finding your talents both hidden and others not hidden. Which is why making money is so simple when you look at it in those terms. For instance let's look at a baseball player like Alex Rodriguez. His gift in life is the ability to play baseball. Would it make sense for Alex Rodriguez to start golfing? No way! Just like it would make no sense for Tiger Woods or Dale Earnhardt Jr. to start playing baseball. Or take for example Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time. When he tried his luck at baseball he failed miserably, why? His talent was not to be a baseball player but to be a basketball player.

The next step to your passport to wealth, after you find your talent, is to practice. This is the reason most people are just average and do not create a life of abundance for themselves, they do not practice. Every professional I know of, it doesn't matter whether we are talking about sports or business, practices all the time. What you do in with your spare time counts. Instead of watching Dancing With The Stars you should be building your wealth. Make the most of your time. Most people just see the end result and do not see all the work, effort and heartbreaking struggles the pros go through. The key is repetition. Also do not be afraid of making mistakes, just learn from your mistakes.

Another key to your passport to wealth is finding successful people to learn from. This may sound harsh but ditch your loser friends and hang around successful proven winners. You become who you hang around with. Let's say you begin to hang around a friend who whines all the time about how unfair the world is to him, I guarantee within a few weeks you will be doing the same thing. But the same goes if you begin to hang around a successful business person. So find great people to learn from.

So overall your main passport to wealth is yourself. What habits do you have? How do you feel about yourself? Do you feel you deserve to be wealthy? Are you the type who gets things done or makes excuse after excuse? So instead of looking everywhere on the Internet for your passport to wealth, just look in the mirror. You are your own passport to wealth and no one can tell you other wise. Remember there is no free ride in this world. You must earn everything in this world and you must have the right tools in order to succeed in your business. If you do not have the right tools and mindset then you will fail no matter what any company promises you. So you are your own passport to wealth and don't let any company tell you any other.

Are you having trouble building muscle

Have you been going to the gym regularly for months and haven’t been able to put on any serious poundage? If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s time to take a step back and make some plans. Building muscle is not rocket science. There are four key factors that will mean the difference between building muscle and staying skinny. You have to ask yourself these four questions.

Is my diet optimized for building muscle?

It’s time to get out of the “3 meals per day” mentality. If you want to gain (or lose) weight you need to feed your body whole foods, six times per day. This means splitting your large meals up and eating about once every three hours. Not only is this good for your metabolism, but your body will use the foods instead of storing them as fat.

Your six meals per day should consist of mainly complex carbohydrates and protein. You should aim for at least thirty grams of protein per meal. High protein foods include lean meat, chicken, fish, egg whites, cheese and milk products. Complex carbohydrates are found in brown rice, brown bread and potatoes. Stay away from foods high in salt and sugar

Should I be using supplements, and when should I be taking them?

If you can afford supplements you should be using them. The basic three you should be considering are protein, carbs and creatine. Whey protein supplements are the fastest known way to deliver quality protein to your muscles. This makes shakes particularly effective after your workouts, when your body is craving protein for muscle re-growth.

There are three key times that supplements should be taken. First thing in the morning, after your workout and before bed. If your diet is up to scratch you shouldn’t need supplements at any other time. Don’t use supplements to replace meals. Supplements are supplements, not meal replacements.

Am I training hard and not smart?

The biggest mistake the new lifters make is thinking that the more they workout the bigger they’ll get. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Two basic rules you must remember when it comes to weight training. First, quality is better than quantity. Second, compound exercises are the kings of building muscle.

Compound exercises require at least two joint movements. Big compound exercises are the squat, bench press, wide grip pull up and seated row. These movements recruit many more muscles fibers to use to move the weight. This means more muscle groups are worked, the exercise is more challenging and the potential for growth is much greater.

Generally you should be doing three compound exercises for one isolation exercise. For example your back/biceps workout might consist of wide grip pull ups, seated row, bent over row and standing bicep curl. You might think this is not enough work for your biceps? Wrong. Your biceps are worked heavily in all over these exercises; the bicep curl just finishes them off.

The length of any training session should not exceed one hour. And you only need to train one muscle group once per week. This means a split routine should only need to be three days per week. In fact, most professional bodybuilders only train four times per week. Remember, it’s quality not quantity.

Do I get enough rest and recovery time?

When you workout you’re not building your muscles, you’re breaking them down. The reason why you looked “pumped up” when you’re in the gym is because your muscle tissue is swollen and damaged. Your muscles actually grow when you are resting. So in simple terms, no rest equals no muscle growth.

