Home Kitchen

Research to do before remodeling your kitchen

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When planning a kitchen remodeling project, the first step is to call a remodeling company, right? Maybe not. Before you start talking to the professionals, do some research so you’ll be in a good position to make informed decisions with your remodeling professional.

find out what you want

Research the different options for flooring, cabinets, countertops, and appliances. This will help you figure out what you like and what you don’t like. Be sure to check out the remodeling information and remodeling how-to sections of our website, where you can learn many valuable tips, trends, and ideas for remodeling your kitchen.

Consider the resale value

If there’s a chance you’ll sell your home in the future, you’ll want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth from your kitchen renovation. Buyers love remodeled kitchens, but they may not like “trends,” so if you plan to sell, choose trending items carefully. Try to make choices that appeal to the widest range of seekers, and perhaps save most of your investment on high-end appliances that you can take with you.

Plan for your retirement

If you don’t think you’ll be selling your home anytime soon, make sure your kitchen remodel reflects YOU. Get the cabinets, flooring, and lighting you love. If you love skylights, make sure your remodeled kitchen gets plenty of light. Whether you like bright colors, white cabinets, or dark wood, your kitchen should reflect your style, the way you cook, and your family’s use of the room. Think ahead, too, and make sure the kitchen has space for mobility aids, easy-grip knobs and handles, or perhaps adjustable-height counter areas so everyone feels comfortable working.

Review Financing and Budget

Your kitchen remodel can fit almost any budget, so you need to start exploring what money you will use. Should you draw from your savings, sell stocks, refinance your mortgage, or use a home equity line of credit? Each has advantages and disadvantages. Do some planning on your own, but since every remodel is different, talk to a professional remodeler and your financial advisor for the best advice.

Find a professional kitchen remodeler

Ask your friends and neighbors who they worked with on your kitchen remodel. Look at companies’ websites, check their Better Business Bureau ratings, and read reviews on Angie’s List. Create a list of questions to help you feel more comfortable with the company. If you are being hard-sold, pressured, or made to feel uncomfortable, this is not the right contractor for you. Also check your warranty. The best company will go above and beyond the industry standard to keep you happy…and will be the first company you call when it’s time to work on your bathroom renovation!

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Reviving the Roland MC-303 Retro Groovebox

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I have been using the Roland MC-303 on and off since I bought it (1996). I’ve used it on some early Anjelicas Baby recordings like “Crawling Back To You” and “Blame It On You”. I think it’s a great little second hand machine for its price of around £100 – £200 depending on condition. However, I’m going to be honest about my past experiences with it. The MC-303 at the time was a revolution and the first of many so-called groove boxes. He could do anything from techno to dance to jungle to drum & bass to name just a few. It was packed with sounds from classic synths like the Roland Juno and Jupiter series and had the classic retro sounds of the Roland TR-808 and TR-909. In addition, it also had the Roland TB-303 bass-type synth sounds on board. Possessing such instruments alone would have cost you millions and thousands of dollars or British pounds. So you needed the room to put your vintage gear.

It looked very similar to the old TB-303 and TR-808. It was essentially a sequencer-arranger with 8 recording tracks. It even had special effects built in, like chorus, flange, reverb, and delay. Its real-time features made it a lot of fun to play with. It had filter cutoff, resonance, stereo panning, and arpeggio. The pan and delay effects would keep time with the tempo of your patterns or songs, which at the time was a really cool advance. It was 24-voice note polyphony, 16-part multitimbral and there were 448 preset PCM ROM sounds, 300 preset patterns and 50 user patterns. Quite Extraordinary Back In (1996). As soon as it appeared in music magazines like Future Music, Sound On Sound, and The Mix, it was quickly replaced by the Roland MC-505, JX-305, and Yamaha RM1x. I guess this was because it was almost too good to be true for the incredible price of around £500. Yes, you guessed it, there were some major drawbacks to the machine that sometimes made using it a maddening experience.

