Life is a Song68856

Weird inventions can be profitable. I just saw a report on the news about an automated dog wash at a car wash. Get the car and the dog clean all at once! Of course, ideas for inventions that are just weird and interesting or funny is okay too. By the way, the ideas below are not patented, so feel free to take them, make them, patent them and earn a few dollars with them. Good luck!

Wind chimes made from bones. There are a lot of people out there who like the morbid side of life, and I'll bet they buy wind chimes too. Of course, they don't have to be human bones!

Machine that induces naps. Some of the brain wave entrainment CDs I've been using for months are really powerful. One puts me to sleep everytime, anytime of the day. This technology could be used to create a system for baby cribs and kid's beds. The machine would play CDs which slow down brain waves and puts kids to sleep. More than a few parents would buy this.

Wall-mounted furniture. Have a steel track built into the perimeter of the room, and furniture designed to hang from this. The couches, tables and chairs wouldn't need legs, and would be easy to clean under. Of course, if you produce the system, the customer has to buy furniture from you.

Furniture that glows in the dark. Perhaps it would be more practical to have just the edges trimmed with a glow-in-the-dark material. No more bumping into the coffee table in the dark, and a nice party atmosphere too.

Alarm clock that uses voices. Here's one of those easy inventions, and it isn't even that weird. Use one of the "sampler" chips that are found in electronic keyboards. Push the button to record a short message-alarm. Wake up to your own voice, or record a wake-up message from a sexy friend for more motivation. Have it say what you want. "You're late for work!" might work, or might just give you a heart attack.

Exam survival kit. Are you ready for that big exam? Now you are, with your new Examomatic Survival Kit. The kit contains caffeine pills, ginkgo biloba capsules, aromatic oils that "wake up" the brain, and a dozen quick tips for instantly raising your IQ.

Fish kite. look, in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane... no, it's the new flying fish kite! It's an inflatable kite (no kite sticks), but it flys just like any kite. Comes with a fishing pole for the kitestring, so you can just reel it in when you're done. Fishing in the sky!

A few ideas, and now it's time to come up with your own weird inventions.

Steve Gillman has been exploring new ideas for decades. Visit his site for more weird invention ideas, business ideas, story ideas, political and economic theories, deep thoughts, and more. Get a free gift too: New Ideas ( http://www.999ideas.com )

Conquer your learning curve faster when you learn to surf.

Does good surfing instruction make a difference to your learning curve when learning to surf? You bloody bet it does!

Most of the older guys you see in the water these days did not have the benefit of surf schools when they where learning. The only surf school they attended was the school of hard knocks, heavy wipe outs, and plenty of peer pressure.

It took me years to learn what good surfing instruction from an experienced coach can teach you in hours today. The only surfing instruction available to us was watching other guys in the water, copying what they where doing, and hanging on for grim death if it all came unstuck, which it usually did.

If you want to learn to surf, and to skip the trial and error. I suggest you find a good surf school and take classes with an experienced instructor.

Tips for finding a good surf school.

1. Look for schools with accredited coaches. In most countries, surfing instructors are required to be accredited coaches through the governing body for that country.

2. Check out how the school operates. A good operator is a good sign they take the business of surfing instruction seriously.

3. Check out the schools gear. Surfing gear such as wetsuits and surfboards that are in good shape and well maintained is another great sign that they are serious about their business.

4. Ask people who have had lessons with the school. Did it work for them?

5. Have a chat with the instructors and go with your gut feel.

If you can get onto a good school your surfing will come on in leaps and bounds. Good surfing instruction really does make a world of difference.

Now, get out there!

Brett BJ Jones is the owner and Head Coach of a Central Coast surf school called BJ's Surf School. He teaches people to surf all year round at Terrigal Beach in Australia. http://www.bjsurf.com.au

Shopping online with credit cards has been a dilemma for most people since the early days of the internet. While the internet has evolved and new and improved security measures have been taken to enhance safety, there are still regular cases where things go wrong. With the huge increase in online identity theft, no amount of caution is ever enough, and we must do all we can to protect ourselves and our personal information.

Naturally, it may be easy to simply decide you wont ever again use a credit card online. While there are other payment methods available on some websites, most online merchants and stores only have the credit card payment option available. With most of the best deals and the tremendous amounts of sales that can be found on the internet, radically abstaining from online purchases with credit cards may significantly hinder the purchases you participate in.

There are a number of ways to protect yourself online, first of all, whenever entering your personal information during an online purchase, be sure you are on a secure page, the most common way of checking this is locating the secure page verifier icon on your internet browser. Nonetheless, just being on a secure page does not guarantee your information wont be stolen, as you could be the victim of spyware and may have malicious hacking software on your computer, such as a keylogger that keeps track of your every move. Be sure to have a regularly updated anti-virus and spyware software to prevent this from happening. Another point to remember, your credit card company or banking institution will never email or call you with a request for your personal information, do not volunteer this information to anyone, even if they identify themselves as employees of a financial company you deal with, or their email address seems to match the company. Credit card companies do not contact their customers that way, by being aware of the different threats out there, you can help keep your online shopping secure.

Another popular way of shopping online with credit cards is using virtual credit cards. Virtual credit cards help eliminate much of the risk involved in using your credit cards online. Virtual credit cards consist of credit cards numbers that are used a single time, once they have been used, they are no longer valid. Virtual credit card numbers can only be used on the internet; they are not valid for buying in real stores. If a hacker manages to obtain your virtual credit card number, it will not do them any good.