So take it easy when you’re not working out. Ease up on the cardio. And make sure you get plenty of sleep. Sleep is the body’s number one time for building muscle. This is also why it’s important to eat before bed, so your body has the fuel to repair muscle in your sleep.

Simple isn’t it?

So you can see that despite what you read in magazines or on the web about building muscle, it’s surprisingly simple. If you get the four aspects I have mentioned in this article right, you will build muscle. If you’ve got any questions, I’m available on the forum on my site. See links in my bio.

Erotic hypnosis

A Little Romance Can Enhance Your Love Life

Nothing can enhance your love life better than a little romance. Enhancing your love life is something that every long term relationship eventually requires. Sooner or later your love life will be affected by the regular stresses of everyday life and many other factors that may make your love life seem lacking. Often we hear that our partners are too tired to make love or perhaps there is a problem in the relationship that make love making just a bit more difficult than it used to be. So many aspects of our daily lives are affected and reflected in our personal relationships. This is when learning how to enhance your love life becomes very important.

For starters it helps for you to be able to incorporate playfulness in the bedroom. Being playful in the bedroom is a key factor to you having fun during lovemaking. It also helps you to get closer to your mate.

Learning how to become more spontaneous when it comes to love making can also help you to improve your love life. The reason for this is because it lets your mate know that you still find them sexy and attractive, which is the key to a great love life.

You can add romance feeding one another, having a romantic moonlight picnic and much more. Here are some more romantic tips for adding some romance to your love life:

• Lighting some candles may sound like a clichй, but it still works. It sets the right mood lighting

• Placing some flower petals around the room will add romance and a lovely aroma to enhance the sexual experience.

• Taking a nice bath together is always a romantic favorite

• Taking the time for foreplay is very important to romance

• A little bit of making out is always romantic and can help you remember how wonderful it was to experience the first kiss

• Spending some time cuddling and talking beforehand can be very romantic to the love making process. It is very erotic

There are many things that you can do to make your love life better. Romance is the best way to break into your mate’s heart and lower their inhibitions. If you have ever heard of the phrase “you can catch more flies with honey”, you will definitely understand why romance is so important to your love life. A little romance goes a long way in the bedroom.

Zen and the art of playing golf

Good golfers are always 'in' the game, especially before each and every shot.

While to the onlookers, this may seem effortless, but there is so much going on in the mind of a golfer.

This reminds of a scene in The Legend of Baggera Vance, where Bobby Jones steps up to the ball, to tee off. Will Smith tells Matt Demon to look at Jone's eyes, and tells him to observe how he looks at the field. He concentrates, takes his position, takes his practice swings, his mind and body in rhythm. The result is nearly perfect as a drive should be.

This point of view may be far fetched and some may even object to it, but many will find some truth in the statement - Golf is a Zen experience. This is true for all golfers who are good at it, no matter how much they joke around and be goofing off.

Zen is exactly this - being present physically and mentally in each and every moment at all times. As some people call this living life to its fullest, but this feeling is different. Zen is experiencing energy in every moment of life. It's a feeling of living life to the fullest and appreciating every moment for what is given.

So can we then call Golf, a Zen Experience?

Let’s see...

Zen coincides with Golf in all aspects of the game. When the heart and soul is in the moment, a golfer takes notice of everything around themselves. The player feels the breeze, recognizing its force and direction, but effortlessly. Then they notice the feel of the grass as they walk down the fairway, but they are still not under pressure to be thinking about their shot.

The player will then note the distance to the green, the weather conditions and select appropriate club.

The player will focus on only one thing that the next shot and nothing else, but again without the pressure of thinking about it.

The pressure to perform makes the player tense and this spoils the shot. On the other hand a Zen golfer would be calm and would trust his or her body. Once the mind and body are in sync, and then make the shot.

He is aware that his shot may not be perfect always, as the golfer would have intended. The difference would be in the attitude. For a Zen golfer, a bad or imperfect shot will not affect him at all and he would get ready for the next. But this will definitely adversely affect others, who stress over every shot.

Non-Zen golfer would get bogged down and keep thinking and cursing. These negative thoughts would affect his entire body language and will feel defeated even before the result. Since the body and mind are not in harmony, the entire game after the bad shot will get affected; this would be followed by another bad shot. Any good shot will be looked upon as an accident, luck or a fluke.

Introduction on how to design your uk bathroom

Whether you are building an altogether new bathroom or altering an existing one, designing your bathroom carefully may be more important than you might think. Your bathroom should provide comfort and efficient functionality while occupying the minimum space possible. For this purpose, it is worthwhile to spend some time and effort in selecting the items that go into your bathroom, such as showers, bath, basin, toilet and taps, with care, and planning the room elements and layout meticulously.

