The Book Fiend Info Center

While cell towers actually started being built in the late 1970’s, the boom in development did not really start until Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Instead of having two wireless providers in any one area, customers now found that there were up to eight companies with licenses from the FCC to provide Personal Communications Service (PCS) in their area.

Initially, each wireless provider built its own towers and rarely collocated (shared) on the other’s towers. This made for rapid development of communication sites and towers and a plethora of landowners with cell towers on their property. As you can imagine, many landowners had little to base the lease negotiations on and signed agreements that were substandard in comparison to today’s lease rates.

Today, with the advent of much information (or misinformation) on the internet, those same landowners are learning that the deal they signed might not be a good one. As the standard cell tower lease is a 25 year lease with termination rights only vested in the lessee (cellular carrier), the landowners often wonder if they can get out of the lease or renegotiate it.

The answer to this question is not an easy one and resides in the cell tower lease document. Fortunately for some landowners, the lease agreements signed in the early days after 1996 were not as advanced as those of today. Many lease agreements were only for 10 years and landowners with those types of agreements may now have the ability to reneogtiate for a better deal.

The key here is that the lease agreement must state that the landowner has the right to terminate as well as the lessee. If so, then that opens the opportunity to renegotiate. Many times, the wireless company that owns the tower will be in touch way before the lease expires to renegotiate.

If the lease does not give the landowner the right to terminate, then the chance of successful renegotiation declines. The only basis for renegotiation would be if the wireless company has breached the lease agreement by failing to pay or by violating another clause. It is important to note that most lease require that the landowner notify the lessee of a breach and they are given the opportunity to cure it. The most common reasons for breach in a cell tower lease include failure to pay rent, failure to get approval to sublet the site to another company, failure to get consent to an assignment of the tower, and failure to maintain the site location as required. If you believe that the tower owner has breached the lease, seek legal counsel and make sure to notify the tower owner promptly.

In the event that you decide that a lease can be renegotiated, it is best to hire a consultant or attorney with experience with in negotiating wireless leases and whom is familiar with what fair market rates are for communication tower and cell site leases. If you determine that the lease cannot be renegotiated, then just sit back and continue to receive your “mailbox money”.

Ken Schmidt is the owner of Steel in the Air, a cell tower consulting firm. Steel in the Air provides expert consultations on cell tower valuation, cell tower lease negotiations, lease renegotiations and lease buyouts. Ken has been quoted on cell towers in the NY Times and numerous other publications.

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Those who own high definition televisions have three possible ways to receive high definition signals. If you leave in a suitable area you can pick up digital signals for free using an antenna. Once again depending on where you live you can use rabbit ears or a roof top antenna. There are specially make antenna for digital signals however any antenna will do the trick. You can also receive high definition signals from a satellite service. You should contact or visit the website of your satellite provider to figure out what plans they offer and what channels are offered. Satellite services will often require you to switch dishes and receivers.

The third way to receive signals for high definition televisions is through the cable company. You should contact your cable provider to figure out what types of high definition packages they provide as well as the channels offered. Most of the time you will need something to decode the cable signal. You will need a cable box or a CableCARD. If you plan on using CableCARD then you’ll need to make sure your television set is capable of using a CableCARD. A CableCARD simply encrypts and decrypts the cable signals then transmits them to the television. They are used to help reduce cable theft.

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Are you currently on one or more pharmaceutical drugs? Perhaps you are not aware, but every pharmaceutical drug depletes the body of various nutrients, depriving your cells of the essential raw materials which drive normal, natural cell function. The data on our industrialized food supply already suggestes that each of us is not getting enough nutrition from diet alone. If you’re taking one or more pharmaceutical drugs, your situtation is likely to be even worse.

In the Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook the following information is listed.

“HMG CoA Reductase Inhibitors delete the body of Coenzyme Q10, an important nutrient, and that result of this depletion could lead to mitochondrial dysfunction, decreased body function, and decreased cardiac output.”

