The Press Hacker

Have you seen the cordless swivel sweeper? This might remind you of something your grandmother may have had around her house. You remember those things that looked like brooms but were actually some type of sweeper. Well in a lot of ways the swivel sweeper is just like this but it actually does a better job. As you sweep or roll this device across the floor the little bristles pick up everything you go over and traps it inside the machine. Once done you take the tray and dump it in the trash. It’s that simple, yet no one is finding them in every home. Why?

This is a very light weight machine, it’s only 2lbs. My 1 year-old is able to push it back and forth across the carpet and since it isn’t loud like the vacuum we currently have he is enjoying it. No longer do I find him hiding in a corner or running from the room. With the sweeper he’s trying to actually help me. Course it also swivels in a 360 degree turn which means I won’t have to turn it around just to clean a spot I missed. Guess it is time to see if the others will use my new toy…KIDS!

When I told my fourteen-year-old daughter that what I really wanted for Mother’s Day was to hear her perform the Bach A-minor concerto onstage in Woolsey Hall at Yale University, she rolled her eyeballs and said in that teenage girl voice that only bona fide teenage girls can do: “That’s not what I had in mind, Mooooom.”

“But it’s what I really want,” I replied.

My completely earnest request was met with more eye ball rolling, swooshing of the hair over the neck, arms crossed under the chest and complete silence for most of the hour-long drive to New Haven.

We wound up going, my daughter and I, and, as far as I’m concerned, I got what I really wanted for Mother’s Day. She played beautifully and the afternoon concert more than filled my cup. So I don’t want the flowers. Don’t want the chocolate (okay, so maybe if it’s extra dark, I’ll cave in). And certainly don’t want the plush animal (seriously, who are the teddy bear companies kidding?!?)

My daughter had “in mind” a mani/pedi, my favorite indulgence on the planet…and maybe even in the entire galaxy. Give me freshly sculpted fingernails and fiercely loofahed feet and I’m one smiling mom. So I felt confident that, with the “what I really wanted concert” behind me and a possible mani/pedi ahead of me, that the week leading up to Mother’s Day would be smooth sailing.

And then a flyer poked out of the newspaper and a gadget caught my eye. Well, not really a gadget per se. It was a digital camera. Well, it was a digital camera attached to a photo printer, if you want to be exact about it. And it looked so, well, easy. It was small and slick and adorable all at the same time. And, most importantly, it looked like it was idiot-proof. It appealedstronglyto me, the resident technology idiot.

Now, I’m not pretending to be an idiot. Not wanting to sound humbly self-effacing or anything of that nature. No. I’m a rather smart cookie and I’m proud of that. But technology? Well, you see, the tech craze just happened to coincide with my rearing of that fourth kid as well as the premature onset of menopause, and, while not using either as the perfect excuse for being technologically-retarded, given that the final push of childbirth (and the mere experience of pregnancy) depletes brain cells and that menopause in and of itself has been scientifically proven to cause severe lapses in mental prowess, heck: if it’s good enough for the American Medical Association, it’s good enough for me. Childbirth and premature menopause cause technological retardation, OK?

So spying an ad for an idiot-proof digital camera really sparked my interest. And I thought, “Now that’s what I really want for Mother’s Day.” I am dreadfully and hopelessly behind in organizing my “memories” (does anyone even use the word “photos” anymore?) and the whole conversion of film to disc to online storage to email ordering thing has really gotten me down. Just when I got the whole take-the-photos-to-the-drugstore (now there’s an archaic word for you)-to-get-developed ritual down pat, along came digital photography. (I think I was in childbirth #4 around that time). With fewer brain cells with which to figure this one out, I turned the photography division of labor over to hubby. He got a kick out of it, and about four digital cameras later, has a multitude of files stored on my laptop, which I can never quite find when I need them. But he’s convinced me that they are in there somewhere.

Now lest you think I have completely lost my mind, let me assure you that there is a whole segment of women in the universe who are in exactly the same age group/life stage/hormonal imbalance level who understand EXACTLY what I’m saying: we got caught between the proverbial rock and technology hard place because we failed to time life perfectly. We’re bright, highly educated women who desire more than anything to have perfectly preserved memories of our children’s happy childhoodsbut we now have no clear idea how to do it. The lady I met at the “drugstore” a few weeks ago confirmed my observation: we struck up a quick friendship while scanning photos into the machine and kibitzing about the technology rock-hard-place thing. We commiserated with each other about the inherent difficulty of it all (and while we were at it, swapped cell phone data entry horror stories, too) and we shared ideas of how we didor did notdo the new technology photo/memory bit.