If you are building a new bathroom, the first step in planning your bathroom is to decide the size and shape. To some extent, both of these may be constraints imposed by existing or proposed building plans. If you do have a choice, you can choose from a number of shapes, including square, rectangular or L-shapes oriented in a variety of ways. Select a shape that appeals to you, and is consistent with the rest of the building. You should also keep in mind the room elements and fittings that you are planning to add. Make a sketch of the proposed bathroom to scale.

If you are planning alterations in an existing bathroom, or planning to construct a new bathroom in an existing building that offers you limited choices regarding the shape and size of your bathroom, you will have to do further planning within the given dimensions. In that case carefully measure the dimensions of the bathroom and make a sketch.

Once you have the bathroom sketch ready, the next step is to plan the room elements such as doors and windows, and the fittings that will go into the bathroom. Decide on the type of basins, baths, showers, toilets and enclosures that you would like to have, and then decide on the finishing touches for example the stunning Italiano free standing wave mono bar designer mixer. Remember that you are probably going to spend a number of years in the building that you are constructing, and each day during those years is going to see you preparing yourself for the day, and spending time in the bathroom that you build. Obtain the details regarding prices and dimensions of the fittings that you plan to install. Also plan your bathroom to suit the fittings that you plan. For example you could place a Latium white freestanding cabinet or you could fit it into the wall, in which case your wall should be designed to support it. Similarly, you could install a frameless square shower enclosure, provided you make sure there’s room for it. You can easily get these details from the website of a good organization such as Bathroom Evolution that deals in bathroom products.

You can take a cue from plant layout engineers and use either paper templates or a computer to place the templates of the fittings in the sketch of the bathroom to determine their positioning. Move the pieces around and visualise the way the bathroom would look, feel, and above all function, with the fittings placed as they are. Take some time to decide on the colours. How do they blend with the surroundings? Can they be maintained easily, particularly in your kind of situation?

Once you are satisfied, get the help of a professional, if required, and make any final touches to the design before proceeding with the construction. You can order the selected products online from Bathroom Evolution, which offers you more for less with triple guarantees on price, quality and satisfaction.

Come back next month for the second article in this series where we discuss how shower enclosures impact how you design your bathroom.

You have the creative power of a genius how to be a creative problem solver in 5 easy steps

You were born a creative genius. We all were. Most of us learned something different from our family, school and friends. Creativity is not the same as intelligence (IQ). You do not need a college degree; you are not too young or too old. As a matter of fact, your brain can improve with age as long as you use it! The great thing about pursuing creative endeavors is that it keeps your mind from thinking negative, unproductive thoughts.

How to be a Creative Problem Solver in 5 Easy Steps:

Keep in mind that all five of these steps are individual to you. You may come back to a step several times through the creative process. You may even get a flash of insight anywhere along in the process. Have fun and enjoy the ride.

1. Gather Information

It’s important to have plenty of information about your “problem” or project.

Be resourceful in looking for information and remember that your thinking process is very visual. Have you been to a library recently and flipped through a few books? When you look on the Internet, look at pictures as well as content. Look in areas you may think are unrelated. Take a few notes yet don’t be compulsive about it.

Evaluate your project: what is your desired outcome? Who else is involved and what might they want? What do you want to learn from this experience?

Don’t forget to speak with other people…people in your same field and outside of it. Ask them open-ended questions (such as “What do you think about….?” “What would you do if…?”)

Now it’s time to let it simmer and incubate. Give all this information to your subconscious and go do something else.

2. Be Active

Your brain represents only about 2% of your body's weight, yet it utilizes about 20% of the body's oxygen! Wow, you really have to feed your brain for it to work properly. This means physical activity.

Do something simple, it doesn’t have to be a specific exercise regimen. Go for a walk. Wash your car. Ride a bike. Take some dance lessons. Have fun!

Let your mind wander and allow your project/problem to be in the background. Your brain is working on it while you do other things.

3. Change perspective

Look at your project from many different views. What do you see…or what do you think you see?

How to see your project in a new light: ask yourself how it would look if you were an astronaut, or an 8 year old, or the Pope, or had all the money in the world, or had none. How do the other people involved see it? Compare your project to something completely unrelated: what’s the same about your project and your shoe, your dog, or the idea of tomorrow. These are all exercises in contrast and juxtaposition….great for fostering creativity,

Knowing that “thinking” is visual and symbolic, draw diagrams. Get some large pieces of paper (larger than 8.5x11). Put a circle in the middle and label that as your “problem”. As your problem dictates, create other shapes as the different aspects of your problem. How are they attached to that original circle?