Although virtual credit cards are accepted by many websites, there are a few sites they cannot be used for. Most large credit card companies offer the convenience of virtual credit cards, for more information on how they work and how they can be used, contact your credit card company.

Online shopping sites provided by Do Directory

Have you ever stopped long enough to read the dog food ingredient list on your dog's food? Have you ever stopped to REALLY think about what you are feeding your faithful companion? If your answer is no, then maybe it's about time you pull up a chair, grab Fido's bag of food and take a closer look.

If you think about it, your dog eats the same food day in and day out. And what he eats has a direct relationship to his overall health and well being. So it makes sense to look past all the attractive labels and marketing gimmicks when deciding on which food to buy.

Pet food manufacturers don't always have your dog's best interest in mind. The dog food industry is big business and there is a HUGE profit to be made in it. The current pet food regulations allow manufacturers to use inferior (cheaper) ingredients that you would never think of giving to your dog. Some brands of dog food have by-products (feet, bones and intestines), chemical preservatives (BHA and BHT) and grains that are often hard to digest (corn, wheat, gluten and soy). And when something is hard to digest, fewer nutrients are absorbed into the body. And it's these grains that make up a good majority of dog foods on the market today..... Soooo.......where's the beef?

Protein is essential and should be the primary source of animal protein, not vegetable protein or grain. In fact, the first five ingredients in your dog's food play a huge role in the overall nutritional make-up of a dog food. Make sure that animal protein is included at the top. Also make sure there are health-promoting ingredients like vegetables, minerals, probiotics, and grape seed extract.

So, what DID you find on Fido's dog food ingredient list? You say you love your dog........well, do you really? Next time you go to the store, take a few minutes to read the dog food ingredient list and make sure you get something nutritious for your faithful friend!

Candice has been in the health and wellness field for the past 10 years. She's a wife, mom, entrepreneur AND proud owner of her faithful companion, Elly. If you'd like to know what she feeds her dog Elly:-), visit http://www.ellysfood.info

Art experts who visit Tropical North Queensland often castigate the local artists for using what they call 'a poster paints' approach to this spectacular landscape. A righteous howl of protest rises from the painters as they challenge the critic to leave his hotel room and just look about. When such letters appear in the local papers, I feel sympathy for both sides.

With a fine disregard for the opinions of experts, The Great Artist floods this corner of the planet with ultramarine, cerulean and viridian green. All seemingly 'straight from the tube.' It takes time and a nit-picking, patient eye to analyse the myriad subtle mixtures of colour that await discovery.

Perhaps that is why few fine artists tackle the subject in a realist manner. And why the more successful images are made by the many excellent graphic artists who live and work here. As a painter of people and their stories, I treat landscape as a backdrop or 'stage' for the figures. Even so, it took ten years to overcome my terror of these stunning colours and find a way to keep them from overwhelming the painting while remaining true to the lush reality of the place I call Home.

The first time I saw this area, the overload of pure colour and light hammered me into wonder. It still does, whenever I have returned from the soft and nearly shadowless light of Europe. That first time, I was twelve years old and too young to express my response to the place as 'spiritual.' Hindsight lets me understand the experience that way. It cannot be mere coincidence that brings so many artists to live here.

You probably already know Australia as a continent of contrasts. Of gently rolling grasslands and vast red sand deserts. Of snow-clad mountain ranges and steaming jungle. But here is a statistic that will better help you understand our people: In a country with about the same land area as the United States, we have just 2.2 people for every square kilometre. (In the USA, it is 25.8 per square kilometre.) But close to nine out of every ten Aussies live in urban centres or large cities of the eastern coast, knowing little about the life of folk in the Outback.

Growing up in Sydney, I was ignorant about life in the isolated rural parts until I travelled with a youth tour to the then mysterious 'Far North.' As our train crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, the air became heavier with moisture until we entered the sugar-growing town of Tully, one of the wettest places on Earth. The blue ribbon for rainfall goes to either Babinda or Innisfail, villages just south of Cairns, which vie for an annual Golden Gumboot award.

We could smell Babinda before we saw it. The smell of a sugar mill in full production during the crushing season must be experienced to be believed. Crushing starts as soon as the sugarcane farms begin harvesting during the Dry (winter) months of June and July. For more than a century, harvest was signalled by fires set at night, when danger from wind was lowest. The fire scoured the cane fields of cane rats, which caused Weils' Disease, a curse to the men who wielded machetes to harvest the stalks. Now, machines cut cane and as sugar content is known to be increased by green-cutting, the spectacle of cane fires is almost a thing of the past.

Here, I should mention that 'winter' is only a figure of speech in the North. During May, June and July night-time temperatures can reach as low as 14 degrees centigrade at the extreme. Locals may be forced to wear a long-sleeved cotton shirt during those days. Old hands even resort to a light jacket, mainly at night. Our other season is called the Wet, when - El Nio permitting - monsoon rains sweep across the Top End. They bring an occasional cyclone that appears as a devastating disaster in the southern news reports, while we locals wonder what all the fuss is about. Somehow, like Camelot, Cairns seems to arrange for rain to fall mostly in the evening.