What I really want for Mother’s Day is a new digital camera and a matching photo printer. I do not want the manual nor do I want to read anything; I want my husband to sit down with me for a half hour and tell me exactly how to do it. I do not want to know all the tricks of this new trade; I just want him to sit down at my laptop and tell me how to retrieve all of the files he created for me which I cannot find. And then I want him to tell me how to print them out so that I can organize them into the beautiful books I bought after childbirth #2 when I merely glued those suckers in and wrote captions out long hand. No stickers. No brads and studs. No countless, colored versions of the alphabet printed on plastic-coated sheets. Just tell meor show mehow to take a picture, print it out and get it into an album. Show me how to go from the push of the camera’s button to the computer. Show me how to plug a very short cord into something so that by the count of “three” I have a photo not just in my hand, but archivally preserved into my album!

I figure that there are at least ten million of us moms out here (if I’m doing the math correctly) who will find ourselves in this predicament on Mother’s Day. We’re haplessly watching the technological world swirl by, fazed by our lack of familiarity with it and by our inability to tackle it, yet unfazed by whippersnapper moms who already have all of this figured out (for we have the luxury of recounting wonderful successes, albeit technologically un-savvy ones, accomplished over the past ten to twenty years that techie-guru moms strongly desire, even if they haven’t yet verbalized or consciously realized it yet).

What we mothers really want for Mother’s Day is a husband or a teenor heck, even a toddlerto show us how to do this stuff. To move us, slowly and tenderly, out of the place in which we have so lovingly settled, and into the fast-moving technological world which frightens and confuses and amazes us.

And if I can’t get all of the above, what I really want for Mother’s Day is just a few great pictures of my family. You could throw in the mani/pedi just in caseand dark chocolate never hurtsbut some pictures taken, printed and gosh, maybe even organized onto a page in my album, and I’d say that Mother’s Day would be just swell.

Carolina Fernandez earned an M.B.A. and worked at IBM and as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch before coming home to work as a wife and mother of four. She totally re-invented herself along the way. Strong convictions were born about the role of the arts in child development; ten years of homeschooling and raising four kids provide fertile soil for devising creative parenting strategies. These are played out in ROCKET MOM! 7 Strategies To Blast You Into Brilliance. It is widely available online, in bookstores or through 888-476-2493. She writes extensively for a variety of parenting resources and teaches other moms via seminars, workshops, keynotes and monthly meetings of the ROCKET MOM SOCIETY, a sisterhood group she launched to “encourage, equip and empower moms for excellence.” Please visit http://www.rocketmom.com

I can’t stand when certain players in professional sports feel that they are greater then their sport.
Currently the Miami Heat is playing horrible basketball in the NBA finals and their aging star is greatly to blame for their lackluster performances.

The Miami Heat is full of BullShaq. While Shaquille O’Neal is playing stinkball his Miami Heat is faltering. They are now down two games to none.

As far as Shaquille “BullShaq” O’Neal is concerned his behavior after his last game was despicable. BullShaq scored a career low 5 points in an NBA final series game. He refused to address the media and was fined by the NBA.

Mr. O’Neal fails to realize that it’s the fan in the stands that is ultimately responsible for his fortune. Without the fan, BullShaq would be nothing.

Mr. O’Neal owes an apology to the media that covers him and the NBA fan that attends his games. Right now Shaq should bow down to his fans. He is playing atrocious basketball and the fans deserve much better.

At the very least, he should address the media and his fans with class and dignity. I know that’s a lot to ask from today’s greedy and ill-mannered professional athlete.

Most of us have had bad days at work and have had to face our bosses and fellow employees. Most of us approach this situation with tact and professionalism.

I’m convinced that Mr. O’Neal is void of the maturity and character that would lead him to treat the NBA fan with respect.

I hope that Shaq can turn things around and make amends for his poor behavior but that would be like asking Ricky Williams to stop smoking marijuana.

Anthony B. is the founder and owner of ItsTheRightWay.com a news, political and sports commentary website. Anthony has over 7 years of experience as a business professional

When I met my husband Blair Osborn in 1975, I had no idea that our chance encounter would fuel a 30-year partnership in life and business.

As marriage and business partners, we understand that stress, aches, pains, and other consequences of busy lives give us all pause to seek more relaxation and rejuvenation in our lives. Making time for both is essential for us and the customers we are committed to serve.

Through countless ups and downs over the years, there are several skills vital to the smooth functioning of any partnership. In no other endeavor is it more important to understand and master these skills than in a business relationship with your spouse. To follow are our hard won lessons that will serve others seeking to get into business with a marriage partner without sinking either the marriage or the business in the process.