After engaging in this activity, you will definitely see things you did not see before. By now you should be able to clearly make a few statements defining the problem. Write those down. Perhaps you have divided your problem into sections and can address each section separately. You are now at the point of…

4. Brainstorming!

You have heard of brainstorming. Have you ever really done it? Really generating lots of ideas? This activity is better with collaboration, getting more willing participants involved creates even more ideas. Notice I said willing participants. This does not work with people who are close-minded.

Review the problem, clarify the goal. Set a time period and start writing as fast as possible. Three keys to effective brainstorming: speed, quantity and non-judgment. Your goal should be 30-40 ideas, even a hundred ideas depending on your project. Out of those you will get some really good ones, and a lot of bad ones. Did Thomas Edison invent the light bulb on the first try? NO!

5. Analysis

You now have a lot of ideas to work with. Here is the time for conscious analysis. Review and categorize your ideas. Throw out the ones that really don’t work, but not until you take a close look at them. You are being analytical, refrain from being too judgmental. You may have found solutions to completely unrelated problems!

Anywhere in this process, you might find the perfect idea. Or, you may have to go through these steps several times. People that are very creative have the habit of engaging in creative mental processes. You can develop this habit, too. It’s simply a way of thinking.

You are a genius!

Party advice for bridal showers

Bridal showers are pre-wedding parties usually organized by the bridesmaids or close female family members or friends. The reason for the bridal shower party is to shower the bride with good wishes. The bride is the center of attention at the bridal shower. Although it should not matter who is hosting organizing the event, traditionally, family was discouraged from hosting bridal showers, because it may look like they are digging for gifts.

Anyone can host the bridal shower. It can be hosted anywhere you can party. Bridesmaids, friends, or family members host the bridal shower party. The place of the party is usually someone’s home, but bridal showers can be held at restaurants. Important! Only invite guest who will be invited to the wedding too. Anyone invited to the shower would have every right to be expecting an invitation to the wedding. To avoid embarrassing mistakes, always consult the bride and key decision makers about the guest list.

Weekdays are impractical for parties, and bridal shower parties are no exception either. The bridal shower, just like your wedding, should be on a day that is easy to attend. Saturday is the best day to have the party. It makes it easy for your guests to attend. The bridal shower should be close to the wedding day but not less than a couple of weeks before.

Bridal shower party favors are an important part of the event. Some of the most popular bridal shower party favors are personalized chocolates, candles, compact mirrors, or personalized bath gels. If you have a beach theme bridal shower, your favors can compliment it. For example, dolphin wine stoppers, or seashell candles are very popular beach bridal shower party favor ideas.

Written invitations are not mandatory, but recommended. Most people have an e-mail address, so einvitations may be the most cost effective option. Bridal shower parties don’t require a formal invitation such as a wedding invitation.

If the party is at someone’s home, usually finger food is served. Pizza is another popular choice of food. Bridal shower parties are informal events, and you don’t need to make a big fuss about the food.

Old crone or bright young thing the gluten free shopping experience

Before I became a celiac I took very little notice of food labeling. If I fancied the product then I bought and ate it. Things are very different now, as I have become an inveterate label reader.

Now I can hear you thinking “What a shopping bore” In fact the opposite is true. Shopping for food is an adventure; my quest is to identify new things I can safely eat on a gluten free diet. It is all a matter of perception.

How many of you are familiar with the optical illusion of the lady? Many people see an old crone, a lady with a huge chin and a beaky nose. Others see a glamorous young lady dresses in the height of fashion at the turn of the Twentieth Century, with a very fancy hat. For some people they can only see a single option even if they know there are other possibilities. It is not until you trace a particular line then there is that “light bulb” moment when they can finally see the other form.

Back to shopping. If you think about reading product labels as a real bore, taking too much time and as a restriction on your life, that is exactly what it will become. On the other hand you can relish the exercise as a form of competition to find new products, the impact on your temper and frame of mind is likely to be very different.

The quality of food labeling has improved greatly in latter years, we can now be much more conscious of what we are putting inside our bodies. I for one am much more conscious of additives, cheap fillers and chemical ingredients. As a result of label reading I have a much healthier and more varied diet.

Next time you go shopping make a conscious decision whether you want to be the shopping equivalent of the “old crone” or the “bright young thing”