We had to fire one realtor in the middle of trying to sell our house and buy a larger one. She was doing very little to actually help find a buyer for the house beyond running a color ad.
What was worse was the properties she was showing us. First she told us we could not afford new (we actually could). We found out from our new agent that the square footage on these new homes did not include the unfinished lower level. So a two bedroom home could be finished out as a 3-4 bedroom with 2+ baths. We would have looked at new had this first agent not steered us away from new homes.
The second thing she did was to show us a series of homes that probably should have been condemned and then tell us this was all we could afford. There was new construction in our price range so this is doubtful. One was an abandoned farm home that would have needed to be completely gutted and redone. It was also tiny with no architectural value. The other was an older home that had decent features but was infested with carpenter ants eating the wood and a basement with an ongoing water problem and mold growing all over it. She told us these were our only options and pushed us hard to make an offer on the home with the carpenter ants and mold. She was extremely nasty when we fired her the next day.
Some of the bigger problems we have had with agents is how many of them were trying to push people into these sketchy loans being written by mortgage brokers. There was some serious conflict of interest issues going on there.
Real estate can be full of questionable tactics and big consequences if you get stuck with a bad property or mortgage. I opted to not hire a relative to inspect the most recent home we purchased. It was as-is and a foreclosure. If someone was going to screw up I didn't want it to be a relative and put a huge strain on our family if something went bad later. I guess I was screwed either way. Because I didn't hire her she has refused to speak to me for years other than to call me two years later and chew me out for not hiring her.
There is a reason buying a home ranks high on the list of things that stress people out.
Let me see if I got this right. I will add the two gallons of distilled water to the weak one gallon and steam that off. Right. Getting 1.5 quarts of good stuff.
Saving the first leftovers for the next batch of fermintation batch and adding the new water,sugar and yeast mix to this?? Or add it to the next fresh batch to steam??
I need to get this right before I do this.
Thanks for all the help.
Sorry that the site was weird for you. Many of our users live in residences that are all electric, and they most definitely have emissions and are able to generate credits. I am not sure what the problem was with establishing your emissions, but I will look into your account and send you an email, and hopefully we can get it worked out so that you can begin earning for your energy reductions.
My Dad and I are both really creative people and some of my fondest childhood memories are of us spending hours creating my halloween costumes from thrift story pieces and arts and crafts. Whether spray painting a jumpsuit silver (alien), sovering me in green face paint) statue of liberty or building a cone bra (Madonna) we never spent much money and I always looked original. Sometimes you just need to think outside the box.
You could try searching by travel sites that are city-specific. Sometimes they feature better deals and can give you inside information on hot hotel deals. Orlando Travel Hotels is a great place to start for those traveling to the Central Florida area.
I "stumbled" across this post and it's been a breath of fresh air reading it, as well as the many follow up comments from people who realize the value of following their own dreams. I have a stable lifestyle right now... a nice apartment, a nice job with a lot of potential, and things are seemingly going well on the outside, but deep down I know that each day a little piece of my "soul" is dying, because this isn't what I want if I'm being truly honest with myself. Most of my friends (and family) stopped "following their dreams" a long, long time ago. It's claustrophobic in a way to be around people who no longer dare to dream. All I know is that when I'm dying someday, I don't want to look back on my life and regret what I didn't do... but I'm too nervous or afraid to make the jump. It's as if subconsciously I feel I don't "deserve" that life, even though I know I do and how badly I want it. I have something hanging on my door that I refer to as a "Death Clock". Forgive the morbid name, but I calculated the "average life expectancy" for a male, multiplied the years by the number of days, and I have that hanging there, as a stark honest reminder that my time is running out. It doesn't hang over my head 24 hours a day, but it lights that fire under me to remind me to stop paying attention to the empty people around me and pursue my dreams and how I truly want to live. Thank you to all of you for sharing yours.
In addition to tons of sales job listings, Top-Sales-Jobs.com offers detailed job search advice on interviewing, resume writing, salary negotiation, references and similar topics. Advice is also provided to company hiring managers, from how to conduct an interview to how to check references.
This is one of best ideas I've seen! I was just looking at "indoor/outdoor" fabrics to redo some dining chairs we were given. It never crossed my mind for the rest of the house. We need new furniture for the living room (kids have really done a number on it!) and this is great. I'm so excited!