1 The first thing I noticed was that it had an overly compressed kind of sound and lacked any real punch. You could play dance music very well using the TR-909 sounds. If you ever compare the sounds of the MC-303 to, say, a JV1080 that had a similar set of sounds, you’ll find that the JV has a lot more presence and punch. To make an analogy here, it’s like comparing a wave file to an mp3 file. I suspect that to get all those sounds into the MC-303’s internal ROM, sacrifices had to be made, and perhaps the MC-303’s sample library bitrates were lowered. Don’t get me wrong, the sounds are crystal clear and many are in stereo, but you definitely feel like you almost want to pull the sounds out of your speakers and give them a good kick to raise them up. This is a problem I’ve noticed on Roland synths and especially drum machines from this period. The sounds almost sound too nice and clean, like you could invite them over to your parents’ house for Sunday dinner knowing they wouldn’t offend their musical tastes.

2 Real sounds like trumpets, guitars, etc. they were downright horrible. In my opinion, less would have been more on this machine. Everything and the kitchen sink were stuffed into it. As a result, on the pre-installed patterns, he had an amateurish sound.

3 It only had two audio outputs, so adding external effects like reverb or delay meant you needed to record the sounds on separate tracks on your audio recorder. At the time, mine was a Fostex DMT8 hard drive 8-track recorder. Hard drive recording with 16 tracks or more really came at a price back then.

4 Most irritating of all was its almost non-existent midi implementation. When it came to retro, they really took it very seriously. They basically designed it to work as a standalone machine. So if you wanted to use any other gear, you had to make the MC-303 the master sequencer. Well, at that time the sequencer was no match for Logic or Cubase. Consequently, I had to record the patterns for the MC-303 from its own memory and then save the song to an Alesis data disk. I then had to configure my Atari 1040 computer sequencer to slave the MC-303. So, very well resolved. Oh no, wait a minute, you had to trigger the MC-303 from the beginning of the song every time. As soon as I sped up the Atari sequencer, the MC-303 lost the plot, and well, who knows what part of the song it would move to.

5 Any sound you wanted to play on your own sequencer transmitted in omni mode through the 16 midi channels. What a crazy idea for the late ’90s. To make matters worse, the real-time controls that made the machine so much fun became powerless when you tried to record, say, real-time filtering of a bass sound on your sequencer. Come on, Roland, you could record the control movements of a Juno 106 on your sequencer from 1985.

Well, as you can tell, at the time I was less than happy with these limitations. Despite this, he had faith in the little beast. He saw the light and hoped that as the years went by and more audio-based recording products on PC and Mac, a breath of hope would be breathed into this machine. So as time goes by, here come the positives.

1 Works great as a standalone unit. You can measure all your other equipment to it. Then you can make use of its really cool arpeggio to bring some life back to your boring old synths.

2 It has lots and lots of PCM samples, which easily overcome some of the limitations of real onboard sounds. This is especially true if you have a lot of other software or hardware synths to use in conjunction with it.

3 With modern technology, you can record a sound into your sequencer, then play along with the MC-303’s controls in real time and record directly to an audio track on your computer. This can really cheer you up with modern plugins.

4 It’s a very cheap second hand for a unit of retro hardware with so many features.

5 You can set it up like a standard synth module.

6 It has a handy little bass boost knob on the back of the machine to add more bass to the audio output.

7 If you don’t go overboard and use other equipment to add to the track you’re recording, it can really sound very professional.

Those are the pros and cons of the Roland MC-303 in my subjective opinion. It’s a great little edit to anyone’s setup if used carefully and sparingly.

Digital Marketing

Good books on MLM: some recommendations for you

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The top money makers in MLM are voracious readers.

But out of the thousands of books available on home businesses, MLM prospecting, and MLM team building, the following five books stand out.

When you’re ready to take your network marketing business to the next level, commit to reading at least one of these great MLM books within the next 30 days.

My Top MLM Book Recommendations

Leading the way in popular books on MLM is go proby Eric Wore.

Eric made a name for himself in the network marketing industry with his free marketing strategy videos. There are literally hundreds of them that you can see on his website or on popular video websites. Simply search for “Eric Worre Network Marketing Pro”.

Regarding your book, go pro is an A to Z guide to network marketing, written by a man who has proven himself in the marketplace. Whether he’s a business novice or a seasoned veteran, make this book part of his personal development library.

Another book written by an experienced professional is Your First Year in Network Marketingby Mark Yarnell.

Mark has been in the network marketing business for a long time, and his prospecting and team building ideas have been tried and tested.

For me, the most important thing about this book is how Mark trains you to deal with rejection and overcome objections.