On arrival, my group of youngsters was settled in digs and then let loose to explore the town. As we wandered, we kept a nervous lookout; southern friends had warned us that crocodiles stalked the streets. The locals laughed, assuring us it was only a myth. One year, that myth finally became reality and made front page news: Crocs In The Streets! At the peak of monsoon season, a king tide had put the wharf end of the main street under water. Motorists driving slowly up the flooded road were startled to see two saltwater saurians swimming alongside the traffic. Astonished officers from the Wildlife Service were despatched to relocate the confused animals.

Our exploration of the sleepy seaside town was soon done. Few of the buildings rose more than two storeys. Limited shopping was available in town, with corner stores providing weekend supplies. The only take-away food was fish and chips wrapped in butcher paper from the Greek cafe or Chinese cuisine in a returnable, shiny tin billy-can. If you were adventurous, you could sit at a table in the Italian cafe and struggle with spaghetti marinara on a plate big enough to feed a whole ship crew.

Today, several high-rise hotels of five star class punctuate the shoreline. A multitude of restaurants caters to every imaginable taste; some offer a 'native' cuisine of crocodile, emu or snake. Corner stores have given way to large shopping centres in the suburbs and the inner city hosts two huge retail/entertainment complexes. Duty free shops have signage written in Japanese and the inevitable tourist souvenirs made in China or Korea lurk cheek by jowl with genuinely Australian arts and crafts.

For me, the next day was bliss. Immediately after breakfast, we boarded the (one and only) craft that took day-trippers out to Green Island, a coral cay just 27 kilometres north-east from Cairns. Then state-of-the-art, our boat wallowed through the cobalt blue waters, sending most of the group to offer their breakfasts to the waves. Remembering the tales of seafarers in the action-adventure type reading I loved, I talked a new friend into joining me at the bow. Facing into the wind, we sang at full stretch of our lungs every song we knew and were spared the misery of sea-sickness.

In the current era, visitors are wafted smoothly across in their choice of the many swift and air-conditioned catamarans that ply the reef islands. Or they can cruise leisurely on luxury maxi yachts. They can even hop out by helicopter. The island, fringed by coconut palms and a beach of blinding white sands, floats jewel-like on a lagoon of pale turquoise. Artists please note: Here is the one legitimate reason I know of for keeping a tube of viridian green beside your palette. Out where the sea turned to ultramarine, coral gardens could be seen through the panels of our glass-bottomed boat, a dozen heads vying for a glimpse, a dozen throats sighing in awe.

If you come here now, you will see it all in close-up comfort through the glass walls of an air-conditioned submersible. You can snorkel or scuba dive. Either way, it is a sight you will never forget. One of the 14 World Heritage listed natural wonders in Australia, the underwater gardens of the Great Barrier Reef extend for 2,300 kilometres along the coast of Queensland and can be clearly seen from satellites in low earth orbit.

On the following day, we rode a steam train up the winding Barron Gorge route to Atherton Tablelands. Because the river had not yet been dammed, we saw Barron Falls in stupendous flight down the massive rocks of the gorge. Up in the cool rainforests of the tablelands, we canoed across Eacham and Barrine Lakes, formed in the craters of long-extinct volcanoes. While we picnicked on the grassy shores, elegant white herons stalked fish in the shallows and miniature turtles popped their heads from the water edge to watch us watching them. Later, we walked through more open bushland to peer down at Crater Lake, remnant of another spent eruption from pre-history. A bright green weed covers the surface of this lake that sulks far below the rim of its volcanic spout. A favourite sport is to drop a stone and watch a circle of eerie blackness spread from the point of penetration.

The only change nowadays is, you have to bring your own pocketful of pebbles; the ground near the rim has been picked clean. And you might travel there via the Skyrail, one of the longest cable car rides in the world, skimming over the forest canopy with unrivalled views of the Coral Sea. But enough. If I were to try describing the full range of beauty this place presents, its extravagant variety of wildlife, or to list all the attractions on offer, this would become a travel brochure. Perhaps it has given you a taste, enough to inspire you to come visit.

Like most Australians, I have done my fair share of travelling. But the only place I ever felt homesick for is this tropic wonderland of which Cairns is the heart. And to get back here to live, I had to marry the bloke! Anyway, that's how he likes to tell the story...

Dorothy Gauvin

Dorothy Gauvin is an internationally acclaimed Australian painter in oils who specialises in an epic theme of Australia's pioneers.She is also the author of what may be the only novel ever published about Australia's 'Secret Civil War' of the 1890s,'Traveller's Luck,' available online. See images of her 'Life-Story' portraits of fascinating and successful people,limited edition prints of Outback heroes and horsemen,plus tips and advice for aspiring artists and collectors on her website at http://www.gauvin.com.au

I had the opportunity this past week to answer a number of questions about apartments. I find a great deal of misinformation out there concerning the financing of this excellent type of income producing investment. Before going into some common misconceptions, I should explain the state of the apartment market in general.

Apartments are seeing an overall increase in rents after a long period of stability thanks to the increase in single family home and condo prices over the past few years. Some markets, such as Houston, are overbuilt. Others, such as Los Angeles, are radically over priced. Pricing in multifamily is often expressed as a function of the Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM), but more accurately reflected in the capitalization rate (cap rate).

The GRM expresses selling prices and value as a multiple of the annual gross rents. A property selling for $1,000,000 with $100,000 in annual income has a GRM of 10. However, it doesnt tell the whole story. The cap rate measures the return on investment for the capital invested in a property. Using our GRM information, we could have two vastly different cap rates on two seemingly similar properties.