Commitment is the cornerstone. When Blair and I started our business, most people thought we were crazy. Still, we remained committed to our mission and vowed to stay with it. We quickly discovered that running a business required knowledge and resources we hadn’t yet acquired. We were generalists on a straight up learning curve to acquire instant expertise in everything.

Our success also required a large amount of start-up capital. Acquiring these funds was risky and stressful. Other obstacles like emerging competition could have easily prompted us to throw in the towel, yet our commitment kept us afloat. Woody Allen once quipped that 80% of success is just showing up. Blair and I always show up, and that continues to make the difference, no matter what the circumstances.

Trust combats conflict. When two are reliant upon each other for personal fulfillment and professional success, trust is vital. We vow to tell the truth and hold nothing back. Trust is attained when the ground rules are spelled out, especially the guidelines about how to deal with disagreement. Lack of a clear goal or agreed upon process causes undercurrents of confusion and eventually separation.

Speak and listen carefully. It is crucial to be clear about intentions. This is the case for both a loving and supportive relationship and a prosperous business partnership. And having both takes focus and intention. It is also important to communicate about the things that matter – good or bad.

Sharing and flexibility are key. Both must extend beyond themselves to consider the well being of the other and the shared goals of the partnership and the company. The partnership must adjust to honor the changing desires and circumstances of each.
When one has an idea, share it with the other to gain insight, perspective, and support.

We’ve built a solid reputation with customers and suppliers. Consistent customer satisfaction and referrals have fueled our progress. However, this did not happen overnight. Blair and I spent countless hours sharing ideas to create referral programs, satisfaction surveys, maintenance standards, and customer communications that reinforce our value proposition.

United you stand. Establish common understanding and decision making processes to ensure consistent messaging throughout the business and clear vision for the future. Business philosophies need to be consistently aligned and remain so as the business grows.

Since 1977, we’ve made it easy for our customers to take it easy. In the process, we provide a product that enhances their lives in a way that far exceeds their expectations. Together we stand to deliver this promise. We do not let employees, vendors, or customers cause division. Our like-mindedness directs business philosophies, operating guidelines, and communication.

Private time is a ‘must.’ It is inevitable that the business will join a couple at the dinner table or on the weekends. Boundaries are necessary to maintain a sense of intimacy and togetherness. Be specific and intentional about creating a space where the business is not discussed, and be clear about where and when your best ideas come to light.

Humor and optimism help us persevere through trials as we remember to laugh at mistakes, make progress toward our goals, and enjoy our lives as marriage and business partners. By following these tips, you can, too.

Alice Cunningham is co-owner and co-president of Olympic Hot Tub Company — the most award-winning retailer in the United States. Alice and husband Blair Osborn have worked together to successfully open, operate, and grow Olympic Hot Tub since opening their doors twenty eight years ago. Olympic Hot Tub is the oldest spa and hot tub company in the Northwest with five retail stores located in Seattle, Fife, Issaquah, Lacey, and Everett and a sales and service center in Tukwila. Founded in 1977, the company employs 45 exceptional team members and has a customer base of over 14,000 in greater Puget Sound and SE Alaska. For more information, contact Alice at alice@olympichottub.com, 206-431-2876, 1-877-4HOT-SPRING, or visit http://www.olympichottub.com.

Batting cages play a central role in baseball and softball training. They are enclosures that help control the flight of baseballs and softballs during practice, and can be used to help improve a batter’s speed and accuracy.

When shopping for batting cages, many find indoor batting cages to be a convenient and sensible choice. Indoor batting cages are often used in climates where season weather does not permit outside activity. They can be beneficial in keeping batting practice on schedule even with snow on the ground or when there are rainy conditions. Because gripping a bat with cold fingers can hinder batting technique, weather can be an important factor when choosing to use or buy an indoor batting cage.

Certain materials are used more often for indoor batting cages. For example, nylon netting is a popular choice for indoor batting cages. Because the weather is not a concern when practicing in a covered indoor area, the netting does not need to be as strong as when used outdoors. The cage should still be durable, however. In addition, indoor conditions indoors, such as humidity and heat, should be taken into consideration when choosing indoor batting cages.

Aside from the actual netting material, the construction of a net can help determine how long it will last. Before purchasing a batting cage, it is important to consider the size of the twine used, as well as the way the netting is manufactured. Weaves are machine made, and some offer more sturdiness than others. When choosing a batting cage for indoor use, weigh all of the options to decide which cage will best suit the needs of the athletes.

Batting Cages Info provides detailed information about batting cage equipment and indoor, outdoor, portable, and tunnel batting cages for sale. Batting Cages Info is the sister site of Trampolines Web.

You decide to sell your home and believe you can handle the selling process. Good for You!