How could that be affecting your life if you are currently on one of those drugs? Perhaps you should consider a high-quality supplement that contains Qoenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) so make up for your depletion.

If you found our your were iron deficient (anemic), you’d probably take an iron supplement, right?

Other items listed in the Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook.

“Many anticonvulsants cause a depletion of Vitamin D, folic acid, and calcium. Depleting these nutrients has the potential to cause problems such as osteoporosis, muscle weakness, blood pressure irregularities, and heart disease.”

In this case, perhaps you should consider a high-quality multivitamin supplement to simply replace the nutrients your body needs.

“Almost every antibiotic causes a disruption of normal bowel flora and a reduction in the production of important vitamins, leading to diarrhea and other gastrointestinal side effects.”

I have a personal experience where my life was saved through antibiotics, but I certainly experienced these side effects. Fortunately there are quality bowel flora supplements which help provide the body with normal levels of intestinal bacteria. This is critical in the metabolization of many vitamins, such as the Vitamin B family.

Here’s what the Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook has to say about Estrogen Replacement Therapy.

“Taking Estrogen Replacement Therapy can cause a depletion of important B vitamins, leadingto anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, and depression.”

Again perhaps you should choose a high-quality multivitamin supplement and also provide the nutrients that support normal endocrine function.

The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook provides a drug index, which alphabetically lists drugs by both brand and generic name, with cross-references and the scientific basis, studies and abstracts for the research which determined which nutrients are depleted by the particular drug. It also lists nutrient information with concise descriptions of the effects of depletion. What medications are you taking that are depriving your body of essential nutrients?

Dave Saunders is a certified nutritional educator, wellness coach,
member of the American International Association of Nutritional Education (AIANE)
and author. He is also the host of a weekly, nation-wide telephone lecture on health and nutrition.
For additional information, please visit http://www.glycoboy.com or http://www.glycowellness.com
or email Dave at dave@glycoboy.com

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One of the most interesting aspects of Creative Visualization is the seemingly magical or mystical nature of events. Some think of it as serendipity or coincidence and others just dismiss it all as superstition or simply shrug it off as just one of those quirky things.

I have so many coincidences happening around me and to me that I can’t help but pay attention. To me, a coincidence is a sign post which says ‘Pay Attention’. Even if it turns out that these coincidences are nothing more than similar random events, it wouldn’t matter, as I have been guided into the most fortunate places by paying attention to them.

People who know me well or spend a good amount of time with me, often joke that I must be a witch or they step back and look quizzically at me and make statements like “What did you just do?” or “That’s strange!”
I could list thousands of them without even giving it much thought, and I’m finding that the more I follow through, the more things become revealed, and the more frequent these coincidences occur. Of course, many are within the realm of probability and some can be explained as just good luck, but when luck and probability become a daily reality and that luck is phenomenal, it really does demand acknowledgement or question.

Lately, I have become very tuned into informational serendipity. I’m now referring to it as my cosmic telephone; it’s like having the internet inside my head, but all the information has been pre-screened for authenticity. Sometimes, I just make a statement to myself about information I need and it seems to me that the question circles the globe and then comes back with the answer. Often, someone just starts talking and without any prompting from me at all, they just magically tell me what I needed to know or give me a direction to where to find the information. Many times, it comes up on the television or a magazine.

I have never thought of myself as a teacher or a writer and even now, I sometimes look at what I’m doing and wonder how I ended up here. As with many things in life, it is easy to talk the talk, but when it comes time to do the walk, we quickly run out of puff.

Two of my main character faults are that:

I don’t always practice what I preach and I usually think that near enough is good enough.

Actually, I just thought of another fault I have and it’s a big one. I ask for guidance, wisdom, intuition and assistance in attuning myself to my highest purpose and possibilities, and then argue with and resist those instructions when they are revealed, – if it sounds hard.