My Top MLM Motivational Book Recommendations

The most inspiring book I have read on the power of building a residual income in the home business industry is The parable of the pipelineby Burke Hedges.

Burke tells a simple story of two farmers who win a contract to supply their village with water. One of the men is dedicated to carrying buckets from a river to the source of the town, while the other decides to build a pipeline from the river to the town.

The story is a parable about trading work hours for salary, versus building an automated source of residual income. It’s a quick and entertaining read that will change the way you think about making money and wealth.

Another classic book to read in this genre is Think and Grow Richof Napoleon Hill.

This book has been on marketers’ “Must Read” list for decades, for good reason.

Napoleon Hill wrote this book at the turn of the 20th century and bases his lessons on detailed interviews and observation of the richest men in America at the time.

Among the many valuable lessons in this book, Napoleon Hill affirms that having a definite purpose is the most important factor in your quest for financial success. This book is so widely read in the home business industry that many of the lessons in it have become part of the language of success.

My Favorite Attraction Marketing Book Recommendation

Finally, if you are looking for a way to prospect and build your network marketing business outside of the traditional “warm market” way, you need to read Mike Dillard’s book, Magnetic Sponsorship.

Mike’s basic premise was that MLM prospecting and team building is so much easier when you talk to people who are already “sold” on building a network marketing business. Mike illustrates how these prospects can be found using free or low-cost social media, blogging, article marketing, and other online strategies.

Mike no longer makes this book available, but you may be able to find lengthy articles and excerpts available online. That being said, this book has been revised and republished as the attraction marketing formulaby Ferny Ceballos.

Relationship

Budget Saver – Cheap Christmas Gift Ideas

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Cheap Christmas gift ideas can keep more money in your pocket. Shopping for Christmas gifts doesn’t have to break your budget or your bank account. There’s no rule that says you have to spend $50 on everyone’s gift. While you might want to get something a little more special for your mom, shopping for less-expensive Christmas gifts for others isn’t a bad idea. In these uncertain economic times, Christmas gifts are not necessarily expected to be extravagant or expensive. If you spend too much at Christmas, especially if you use plastic to pay for it, you could be paying for Christmas gifts all year long. When you add interest and penalties to credit card payments, Christmas can be a very expensive holiday.

It might be a good idea to discuss spending limits with family members before Christmas rolls around. Almost everyone agrees that it’s a good idea to cut back on Christmas spending this year. Instead of emphasizing expensive Christmas gifts, you could decide as a family to create meaningful traditions and simply exchange gifts that really have the spirit of “it’s the idea that counts.” Drawing names is another way to reduce expenses at Christmas.

In order to help you stick to your budget and save money this Christmas, here are some cheap Christmas gift ideas:

Gift baskets are always a good idea for a cheap Christmas gift. The beauty of gift baskets is that you can make them as expensive or as cheap as you want. Inexpensive gift basket ideas would be the movie lover’s basket (popcorn, drinks, movie rental gift card), the coffee lover’s basket (cup of coffee, small flavored coffees), the Candle Lover’s Basket (several votives and a couple of candle holders), and Tea Lover Basket (flavored teas, teacups, and sugar packets).

Giving coupons that promise you’ll mow someone’s lawn, babysit, or cook dinner is a way of offering your time instead of your money. If you have a special skill or talent, such as photography, oil change, etc. these would also be a great gift voucher idea. For example, you could offer free computer repair for a year, clean someone’s house, do home repairs, or any other service you can do. Just print some coupons on your computer and print them out. Cut them out and place them in a nice Christmas card.

Children are also easy to buy cheap Christmas gifts. As every parent knows, there are times when you buy an expensive gift and all the child wants to do is play with the empty box or the wrapping paper. Take a trip to the dollar store; buy five or 10 different items and put them all in one big box. It costs you very little, but the children think they have a great treasure. Art supplies are also a good idea for an inexpensive Christmas gift for children. If you have a younger child, you could even buy coloring books and crayons and they would be happy.

Health Fitness

How to lose weight without pain?

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Is it possible to lose weight without dieting and exercising? Is there a magic pill that will help you lose weight without any effort?