Of course you’re a little nervous and that’s normal. You might stay awake at night wondering how long it is going to take to actually sell this home.

“Can I get my asking price?” You wonder.

Yes it is possible to sell for sale by owner and yes you can get your asking price.

If you followed the guidelines outlined in our Do It Yourself FSBO Tips for sellers you will have your home ready to sell.

So what’s the key to selling a home within a timely manner?

Readiness, Price, Terms and ADVERTISING!

Get your on-line listing and set your advertising budget for an aggressive marketing campaign.

What this means is blasting your home for sale in the newspaper locally and out of town where new buyers are coming from.

Use your on-line listing to direct your potential buyers to in your ads. This will keep your advertising dollars down for each ad, allowing you to advertise twice as much than if you placed a long detailed ad in the newspaper.

Giving you twice the exposure. Not to mention the attention your on-line listing service is attracting for you.

Run your ads for a month, this might even get you a discount with the newspapers. Ask for One!

If you sell your home before the month is over you should get a refund for the time unused.

Exposure is what it takes to get your home noticed.
Price is what will sell it.

If you are selling a high dollar home your best option for a quick sale is to offer assistance to the buyer. Help them with the down payment and your home is sold!

People pay outrageous rents sometimes more than a mortgage would cost.

So the everyday living expenses are easy, it’s the saving of the down payment that holds people back. Take away that problem that holds them back and you’ve got a sale!

If you take an aggressive approach to selling right off the back using the Internet as your main marketing tool you should have an offer on the table within no time.

If you don’t get an offer within the first few weeks reevaluate your price. Consider helping with the down payment by offering a small second mortgage to open the market for more qualified buyers.

Here’s a sample ad you could place in the newspapers utilizing your on-line listing.

$5000 Down 3/2 FSBO

Brandon Fl. No Realtors

www.xxxxxxxx.net/listings/99999.html

555-555-5555

This short ad will lead all potential buyers to view all the details and photos of your property for sale. Allowing them instant access to learn more about your property before they even call you.

Working for you to Sell itself.

Good Luck and Don’t Give Up!

Shirley Turetsky is the owner/webmaster for http://www.TodaysAds.net Central Florida’s for sale by owner listings. You can find her Do It Yourself FSBO Tips for buyers and seller to guide you through all your real estate transactions. More articles about real estate can be found at http://www.todaysads.net

Some chaps have a hard time keeping an erection and some females have really long sex drives, meaning it will take the female an incredibly long time to come. Because of this contrast in sex drives, love making will probably turn into an annoying and unsatisfying experience. That’s why thin dildos could be helpful. If the bloke climaxes early in the session, or even if the girl just takes longer than her bloke, he can continue to penetrate the lady with the huge dildo. That way all sexual fun doesn’t have to end. It gives the gent plenty of time to charge his stamina and keeps the chick horned up. Thus when he is all set to come back into the game, the girl will still be aroused enough to accept the boy. Get on the tables with the Best Sex Toys from sex bomb.

Your most sensual zone is your mind. And as noticeably as numerous girls will not admit this, the penis is a focus of power, no matter how huge or tiny, it is still associated with fertility. Penetrating your wife with a dildo might make a fantasy of power fun reality.

Some females savour the sensation of feeling full in their vagina or anus. Whenever a sex aid such as a thin dildo, penetrates the vagina or bottom, the muscles contract around it. A myriad of girls note the tightening of these muscles to be highly enjoyable.

When I was losing money at the poker table with some friends, an idea for teaching salespeople how to use all four communications came to mind. This playing card system will probably work for you and increase your sales!

A balanced sales plan is essential as the foundation in any business growth program. This article describes how my poker system for strategic sales works. The system is very simple and is easy to follow. All you need is a deck of cards and marking pen. You will use the marking pens to identify the strategic focus of your contact on the deck of cards. This system gives you the ability to change and vary the focus of communications throughout the year. This becomes extremely valuable when a business sells a suite of products or services.

How to Set-up the System
You start with a deck of cards. Each deck has 52 cards and four different suits (hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades). Fortunately, the deck of cards matches the 52 weeks in a year and each suit represents the four different ways we can communicate with customers. Yes, there are only four different ways we can communicate with a customer.

1. We use Clubs to represent our personal contacts when we meet a prospect or customer face to face.

2. We use Diamonds to represent telephone contacts when we call a prospect or customer using the phone system.

3. We use Hearts to represent notes and letters when we communicate with a prospect or customer using written communications.

4. We use Spades to represent email and text messages when we communicate with a prospect or customer using a computer to communicate.