Well, I guess, ‘The Source’ has got my number now and knows how to manipulate me. It starts out as an idea that won’t get out of my head. Then, I begin to feel restless and discontent. If I still resist, it becomes an obsession and if I continue to struggle, then my distractions are taken away. By this, I mean that whatever way I wanted to go simply gets closed down on me, until I do what I was meant to do.

Anyway, back to the CD’s. I knew I had to do it, I was sure I was being guided to do it and I knew I had to do it well. I expected it to be easy as I had made many home-made meditation tapes years earlier when I had run courses. They only took a few hours to write and record so I thought having them done professionally would be a snap.

I won’t go into all the frustration and hassles of it, but it took up every weekend for more than a year and you would have laughed it you had seen me towards the end. The irony of a relaxation product causing me so much stress and aggravation was not lost on the people around me – not that many were still game enough to be around me. I just couldn’t understand why it had to be so hard if it was meant to be. I expected that if I was being ‘divinely led’ to do this then I would be blessed with ease, glory and financial reward.

Sitting here today, I can see perfectly, why it was the way it was. I won’t go into the many, many reasons, but the main one is that it wasn’t about the CD at all. I find this happens so often now that I can’t believe I had never noticed it before. I can see that so many times in my life, when I thought I was doing something or at least that I was in control of something, I have looked back and seen that it was all about something completely different. This is particularly noticeable in reflecting on bad times. I seem to be constantly confronted with the reality of “Bad things happen for good reasons”.

How easy my life could be if I would just trust that this is the case at the beginning rather than struggling and stressing through-out, only to have it revealed in hindsight.

As part of the CD marketing strategy, I decided to write a few articles on explaining things like meditation, visualizations and affirmations. Having a background in weight loss I also included an article on that and decided to re edit a previous CD I had made some years before. A bit later, I thought I’d write about my experience with arthritis and then people started writing asking me who I was and wanted more information about the things I had written about.

That was all I had intended to do – whack up a website, sell some CDs, make the people happy and make a few dollars. If only…

It became very obvious that I was not about to make my fortune from selling CDs on the internet. In fact, I probably don’t sell enough to even cover the cost of my time and administration. But, and this is a very big but.
Beautiful, warm and inspirational people started writing the most amazing stories, sharing private secrets and asking my opinion on things. They really got me thinking about a lot of things I had wondered about myself. They asked questions that I found I could answer or at least give some thought to. And then the coincidences came. The letters seemed to come in blocks of similarities. The first was on abandonment; my niece originally contacted me, even though I had not had contact with her since she was a baby, in fact I think I only ever saw her once or twice. She really made me stop and think about the pain of not having a father and not knowing who he was or even what kind of a man he was. The same week a few men I hadn’t seen in years mentioned they were reconnecting with children that they had not had an opportunity to know. And then the emails started, all these people started writing about abandonment issues.

My head just wouldn’t let it go, I kept having conversations playing through my mind until I decided the only thing to do was to write it down. I had done this as a matter of habit; if something nags at me, I write it down as a way of getting it out of my brain and also I find that I write logically whereas I think in a scattered way.

I’m only a two-finger typist and when I write I just string ideas together and try and keep it relevant and interesting. I stop, I think, I write some more and then stop and think some more.

The abandonment article was something to be seen; I had very little idea of what was being written and my fingers moved so fast that I thought I was possessed. I wrote without thinking for about five hours – without a break. When I had it finished, I was exhausted and I read it for the first time; as I had no idea I knew what I knew.

The article upset me as I could really feel what it was like to be abandoned like that. It was not my story, so it surprised me that I felt so emotional for the people I was writing about.