You know the answer. It’s not possible. When it comes to a weight loss discussion, there is always effort involved. The first thing that comes to mind is dieting. If I want to lose weight, I must control my cravings. I must diet. I must eliminate desserts, chocolates and cold drinks from my life. I should exercise and all that.

Sounds like too much hard work. It’s rough and tough. But there is still another way. You cannot lose weight without proper exercise or diet plans, but it can be easily achieved.

As?

You can’t stick with a program long enough if you don’t enjoy it. To do any exercise, you have to have fun doing it. Fun makes it easier. Happiness is the second factor that makes life better and easier.

First step to lose weight easily

Do not check your weight every day. Put aside your scale and for a few days forget about your weight. Take a photo of your slim body and hang it somewhere where you can see it at night and in the morning. Forget about losing weight, exercising or any other health problems.

Second step

Exercise is important, so let’s do it. At first, don’t stress. We don’t want to do cardio on our first day. Stay still and start dancing to the rhythm of the music. Move your right arm up and then down. Do it a few times. Exercise lightly and effortlessly. Try to have fun during your exercise time.

Third step

Start with MS excel. On your spreadsheet write your goals and write them down. Your first goal should be to drink 8 glasses of water a day. The second goal may be to walk for 20 minutes a day. The third objective can be to dance for 15 minutes. This way, you can fill the entire table. Now go after your goals. When you have finished drinking 8 glasses of water, cut out the first column of your spreadsheet. In this way, you will be able to reach the end of your table where you will be slim and intelligent.

These steps will give you freedom and relief.

If you don’t like exercise, look for some alternatives. You can play a game. You can join a gym or weight loss center. You can do yoga. Yoga is fun for most people and burns 3 calories per minute. Joining a gym is also a good option for many people.

Forget about dieting. Think about having a healthy meal, we are not looking to starve. It is about a healthy lifestyle. Make a variable diet plan and enjoy your healthy meals.

Best of luck!

Legal Law

Getting Started As A Criminal Defense Lawyer: A Few Tips

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It is a time marked by both emotion and apprehension. I clearly remember the day I graduated and even though I was only 24 years old, I have seen a common reaction in law graduates regardless of age.

The biggest single benefit I had after graduation was my one year stint as an articulator. Criminal lawyers are often lone wolves. Unlike civil litigants who practice in groups and firms, a criminal attorney is often a sole attorney, either practicing alone or in a cost-sharing arrangement with other criminal attorneys who are also sole practitioners. This has its advantages and disadvantages. If you have an articulated term in your jurisdiction, don’t waste it. Do some research and only submit resumes to criminal defense attorneys, and only those who are practicing as independent attorneys because they are the ones from whom you will get the most personal attention.

I learned a lot from my principle of articulation. I stuck to him like glue; she went to court with him, stayed up late when he did it, got to the office early when he did it. I learned not only how he practiced criminal law, but also how he operated the business of practicing law. After articulating, there was the bar admission course (six months) during which I worked part-time for him. After they called me to the bar, he offered me a job and I worked for him for another year. An office then became available in his suite and I established my own practice, in a cost sharing partnership with him. After three more years, I rented my own space and started my own cost-sharing partnership. But I never believed that anything else was a more important start to my practice than my year as an articulator.

If you don’t have that in your jurisdiction, try to do the next best thing. Try to get a job with a reputable senior criminal lawyer who is a unique attorney and stick with him/her like glue. It is important that you choose carefully who you work for. A criminal lawyer’s greatest asset is her ethical reputation and, therefore, her credibility. That lasts us a long time. So look for a lawyer with a good, solid ethical reputation. He/she will teach you how to practice that way and teach you how to build her own credibility on the field. Another benefit is that you will get a head start in that area just from having worked for a reputable and well-known criminal lawyer. After you have worked in that capacity for 1-3 years, you may consider yourself ready to hang your own shingle.

My second piece of advice is to join and actively participate in your local Criminal Lawyers Association and other professional lawyers’ associations. Early on I found that lawyers who practice well and have a good reputation tend to spend around 25% of their time on professional activities. Not only do you learn a lot from the best of your field of practice, but you also gain access to the best CLE (continuing legal education) programs. If you have a Young Lawyers Division, join that too. I was quite active in that regard, especially in the first 7 years of my practice. It’s also very nice and gives you a nice break from the daily stress of running your business. It is a social outlet as well as a rich learning opportunity. You will find that senior lawyers who enjoy what they do also enjoy teaching younger lawyers what they do. You will get some very good mentors.