Defining the Ranking of Your Services or Products
Now take the 13 cards for each suit and decide what they will represent. For example, you must determine what 13 services or products you want to promote and rank them highest to lowest. The highest services or products become the high cards such as ace, king, queen and so forth. The numbered cards will be used to indicate their rank, so the 2 cards are the lowest ranking service you want to promote. You can use the profitability of each service or product to help you decide where and how to rank your 13 options. Now that you have these ranked, you use the pen to mark the cards with these services or products.

Once all the cards are marked, you can shuffle the cards and use them to balance your communications and main focus for each contact. An example might be that you draw the 10 of diamonds. This means that you will telephone your prospect or customer and focus on the service that 10 represent. If you drew the 5 of spades, you should email the prospect or customer with a focus on what the 5 represents.

The Key Benefits
The key benefit of this strategic sales plan is when the salesperson learns to mix up and use various communications for selling. This has a dramatic impact on spreading out the different methods of communications. When a salesperson limits their use of the four contacts, the salesperson gets stale and boring. The results of this show up when prospects and customers get tired of salespeople always calling them. When salespeople mix and balance their communications, contacts generate a quicker and stronger impact, selling faster.

Steve Martinez is a Sales Management Growth Strategist and Founder of Selling Magic. His organization teaches businesses how to automate and customizing CRM solutions with the best practices of sales management for increased profits. http://www.sellingmagic.com

An antique doorknob is a decorative item that gives a touch of royalty, beauty and elegance to the decor of a home. It gives a conventional charm to doors and cabinets. Antique doorknobs are ideal to give a room a new feel. The uniqueness and exotic nature of an antique doorknob makes it a magnificent item for modeling rooms and homes. It can offer an ideal finishing touch to any decorating project and can be used to attach wood board to a fabric valance. Many people even go around collecting antique door knobs; they either keep them for their own personal enjoyment or they try to sell them to other collectors as well as homeowners looking to get an antique feel to their home.

The variety in shapes and materials makes an antique door knob an extremely collectible item. Versatile finishes, styles and designs make it even more attractive. Antique doorknobs made of porcelain; crystal and glass with traditional and contemporary designs are in great demand. Melon shaped door knobs are known for their excellent design and shape. They win the heart of many customers.

Various kinds of antique doorknobs including brass doorknobs and aluminum doorknobs are in great demand among the collectors. Most antique doorknobs have a simple rustic design, and traditional doorknobs with American designs are reproduced in a diversity of shapes. Durability and quality of material are the main features of a fine antique doorknob. To meet the growing demands of customers, they are exported all over the world. Manufactures provide professional advice to customers in selection these knobs.

It is a transfer of an interest in land, from the owner to the mortgage lender, on the condition that this interest will be returned to the owner of the real estate when the terms of the mortgage have been satisfied or performed.

Both banks and brokers have their strengths and weaknesses. Some will quote you precise, competitive rates 8 percent. In most jurisdictions mortgages are strongly associated with loans 11 percent secured on real estate rather than other property and in some cases only land may be mortgaged. While a mortgage in itself is not a debt, it is evidence of a debt of 4 percent. Start with credibility. It’s not easy to know if the prices quoted by lenders are reliable. Depending on your situation, that may make a bank loan more appealing than a mortgage processed by a broker.

In other words, the mortgage is a security for the loan that the lender makes to the borrower. Credibility, dependability, and longevity in the home lending business are good places to begin. Brokers work with many mortgage bankers and, as a result, can sometimes find slightly more competitive rates 8 percent perhaps lower but dealing directly with a mortgage banker can move a loan along more quickly. So how do you find a lender or broker you can trust? See which lenders are charging fees 8 percent and for how much. Although most mortgage experts say that rates 9 percent are pretty much the same wherever you go, give or take this tiny 11 percentage. See mortgage loan for residential mortgage lending, and commercial mortgage for lending against commercial property. Many of these fees are fixed but some can be negotiated.

And of course, each loan and each borrower are different. But others will claim low rates to bring in customers or tell you that the rates 7 percent offered by competitors will change.

Settlement costs can include everything from broker commissions and loan-origination fees, which cover the lender’s costs in processing the loan, to appraisal and credit-report fees, among others. Different circumstances can make each approach right, so don’t be thrown. Different lenders charge different fees. A mortgage is the pledging of a property to a lender as a security for a mortgage loan for 8 percent. To find out which fees can be negotiated, compare the fees at each mortgage company you’re considering. Arranging a mortgage is seen as the standard method by which individuals and businesses can purchase residential and commercial real estate without the need to pay the full value immediately. Get new real estate with geld lenen met negatieve bkr vermelding, 188747 euro in 24 hours.