The cap rate assumes that the property is purchased all cash and is calculated by dividing the Net Operating Income (NOI) by the purchase price. If we had two properties selling for $1MM with Gross Rents of $100,000 and GRMs of 10, which would be the better investment? If Property #1 has a NOI of $60,000 and Property #2 has a NOI of $30,000, their respective cap rates are 6% and 3%. Property 1 has a 100% better return on capital than Property 2. A lot of factors come into play in this process, but you can see that GRM can be misleading.

So what does all of this have to do with apartment loan misconceptions? A ton!

Misconception #1: 80% LTV means 80% LTV! Wrong. Most apartment lenders are concerned with something called debt coverage. This means that they look solely to the property to be the source of repayment of their loan. So while a lender may say they can give you an 80% loan on a purchase, once they look at the propertys NOI and cap rate, they may only be able to offer you 50%. So look to your cap rates, check your cash flow, and dont believe everything you read about maximum loan amounts.

Misconception #2. Seller Financing Can Make Up The Difference. I hear this one a lot. The typical statement is something like: The seller can carry the difference for no payments for 5 years. Thats great, but it wont get you the property. Those lenders I mentioned above are subject to certain rules when underwriting seller financing. First, they have to impute a monthly payment based upon the amount of the note and its rate, usually using interest only. Then, they take this payment and add it to the payment theyre using for their loan. Once again, they have to test for debt coverage. The reality is that the most seller carry that a property can qualify for is around 10% of the sales price.

Misconception #3: The Rents Are Way Below Market! That may be the case, but the lender is only going to base its loan on the rents in the property NOW. There are a few exceptions to this, but theyre not really going to help you much. An owner-occupied unit and vacant units will be set at market, but you dont want too many vacant units or the lender wont want the deal. It is possible to get estoppels back acknowledging an increase in rent prior to the close of escrow, but good luck getting a seller to agree to that.

As you can see, the financing process is never as easy as some would have you believe. Work with professionals, do your Due Diligence, and work out the financing ahead of time and your projects will go much more smoothly.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Craig Higdon, The Mortgage Black Belt, is a commercial mortgage broker. He publishes the weekly Investment Property Insider e-zine and the Real Estate Secrets Blog (http://www.RealEstateSecretsBlog.com). Sign up now and get a bonus FREE report at http://www.ExcelsionMortgage.com/CommercialNewsletter

Rome (the capital of Italy) is one of the most beautiful cities in the world and has some of the most breathtaking architecture in the whole of human history. It is also home to some of the finest art worldwide. Add to this the amount of history surrounding the city and it is no wonder that it is a city that is visited by many millions of tourists every year. Whilst many tourists merely stay in hotels, a great deal of them feel far more comfortable staying in apartments in Rome. This gives them the freedom to come and go as they wish, not being restrained to certain eating and cleaning times. Considering how cheap apartments in Rome are these days it is a wonder that more people dont choose that option.

Vacation rentals in Rome are available all over the vast city so you can choose exactly whereabouts you wish to stay and for how much. Why not stay alongside the Tiber River with its spectacular views or maybe near the Pantheon, only a short distance from many of Romes attractions. It is even possible to rent an apartment on Romes most exclusive street, Via Giulia, a street which itself is seeped in Romes history including San Eligio, a church believed to be designed by Raphael. For a more relaxed vacation in Rome, try renting an apartment in the Campo de Fiori district and taking your holiday at your own pace.

With so much to see and do in Rome, a rental apartment is the perfect way to see the city whether you are visiting for a day, for a week or even for a month. What better way to enjoy yourself than having your very own accommodation to come back to in the evening after a day visiting the Vatican and a night with the locals. Invite friends around and prepare a meal so you can recount the visit to the colosseum and what it must have been like for gladiators of old over bottles of local wine. It really is like having a home away from home for however long you need it which is likely to be months and even years if you wish to see all Rome has to offer.

Families will also find a great benefit of apartments in Rome as there is a lot less hassle than with hotels. No waiting around to check in because ten people are queuing before you. No 6 flights of stairs to climb to get to your room. No squeezing into a tiny room when there are 4 of you. No risk of being disturbed by the cleaners or the noisy occupants next door. Enjoy your very own little apartment, with its own bedrooms, bathroom, living room and its very own kitchen to prepare healthy Italian food for the children. Create that fantastic family atmosphere around your very own dining area and discuss the adventures you had that day without the hassle of being herded into a dining room with hundreds of other guests.

In order to find some of the best quality and best priced vacation rentals in Rome, come along to http://www.romerents.com and search through our database of apartments in Rome. You will find the prices are more than reasonable and the apartments are both stunning and well placed for easy access to major attractions in the city. Whether you want to stay near the Vatican, the Spanish Steps or Piazza Navona, you will find an apartment to suit you at http://www.RomeRents.com.

Financial accounting's focus is on the financial reports distributed to people outside of the company. The major component of financial reporting is the financial statements: income statement, balance sheet, statement of cash flows, and the statement of stockholders' equity. The income statement indicates a company's profitability during a specified time period such as one year, three months or one month.