My third piece of advice is to enjoy what you are doing. Try not to succumb to the financial burden of starting a practice accepting all types of cases and all types of clients. Personally, I think it’s worth the sacrifice to reduce revenue rather than accept cases where you don’t like the client or the work involved in representing them. If you refuse to take a case, make sure you can refer the client to another criminal attorney whom they respect and trust. Do not ask for or accept a referral fee. He/she will appreciate the referral and you will develop a referral network that can be a good source of business.

Fourth, if a particular case typically involves 10 hours of prep time, allot 20 (in fact, I continue to do so even after 20 years of practice). It makes you look good when you know the facts well, you know the case law related to a particular situation well, and you can stand up and answer the judge’s questions without looking down. In particular, you’ll catch everyone off guard because you’re just getting started. You look green, you sound green, but you handle yourself like a seasoned pro.

Fifth, you may be thinking about internet marketing and that may be of some benefit. However, you will find that most of your practice will be built on referrals from past clients. If you really put everything in touch and preparation with the client, your clients will see that you work hard and if they have friends who need you, they will send them to you. Don’t underestimate the importance of maintaining good customer relations. Do not wait for the client to call you and ask: “How is my case?” Start a call at least once a month (once a week if you have the time), let them know what’s going on, say hi. That will set you apart from your competitors. If a customer calls and leaves a message, call them back as soon as possible. They will be impressed. I get it all the time, “Wow, that was fast.”

In my early days, there was no email. Now I set aside some time on Friday afternoon and send out a short email to all my clients (it doesn’t take as long as you might initially think):

“Hi John (or Mr. Smith). I just thought I’d contact you and let you know that I’m still waiting for any pending revelation from the Crown. I’m going to court next week and put a little bit of pressure on the Crown to get this case moving forward. for you. Once I receive all the missing items, you and I should meet up and go over the next step. What is your usual schedule like during the week?

Developing a relationship with mentors, colleagues, and clients is not only a benefit to your business, but also makes practicing law enjoyable. You will find that you will go home to your family and tell them about the good day you had, instead of the stressful kind of day you had. A genuine smile also lets clients, judges, and juries know that you are confident and competent.

In my experience, Crown Attorneys are generally very good; very professional, very competent and a pleasure to deal with an opponent on and off the pitch. They will respect you if you stand on your ground, having done your research and not being reluctant to pursue a fairly well-founded constitutional case or argument.

From time to time, you may come across a Corona that isn’t so much. When I’m in court, I find the best way to deal with them is to:

  1. Always respond to their arguments or objections by addressing the judge, not the Crown;
  2. Speak at a volume level slightly lower than the Crown;
  3. Be brief and to the point, avoiding drama, even if the Crown is dramatic; and,
  4. Being very nice, even if the Crown is not.

This approach will contrast you and will have the effect of emphasizing the negative aspects of your opposing attorney. Avoid making sarcastic or caustic comments when responding to your opposing attorney. It is your professionalism that will carry the day.

Copyright © 2011 Steven Tress, attorney and solicitor. All rights reserved throughout the world.

Lifestyle Fashion

Questions and answers: reuniting with a lost love

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>1. Who are the main candidates to rekindle a romance?

The most successful reignited romances were those of long-lost lovers who were 17 or older.
younger at the time of the initial romance – first love – and had separated for
situational reasons, such as “parents disapproved”, “moved”. “he went to college”
etc It didn’t matter how old the couples were: whether they were 18 or 95, the romance worked
the second time. In fact, the older they were for the meeting, the better their
chance of success.

>2. Is Lost & Found Love successful the second time around?

Yeah! In my sample of 2,000 people around the world, ages 18-95, 72% of them reported
that they are “still together” with their lost and found lover. And these were not only
“good” romances; these were wildly sexual, soulmate encounters. Absence really does
grow the heart found!

>3. What if the couples had been “first love”?

First loves had the highest rate of “staying together”: 78% are happily reunited and
remain happily in love throughout their many years of marriage.

>4. Are rekindled romances more intense than other loves?