Since then, the same energy has worked through the incest article, the bipolar article and to some degree most of the others. These days I trust the process and I have given up the idea that I write. I accept that articles exist and when they are ready they will come and use me.
I guess that make me ‘A Tool’ J

I remember hearing a Sculptor say that he didn’t make statues, they exist inside a lump of clay and his job is just to free up the excess to reveal what’s already there. Musicians often comment that the music seems to pour down through the top of their head and flow through their instruments. I wonder how many people are not giving themselves an opportunity to express themselves, simply because they haven’t tried something. That is, not paid attention to their sign-posts. Coincidences, discontentment, inner yearnings, bad luck and accidents; who knows where these sign-posts may direct you? Isn’t it worth paying a little attention or trusting a little more?

I readily admit that I am not the greatest writer; technically I’m not even an average writer, and certainly many will not relate at all to what I have to say; but that is not the point. I need to write for me, it’s my medium of self-expression and it’s only relevant to those people who are guided to read it and get something out of it.

Strong instincts or intuition are forms of communication with wisdom. Coincidences or serendipity are almost always signs to pay attention. Ask, trust and explore, the possibilities may be far greater than you ever imagined.

Copyright Sonya Green March 06
webmaster@reinventingmyself.com
www.reinventingmyself.com

Sonya Green believes that the human experience should be joyful and secure. Her honest simplicity and profound insights are expressed with humour and passion, but her message is loud, clear and powerful. Sonya Green doesn’t just ‘get under your skin’ she goes straight to your core and pulls out all of your secret places, she then confronts you with a mirror and reflects back to you the beauty, power, uniqueness and wisdom which is your intended birthright. You may laugh and you may cry, but you will certainly be left with a sense that something within you has shifted and a healing has taken place.

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The difficulty of frequenting a gaming hall can be enough reason to give it up as a bad job if it’s not indispensible. All those traffic jams, the difficulty, and tasks at hand can’t seem to excuse the nuisance solely for the opportunity to try your hand at gaming hall, still, should you be the type of person who is quite fanatic about virtual gambling then going online will probably be the solution for you. It isn’t required to go outside to experiment with virtual gambling for the simple reason that it’s easy to access from your domestic environment if you have a personal computer and, obviously, an internet access account. On the other hand, don’t hold your breath too soon because there’s a number of prompts which you’ll definitely want to become familiar with concerning virtual gambling, in particular if you are still lacking experience.

The first thing which a savvy internet risk taker like yours truly will definitely look out for is an virtual gambling Web site of the kind that is prepared to offer the best winning odds. Make certain the virtual gambling Web site is connected to a reliable accounting firm to examine their actual casino games’ payouts on a monthly basis. Always take care to check the virtual roulette etc Web site is licensed, for example by hunting for the license information as disported on the casino site page. Should it prove impossible to unearth any license information on that selected virtual roulette etc Web site, don’t ever attempt to try your hand with this web site. Test your virtual gambling!

Moreover, another advice could be to lay your bets for a start in minute amounts instead of risking more than you can afford to lose right from the start. To begin with, check the operability of this particular virtual roulette etc structure rather than triggering some severe hazard, in particular in terms of money! Finally, do mind this particular pointer concerning online gaming. It is bound to be to bear in mind always that gambling in online casinos is all about fun and amusement rather than big bucks. Betting is not a trade, but a pastime which is supposed to help you feel bright and life in general satisfying. If you have minded all the remarks elucidated above, set off and surrender to the seduction of virtual roulette etc!

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Pakistan did the USA a favor recently …

All they got for it was a surprise rocket attack on their own soil.

The situation is well-explained by London’s Sunday Telegraph in its 29 Jan 06 edition:

Pakistan ‘delay let bin Laden escape US raid’
By Massoud Ansari in Karachi (Filed: 29/01/2006)

“Prevarication by the Pakistani government cost America the chance to kill Osama bin Laden in an airstrike near the Afghan border two years ago, the Sunday Telegraph has been told.

“A CIA lead that the al-Qaeda leader was hiding in a remote province was squandered because the Pakistani government delayed giving permission for the attack on its soil, according to a senior Western diplomat …

“By the time US officials got the go-ahead, bin Laden had left the suspected hideout in Zhob, in the Baluchistan province of south-west Pakistan.