Under accrual accounting the income statement reports the amount of revenues earned and the expenses that were incurred to earn the revenues. Expenses also include costs that expired during the period of the income statement. If a corporation's stock is publicly traded, the income statement will also report the earnings per share of common stock. The balance sheet reports a corporation's assets, liabilities, and stockholders' equity as of a specific instant, such as midnight of December 31. Most balance sheets will group all of the current assets and all of the current liabilities. This allows readers to easily see the corporation's working capital and current ratio. The statement of cash flows organizes the explanations of the change in cash and cash equivalents into three sections: operating activities, investment activities, and financing activities. The statement of stockholders equity provides a summary of the changes occurring to stockholders' equity during the accounting period. The changes include net income, dividends declared, purchase of treasury stock, and other comprehensive income.

In order for the readers of these financial statements to make comparisons with other companies, it is necessary that the financial statements follow some common rules. The rules are referred to as generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP (pronounced gap) and consist of several components. One component of GAAP is the basic or fundamental accounting principles and concepts such as cost, matching, going concern, economic entity, materiality, conservatism, consistency, reliability, and others. You can see a brief explanation of these basic principles along with an example of each at AccountingCoach.com.

Another part of GAAP includes the detailed rules established by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or FASB (pronounced fas Bee). These pronouncements are entitled statements of financial accounting standards. FASB interpretations are also part of GAAP. You can view these pronouncements at www.FASB.org/st. The accounting rules established by the predecessors of the FASB remain as GAAP unless they have been superceded by the FASB.

Lastly, GAAP includes industry practices. For example, the balance sheet of a public utility will list the plant assets ahead of its current assets. Unique reporting practices often occur in industries that are regulated by government agencies.

The financial accounting and financial reporting of publicly traded corporations also include the annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 10-K), the annual report to stockholders, and various press releases on financial matters.

The Accounting Coach is a former university instructor known for his clarity in presenting accounting information. He now spends his time developing a free website of accounting material, http://www.AccountingCoach.com

Sitting in the sun-or a tanning bed-is a major no-no. Make bronze from a bottle as natural as bronze from the beach with these top tips!

Take some time

Dont apply self-tanner when youre in a hurry. A rush job can cause streaks and spots. And definitely dont apply the day of the prom; two or three days before is better.

Always exfoliate

Use a body scrub, loofah or plain-old washcloth to remove the top layer of dead skin cells and help self-tanner spread on more smoothly and last longer. Pay extra attention to rough areas like hands, wrists, elbows, knees, wrists, ankles and feet.

Defuzz first

Shaving gets skin even smoother than exfoliating; do it before applying self-tanner not after, which can remove some of your color.

Moisturize smart

Moisturizer prevents self-tanner from soaking into skin; use it only on areas you dont want to get unnaturally tan like heels, ankles, tops of toes, knee caps and elbows.

Go with gloves

Orange palms are a dead giveaway that our tan isnt natural. Snug, disposable drugstore gloves can help keep palms clear.

Even it out

Rub hands together after putting tanner in your palms to spread the solution evenly in each hand.

Smooth on circular

Once self-tanner starts soaking into skin, use circular motions to spread it around; different directions help blend better than linear lines.

Work your way up

Doing your upper body first can cause streaks or spots when bending over to apply to your lower body. Start with your feet and legs and work your way up.

Follow the suns lead

When self-tanning your face, apply where sun would hit naturallynose, cheeks, middle of the chin and foreheadthen blend by moving toward your hairline.

Practice patience

Wait eight hours after tanning before putting on lotion, showering, sweating or wearing tight-fitting clothes. Wait three hours before applying makeup.

Extra Credit: Use lots and lots of lotion! After the eight-hour mark, moisturize skin like mad! Self tanner is dehydrating so lots of lotion will make color last a lot longer!

You haven't enjoyed your summer to the fullest if you haven't spent at least a weekend out in the great outdoors. Whether you lease a cabin in the woods, or whether you decide to pitch a tent, you can enjoy all of nature's bounty. You can lie under the stars or you can be in a RV in the woods or by a lake to feel the therapeutic and soothing effects of nature.

Here are some of the best camping sites in the USA.

A.B.C or America's Best Campground
This lies in Branson, Missouri. There are one hundred and sixty two campsites for tents and RV. Facilities like electricity, telephone hook up and even satellite TV are available. Each site has its own concrete patio, grill and table. There are also cabins available, which have a.c, and heating, a kitchenette and a bathroom and a TV along with covered porches, tables for picnics and grill and an outdoor hydrant.

Montana de Oro or Mountain of Gold
This State Park in Southern California is a wonderful beach side camping holiday site. There are four sites available for hiking campers who can bring in supplies on their own. The steep drop along the bank offers a spectacular view of the ocean and the sea lion colonies. The proximity to the ocean, the hiking trails and the profusion of golden flowers make this a very popular camping site.

Angel Island State Park
Nine campsites complete with running water, a pit toilet, a barbeque grill and a picnic table are available on this fantastic island paradise, which lies in the San Francisco Bay. There are many hiking trails and bicycles are available too for rent. You can explore the island and discover all that it has to offer by way of shopping and other activities, or relax at the Cove Caf too.

Petit Jean State Park
Situated near Little Rock in Arkansas, this is famous for being America's first State Park. With one hundred and twenty seven campsites and thirty-three cabins and camping equipment, which are available for renting, this is a very popular camping tour destination. There are numerous hiking trails, picnic spots, playgrounds and facilities for swimming on this wonderful Camping Park.

For Welikit Family Campground
With close proximity to the three lakes, this Camping site of South Dakota offers great attractions and facilities. Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Mountain, Custer State Park's Buffalo caves and the many golf courses are just half an hour form this Campground. Facilities are available for horse camping on the several trails and for RV hook up. Cabins are available and so are sites for tents. Except inside the Cabins, pets are allowed everywhere. Propane is available for sale and trailers are also available for renting.