Yes. I asked participants to rate the emotional involvement of the revivers
romance, compared to all their other loves in the past, and 71% of them said that
this was their most intense romance of all. In addition, 61% of the participants said
that the reignited romance began faster than any other romance in the past, and
that sexual participation was the BEST (63%).

>5. Why does rekindled love last?

The couples grew up together, spent their formative years together, and many
of first loves reported that the lost love became “the standard” for all their other
Romance. They knew each other well: they attended classes together, they knew each other
family and friends of others, roots and shared values. It is these similarities that
form the bond strength. These romances are, deep down, friendships like
as well as romances.

>6. Isn’t there some research to suggest that this love might have a biological origin?
component?

Yes. Remember that expression used for teenagers, “swinging hormones”? When
adolescents fall in love for the first time, hormones such as oxytocin and vasopressin are
released when the bride and groom are sexually aroused. These chemicals form
emotional memories in the brain, stored in an area called the amygdala. when the
Lost lovers are reunited, those memories are released by the familiar sight, smell,
touch, sound of long lost lover. The feelings are comforting and familiar and
also very sexually exciting!

>7. Why should this book be a “must read” for parents of teens?

The most common reason these romances broke up the first time was “parents
disapproved.” Not only disapproved, many of these couples were forcibly
separated by parents, with threats to their children, or manipulations such as
hiding letters from the girlfriend. When these couples met, they were very
bitter and angry at their parents (dead or alive) for costing them many years when
they could have been happy together. Many lost their childbearing years
for this break. And why did the parents react that way? They just “don’t
like the person” her son was dating.

I checked to see how these couples were doing for the second time; that is, if the parents broke up
to separate them, were the parents “right” and separated a second time? half of
time, they parted again, and half the time they were happily together. AND
there is no way to predict, there is no way for parents to know what is right for their children.
It should make parents think twice before breaking up first loves.

>8. What can teens learn from this book?

I hear from many teenagers, men and women, who are heartbroken because
their first loves just “dumped” them. Some say they are suicidal. From my research,
we learn that these are true loves, important loves, that should not be underestimated. AND
teens should take comfort in the fact that the breakup may not be forever. The first
love could come back one day Don’t sit back and wait for that, but keep it in
the bottom of your heart as hope for the future.

>9. Instead of reconnecting with a lost love, how about finding a long lost friend?

It’s really the same. In fact, many of my partners weren’t really in romances at all.
first time. They were just friends, sometimes very young friends, like 8 or 9 years old.
old The shared roots are the important part; old friends make us feel comfortable
And we can talk about the old days. It is very healing to meet again.

>10. Is there anyone who should avoid looking for a Lost Love?

Yes. If one or both partners are married to someone else. do not go
there! Don’t even look at the person to greet them. Even good marriages were established
danger for lost loves. People just didn’t realize that feelings come back
Very strong.

And if the person was abusive in any way the first time, forget about a meeting.
Personalities don’t change. The couples in my study who succeeded with a happy
the meeting had been separated by situations the first time; They did NOT review the
“we didn’t get along” box.

>11. What is your first piece of advice for anyone considering finding a lost item?
love?

They are very intense romances. Before beginning any dialogue with a lost love, ask
himself if he could handle what happened – a rejection, a romance, another
break up with that person. If the answer to any of these is “no”, it is better not to try it.
But if you’re single, divorced, or widowed, it might be the best you can do.
Happened to you.

copyright © 2005 by Nancy Kalish, Ph.D.

all rights reserved

You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge,
as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your post would be
appreciated.

Real Estate

Closings, deeds and restrictive agreements: does the buyer know what is being bought?

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to be legal advice. Legal advice depends on the particular circumstances of each person. If you have a related issue, you should consult with your attorney who practices law in his state regarding his particular circumstance. This article is for informational purposes only.

The title agent ushered us into a large and beautiful conference room. My client sat down first. I sat in the chair directly across from her. After flashing me a nervous smile, he placed his arms on the cold, shiny conference room table and clasped his hands, interlacing his fingers.

She was clearly nervous…

And I should have been nervous; this was the first time she had bought real estate. Plus, she was buying this house during the real estate boom, when the real estate market was at its craziest. More importantly, you were buying this home directly from the builder, and you agreed to allow your builder’s mortgage company to finance the purchase of the home and your builder’s title company to close the real estate deal, which generally complicates the stuff for unsuspecting homebuyers.