Great tips! The thing I hate about halloween is having to spend so much on costumes. Sometimes hand-me-downs or trading with others that are the same size can score you free costumes too.
WC, if you saw that many houses without getting any results and you believe that your agent is doing the best he/she could, then in my opinion it is probably time to take a break and look back on what has happened. I know that some homebuyers are super picky, too, but sometimes deals fall through because agents are not good at negotiating or relaying information. Also, some agents just don't have the clout and relationship with some of the seller agents that control a lot of the bank owned properties now. It is not that they are not working hard, but they are not working smart. It is not anyone's "fault" in particular, but if it's really not working out then it is better to switch to an agent that could close the deal for you to avoid wasting any time.
I would add to that list that you should not choose a "family friend" as your realtor, so you don't feel obliged to stick with him/her even if they turn out to be a horrid realtor. My realtor kept showing me houses 100-200K over my price range, and after months of this, she pretty much told me I was hopeless. Then I found a perfect house in the neighborhood I wanted that was within my price range. It had been in market all along, but my realtor just kept showing me the expensive houses in the same neighborhood. Horrible, greedy realtor.
If you visit Toronto you can't help but notice the rapid increase in high-rise buildings for business and residential. Just about everyone in these buildings is dependent on the commercial food system to supply most if not all of their food. The workers in office towers have little time to think about growing their own food. The employed, semi-employed and unemployed (non-waged) who live in high-rises haven't been encouraged to grow their own food. Unless they pick-up the idea of growing their own vegetables from friends and neighbours they are unlikely to be aware of this opportunity.
Recently, there have been pronouncements that more and more college and university students are relying on foodbanks for their basic food needs. I think there is an opportunity here for schools, colleges and universities to show some leadership by providing facilities and programs that show and provide opportunities for people in need to learn and share ideas about growing their own food in urban areas and particularly in high-rise buildings. It's about time!. It's not that complicated and new technologies can make it even easier to do this kind of essential gardening.
Also in Minnesota...and they're predicting snow for this Saturday!
This year:
* We will be caulking the windows and doors this weekend.
* We've got the thermostat set to 65 during the day and 62 at night.
* We wear long sleeve shirts/sweaters and socks, and use lots of blankets.
In Planning:
* We're saving up to insulate the attic and basement better next year.
* We're also saving up to get better windows in a few years. We currently have single pane with storm windows.
In my apt, complex, the bottom floor is the cheapest, the second is $10 more, and the third is $10 more than that. This has never really made sense to me, but oh well. We live on the second floor, but thankfully have been pretty lucky with neighbors... we hear them occasionally, but not too bad.
Fingerless gloves will resolve your issue with using your computer. They are normal gloves but the fingers are open ended and generally stop before the first nuckle. Surely they can be found on the internet. If nothing else, you could purchase cotton work gloves and cut the fingers off.
Maybe this is a new opportunity for you - learn to knit. Knitting warm wool also keeps you warm - wool, activity, etc.
We used a self-storage unit temporarily for a move. We sold our house, moved to a new city, rented a teeny apartment and took 3 months to buy a new house. Self-storage was great. Other than that...I don't own anything that's worth paying $100 plus a month to store.
The amount is not important. You use it to keep the whole thing from blowing up. A gallon or two mixed with what ever you got from your first run should be fine. If you started with about 5 gallons of mash at around 15-20%, then you will get a weak gallon. When you add 2 gallons, and steam that off, you will end up with about 1.5 quarts of drinkable product. The water left over from the first run, can be used for the next batch. There is some alcohol in it and should never be wasted. This second run is no good for fermentation. There are no minerals and nutrients the yeast need. You could save it for the next batch if you have to steam it again.
They are adding raisins for yeast. The white stuff in the crevices carries yeast. They actually made vodka, sugar base with yeast (the raisins you saw). Potatoes are a cheap substitute for sugar. They are high in starch that turns to sugar easily. That was a traditional vodka recipe. It first turns from starch to sugar then ferments to alcohol. It’s a longer step, but gets you to the same product. Gin is made with juniper berries and other herbs.
I would crush a few Bean-o tabs in there. They are enzymes that help convert different sugars to an easier one to ferment. The only reasons to use them, is to try an authentic recipe or because you have a large garden and lots of potatoes you could never eat all of them.