Irrespective of the economic strata, Camping is number one holiday activity of the people of USA, according to the Travel Industry Association. You can enjoy it too and come back with wonderful memories which you will cherish your entire life. All you need to do is to decide on your destination, and set out with your maps, compass and backpacks.

Ray Walberg's newsletters can be discovered on a variety of websites with information about Spain. His writings on Murcia flights can be discovered on http://www.alicante-spain.com/murcia_flights.html.

If you want to meet a great woman, and you're sick of the bar scene, there definitely are alternatives. Here are four of my favorites:

Your neighborhood coffee shop. I just came back from Panera Bread, a hotspot for working professionals and their laptops during the weekday morning hours. The place brings in lots of attractive women for lunch, as well. Become a regular; there's a real community there. Be sure to avoid it on weekends, though, when couples with kids take over. If you don't have a Panera Bread in your neighborhood, try a mom-and-pop haunt. The Huntington Street Caf in my area draws real estate agents, attorneys, hairdressers, and entrepreneurs until it closes at 6PM. The key is to find a venue that offers free WIFI, which tends to attract dynamic women with lives.

A pottery class. Dont laugh. My very attractive and soon-to-be divorced friend is a regular at a local pottery class that is loaded with women. Several weeks ago, a straight and good-looking man joined the group and hit it off with everybody. Granted, if you join a pottery class (or another course that tends to draw a high percentage of females), you could be stuck with a bunch of mothers who want a break from their screaming children, but no matter: Chances are, each one of them knows a lovely single woman who wants to meet a guy just like you.

The Irish Penpals Program. It's free, and you don't have to be Irish. You don't even have to write to an Irishwoman if you don't like Irish people (I once heard a guy in the Huntington Street Caf ramble on about how Irishwomen are the least attractive females in the world. Nice head, Buddy: I'm Irish). You can make French, German, and English friends through Irish Pen Pals program, as well. The organizers recently received a testimonial from an American guy who corresponded with a German woman and married her. He wrote, I met the love of my life through your website. Check out www.irishpenpals.com.

Singles' Travel. Whether you head to a San Francisco B&B on your own or join a singles group for a cruise, you're going to meet women. The great thing about staying in a B&B? Youre forced to mingle with other guests at breakfast, as opposed to remaining anonymous in some hotel. The great thing about traveling with a singles' group? Every woman you meet will be unattached, and youre guaranteed to spend enough time together to actually develop some sort of relationship. Singles' cruises are also perfect for shy people; they tend to be crammed with activities, making conversation less important.

If you're serious about meeting a fantastic woman, take action. Remove your baseball cap and get off the couch. Stop relying on the same old friends to introduce you to whatever new female they scratch up. There' s a woman out there whos dying to meet you.

What are you going to do about it?

Terry MacDonald is the happily married author of "How to Attract and Marry the Man of Your Dreams." For information on the singles' cruise she plans for August 2007, check out her blog at http://happygirlmusing.blogspot.com

Just imagine this..you come back home after a hectic day at office and your friends insist you to meet them somewhere for a light partying session..isnt that wonderful..But this can be more amazing if you all decide to meet up in one of the New York City steakhouse. A New York City steakhouse is the ideal place for people who want to enjoy some good steak and want to be light spirited for a while. In fact spending quality time with your family and your friends at a New York City Steakhouse can become one of the most remembered and one of the best moments of your as well as their lives. A New York City steakhouse promises of a pleasing and a soothing environment that helps you to refresh and relax your mind.

A New York City Steakhouse is the best place to have a nice eating, freaking out, talking, listening to some good music, dancing and drinking session with people you love to be with. A New York City Steakhouse is definitely one place to hang around because it boasts of some of the best made steaks in New York. If you are in love with steaks then you have one more reason to visit a New York City steakhouse. You can also indulge in any sort of food that you like. You get a variety of cuisines like Continental, Mexican, Chinese and the list is endless. Each of the New York City Steakhouse has some specialty of their own that makes it a favorite place of many food lovers.

A New York City steakhouse offers a great ambiance and this indeed is one of the biggest attractions apart from good food. The atmosphere of a New York City steakhouse is thoroughly pleasant and it makes you feel delighted as you get to start your evening in the perfect way. Most people tend to visit a New York City steakhouse in the evening after spending a tedious day as they get to relax and refresh themselves in a New York City steakhouse. As already mentioned the food of a New York City steakhouse is also delicious and amazing. You can start off your dinner with some mouth watering starters that complement your drink and then go in for some of the sumptuous steaks prepared the way you like it. If you prefer your steak to be less cooked then you will be served a less cooked one and if you prefer having a fully cooked steak, they will get you a full cooked one.

In fact a New York City steakhouse knows how to pamper their customers. Boasting of great ambiance, great service, amazing steaks and some mouth watering starters and side dishes, a New York City steakhouse is the best place that you can visit and have a nice time. A New York City steakhouse can also help you relax, enjoy yourself and forget all the days tiredness and tediousness. So get prepared to indulge all your senses in the aroma and ambiance of New York City steakhouse.