“The near-miss was cited by the diplomat as the reason why America chose not to consult Islamabad before the US missile strike in Pakistan’s Bajaur region two weeks ago. The January 13 attack, prompted by a tip that bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was hiding in a local village, killed 13 civilians.

“According to his account, which was backed by sources within Pakistani intelligence, the CIA picked up electronic traffic suggesting that bin Laden and his bodyguards had sought temporary shelter in Zhob, which is dominated by Pathan and Baloch tribesmen sympathetic to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

“Fearing that a commando raid would cause massive casualties to both sides, with no guarantee of success, the US decided to launch a strike by laser-guided missiles, fired from Predator drones.

“If he was in Zhob at the time it would have been the first known occasion that he had been firmly in America’s sights since his escape from Tora Bora in Afghanistan, where he slipped through a cordon of US troops in 2001 …”

Coincidentally, another article appeared in that same edition of the Sunday Telegraph which underscored the effect bin Laden’s words can have:

Author shoots from obscurity to infamy after plug from bin Laden
By Philip Sherwell (Filed: 29/01/2006)

“To William Blum’s surprise and apparent disappointment, he found that his name had not been added to the US ‘no-fly’ list when he travelled from his home in Washington DC to Ohio last week to deliver one of his frequent anti-American lectures on a campus.

“Mr Blum is revelling in what he calls his ‘15 minutes of fame.’ To many of his compatriots, that should read 15 minutes of infamy after Osama bin Laden declared that he was a fan of the previously obscure Left-wing author and virulent America-basher.

“The 72-year-old writer admits he was delighted by the plug for his book, Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower, in the Saudi terror mastermind’s latest taped audio message. After bin Laden’s recommendation, the book soared from 205,763rd to 26th place on Amazon.com’s list of most-ordered books. ‘I thought I might have ended up on the no-fly list after that. Anything is possible in this country today,’ Mr Blum told the Sunday Telegraph, perhaps over-estimating his importance in the eyes of the US authorities. But he is strikingly honest about his new-found notoriety.

“‘I am not at all sorry to have been mentioned by bin Laden,’ he said. ‘In fact, I’m pleased. I’m part of a movement whose goal it is to slow down if not stop the American empire from what it’s doing around the world …’

“In his taped message, bin Laden recommended that President George W Bush read Mr Blum’s Rogue State, a sharp critique of US foreign policy.

“The al-Qaeda mastermind then quoted an extract in which the author wrote that, if he was president, he could stop terror attacks against the US permanently by apologising ‘very publicly and very sincerely, to all the widows and orphans, the impoverished and the tortured, and all the many millions of other victims of American imperialism.’”

Mr Blum’s agenda notwithstanding, the best thing that happened to America’s war on bin Laden is that they didn’t kill him. Anyone cognizant who has ever been even remotely exposed to the culture of bin Laden’s target audience knows that his words would have a tenfold impact if he became ‘martyred.’

If he can raise a fringe author’s book almost 200,000 places in Amazon’s world with a simple utterance, think of what would happen if his words became ‘finite’ by his demise. The term ‘exalted’ comes to mind. Their inspirational impact would be hugely amplified by the fact that he, too, died for his cause, just like he’s urged his followers to do.

In their unilateral and so-called ‘war on terror,’ the USA has spent billions of dollars on revenge and the toppling of a dictatorial blowhard. The opposition has only spent thousands but seemingly has not lost much ground (Afghanistan and Iraq are still in relative states of anarchy, after all); they are fueled by the charisma of a man who, as I’ve said before, is nothing more than a common criminal who has wrapped himself in an extreme fundamentalist cause and then been elevated to celebrity status by his mighty adversary.