Unfortunately, I did not represent her at the time she signed her real estate contract as she hired me just days before closing. (For the record, I generally advise most buyers to get their financing and title/closing agent services from a party unrelated to the builder.)

The closing agent brought a stack of documents for my client’s signature. He put the documents in front of me and then left the room, closing the door behind him. Of course, I was there to review each document of my client to advise her before he signed any more documents. Most of the documents were fine.

However, there was one document that caused me serious concern: The Deed.

“Did someone tell you that if you sold your house within the next 4 years, you would have to pay the builder a penalty of 15% of the sale price?” I asked him after reviewing his handwriting. I was surprised to see such a provision in the deed as I did not remember seeing such a requirement in the real estate contract a few days earlier.

“NO!!!!!!” she responded quickly. Obviously she was surprised by my question.

“Are you okay with paying the builder a 15% penalty if you sell the house within 4 years?” I asked, looking up from the writing.

“NO!!!!!!!!!”

“Therefore, I advise you not to sign any of these closing documents and to withdraw from this closing unless the builder agrees to remove these provisions from your deed…”

I called the title agent into the room and informed him that the closing would not go through unless the builder agreed to change the deed. The title agent returned to the office. He promptly returned with a revised deed.

From then on, we closed the real estate deal.

THE PROBLEM

Do you understand your work? What about your restrictive covenants? Do you even know what restrictive covenants are? Do you know to demand to see all of your closing documents before closing?

Would you believe that most buyers don’t? Would you believe that lawyers who don’t practice real estate don’t?

As a result, just like the seller in the previous scenario, sellers can easily surprise potential buyers right at the closing table. This obviously puts sellers at a substantial advantage.

What’s worse is that even if the buyer is surprised, the seller can threaten to keep the buyer’s deposit if the closing does not occur that day. This puts the buyer in an obvious dilemma. Since real estate deposits tend to be substantial, most buyers feel they have no choice but to sign the closing documents.

THE SOLUTION

Buyers should try to protect their interests in their closings:

  1. Consider asking your closing agent to provide all your documents at least 48 hours before closing.

  2. Consider reading all your documents. If you don’t understand something, consider asking an appropriate person to explain it to you.

  3. If you see anything suspicious in your closing documents, consider consulting with an attorney in your jurisdiction about the matter.

  4. If trying to understand the closing process, documents and/or concepts overwhelms you, consider hiring a real estate attorney to represent you in the transaction.

  5. In many jurisdictions, hiring a real estate attorney to solely represent you in the closing process typically costs less than $1,500.00, which is less than a month’s mortgage payment for many people. This is a small investment to protect the investment you are making in your new home.
Shopping Product Reviews

Toxic Crusaders – Cartoon and toy line inspired by Troma’s Toxic Avenger

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If you’re familiar with the world famous Troma Studios, you may be aware of their Toxic Avenger series of B-movies that arrived in the mid-1980s. As were other notable Troma films, such as Class of Nuke ‘Em High and Chopper Chicks. in Zombietown, the Toxic Avenger series offered plenty of gore, racy scenes, and crude humor. You may be wondering how in the world this could be turned into a children’s cartoon series and with good reason!

In 1991, children’s cartoon shows began to change and new ideas surfaced in the world of entertainment. Shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Captain Planet brought a new message to young people: the importance of protecting our environment. With a bit of tweaking, Troma managed to turn the infamous anti-industrial hero of his into Toxie, a hideously mutated but lovable character who served as the star of Toxic Crusaders.

Of course, racing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turned out to be next to impossible and after a five-race trial, FOX decided not to run the entire series even though thirteen 30-minute episodes had already been created. Despite this rather gigantic setback, the creepily cute Toxie made a valiant foothold in stores around the world in the form of toys, trading cards, and a mountain of other merchandise that cartoon characters often seem to get their hands on.

However, Toxie did not face the evil polluters alone. Next to her was a cast of imaginative weirdos like: Yvonne, Toxie’s myopic blonde girlfriend; Blobbie, a fluffy pink pet; Mop, Toxie’s independent thinking cleaning tool; Junkyard, a human-dog hybrid of a drifter who hid from lightning in a kennel only to merge with the dog once lightning struck; Major Disaster, a soldier who fell into a radioactive swamp where he gained the ability to control plants; and NoZone, a pilot who flew through a hole in the ozone layer to crash into a silo of nuclear peppers that caused him to sneeze legendary.