Neil Folley holds a Masters Degree in Hotel Management. He loves good food and arranging private parties. To book for Sunday Parties and enjoy tasteful food at New York City Steakhouse visit www.markjosephsteakhouse.com

Yeah, and folks can eliminate stress, tension and anxiety (the Big-three) by deciding to use (Directed Mental Effort) and over learning the correct strategies.

Rats have a highly developed sense of self-awareness; they learn from experience, suffer stress and frustration, and giggle when tickled. So do Homo sapiens.

Negative emotions and the mental movies causing them, can be deleted just as you banish spam on your computer. The application is for returning Iraq veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the rest of us who suffer anxiety dealing with career and relationships issues.

Ever get the sweats from negative feedback on a loop (mental imagery) after an evaluation session with your team leader or a hot argument with your significant other? Notice how it often has a life of its own and just wont quit?

It takes four steps.

Google: the journal Science, 7.20.07, Brendan Depue, University of Colorado. Quashing Painful Memories.

Facts The Vital 20% Know and The Trivial 80% Do Not

a)The Visual Cortex of your brain contains the visual representations of a memory (mental movies). Imagery is processed by your Occipital Lobe.

b)Your Hippocampus is responsible for memory formation and retrieval.

c)Your Amygdala creates emotional responses to memories and is in continuous communication with your hippocampus.

d)Your PreFontal Cortex runs planning, logical and cognition, and provides motivation for taking action. It modulates the activities of both your hippocampus (memory) and amygdala (emotions).

Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D.

One Strategy, Four Requirements

a)ReLabel your feelings accompanying the anxiety producing mental movies. Humans categorize, classify and label what occurs in our lives. Mentally repeat, I am not helpless and hopeless, the mental images have hi-jacked my imagination and I have to take control. Change the label, and you often change the emotions and your behaviors. Change your mental imagery and you win the game.

b)ReAttribute the cause of our negative feelings. Say, I have seen fMRIs and know the real cause of feeling stress and anxiety is my Right-Hemisphere has become dominant. I need to create an intervention by my logical, reasoning Left-Hemisphere.

c)ReFocus how we react to stress and anxiety; stop blaming the other party and quit thinking I should-have, could-have or ought-to have said this, that or the other thing.

Have a specific strategy to switch dominance from your right to your left-hemisphere. Substitute mental movies of a day at the beach having fun from accusatory negative feedback imagery.

d)ReValue how we emotionally react to the hi-jacking of our mind by the negative feedback movies. The Value of our beliefs is built on mindful awareness, seeing things, as they really are, not through our suggestible ego. Recognize your feelings to the mental movies as senseless and false. Give them no value.

Google: The Mind and The Brain: Neuroplasticity And The Power of Mental Force. Jeffrey M. Schwartz, UCLA Medical School.

Albert Ellis, The Contrarian

The creator of Rational-Emotive-Behavior-Therapy fifty years ago passed on today at the age of 93. He contradicted Freud and the psychotherapists who took up to ten years to find a breakthrough by endlessly exploring childhood experiences.

Ellis developed short-term therapy protocols to solve the patients problems within a month, not years. No blaming parents, a refusal to focus on justifying their present negative life experiences, the treatment was learning to take immediate actions to change your ineffective behaviors.

Stop whining: Starting-Doing-Something-Now (SDSN) to improve your life, was the Ellis message.

The goal was not to feel better, but to get better. You have left brain tools (Directed Mental Effort), and it requires taking personal action, action, action.

Running Your Three Pound Coconut

Ellis offered three strategies to permanently delete from your brain.

a)Distorted Thinking: emotional thinking generates inappropriate behaviors (hurt you and others); polarized thinking (all-or nothing), black-or-white. Filtering: focusing mostly on the bottle being half-empty. Catastrophying: Henny-Penny the sky is falling.

b)Unrealistic Expectation: you are not the exception to the rule (mostly), chance plays a serious part in your life. So does your genetic inheritance. You have no control over a lot in life, so act as if you are your own Guardian Angel. Work for the best, have Plan B ready to deal with the worst.

c)Faulty Self-Perception: it aint your fault when your kid screws up. Your Mom said, I cannot put my head on your shoulders, or maybe if your friends jumped off the roof, do you have to follow? You are a unique charismatic personality, Start-Doing-Something-Now.

Endwords

Do you have to accept every idea you read of Jeffrey M. Schwartz or Albert Ellis? You have volition (choice), and it leads to Directed Mental Effort. There are options and they all require taking action after thoughtful analysis.

Thinking alone is bogus, Einstein used Thought Experiments, and required proofs to confirm his own theories. Where is your evidence?

We suggest you exercise your mind as if it were composed of body muscles; it atrophies and follows the rule of use-it-or-lose-it.

Would you have a competitive advantage and move to the fast-track if you tripled your learning skills and doubled you long-term memory? Ask us how.

Author of Speed Learning for Professionals, published by Barron's; partner of Evelyn Wood, creator of speed reading, graduating two million, including the White House staffs of four U.S. Presidents.

Interviewed by the Wall Street Journal and fortune Magazine for major articles.

http://www.speedlearning.org
hbw@speedlearning.org

See ya, copyright 2007 H. Bernard Wechsler, email: hbw@speedlearning.org

On June 20, 2007 at 9:09 a.m. when Ingrid Vandebosch gave birth to Ella Sofia Gordon, it put an end to the possibility of Mark Martin subbing for the new father Jeff Gordon.

That also put an end to the big what if about a possible split championship in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Im talking about the drivers and owners championship.

It would have been a stretch, but lets go down the what if road for a little bit here.