I don’t think the USA can afford to kill him. They need to capture him alive. He never was the terrorist mastermind of al-Qaeda, he was only the banker and the face to their cause. Having him at large until he’s captured is not going to significantly alter any of their activities. Only if bin Laden’s empty agenda is exposed by being formally brought to justice will there be any chance of effectively revealing his true colors as a charlatan. There needs to be the ultimate occasion where he can be reviled by the true keepers of Muslim faith for perverting their religion. Only in a court of law can this happen, and if it comes to pass, it will happen.

So, thank you, Pakistan, regardless of your operatives’ motives.

J Square Humboldt is the featured columnist at Longer Life’s website, which provides information designed to improve the quality of living. He’s at longerlifegroup.com/cyberiter.html

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Every dog is trained to his owner’s level of comfort. If it doesn’t bother you that Fido likes to watch television sitting next to you on the couch, you’re not going to make an issue of keeping him off the furniture. If it makes you crazy when Spot barks at the vacuum cleaner, you’ll be more willing to put in the effort to teach her not to.

One absolute for us is that dogs must be housebroken. It’s not the most pleasant topic of conversation, but it’s essential to us. We even teach them to urinate and defecate on command. It takes work, patience and absolute consistency, but any healthy dog can be taught to keep her house clean and be a welcome guest wherever she travels.

Puppies under six months old should not be expected to be “good” all day while you’re at work, the kids are at school and no one’s there. If someone can’t get home at mid-day to take the puppy out, exercise it and give it some lunch, it may not be the right time for a dog.

Years ago, before crate training became the norm in housebreaking, most dogs were “paper-trained” as puppies. I don’t really advise it unless you intend to make it the last stop in dog training. It’s hard to transition a dog from the paper to outside.

Small dog owners may like the option of a permanent, indoor toilet area for their dogs, a “litter box” for dogs. It solves the issues of walking the dog in inclement weather, keeping the dog warm in winter and works well for many apartment dwellers without immediate access to the outdoors. Since small dogs seem to need to eliminate more often, continuous access to a litter box may be ideal for some small dog owners.

Wherever you decide you want your dog to “do its business,” take it there at regular intervals, give it whatever command you choose to use for the behavior and be patient. I even recommend carrying the dog to the toilet area first thing in the morning, or any time you know it really has to go.

When your dog produces the behavior you want – don’t forget the praise. Let your dog know you’re happy with her. And when your dog does “mess up,” remember it’s your fault. It’s always your fault. You weren’t paying attention, you didn’t see the signs, you didn’t get the dog outside in time.

If you catch FiFi in the act, make a loud noise to distract it (I tend to scream “No,” or drop a heavy book on the floor) and hustle the dog outside. If the dog finishes its business outside, praise him to the skies; “What a wonderful, clever puppy you are!” Ideally, someone else will have cleaned up while you’re outside. If not, don’t let the pup watch you do it.

There is no punishment for messing in the house. If you don’t catch the dog in the act, it’s your fault. Just clean up and forget about it. If you take a page from prehistory and “rub his nose in it,” your dog will learn that it’s bad for him if you find messes. So he’ll hide them. Dogs don’t have a “cause and effect” memory.

A friend of mine has heard my housebreaking lecture many times and after four years his Dachshund Charlie still urinates in his dining room. Why? My friend won’t commit to paying attention to his dog, and won’t put in the effort needed. He thinks Charlie “knows” he’s bad, because Charlie runs the other way when Sam goes into the dining room. Charlie knows he gets in trouble when Sam goes into the dining room. Charlie has no idea that dried puddle is the source of Sam’s anger, and certainly has no memory of producing it. Don’t be like Sam. It’s easier to teach the behavior you want than fix mistakes later.

Hope Saidel is the co-owner of GollyGear, a bricks-and-mortar and online small dog shop featuring fun, affordable and practical products for small dogs. She has trained and competed in Obedience with small dogs for over a decade and is on the Board of Directors of the North Shore Dog Training Club. Check out her blog: GollyLog.