My wife recently returned to America from Japan, where we lived for two years without a car at all. We moved to Cleveland, Ohio. From April till now we've been doing one car. We got an apartment near my work (9-5 M-F). I walk to ride my bike. She drives the car an hour or so to graduate school M-F, and works several nights during the week. Things worked better than I ever thought they would. We consolidate trips. We're careful about walking when we can. We have decent public transport nearby. I even signed up for a carsharing program with a car just two blocks away...
Practically, it's sometimes tricky but it essentially works....and in OHIO!!! Changing weather is proving a factor, but the biggest factor is really much more psychological. I work a fairly professional job, and I feel like people wonder what's wrong in my head when they hear that I don't have a car. It means I need to get people to come meet me all the time, instead of the other way around. Most are pretty understanding, but it's hard to shake the feeling that it puts people out a little.
I'm now considering my options, and I can't get away from the idea that I'll need another set of wheels. If my wife were a stay-at-home mother, it might be different, but she's got the car almost every day.
And the snow is a' coming.
That's my story. We've done it for a while, but can't any longer.
Thanks a lot for such a nice and interesting posting . I am agree with u blogger that due to financial crisis period many Americans go outside for medical care to save money now a days and i think they do the right thing .I appreciate it .
Don't underestimate the power of a degree from a well-known institution. I know it "shouldn't" matter, but out in the real world—it matters.
People look at your resume and feel differently when they recognize the school. Sorry, but it's true. You're paying for that when you go to college, which sucks, but it's worth keeping in mind.
I am sure that every clever employer realises that a happy employee is a good employee. I employ 2 full time people and treat them as if they were partners in the business.
The trick is to employ someone people that look at it in the same way. Part of the package is to ensure that there is not a long gap in between leave periods. Holidays are a part of life so should be encouraged.
We had to fire one realtor in the middle of trying to sell our house and buy a larger one. She was doing very little to actually help find a buyer for the house beyond running a color ad.
What was worse was the properties she was showing us. First she told us we could not afford new (we actually could). We found out from our new agent that the square footage on these new homes did not include the unfinished lower level. So a two bedroom home could be finished out as a 3-4 bedroom with 2+ baths. We would have looked at new had this first agent not steered us away from new homes.
The second thing she did was to show us a series of homes that probably should have been condemned and then tell us this was all we could afford. There was new construction in our price range so this is doubtful. One was an abandoned farm home that would have needed to be completely gutted and redone. It was also tiny with no architectural value. The other was an older home that had decent features but was infested with carpenter ants eating the wood and a basement with an ongoing water problem and mold growing all over it. She told us these were our only options and pushed us hard to make an offer on the home with the carpenter ants and mold. She was extremely nasty when we fired her the next day.
Some of the bigger problems we have had with agents is how many of them were trying to push people into these sketchy loans being written by mortgage brokers. There was some serious conflict of interest issues going on there.
Real estate can be full of questionable tactics and big consequences if you get stuck with a bad property or mortgage. I opted to not hire a relative to inspect the most recent home we purchased. It was as-is and a foreclosure. If someone was going to screw up I didn't want it to be a relative and put a huge strain on our family if something went bad later. I guess I was screwed either way. Because I didn't hire her she has refused to speak to me for years other than to call me two years later and chew me out for not hiring her.
There is a reason buying a home ranks high on the list of things that stress people out.
Let me see if I got this right. I will add the two gallons of distilled water to the weak one gallon and steam that off. Right. Getting 1.5 quarts of good stuff.
Saving the first leftovers for the next batch of fermintation batch and adding the new water,sugar and yeast mix to this?? Or add it to the next fresh batch to steam??
I need to get this right before I do this.
Thanks for all the help.
Hey Xin,
Sorry that the site was weird for you. Many of our users live in residences that are all electric, and they most definitely have emissions and are able to generate credits. I am not sure what the problem was with establishing your emissions, but I will look into your account and send you an email, and hopefully we can get it worked out so that you can begin earning for your energy reductions.
My Dad and I are both really creative people and some of my fondest childhood memories are of us spending hours creating my halloween costumes from thrift story pieces and arts and crafts. Whether spray painting a jumpsuit silver (alien), sovering me in green face paint) statue of liberty or building a cone bra (Madonna) we never spent much money and I always looked original. Sometimes you just need to think outside the box.