Of course, no kids’ show could be complete without villains just as compelling as the heroes themselves. Toxic Crusaders didn’t skimp when it came to the bad guys. Few returned for more than one episode, but some of them included: Czar Zosta and Doctor Killemoff, two four-armed cockroach beings from a planet called Smogula; Bonehead, a street punk who intimidated Melvin Junko, the man who would become Toxie; and Mayor Grody, the corrupt leader of Toxie’s hometown of Tromaville. Of course, like other cartoons of the time, the series had its own expendable goons, the Radiation Rangers, who would arrive in droves and almost never hit their intended target.

As rich a series as any on television at the time, Toxic Crusaders proved fertile ground for marketing. In most cases, the same companies that held the rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles merchandise also held the rights to Toxic Crusaders. As a result, we saw an eight-issue Marvel comic, Topps trading cards, a card game, a board game, Halloween costumes, Colorforms, and of course, video games for the original Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy. Playmates even offered a line of action figures featuring “radical” designs in bright neon colors on characters that retained the creepy charm of the cartoon show. These figures often came with glow-in-the-dark accessories and you might even get canisters of “Toxie’s Toxic Waste,” a goo suspiciously similar to Turtle’s “Retromutagen Ooze.”

Even these days, Toxic Crusaders still wows fans and in April 2008, Troma released a DVD of all 13 episodes, so if you missed the show, you still have a chance to watch it!

I hope you enjoyed this trip back to the ’90s and learned a bit about a great cartoon show that strove to bring a good message to kids filled with wacky fun. While the Toxic Crusaders may not have brought down the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles empire, they certainly offered a unique take on cartoons for “environmentally conscious” kids.

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Bahamas – Its History, Economy and Governance

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The Bahamas, officially called the “Commonwealth of the Bahamas”, is an archipelago located off the southeast coast of Florida, USA and north of Cuba. The Bahamas is made up of more than 700 islands and more than 1,000 cays and rocks that cover an area of ​​more than 5,000 square meters. mi (almost 14,000 square kilometers) and a population of more than 300,000. Only about 30 islands are uninhabited. The largest island is Andros, but New Providence is the most populated. The capital Nassau is located on this island. Eighty-five percent of the population is made up of Afro-Bahamians, the rest are Europeans with a small minority of Asians. The main languages ​​are English, Creole Spanish and Portuguese. The nation is predominantly Christian in religion with the largest denominations being Baptists, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics. The literacy rate is one of the highest in the world at 95.6%, while life expectancy stands at 63 years.

History and Governance

The country’s history dates back to the first landing of Christopher Columbus, who is said to have landed on San Salvador, an island south of the Bahamas. Many of the locals were enslaved and deported to Spain and the area was largely deserted until the arrival of the British who established settlements in the region. The islands then came under the British Empire. After the American Revolutionary War, African slaves in the US who had fought on the British side in the conflict were expelled and resettled here by the British. The country became internally self-governing in 1964 and fully independent in 1973. The government is a constitutional parliamentary democracy along the lines of the Westminster model of the United Kingdom. The nominal head of state is Queen Elizabeth and the acting head of the crown is a Governor General. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The Bahamas has been a peaceful nation and has not witnessed any violent coups or riots.

Economy

Economically, tourism is the largest source of money for this island nation, with almost half of GDP coming from this industry alone and employing the majority of people on the islands. The islands’ sun-soaked beaches and the friendly party atmosphere of the locals tend to play a large part in the islands’ attraction. In addition, as the islands are close to the United States of America, a large number of visitors there prefer the Bahamas as a destination for its “tropical paradise” charm. There are many packages and tours for the Bahamas and the cost is relatively cheaper than in the mainland US, which has increased its appeal to everyone in North America. The country’s economy is also based on fishing, which is the main occupation after tourism. Vegetables and fruits are also grown in abundance. With global free trade, the Bahamas has benefited the most with many banking and investment companies establishing themselves on the islands. The country has a per capita income of over $20,000 which puts it in the top 50 list. The currency of the Bahamas is the Bahamian dollar.