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Is there any good reason to do your own home inspection? How about to get a better deal. Every flaw you can find is a negotiating point. You don’t have to learn building codes, and you probably should use a professional inspector in any case. The point of learning what to look for is to protect yourself and get a better deal.

Home Inspection – Use A Checklist

A good home inspection checklist, keeps you from forgetting things. I have more than a hundred items on my own list. Think you could keep all these items in mind as you walk through a property? For tht matter, did you remember to look for water stains on the basement walls the last time you looked at a house? Bring a list!

Good lists are organized by area of the house, usually starting outside. Walk around and then through the home, checking each item on the list. Take notes. If a gutter is coming loose on the side of the house, write it down, along with notes about rotting wood or anything else you notice.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know the difference between 12-gauge and 14-gauge wiring. You don’t have to become an expert on all the building trades, as useful as this would be. You just have to use what you do know. Make a note if something looks “odd” or “smells funny.” Afterwards, you can have a professional inspector take a closer look.

Home Inspection As A Negotiating Tool

many buyers make an offer on a home with an inspection contingency clause. After an inspector goes in, the buyer can re-negotiate the price based on his findings, or at least know that nothing is wrong. This isn’t a bad way to go, but lowering your offer too much can often offend a seller, and blow the deal. How would you feel if somebody dropped their offer by $10,000 after they already put it in writing?

A better way is to find as many problems with the property as you can, BEFORE making the offer. A list of these problems presented with an offer is a good impersonal (therefore non-offensive) way to present a low first offer. It’s a good idea to keep the inspection contingency in the offer, but you probably won’t have to lower your offer this way.

There is no need to be a carpenter to note that a railing is loose. Most of us can see if a home needs new paint. Home inspection can start with simple things like these, and end with a better price for you.

Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. For a complete home inspection checklist, and to see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

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Big trampolines can be hugely exciting as well as being useful to keep your youngsters attentive and active for a substantial number of hours. A few trampolines are not simply suited for toddlers, as many can be used by older people as an aerobic fitness drill as well as a way for tightening & toughening body muscles all at once. With this in mind a trampoline has a great deal to offer year after year for the complete family and for this reason it is of no surprise that trampolines are such a very popular item all through the sunny period.

The essential thing bear in mind when searching for a bouncy trampoline is to confirm it is right for both the age & ability of the individuals who will probably be on it, be it the toddlers’ or the older people. If you’re looking to find great offers on outdoor toys then there’s no better place to check out than http://www.toy-shopper.co.uk.

An extra thing to keep in mind is for sure going to be the site of the outdoor trampoline. Various trampolines can take up a huge degree of floor space considering you will want about three feet of grass roughly around the exterior of the trampoline in order for the teenagers to dismount in one piece if they by mistake fall off.

It’s also worth while to keep in mind that the majority of garden trampolines will require to be sited on horizontal land otherwise the durability and safety of the outdoor trampoline can be affected. With this in mind, specific trenches may well need to be dug in order for the trampoline to stand-up properly.

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Heh, have you ever had a not so great day where everything seems to be going wrong? Maybe your wife backed the car into the garage door?

Or the dogs ran through the house with mud on their paws right after you had the carpets cleaned? The neighbor kid wakes you up at 5 in the morning and you’re not a morning person?

I once heard the definition of a bad day. You know you’re having a bad day if you’re following a motorcycle gang of Hells Angels and your car horn gets stuck.

You know you’re having a bad day if you wake up and your waterbed has sprung a leak, except you don’t own a waterbed. You know you’re having a bad day when. You fill in the blanks.

So you say you’re having a bad day, eh? You flip on the radio and even though you’re a conservative, those right wing talk show hosts are giving you a headache.

You punch the FM button and start scanning the dial for something interesting. Next thing you know, you’re singing at the top of your lungs with the Doobie Brothers, Listen to the Music.

Of course, at this point your windows are rolled up and people are staring at you at the stoplight. But heh, who cares. You just had an attitude transplant.