You could try searching by travel sites that are city-specific. Sometimes they feature better deals and can give you inside information on hot hotel deals. Orlando Travel Hotels is a great place to start for those traveling to the Central Florida area.
when it gets dirty, take it outside and spray it off.
I "stumbled" across this post and it's been a breath of fresh air reading it, as well as the many follow up comments from people who realize the value of following their own dreams. I have a stable lifestyle right now... a nice apartment, a nice job with a lot of potential, and things are seemingly going well on the outside, but deep down I know that each day a little piece of my "soul" is dying, because this isn't what I want if I'm being truly honest with myself. Most of my friends (and family) stopped "following their dreams" a long, long time ago. It's claustrophobic in a way to be around people who no longer dare to dream. All I know is that when I'm dying someday, I don't want to look back on my life and regret what I didn't do... but I'm too nervous or afraid to make the jump. It's as if subconsciously I feel I don't "deserve" that life, even though I know I do and how badly I want it. I have something hanging on my door that I refer to as a "Death Clock". Forgive the morbid name, but I calculated the "average life expectancy" for a male, multiplied the years by the number of days, and I have that hanging there, as a stark honest reminder that my time is running out. It doesn't hang over my head 24 hours a day, but it lights that fire under me to remind me to stop paying attention to the empty people around me and pursue my dreams and how I truly want to live. Thank you to all of you for sharing yours.
In addition to tons of sales job listings, Top-Sales-Jobs.com offers detailed job search advice on interviewing, resume writing, salary negotiation, references and similar topics. Advice is also provided to company hiring managers, from how to conduct an interview to how to check references.
Visit us here: Top Sales Jobs
This is one of best ideas I've seen! I was just looking at "indoor/outdoor" fabrics to redo some dining chairs we were given. It never crossed my mind for the rest of the house. We need new furniture for the living room (kids have really done a number on it!) and this is great. I'm so excited!
I recently moved cross-country for work, and I've been debating what to do about the "furniture situation."
This seems like an excellent solution. Thank you.
Great tips! The thing I hate about halloween is having to spend so much on costumes. Sometimes hand-me-downs or trading with others that are the same size can score you free costumes too.
WC, if you saw that many houses without getting any results and you believe that your agent is doing the best he/she could, then in my opinion it is probably time to take a break and look back on what has happened. I know that some homebuyers are super picky, too, but sometimes deals fall through because agents are not good at negotiating or relaying information. Also, some agents just don't have the clout and relationship with some of the seller agents that control a lot of the bank owned properties now. It is not that they are not working hard, but they are not working smart. It is not anyone's "fault" in particular, but if it's really not working out then it is better to switch to an agent that could close the deal for you to avoid wasting any time.
I would add to that list that you should not choose a "family friend" as your realtor, so you don't feel obliged to stick with him/her even if they turn out to be a horrid realtor. My realtor kept showing me houses 100-200K over my price range, and after months of this, she pretty much told me I was hopeless. Then I found a perfect house in the neighborhood I wanted that was within my price range. It had been in market all along, but my realtor just kept showing me the expensive houses in the same neighborhood. Horrible, greedy realtor.
If you visit Toronto you can't help but notice the rapid increase in high-rise buildings for business and residential. Just about everyone in these buildings is dependent on the commercial food system to supply most if not all of their food. The workers in office towers have little time to think about growing their own food. The employed, semi-employed and unemployed (non-waged) who live in high-rises haven't been encouraged to grow their own food. Unless they pick-up the idea of growing their own vegetables from friends and neighbours they are unlikely to be aware of this opportunity.
Recently, there have been pronouncements that more and more college and university students are relying on foodbanks for their basic food needs. I think there is an opportunity here for schools, colleges and universities to show some leadership by providing facilities and programs that show and provide opportunities for people in need to learn and share ideas about growing their own food in urban areas and particularly in high-rise buildings. It's about time!. It's not that complicated and new technologies can make it even easier to do this kind of essential gardening.
Also in Minnesota...and they're predicting snow for this Saturday!
This year:
* We will be caulking the windows and doors this weekend.
* We've got the thermostat set to 65 during the day and 62 at night.
* We wear long sleeve shirts/sweaters and socks, and use lots of blankets.
In Planning:
* We're saving up to insulate the attic and basement better next year.