First Mark Martin fills in for Jeff Gordon at Sonoma. Martin wins the race giving him and the #24 car 10 bonus points for the Chase for the Cup Championship. Plus that would put Martin back into the seat of a race car one of the races he was scheduled to sit out.

With Mark Martin not running a full schedule in 2007, it would have been inconceivable to picture him with a chance to make the Chase for the Cup. As of last weeks race he was 13th in the points, despite missing three races. He has an average finish of 10.2 in the 12 races he has raced.

If Mark Martin would make the Chase for the Cup, and win the championship by less than 10 points over Jeff Gordon, we would then have a split NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Championship. Mark Martin would win the drivers championship and Hendrick Motorsports would win the owners championship.

Why?

When the points are reset to start the Chase for the Cup, Mark Martin would have 10 more points than the #01 car (Ginn Racing) would have to start the Chase. Hendrick Motorsports (#24) would also have 10 more points than Jeff Gordon.

Now that would have been a big stretch.

But it was a real possibility that Jeff Gordon was going to miss a race, most likely at Sonoma. Mark Martin was going to fill in for him. The #24 car has been great, and Martin is a good road course driver (five-road course wins). So the thought of Martin winning in Gordons car is a real possibility.

You would think that with Mark Martin scheduled to sit out more races; he would not have a chance to make the Chase for the Cup, but he keeps hanging around the cut-off. A win would help the possibility of making the Chase even more likely of a scenario.

If Mark Martin would qualify for the Chase for the Cup; he has been consistent enough of a driver in the #01 car that he could win the championship. Ginn Racing is 5th in the owners points with Regan Smith filling for Martin on the races he sat out.

Alright then, I said it was a big what if situation. But it would have made a great story to follow. I could not imagine this situation would never come up again.

We at sportsdiehard.com are here to provide NASCAR fans helpful information for finding the collectibles you desire. We have tired to bring a nice selection of collectibles from most of the major drivers on the NASCAR Nextel Cup Circuit.

We are constantly looking for new and better resources to add to the website. Check back to find out what has been added to the site periodically.

As new drivers gain in popularity or new items become available, we will add them to the website.

We have tired to think of anything NASCAR that we need, or anything that we have needed in the past and put it in one website. As always, this will be a work in progress. We hope you will find this helpful.

You can begin your real estate financing education by asking friends, family, co-workers, real estate agents, real estate brokers, mortgage brokers and real estate professionals for help and search the Internet for local lenders and get current interest rate quotes. First of all you'll need to find a lender for your real estate financing and potential residential, home or other investment. Keep in mind when financing real estate that the lenders will be able to tell you only what you MIGHT be able to afford based on your salary and level of debt including credit card debt.

Most adjustable rate mortgage programs do offer "rate cap" protection, which limits the amount the rate can be increased, both each year and over the life of the loan; all adjustable rate mortgages are amortized over 30 years. An adjustable rate mortgage may be a good choice because on the average, most people move or refinance within seven years. The FICO credit score is just one of many myriad factors that are considered in loan or mortgage applications; although it's taken into account there are no minimum scores expected.

The 30-year loan is your best choice if you're looking for a long-term stable loan; for instance, if you're planning to stay in your house for a long time. A fixed-rate mortgage means the interest rate and principal payments remain the same for the life of the loan but the taxes may change. Interest rates can go up if a rosy picture is painted that the economy is flourishing - like more jobs being available; this can lead to inflation which will send the rates up.

Loan programs for down payments of 20% or less require you to purchase Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). If you have a less-than-perfect or a 'bad credit' credit report don't worry too much about it. A 20-year fixed rate mortgage term means higher payments, when compared to the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

If you're buying a second home or second property, you'll need to identify the sources for your down payment, since you will not be selling your current house and using the proceeds, and you'll need to expect a larger monthly payments for housing or other expenses too. Your income and your debts will typically play the biggest roles in determining your house price range. Borrowers can submit information about income, assets and equity to determine how much a down payment should be, which is usually processed through an automated underwriting system.

Usually an adjustable rate mortgage is the best choice for homeowners who are purchasing their first home and plan to be in the property for just three to five years or for those people who plan to relocate in that period of time. Insiders know that the advertised mortgage rates you find are not always what you'll get from the lender; it could be market fluctuations, economic news, any other of a dozen reasons, but interest rates can change throughout the day. If you're having a problem getting a loan or home mortgage consider a lease-option on a property; a lease-option on the real property will allow you to set a good purchase price now, and then apply a portion of the rent each month toward your down payment, building equity in the process.

A range of mortgage options are available; some loans require little money down. You'll also need to consider closing costs and the escrow account for taxes and insurance.

Before you finish any real estate financing read every real estate contract and loan or home mortgage contract thoroughly before you sign on the dotted line: every line is important - look for anything vague; don't be afraid to question what you don't understand. As I may have mentioned, rates can change fast, one way or another; this is true for residential, commercial and investment real estate financing - get current interest rate quotes--today's rate. Make sure you can make the mortgage payments for a reasonable length of time to build up equity, so if you do get sick or lose your job you can easily sell your house or other real property before you get into a foreclosure situation; try to think ahead.

For more information on bad credit real estate financing and finding the best home or commercial loan or mortgage go to http://www.Real-Estate-Financing-Tips.com a real estate broker's website specializing in real estate financing tips, help, quotes and resources including refinancing and creative financing