An inspirational quote says that Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
That’s from a play The Mourning Bride by William Congreve who lived from 1670 to 1729, right around the time Ben Franklin was born.
Think about this. The blind violinist touched the raging heart of Frankenstein’s monster.

One of my all time favorite songs quieted the fearful trembling of a lost little girl from Kansas when she sang, Over the Rainbow, in The Wizard of Oz.

Or another favorite is the rock group Chicago’s classic, Make Me Smile.

Theres a lot to be said for the power of music. I happen to like all styles of music, classical, jazz, gospel, rock, folk, country, even bluegrass. There’s even a little Rap that I can slightly tolerate.

In fact, my love of music and my childhood dream of being a famous radio disk jockey came into reality several years ago when I got to get paid for having fun doing a morning drive show in Kansas City.

In my fifteen minutes of fame, I had the privilege of playing the most popular music of that day over the airwaves and interview some people a lot more famous than me.

My latest hobby is collecting music concert DVD’s. So when I heard that a local music store was going out of business, I rushed over to see what kind of deals I could get to add to my collection. Well, it just so happened that they had the vintage Lynyrd Skynyrd documentary, Freebird. So guess what I did? I bought it!

And also a fantastic concert by the original members of Fleetwood Mac. The encore numbers performed by Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nix, John and Christie McVie and Mick Fleetwood not only made me smile but made me want to get up and dance. And if you’d ever seen my dancing, it’s not a pretty sight. I’m a bad version of Steve Martin’s Happy Feet.

The band surprised the audience with a drum pounding rendition of Tusk, that included the entire University of Southern California marching band in full parade dress. That made me smile real big. It’s downright inspirational.

If that weren’t enough, they performed their hit song, Don’t Stop. It talks about jettisoning the past and moving on with hope and optimism. A very rousing anthem that reverberates with, don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, don’t stop, it will soon be here. It’ll be here, better than before, yesterday’s gone, yesterday’s gone.

Perhaps the most famous rendition of this song was when Fleetwood Mac sang at the first William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Inaugural. Regardless of your political affiliation, you have to admit it was pretty cool. Okay, don’t admit it. What do I care?

Maybe you’re not a big music fan like I am, but can you imagine a world without music? Every TV show has its theme music. The Superbowl commercials often feature famous oldies and even CSI plays a tune by The Who.

Music is woven into the very fabric of our society. Even sacred music ain’t so sacred if you study it. Another contemporary of Ben Franklin, Englishman Charles Wesley wrote a couple hundred religious songs that are still sung today. Guess what? Most people are unaware that these holy songs were sung to the tunes of popular bar songs of the 18th century. Surprise.

You may recall Charles older brother John Wesley had no small hand in starting the Methodist Church following the great Wesleyan Revival of the 18th century.

How is it that we humans have this inner compass that is drawn like a magnet to the North Pole called music?

The 1960’s were full of folk songs whose lyrics shaped political opinions. Lyricists have forever captured the climate of the current culture and phrased songs in a way that touched us and moved us deeply.

So my anthem for today would be this: Let the music in. Maybe for you it’s been a long time since you let anything in to touch you in the deepest part of your soul. Maybe it’s time for you to turn a corner in your life.

Maybe it’s your time to take the strong suggestion of Fleetwood Mac, don’t stop thinking about tomorrow, yesterday’s gone. Your future will always be brighter if you let the music in.

About the author: David Henning is the President of the Freshstart Company, LLC and has over thirty years experience as a radio talk show host, radio and television copywriter, newspaper editor and public speaker.

Dave is a freelance copywriter and has authored hundreds of articles about helping people get a fresh start in life.

For more information go to http://www.freshstartstore.com.

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Copyright (c)2006 David Henning and the Freshstart Co. LLC All right reserved. No portion of this article may be reproduced without the express permission of the author. Reprints welcome by permission only.

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