* We're also saving up to get better windows in a few years. We currently have single pane with storm windows.
In my apt, complex, the bottom floor is the cheapest, the second is $10 more, and the third is $10 more than that. This has never really made sense to me, but oh well. We live on the second floor, but thankfully have been pretty lucky with neighbors... we hear them occasionally, but not too bad.
Fingerless gloves will resolve your issue with using your computer. They are normal gloves but the fingers are open ended and generally stop before the first nuckle. Surely they can be found on the internet. If nothing else, you could purchase cotton work gloves and cut the fingers off.
Maybe this is a new opportunity for you - learn to knit. Knitting warm wool also keeps you warm - wool, activity, etc.
Link to free pattern http://greasy.com/nittineedles/fingerless_gloves_needles_free.html
Good Luck. We would be lost without our computers.
C.
We used a self-storage unit temporarily for a move. We sold our house, moved to a new city, rented a teeny apartment and took 3 months to buy a new house. Self-storage was great. Other than that...I don't own anything that's worth paying $100 plus a month to store.
The amount is not important. You use it to keep the whole thing from blowing up. A gallon or two mixed with what ever you got from your first run should be fine. If you started with about 5 gallons of mash at around 15-20%, then you will get a weak gallon. When you add 2 gallons, and steam that off, you will end up with about 1.5 quarts of drinkable product. The water left over from the first run, can be used for the next batch. There is some alcohol in it and should never be wasted. This second run is no good for fermentation. There are no minerals and nutrients the yeast need. You could save it for the next batch if you have to steam it again.
They are adding raisins for yeast. The white stuff in the crevices carries yeast. They actually made vodka, sugar base with yeast (the raisins you saw). Potatoes are a cheap substitute for sugar. They are high in starch that turns to sugar easily. That was a traditional vodka recipe. It first turns from starch to sugar then ferments to alcohol. It’s a longer step, but gets you to the same product. Gin is made with juniper berries and other herbs.
I would crush a few Bean-o tabs in there. They are enzymes that help convert different sugars to an easier one to ferment. The only reasons to use them, is to try an authentic recipe or because you have a large garden and lots of potatoes you could never eat all of them.
My wife recently returned to America from Japan, where we lived for two years without a car at all. We moved to Cleveland, Ohio. From April till now we've been doing one car. We got an apartment near my work (9-5 M-F). I walk to ride my bike. She drives the car an hour or so to graduate school M-F, and works several nights during the week. Things worked better than I ever thought they would. We consolidate trips. We're careful about walking when we can. We have decent public transport nearby. I even signed up for a carsharing program with a car just two blocks away...
Practically, it's sometimes tricky but it essentially works....and in OHIO!!! Changing weather is proving a factor, but the biggest factor is really much more psychological. I work a fairly professional job, and I feel like people wonder what's wrong in my head when they hear that I don't have a car. It means I need to get people to come meet me all the time, instead of the other way around. Most are pretty understanding, but it's hard to shake the feeling that it puts people out a little.
I'm now considering my options, and I can't get away from the idea that I'll need another set of wheels. If my wife were a stay-at-home mother, it might be different, but she's got the car almost every day.
And the snow is a' coming.
That's my story. We've done it for a while, but can't any longer.
Thanks a lot for such a nice and interesting posting . I am agree with u blogger that due to financial crisis period many Americans go outside for medical care to save money now a days and i think they do the right thing .I appreciate it .
http://studentsblog2.blogspot.com/2009/10/guidelines-on-how-to-save-mone...
Is this a joke????you could have just submitted a lesser bid.
Don't underestimate the power of a degree from a well-known institution. I know it "shouldn't" matter, but out in the real world—it matters.
People look at your resume and feel differently when they recognize the school. Sorry, but it's true. You're paying for that when you go to college, which sucks, but it's worth keeping in mind.
The Writer's Coin | Follow me on Twitter
What about when your agent knows what he's doing but after seeing 80 places you still don't want to buy? Is it anyone's fault?
The Writer's Coin | Follow me on Twitter
I am sure that every clever employer realises that a happy employee is a good employee. I employ 2 full time people and treat them as if they were partners in the business.
The trick is to employ someone people that look at it in the same way. Part of the package is to ensure that there is not a long gap in between leave periods. Holidays are a part of life so should be encouraged.